BOC: a review of Revolution (and the lack thereof)

[Bolts of Ungodly Vision]

>    Full content for this article includes illustration and photograph.

>   Source:  Rolling Stone, Mar 1, 1984 p53(1).

>    Title:  The revolution by night._(phonorecord reviews)
>   Author:  Errol Somay

> Subjects:  Sound recordings - Reviews
>   People:  Blue Oyster Cult (music group)
>Rev Grade:  B
>Full Text COPYRIGHT Straight Arrow Publishers Inc. 1984
>
>THE REVOLUTION BY NIGHT
>
>BLUE OYSTER CULT Columbia
>
>Since 1971, Blue Oyster Cult have been stormtrooping and spell-weaving their
>way into the hearts and guts of thousands of loyal fans. With The Revolution
>by Night, the band's ninth studio LP, the Cult prove they can still pump it
>up, though they may be running more on momentum than inspiration.
>
>Combining patented BOC pop occultism with Donald "Buck Dharma' Roeser's
>incendiary guitar solos, songs like "Feel the Thunder' are heavy-metal
>bone-crunchers meant to be played while you're breaking the land-speed record
>on your motorcycle. Air-guitar specialists, on the other hand, will be sent
>into spasms by the dazzling sonic effects of "Take Me Away.'
>
>Unfortunately, unlike such earlier Cult efforts as Spectres and Agents of
>Fortune, which carefully balanced more diverse, mystically sober tunes with
>rude headbanging, The Revolution by Night continues the band's trend toward
>heavy reliance on wrenching metalisms. Unfortunate indeed, because "Light
>Years of Love,' with its stately synthesizer-guitar harmonies and elegiac
>melody, and the mesmerizing "Shooting Shark,' enhanced, oddly enough, by a
>relatively restrained (for the genre) sax solo, remind us that Blue Oyster
>Cult are capable songwriters at both ends of the rock & roll Richter scale.
>
>Fair-weather Cult fans be forewarned; as finely crafted as the LP is, The
>Revolution by Night is anything but revolutionary. In fact, it could be
passed
>off as a vintage mid-Seventies release without raising an eyebrow. And other
>than the reckless, anthemic chanting of "Let Go,' BOC's latest is also a
>little too polished for its own good. Still, few bands mix aesthetics and
>ass-kicking rock to such good advantage. So give it a shot, but caveat
emptor.
>