Workshop of the Telescopes

Blue Oyster Cult | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 1995)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 1995
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002A2X
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,023 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compilation of Long Island's Finest, June 23, 2001

By 

J. E FELL "boogaloojef" (Carterville, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Workshop of the Telescopes (Audio CD)

"Workshop Of The Telescopes" is a 2 cd compilation of Blue Oyster Cult's work from 1971-1985. The group consisted of the Bouchard brothers; Joe on bass and Albert on drums, Eric Bloom on vocals and guitar, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser on lead guitar and vocals, and Allen Lanier on keyboards and guitar. The band played a sort of progressive "thinking man's" hard rock. Some of their songs were co-written by such people as Sandy Pearlman, Richard Meltzer, and Patti Smith (Lanier's girlfriend). The lyrics were at times abstract, futuristic, and horror/science fiction influenced. Their first three albums are the most interesting and make up the bulk of the material on the first disc. Concert favorites such as "Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll", "Astronomy" (lately covered by Metallica), "Career Of Evil" and other essential cuts are here. Regretably "Then Came The Last Days Of May", and "Hot Rails To Hell" were not included. However, rare live promo versions of "Workshop Of The Telescopes", and "The Red And The Black" were included. Other rarites included are a version of "Buck's Boogie" from a compilation album and previously unissued studio version of "Born To Be Wild". The second disc contains material which was more commercial. Radio favorites like "Don't Fear The Reaper", "Godzilla", "Burnin' For You", and "Take Me Away" are included on the second disc. Other notable tracks on the second disc include "E.T.I.", "Dominance And Submission" and "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" are included. Live covers of MC5's "Kick Out The Jams", and the Animal's "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" are also included. I was disappointed that tracks like "R.U. Ready To Rock", "Black Blade", "Heavy Metal: The Black & Silver", "Dr. Music", "The Vigil" and "Joan Crawford." were not included on the second disc. With many Blue Oyster Cult compilations available this is the most comprehensive. It provides a good overview for an overlooked band. If you are a fan of seventies era guitar rock you will not be disappointed.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good overview., May 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Workshop of the Telescopes (Audio CD)

Blue Oyster Cult are often overrated by fans but just as often underrated by everyone else. Their first three studio albums are great ALBUMS; they hold up as self-contained entities and sound fresh and engaging after all these years. While BOC's subsequent albums from AGENTS OF FORTUNE on have their moments, what's more noticeable is a few really good songs per album sandwiched between LOTS of filler and substandard material. Over time, they became the Seventies and Eighties equivalent of Steppenwolf, a band with strong individual, often radio-friendly tunes who couldn't sustain that creativity through an entire release. Maybe there's an acknowledgement to that comparison evidenced by BOC's cover of "Born To Be Wild," a journeyman studio version of which is included in this collection.

More striking, however, is that the first disc of this two-disc retrospective of BOC's years with Sony/Columbia is mainly given over to the music from those first three studio albums, while disc two culls material from seven of the eight studio albums that followed (the eighth, IMAGINOS, is one of the band's best and not only is it denied any representation here, it's not even in print anymore, which is outrageous!). You can rail and scream at the label wonks for their short-sightedness in song selection, but, honestly, I think they pegged it right this time. Those later albums just aren't up to the first three. Come on, admit it, when was the last time you played MIRRORS, CULTOSAURUS ERECTUS or CLUB NINJA? Even the band doesn't like CLUB NINJA!

But what you get with WORKSHOPS is a good distillation of what was, and is, good about Blue Oyster Cult. There's the heavy ("Cities On Flame With Rock 'N Roll," "Career Of Evil," the live cover of "Kick Out The Jams") there's the sinister and creepy ("Transmaniacon MC," "Astronomy," "Don't Fear The Reaper"), there's the funny/sarcastic ("Stairway To The Stars," "7 Screaming Diz-Busters"), there's the funny/campy ("Godzilla," "Take Me Away"), there's great pop-craft ("Burnin' For You," "In Thee") and then, here and there, there's what makes BOC a little hard to pigeonhole entirely ("Shooting Shark" "Harvester Of Eyes"). The one other constant is that the musicianship is tight as a drum. Buck Dharma Roesser is without a doubt one of rock's best lead guitarists and is the focal point for this band, while Joe and Albert Bouchard were at one point the most cohesive rhythm section in a (sort-of) metal band. The songs mentioned above are great examples of ace SONGCRAFT overall and I think Allen Lanier's "In Thee" is as close to a "standard" as this band ever produced. If BOC didn't always hit the high-water mark in that regard, they did it enough that even a two-disc retrospective might be a little of a thin showcase.

This is, in sum, a terrific overview of Blue Oyster Cult for casual listeners and not a bad collection of the band's better moments.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredible over-view for the starter!, November 3, 2004

By 

Barry P. Saranchuk (Moosic, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Workshop of the Telescopes (Audio CD)

Looks like your one stop place for the beginner here.

The early punk-influencing tracks,and the cream of the mid-period are all here!

"Dancing In The Ruins" and "Perfect Water" are great to get here too,'cuz ya wouldn't wanna buy "Club Ninja" just for those two good tracks and miss the alternate early tracks on disc one here. So,just grab this and use it to guide you thru the BOC catalog. Just skip Club Ninja...really.

A great set covering all the early bases. Looks tasty!