Tyranny & Mutation [Original recording remastered]

Blue Oyster Cult | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 26, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005LNBP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Cult follows up their debut with another solid release in 1973, bringing them one step closer to the commercial success they would soon enjoy. Includes The Red & the Black; Hot Rails to Hell; Baby Ice Dog; Wings Wetted Down; Teen Archer; Buck's Boogie , and more. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mutated and Improved, July 25, 2001

By 

Dave_42 "Dave_42" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyranny & Mutation (Audio CD)

This is another of the great remastered reissues of the first four Blue Öyster Cult albums which Sony put out on the Columbia/Legacy label. They include lyrics, photos, and liner notes by Lenny Kaye. They also contain additional tracks, and on this release that includes three live cuts and one outtake from the album session. In addition the albums have been digitally remastered and sound better than ever. "Tyranny and Mutation" was recorded in 1972 and released in February of 1973. It was produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. This remastered CD was released on June 26th of 2001. Bruce Dickinson produced the remastered versions. One odd note about this album is that is their only album where the group is listed as The Blue Öyster Cult.

The album was originally going to be titled "The Red and The Black", and each side retains the subtitle from that original plan. The first four tracks (side one on the LP) are called "The Black" (physical, sensual, aural activation). It opens with "The Red & The Black", which is a new version of "I'm On the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their first album. This version is heavier and has more drive to it, and it is this version that appears on two of their live albums and that they still play today. It continues with "O.D.'d On Life Itself", "Hot Rails To Hell", and "7 Screaming Diz-Busters". All of these are regular concert fare for the group, and all are hard driving rock.

The next four tracks (side two on the LP) were titled "The Red" (phantasmagorical id-teasers and supernatural beings). It opens with "Baby Ice Dog" which is the first collaboration that the group did with Patti Smith. That is followed by "Wings Wetted Down", "Teen Archer", and "Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)". These pieces are much different than those on side one. They are more mysterious and melodic then the pieces in "The Black". My personal favorites on this album are the closing pieces to each section.

The remastered CD has an additional section which is the bonus tracks. There is a live version of "Cities on Flame with Rock And Roll" from a promotion album called "Blue Öyster Cult Bootleg EP" (the other songs from that release are available on the "Workshop of the Telescopes" compilation CD). The next track is a studio outtake from the recording sessions called "Buck's Boogie"; the live version appears on "On Your Feet or on Your Knees". The final two bonus tracks are live versions of "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" and "O.D.'d on Life Itself", which come from a "bootleg" made by the band to give to friends and family which was titled "Blue Öyster Cult in the West".

The group consists of Eric Bloom (vocals, stun guitar, synthesizers), Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, keyboards), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar), and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (guitar, vocals). This album is a solid four stars, and as with many of their albums, it improves each time you listen to it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best of vintage, pre-commercial Cult, December 18, 1999

By 

ChefBum "chefbum" (Fremont,, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyranny & Mutation (Audio CD)

In retrospect, BOC (the Blue Oyster Cult)can be seen to have had two distinct phases in their sound and musical direction through their career. Agents of Fortune was the turning point for them, and although it was an excellent rock album and a good body of work, the BOC are often remembered by Cult purists and rock critics for their first three albums.

Tyranny and Mutation is the middle of these three, and although it is nearing thirty years old (!), the sound is remarkably fresh, original, yes, still hard.

T&M benefits from much improved production values and sonic quality over their first, eponymous release. Side-by-side, T&M makes the first record sound like it was recorded underwater or in a bathtub. Although the sound is much more open and alive, the lyrics remain cryptic, and the music retains enough of an edge to keep everything in its right and sinister place.

I saw an interesting comment earlier in these pages that the record has two distinct personalities, with the first half being more hard-rock than the second. There could be some credence to this, as the original vinyl edition was labeled 'the Red' on the first side, and 'the Black' on the second side.

The 'Red' side contains most of the heavy cuts that this record is remembered most for (7 Screaming Diz-busters, The Red and the Black, Hot Rails to Hell), but it would not be fair to say that it is the only side worthy of such consideration. The second, 'Black', is solid, good music, and just like it was mentioned by an earlier, astute reviewer on this site, most of these cuts are NOT available on any compilations. Of these, 'Mistress of the Salmon Salt', 'Wings Wetted Down', 'Baby Ice Dog', and 'Teen Archer' (is that all of them?) are all songs that grow on you with each listen.

Tyranny and Mutation, like many Cult albums, stimulates the imagination with cryptic messages and imagery, and one of the greatest things one can say as a tribute to their music is that it didn't always have to be hard-driving to be memorable or effective. Tyranny and Mutation also had a sort of sense-of-humor lightening the gloom more effectively than in 'Blue Oyster Cult' or 'Secret Treaties'. This is also meant to be a fun album, and those that don't realize it are missing out on half the fun.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Screaming dizbusters, July 9, 2001

By 

Rick Chenault (Marysville, Oh USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyranny & Mutation (Audio CD)

Rereleases are always fraught with a little dread and consternation. The question of whether the remastering will get it right or not is omnipresent. It is no secret that BOC has had some problems with updating their catalog. Recent compilations have shown that things can become quite wrongheaded.

This is not however the case with this current set of reissues. T & M is simply marvelous. It captures and adds some sonic depth to the original and provides some stunning Live cuts to make this a BOC's fan dream come true. Cuts like "Quicklime Girl", "OD'd On Life Itself", and a Live bonus cut of "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" prove what a devastating sonic force BOC were. "Baby Ice Dog" is devastatingly ominous in the new mastering.

I haven't had the opportunity to give a listen to the rest of the catalog as a whole but I can only hope that it is as metciulous and worthy as this CD. BOC applied a great vocal harmonic sense to the heavy metal genre and with that set the stage for acts like Def Leppard, and God forgive them, hair-metal

As the great philosopher Homer Simpson said " Rock On ."

Buck Dharma for one.