Blue Oeyster Cult
scored big with
Agents of Fortune
and its now-classic
rock
hit,
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
It took the album into the stratosphere and the band's profile with it; it put them in the visible
pop
space they'd tried for years to get to. But upon arrival, they found that kind of success difficult to respond to. Not only did
the Cult
want to respond, they wanted to cement their place.
Spectres
is not the masterpiece that
is, but it didn't need to be. However, upon hearing
again, the album offers proof that the commercial and creative bent of
was still in place at certain moments, and the band laid out a major single in the opening cut,
"Godzilla,"
a tune -- however silly it may be -- that is every bit as memorable as
It's not the only big number here either:
"Goin' Through the Motions"
and the truly spooky
"I Love the Night"
by
Buck Dharma
also scored. The former track is a wonderful blend of
Tommy James & the Shondells
,
Boston
, and
Mott the Hoople
's
roots rock
glam
attack. Written by
Eric Bloom
and
Ian Hunter
, it's a stunning single. It sounds less like
than anything they'd recorded, but as a classic
rock & roll
single it succeeds in spades. And
(with its guitar part resembling
"Reaper"
for a moment) is one of
's truly strange and seductive love songs. There is more spook and darkness here, of course, in the album's closer,
"Nosferatu."
As a closer,
may have been a better choice, but this track has all those layered harmonies, a reverbed piano,
Dharma
's power chords, and lyric fills that never lose their sense of menace and once more, a story.
BOC
were the only band in their league, walking the line between
AOR
metal
, and offering such detailed narratives.
also contains tunes that were ready-made for touring, which is what
did immediately after, resulting in the wildly successful live album
Some Enchanted Evening
. In sum, the only reason
is not regarded as a classic is because it followed
. Other than the false
funk
of
"Searchin' for Celine,"
it's flawless as a finely tuned tome that begins with
sci-fi
humor and ends with gothic horror -- all of which can be hummed to. ~ Thom Jurek