Blue Öyster Cult – Fire Of Unknown Origin

Looking to re -establish themselves as a potent and commercially successful force on the hard rock scene, Blue Öyster Cult released what turned out to be their last certified LP in the summer of 1981. ‘Fire of Unknown Origin’ also included their biggest AOR hit after “Don’t Fear the Reaper” with another song co-written and sung by Donald Roeser, “Burning for You”. A much more upbeat variation of the previous hit, it seemed to prove to most rock fans that ‘Buck Dharma’ had the singing voice most suitable for rock radio - and this song is still played quite frequently, almost as much as ‘Reaper’. However, Eric Bloom dominates most of this record and many writers have claimed that he never sang better than on ‘Fire’. “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”, the title track, latter day stage favorite (and a ghoulishly hilarious song) “Joan Crawford” and “Heavy Metal: Black and Silver” are all prime cuts where Bloom reminds us of who is THE front man for Blue Oyster Cult, no matter that Donald had the biggest hits! The music on the album does tend to be more keyboard infused than past Cult LPs but I don’t see it as a new wave sell-out.
Producer Martin Birch, who was in the middle of his golden era (Sabbath, Whitesnake, Maiden) could always get the most out of a heavy rock band and though the sound is less heavy than on ‘Cultösaurus’, I wouldn’t say it is decidedly so. Joe Bouchard gets his in as well with “Vengeance:The Pact” - another really typically weird Joe song. His brother Albert (who contributed to much of the song writing) and keyboardist Allen Lanier (who as much as anyone was responsible for the trendy updating on the band’s sound) proved once again that Blue Öyster Cult at their best were a true group of multi-instrumentalists, vocalists and songwriters. Sadly this would be Albert Bouchard’s last album with the band and the classic line-up would soon be no more. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that after Albert’s firing, BÖC would never be the same and as the ‘80s progressed, the band could never seem to fit in with the rest of the hard rock scene as it became more MTV dominated. Truly the end of an era. Burn out the day, burn out the night….

"Burning For You" and its attendant video hooked me immediately, and this record sealed the deal. I'll never forget stepping into a chain record store in 1981 to pick it up as a zit-faced 15 year old. A totally hot (and waaay out of my league) employee looks right at me and says what a great choice of a record I was making. My knees quaked! This sucker hardly left my turntable for years after that - every note is pure rock genius. BOC unfathomably enters the 80's with another monster hit song, lodged within their last truly great record. "Vengeance (The Pact)" is the deep cut from hell, so damn good.