Customer Reviews

Cultosaurus Erectus

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of my favorite Blue Oyster Cult collections. After the disappointing "Mirrors" album, BOC joined forces with Martin Birch and the result is a highly focused, triumphant return to their heavy guitar driven sound coupled with mysterious dark overtones. Right from the start, you can hear the improvement in the mix: multiple guitars up front, keyboards used only as an effect in the backround, and perfectly smooth vocals. For example, "Divine Wind" sounds almost Pink Floyd-ish with it's subtle vocal and dreamy backround keyboard blending perfectly with Don Roeser's fluid guitar playing. The song features a wicked guitar solo and ends with a soulful, agnst ridden, somewhat sarcastic offer to the late Ayatolla. This is Blue Oyster Cult at their very best, during a creative period (1980-1982) that I deem to be even better than their works in the '70's. For example, one of the heaviest songs on this collection, "Lips In The Hills" features one of Eric Bloom's best vocal performances, with a guitar sound that was never duplicated again on later albums. But this isn't your run of the mill formulaic hard rock fare as compared to AC/DC, or even BOC's own schlocky "Beat'em Up" from the Club Ninja collection 6 years later. This is hard rock aimed at a more adult audience, a "thinking man's" band. For example, the opening songs "Black Blade" & "Monsters" are like watching a really good science fiction flic. Monsters features a jazz interpolation complete with sax, and a King Crimson -like jam the likes of which is so intense, you will be left begging for seconds. "Black Blade" is science fiction done masterfully, with a touch of art-rock influence. "Deadline" features a dreamy smooth vocal, nice melody and a very addicting bass line. "The Marshall Plan" mentions "surf music", an apparent ode to Hendrix, and also pays homage to Deep Purple when they almost start playing "Smoke On The Water". "Unknown Tongue" tells the chilling story of a young schoolgirl with certain tendencies: "...she took the razor....and watched it cut.. into her palm. She held her hand, up to her mouth, to taste the blood, so holy and warm." So creepy, it's actually fantastic, if you are in the mood to watch "American Pyscho". Get this record. Highly recommended.

How can anyone who calls himself a BOC fan not love this album. "Black Blade" is easily the best song BOC has ever written and performed. Other classics include "Deadline", "Lips In The Hills", "Monsters" and "The Marshall Plan". How can you not love the lyrics to "The Marshall Plan". Lyrically, this is one of their best. Okay, "Hungry Boys" is a clunker, but every other song is great. This cd has a great combination of great vocals, cool lyrics, great guitar licks and wicked keyboard effects. Oh, and by the way, referring to the jazzy stuff in "Monsters", BOC never claimed to be jazz, but what's wrong with something a little different. I love that song and think the saxophone adds another element to a BOC classic!

Indeed, one of their heaviest albums. I bought this one out of curiosity, after having heard some so-so things about it. I must say, I was taken aback by the quality and power of this underrated CD. I wouldn't hesitate to place this one among the 5 best Cult albums ever! Certainly better than 'Fires...' or 'Mirrors'. Throughout BOC's career there have been some really outstanding albums, along some inferior ones. In my view, the most powerful statements have been 'Spectres', 'Cultosaurus', 'Imaginos' and 'Revolution by Night'. I also like the two earlier ones 'Tyranny and Mutation' and 'Secret Treaties'. This is, of course, subjective, but no doubt there are some great songs in 'Cultosaurus': The opening Black Blade is impressive and manages to put together a number of diverse themes and ideas. I especially enjoy the use of synthesizers and the obscured 'vocals' in the last part of the song. I have never heard anything similar in any BOC album. There is originality here. Same as in 'Monsters', a great song, changing from heavy to jazzy. There are no bad songs in this album, but other personal favs are 'Deadline', 'Divine Wind', 'Lips on the Hills' and the chilling 'Unknown Tongue'. Granted, 'Cultosaurus' is not for everybody, it's dark, ominous and heavy. But it's also atmospheric, spiritual and powerful. Also, sonically, it's one of the most advanced BOC albums ever. Great guitar work, too!

BOC is one of the most underrated hard rock bands there is. Its a shame they never reached the popularity they deserved, beyond "Don't fear the reaper". I consider myself to be a die hard BOC fan, and I got alle their studio recordings. However "Cultosaurus" is by far the best of them, in my opinion. I know many will not agree, but so what. Prior to this album, BOC had realeased several good albums, but neither felt just right all the way. Here, for the first time, all the pieces seemed to fit together perfectly. The songwriting, the production, the playing and the lyrics. Yes, this is a very powerfull album indeed.

The success of Don't Fear the Reaper in 1976 would send the Oyster Boys down a dark path in search of further popular acclaim. That search would lead them to the depths ironically known as Mirrors, an album that would make the band look in the mirror and realize that they were not being true to themselves or their fans.

Cultosaurus Erectus took the band in a decidedly different direction and, like their own Disco Demolition Night, obliterated the notion that it would follow in the same vein as Mirrors. Perhaps in an overreaction to the disdain heaped upon Mirrors, Cultosaurus may be the darkest (Tyranny and Mutation is hard to top) and possibly the heaviest album (again, Tyranny and Mutation is pretty hard stuff) in their catalog, only letting the listener up for a brief gasp of air during the Marshall Plan.

Black Blade kicks off the album with a bang. The second of several collaborations with Sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock (see The Great Sun Jester and Veteran of the Psychic Wars), Black Blade offers a glimpse into the cursed life of anti-hero Elric The Eternal Champion. Its a great song marred only by an eternally long bridge (I was able to seamlessly edit out about half of it) and cheesy synth at the end.

Monsters is a funky rocker about space adventurers with an ironic ending. The song includes some funky jazz sax, ala the Mos Eisley cantina.

Divine Wind, while plodding in tempo, is a decent song about the Ayatollah Khomeini and his western intolerance. The ending is worth the wait.

Deadline is one of the lighter songs musically but has a dark lyrical tone, inspired by the murder of an acquaintance.

The Marshall Plan is a tongue in cheek rocker laced with irony. The title is a play on words, borrowing the name of the US plan to rebuild Europe after WWII, but actually refers to the "big amps" that guitar hero Johnny will use to win back his Suzy dear. This song predated Foreigner's Juke Box Hero and Bryan Adams' Summer of '69 and in hindsight, could have been a hit if not deliberately made so cheesy.

Hungry Boys is a fast paced rocker about cocaine addiction.

Fallen Angel is a lighter rocker and another collaboration between Joe Bouchard and Helen Wheels about...who else but Lucifer.

Lips In The Hills is a heavy enigmatic rocker that is occasionally trotted out on the road. What is it about? I haven't a clue.

Unknown Tongue is one of many dark collaborations with one-time band member and friend David Roter. The song is a dark tale that just when you think you know where it is going knocks you out of your shoes with its twisted ending.

All in all, Cultosaurus is a fairly solid album that bears listening to in its entirety, and a welcome return to BOC's roots.

Some may have felt 1979's MIRRORS tried too hard to appeal to mainstream pop audiences; 1980's CULTOSAURUS ERECTUS clearly was a step back toward the bizarre. I have to admit, I didn't like this much the first time I heard it. But like so much else, it's GROWN on me, like the comically-oversized critter in the cover paintings. (One might be forgiven for not noticing the spaceship flying by for scale at first-- but sadly, on the shrunken CD art, the B.O.C. logo is now IMPOSSIBLE to see.) A lot of unusual stuff for this band turned up here, including over-the-top electronic keyboard work, supernatural spirit voices, saxophones and even Don Kirchner (now that really IS scary!). That makes it either wildly erratic or highly intriguing, depending on personal opinion. My faves include "Black Blade" (a no-holds-barred tribute to the tragic S&S character ELRIC and his haunted sword Stormbringer), "Monsters" (try playing this while watching the "big fight" at the end of the movie DESTROY ALL MONSTERS-- I did!), "Deadline" (Buck Dharma's foray into almost-top 40 pop), "Lips In The Hills" (a high-speed romp filled with suggestive imagery) and "Unknown Tongue" (the spooky-yet-goofy finale that takes a twisted look at Catholic school girls, courtesy of David Roter, who also penned "Joan Crawford" as well as several solo albums, including the totally-whacked FIND SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL). CBS slipped up again, causing the opening note of "Deadline" to somehow get SNIPPED off! I highly recommend the remastered import version, on which this has been corrected. (Will we see a day when ALL the CBS Oyster CDs will have become superfluous?)

"Black Blade" is one of my favorite Blue Oyster Cult songs. It marked their most successful foray into the science fiction/hard rock hybrids that made the meat of their first three albums, and is easily as great as the classic "Golden Age Of Leather" from "Spectres." That said, there are plenty of cool songs here for the BOC fan, and I pretty much figure this was their last really good album. "The Marshall Plan" is possibly one of the funniest songs the Cult ever made! Especially for the Guitar Riff 101 segment in the middle, this rates with right there with Blotto's "Heavy Metal Head." It may also be important to note that Blotto toured with Blue Oyster Cult and Dharma played on the perviously mentioned parody.

If the thought that Blue Oyster Cult could possess a funny bone gets under your skin, then you should probably avoid this disc and go for "Spectres" or "Agents." But for "Cultosaurus Erectus," the BOC stretched their chops in a really fine way. Get this for "Black Blade," "Unknown Tongue" and the stunning "Divine Wind" ("if he really thinks we're the devil, then let's send him to hell..."). They were still capable of giving us hard rock (courtesy of super producer of the time Martin Birch) with brains.

Cultosuarus Erectus was a real return to form for BOC. I could have done without the goofy "Marshall Plan", but there are some strong tracks here that recall the band at their early best; "Lips In The Hills", "Divine Wind", "Unknown Tongue" and "Hungry Boys" are classics, "Black Blade","Monsters","Deadline" and 'Fallen Angel" are not too sloppy either.Strong production from Martin Birch, truly a hard rock wizard. A lot of hardcore Cult fans love this album, but the general public never gave it the attention it deserves.

I mean, come on. How can it not be obvious that the album title was a cheeky reference to a return to harder BOC? Cultosaurus Erectus? Oh, the innuendo!

Eric starts this one off with yet another masterpiece penned by Michael Moorcock. (Good gravy, did the stars align so that there were as many references to the phallus as possible on this one? Even this song, "Black Blade" makes reference to a sword, which could be a metaphor for a guy's manhood. Whether intentional or not, the references abound.

But really, Black Blade isn't about that. It's about a sword that it's owner claims forces him to kill and kill and kill. A commentary on man's desire to find something or somone to blame for his actions, whether it be this sword, religion, video games or rock and roll, it's much easier to blame the stars than ourselves for our actions. Which is why we never improve.

Then again, it could just be about a sword that really does force it's owner to shed as much blood as possible and I'm just reading into it. Oh, did I mention this song just rips, that it rocks, that it kicks ass? I just did? Cool.

Then there's Monsters, which opens with a rocking riff before going into the subtler jazz breaks. I should mention this isn't Kenny G type jazz, for all of you who are cringing at the mention of that four letter word (jazz.) And leave the O(Kenny)G alone anyway. He's not the spawn of Satan that people make him out to be.

Now we move into Divine Wind, about the Ayatolah. I thought it was about various evangilists, who often call rock the Devil's music. Maybe the Divine Wind could refer to the hot air they're spewing? The groove on this makes me think of a being at a African American church, bringing the Gospel, with a solo that blisters like Hell itself would, were such a place to exist.

Deadline stands as an example of how the less than stellar songs that appeared on Mirrors could have have fared better with a tweek here and there. This is done in a similar vein as those songs, but with just enough subtle touches to take it to a different level.

Even The Marshall Plan, a slightly silly spoof of the rock and roll lifestyle, manages to succeed. The Marshall Plan in a historical sense refers to America giving monetary aid to Europe after WW2 to ensure that Communism didn't spread. The pun here is that it refers to Marshall guitar amps and a poor fella's desire to improve his own economic (and romantic) situation by becoming a rock star.

Joe takes the helm on the next two songs and they're absolutely beautiful. I felt like some of Joe's earlier songs had a new wave rock sound to them long before new wave came out and Hungry Boys and Fallen Angel make me think of the Cars if they were more metal. Yet another example of BOC's influence, even if said bands won't acknowledge it. The theme of the songs seem to fit well with what this album represents, being hungry to show the world what they can do, having fallen a bit with Mirrors, to return in top form.

Lips in the Hills is taken from a riff that Buck wrote, which had a completely different lyrical subject. The rewrite here is so much better and Eric makes what already rocked like crazy rock even more.

Things end with Unknown Tongue a sexy song which is vague in it's meaning. Sure there's some budding discovery of sexuality mentioned, a blood sacrifice, etc, but I'm not certain of the reasons why or the outcome. Maybe it doesn't matter, because it's still wonderful.

I didn't realize there was dissent amongst BOCs fans over this album until I read some of the reviews on here. I always thought that some of BOC's lack of success came from some bad choices, such as Mirrors overall. But it's obvious more blame fell on fans who just didn't want the band to be something different than Don't Fear the Reaper, if that was their first exposure Then, there are those fanATICs who think the first 3 are BOCs finest work and won't accept anything beyond that.

Other bands went through similar fates, with certain CDs being condemned due to their varying from the course previously laid out on earlier albums. The average person tends to get their life's imprint set fairly early and rarely do they change. So, when change is introduced in any way, they can't handle it.

However, even though these other bands met with skepticism similar to BOC, they continued to sell well. Why? I don't know. I have to speculate that BOC were so far ahead of their time that people just didn't get it. Even their strongest sellers came up short in comparison to what other bands were achieving. This is similar to Da Vinci being overshadowed by the person who did Dogs Playing Poker.

After the relative deception of MIRRORS, CULTÖSAURUS ERECTUS is in my opinion, a very good album of Blue Öyster Cult. With Martin Birch as new producer, BOC presents five excellent songs, strangely the first five of the CD ; the rest of the CD can be forgotten. But one recognizes in the best songs of the CD the quality of their precedent efforts.

Diabolical changes of rythms, sense of humor ( the homage to DEEP PURPLE in " The Marshall Plan ", innovations such as a larger place given to the bass ( great job, Joe Bouchard ! ) and the drums : these are the main elements that could lead you to buy this CD.

Personally, I give a 5 stars to the CD design, I cannot look at the cultösaurus without smiling. Haven't you ever heard of a dinosaur chewing gum ?

The CD of the resurrection.