Product Details

• Actors: Eric Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult, Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Allen Lanier
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (PCM Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 1998
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630508985X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,195 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Blue Oyster Cult - Live 1976" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This is an example of how not to make a rock documentary. DVD companies ought to take note of its laziness and avoid all mistakes in future concert film releases. For starters, don't release a rock show with muddled sound that continually drops in and out, faded and grainy visual quality, and absolutely zero production value. To be fair, Blue Oyster Cult's dreadful performance doesn't help any. Though the packaging states that this is "vintage" BLC at their "peak," most fans know that by 1976, the progressive heavy-metal band was already five years past its prime. The 11 featured tunes show the band moving away from their raw, heavy origins and becoming a rock cliché. Bombastic jams such as "Buck's Boogie" and "Dominance and Submission" indulgently wander forever; lead vocalist Eric Bloom strikes macho poses and preaches about the legalization of drugs. The topper comes when a dopey laser show follows both drum and guitar solos--and the audience cheers louder for the lights. Even BOC's guitarist--and leader--Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser appears bored, and he's the one responsible for this stuff. He can't even muster the energy to pull off a memorable encore of BOC's only hit, "Don't Fear the Reaper," instead singing the lyrics like someone's got a gun to his head. If the disc is worth anything at all, it's as a definition of impotent, bloated '70s arena rock, and a clear demonstration of why punk needed to happen and what it fought against. Though this disc is obviously geared towards diehard Blue Oyster Cult fans, it's more of a shameful insult than a reward. –-Dave McCoy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blue Oyster Cult -- Live 1976, February 14, 2000

By 

Paul W Schattel (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Oyster Cult - Live 1976 (DVD)

Frankly, I'm surprised so many people have dissed this disc. I'm glad I bought it before I read the reviews -- the sound quality is poor, sure, and the video could be better too, but remember, this was recorded in 1976! Before MTV, before the digital revolution, back when you actually had to be a good musician to have a career playing music. This is BOC in all their Don Kirshner's Rock Concert glory -- Eric preening in a leather jumpsuit, Albert going absolutely nuts during one of the great heavy metal tunes of all time, "Cities on Flame." And Buck is simply one of rock music's great guitarists -- he moves from beautiful melody to dissonant noise in a heartbeat, without a single cliche in the entire show. Contrary to Amazon.com's reviewer above, Buck is very alive and well here ... you just have to be paying attention! Plus, if BOC is five years past its prime here, as McCoy says, then their prime would have been roughly a year before their first album came out! Get real -- this is good, honest rock and roll, performed with skill and love for complex, intelligent music. I've never liked the typical heavy metal band, and I hate prog rock, but somehow BOC rises above all that, all the while staying charmingly within that same context -- drum and bass solos and all. Sure, "Don't Fear the Reaper" is a little hurried here, but this was before the song had acquired its full anthem status. It could be compared to Nirvana hurrying through "Teen Spirit," before the song had taken on its real meaning. On the down side, the song choices could be better -- I'd like "Last Days of May," personally, and Eric's rock star stage persona can get tiresome, but the disc is not nearly as bad as some people have said. Obviously these people have never heard the poor sound quality of bootlegs, where the performance is more important than 16-bit digital sound. Frankly, I'm glad to have this disc, and I hope more people buy it, so distributors will have an incentive to put out more -- hopefully better recorded -- material. BOC deserves a better reputation than they have received of late, and it's no coincidence that they are one of the few bands of this era still going. They are a classic rock band and this is a classic performance.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rockin' DVD!!!, December 11, 2002

By 

Chet Szymanski (Little Falls, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Oyster Cult - Live 1976 (DVD)

I just purchased this dvd even though I read some bad reviews from others. As far as I'm concerned this DVD shows just the way the concerts were back in the day with the laser shows. Anyone who is a long time BOC fan or even new BOC fans would really enjoy this dvd. It is really a historical recording as you can no longer see the laser shows and it captures blue oyster cult just as the agents of fortune album came out with don't fear the reaper. The video and audio quality are fine. I almost didn't order it because of other reviews but am very glad that I did!!! Buy it and you won't be sorry if you're a real BOC fan!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Audio and Video as bad as it gets, September 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue Oyster Cult - Live 1976 (DVD)

Although I am a Blue Oyster Cult fan, I have to tell you that this DVD is as bad as it gets. The sound and audio quality are terrible. You should only buy this if you are a really big fan and get a really good price.