It's a pretty cool thing to have a wealth of Blue Oyster Cult activity here in 2020, now that the legendary hard rock act has signed on with Frontiers Music and working hard on their first new album of new material in quite some time. In addition to that great news, the label is releasing a few other BOC related tidbits to get everyone ready for the new stuff, including a reissue of an old 're-recorded hits' compilation and this excellent live recording from 2014 from the Hard Rock in Cleveland, Ohio. Featuring the line-up of Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar), Donald 'Buck' Dharma (guitar, vocals), Richie Castellano (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Kasim Sulton (bass, vocals), and Jules Radino (drums), the band offer up here a full set across two CD's packed with hits, memorable deep album cuts, and some surprises.
Of course, you have to have "Don't Fear the Reaper", "Burning for You", and "Godzilla" (the latter bloated to nearly 13-minutes with a drum solo and odd backing vocal effects), but other mandatory BOC fare such as "The Red and The Black", "ME 262", "Hot Rails to Hell", "Black Blade", "Career of Evil", "Harvester of Eyes" and "Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll" are mixed in along with the wonderful "Then Came the Last Days of May", "Shooting Shark", "Golden Age of Leather", and "OD'd on Life Itself". Throw in "The Vigil", "I Love the Night", and the "Buck's Boogie" jam, which sees the lead guitarist wowing as splendidly as ever, and you have a fun, heavy rocking set showing that the band in 2014 were still kicking butt live as always. Good recording, great performances, and another stellar BOC live set as we await the new material!
Track Listing
CD1
Od'd On Life Itself
The Red And The Black
Golden Age Of Leather
Burnin’ For You
Career Of Evil
Shooting Shark
The Vigil
Me262
Buck’s Boogie
Black Blade
CD2
Then Came The Last Days Of May
Godzilla
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Harvester Of Eyes
I Love The Night
Hot Rails To Hell
Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll