Blue Oyster Cult

Blue Oyster Cult is shore some bizarre dudes, but then so's everybody from Long Island's
soft white underbelly. Then again, not everybody had a debut LP widely acclaimed as "The
Best Ever!" and "the album of the decade." A trip through their new one's like listenin' to
Hitchcock and Kubrick swap stories about their wet dreams. An avalanche of sonic
hysteria summons your attention, then it's full speed ahead into "The Red and th... More >

Says S. Pearlman: "We want to be disgusting, not trans-repulsive." Says R. Meltzer: "This is really hard rock comedy." Musically, Long Island's only underground band impales the entire heavy ethos on a finely-honed guitar neck, often at high speed, which is the punch line. And the lyrics aren't inaudible, just unbelievable--a parody-surreal refraction of the abysmal "poetry" of heavy, with its evil women and gods of hellfire. Which is not to suggest that it doesn't become what it takes off from. But is that bad or good? (Grade: B+)