Customer Reviews

Agents of Fortune

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is Blue Oyster Cult's money maker to be sure. Their fifth album, the band was already known to a loyal "cult" following but with the release of "Don't Fear The Reaper" as a single and extensive radio play national fame was soon to follow. But this album is flawless (I am a little biased since BOC is my favorite band). Unfortunately fans of "Don't Fear The Reaper" who purchased other albums by the band under the pretense of getting a similar sound were apparently disappointed. The band has had limited commercial success, and are known for only a few semi-hit singles. "Don't Fear the Reaper", "Burnin' For You", and "Godzilla" are the only songs I can ever recall hearing by the band on my local classic rock radio station. But as with all their albums Agents of Fortune is a celebration of mythology, superstition, the occult and storytelling through lyrics. "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" is great. "True Confessions" is deceptively upbeat. "Don't Fear The Reaper" has got to be one of the most poetic and beautiful songs I have ever heard. "E.T.I." is just electric fun(Three Men in Black said don't report this...), "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" is about dark desire and betrayal, "Sinful Love" is one of my favorite BOC songs, about a sexually overbearing woman and her rebelious lover, "Tattoo Vampire" is just plain weird and was mentioned in the Stephen King/Peter Straub collaboration "The Talisman". "Morning Final" is about a murder in the subway, and presumably how death comes to us all. "Tenderloin" is about strange sexual appetites. "Debbie Denise" is about a loyal girlfriend, without any thoughts of her own. For any Blue Oyster Cult fan this album is a favorite, the lyrics are some of the best the band has ever put out, the music is enchanting and haunting at the same time. An essential purchase for any fan of rock and roll, past or present. Blue Oyster Cult, on tour FOREVER!

There has been a lot of attention paid to the 70's decade in recent years and this album deserves a lot of attention as one of rock's important albums...right up there with DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and LED ZEPPELIN-4. I welcome always to hear THE REAPER and TATTOO VAMPIRE, but my favorite in this effort is clearly MORNING FINAL, a subway saga penned by bassist/vocalist Joe Bouchard. DEBBIE DENISE is about as down-to-earth as I've heard B.O.C. get. THIS ALBUM STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

This, their fourth studio album, would probably be the most listenable to newcomers to BOC. It is more slickly produced than their previous three. The entire album, while not really a concept album, still manages to convey a singular mood from beginning to end that is quite enchanting. All five members take turns on lead vocals on various songs, which gives each song a certain individuality, and keeps everything fresh. Finding a favorite song is difficult, as each one can be a favorite depending on what mood the listener is in. There is not an average song on here; all are above-average to classic. I go through phases with this album. Sometimes, "Morning Final" is my favorite song, sometimes "Don't Fear The Reaper", sometimes "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", and yes, sometimes I even play "True Confessions" over and over. "True Confessions" is possibly an under-appreciated song to some people. But after a few listenings, it becomes downright infectuous. It's funky and I love singing along to it. "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" is an awesome song. It exudes power with its driving bass line and is expertly constructed. "Morning Final" is more of a 'beautiful' song. It's not slow mind you, but its haunting music and lyrics stick with me every time I hear it. And "Don't Fear The Reaper"--well, you've likely already got your own opinion of that one. For me, it was the song that introduced me to the group, and I fell in love with it immediately at age 16.

Others will name different favorite songs, and I can't fault them for that. As I said before, they are all great in my mind, and anyone who hasn't heard it before will not be disappointed. Buy it and enjoy!

Oh, and by the way there is a Mobile Fidelity 'gold' CD release of this album also. There is a slight sound quality improvement with that release, but it is only slight, and will be worth the additional cost only to true audiophiles.

As an aside, I'll also mention there's a 'gold' 2 CD set of their self-titled first album along with their second album "Tyranny and Mutation", that is much more worth the additional cost of the 'gold' version. The difference between the gold version and the regular is much more evident with that set, and in that case I would definitely recommend the gold version.

"Agents of Fortune" is far and away the best album Blue Oyster cult ever produced, and not just because it contains their best known song, "Don't Fear the Reaper." This is a classic album full of great songs and performances from the band. The best songs other than "Reaper" include "True Cofessions," "ETI" and Debbie Denise." What makes the album great is that it is not all thundering guitars and features an effective range of tempo and volume. Patti Smith lends her vocal chords to "The Revenge of Vera Gemeni," adding to this album's diversity. Overall, a great thinking man's headbanger album.

Agents of fortune epitomizes (for me) what hard rockers and metal heads listened to before the advent of Rob Zombie and Rage Against the Machine, and even before that Metallica and Def Leppard. This music rocks hard with what to me sounds like pure musical talent. Guitars loud enough to be called metal, but played with more than just angst and bursting with genuine emotion, strong lyrics, and great vocal harmonies. "This Ain't the Summer of Love" may be weaker than the other songs on here (other than the second track "True Confessions"), but it did get the point that they and Black Sabbath were trying to make. The Summer of Love was over, and it was a new decade. This song got that right, so I give it credit. "Don't Fear the Reaper" is lyrical genius. Imagine the Grim Reaper as a deadly lover. The song is simple (except for the solo), but simplicity goes a long way. It is certainly one of the underappreciated rock classics. "E.T.I.," "The Revenge of Vera Gemini," "Tattoo Vampire," and "Morning Final" are also great songs. Overall, this probably isn't one of the best albums in the world, but it is certainly a good one that is worth the time and money to listen...these songs will stay with you no matter how much you try to forget them.

Blue Oyster Cult decided to update their sound and attempt poppier songwriting. Does it work? Yes! Of course most people will tell you it does not work, but whatever. A commercial direction was destined to happen, in my opinion. How do I know this? Because the same thing happened to 99% of all rock bands during the mid 70's.

My favorite song is probably "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" with its distinctive and mysterious vibe. It features one of the most unusual ways to write a song I've ever heard. The way the verse melody leads into the bridge, then into the chorus, with the female vocals in the background chugging along to the lead singer... the whole thing is just really really strange. The keyboards make it sound even creepier especially when the singer sings the "Oh no more horses horses, we're gonna swim like a fish" line. Just awesome.

"Debbie Denise" sounds like a country song disguised as a pop song. The vocals here are truly something memorable. Some people might find the vocals too cute, or whatever, but it's really a great song. In a way, this song is sort of like the Allman Brothers Band and their "Midnight Rider" hit. I just LOVE the line "But I was out rolling with my band". It's so cool the way it's sung. The verse melody is super melodic and sounds like there's an orchestration of some sorts in the background. Strange.

We all know the huge, monster radio hit so there's no need to mention that one. Let's just say it's an eerie song similar to how strange it feels when you get an unexplainable cold chill and you can't explain what's causing it. ANOTHER completely unique song. Wow, people seriously hate Agents of Fortune and consider it a sell-out? I just named three songs that sound like nothing else out there!

"Morning Final" has a good verse melody and an even better chorus. In fact the chorus is my favorite part. I couldn't stop singing it while vacuuming my beach home today. "Oh baby don't it make you feel so bad, dark clouds are over the street". SUCH a wonderful vocal melody. Never underestimate this bands ability to write a great vocal melody. Blue Oyster Cult is one of the most creative hard rock bands in existence.

"E.T.I." has a great guitar riff and vocal melody, though I probably don't find it as brilliant as most people do. "True Confessions" is a COMPLETE departure from the rest of the album- it's a *normal* song with nothing mysterious about its atmosphere, haha. "This Ain't the Summer of Love" is just really weird, especially the chorus. A perfect introduction to a wonderful album.

The rest of the songs have good choruses, solid guitar riffs, and great songwriting. Blue Oyster Cult is clearly a step above most hard rock bands when it comes to diversity, creativity, and distinctive features.

This is one BOC's best,the other being "Spectres",although my personal fave would be "Cultosaurus Erectus".Any fan of Classic Rock simply must have this in their collection,simultaneously clever,heavy & humourous,not necessarily in that order(depending upon your mood).This is also some of the most tastefully done pop you'll ever hear,along with that omnipresent horror movie soundtrack feel(the band just delivers on so many levels !).Now if only Sony/ CBS would only get off their collective fannies & remaster the rest of this catalogue,us cultoids could be sent to reaper heaven.

'Agents of Fortune' has somehow become the flag-bearer for B.O.C. - the first album title to spring to the lips of the average classic rock enthusiast in the street. This condition largely rests on 'Don't Fear The Reaper', without which the second-in-command track from this album 'E.T.I.' would have been hard pressed to have appealed to radio as readily. True to form, the band have stuck to their guns in the content of this album and that's to be admired. For the first time, they'd knocked out a studio album which actually had tradesworthy cover art; for the first time, too, the production job had sharpened up the right frequencies so that the heavy sludge in the speakers of the previous albums had been finally cleaned out. And wasn't the guitar-rocker 'E.T.I.' the perfect complement to the cigarette-lighter waver '...Reaper'?
Still, that's only two of ten songs. 'This Ain't the Summer of Love' was a tasty springboard that didn't outstay it's 2:20 welcome but that only brings it up to 3 good tracks so far. Fortunately, the final song, 'Debbie Denise' provides a pleasant, anthemic memory.
Now that still only makes four good songs (40% in track numbers). This was B.O.C.'s problem in the early days. Album filler will always be album filler; it's just that in recent years, listeners' demands have evolved to the stage that cheese such as 'Tenderloin', 'Morning Final', 'Sinful Love' and 'True Confessions' can't really happen anymore, outside of bonus material at the end of the disc. What may or may not help is the album's shortness, which either amplifies the percentile of bad to good tracks or gets the listener out early, depending on how one sees one's cup's contents.
To evaluate the album on a different scale, it's signature Blue Oyster Cult. The imagery is there, as is the fanatic drive underscoring the delivery of the sound. The band's mission of maximizing their mythology in a leather-clad, hell-fired package bleeds through in drips and drabs of true molten metal.
The only real trouble with 'Agents...' as an album is that, unlike 'Spectres' or 'Fire of Unknown Origin', as a sum of its parts, it's seriously diluted.
And just what was 'Tattoo Vampire' apart from being an uneasy attempt at punk? Nice try and a good job ... let's call it the missing link and not the finished product, though.

This album is quite good.Great songs,good lyrics, what do you want more?

AGENTS OF FORTUNE, alongside FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, are the quintessential BOC albums. You can forget about the rest. This band was always kind of "disjointed", "disconnected" or whatever. They never ever were really great. Go figure why...sometimes the same five musicians just can't deliver more than one or two great albuns. 1796's AGENTS of FORTUNE is a great rock album, ten good rock tunes.