Blue Öyster Cult

Well, screw it then. 😳

Yeah, my mistake. It’s spelled "most highly valued," without the extra "i." My bad.

Kevin Chavez3 said:MOTÖRHEAD ISN'T METAL!!! 😈

Well, I guess there might be some truth to that, but I see it differently. They honestly feel punchier than most punk bands out there, and they definitely bring more noise than your typical noise act! 🙏

So, I was thinking... how do you actually tell if a band is heavy metal or not?

I guess if there's an umlaut in the name, 😁

that might be a giveaway. Like Blue Öyster Cult—they basically kicked off the whole trend with ''

MOTÖRHEAD

and Mötley Crüe

it feels like categorizing music is more about the alphabet than the actual sound anyway, 😛

By the way, that logo is actually a symbol for the god Kronos. The whole concept originally came from their first manager.🙂

Subhuman said:By the way, that logo is actually a symbol for the god Kronos. I think the whole idea originally came from their first manager.🙂

oh wow!! 👍

And it’s tucked away on every single album cover, too, so I guess you can only really spot it if you know what secret you're looking for 😁

though I don't really think Pearlman had anything to do with coming up with it 🤔

it was probably just some unknown struggling artist who whipped up that very first cover for the Blue Öyster Cult album... kind of one of those "pure luck" stories, I suppose

you know, like they didn't have a master plan or anything, but then they saw it, liked it, and were just like, okay, let's stick with this, blah blah 😛

I've been diving deep into a ton of different bands lately, and I just discovered them. Absolute legends.

Blue Öyster Cult was always classified as intellectual rock. Today, various pseudo-critics try to lump similar bands into heavy metal, even though they have absolutely nothing to do with it.
They are the best American band without equal, and one of the best overall. Their lyrics draw from Celtic mythology and are generally preoccupied with the paranormal, darkness, ghosts, aliens, and lost civilizations.
The inverted cross, which serves as their signature symbol, is an ancient Celtic cross and has zero connection to the Ku Klux Klan, despite what some people claim.
Like all truly great bands, they don't have many massive hits, aside from "Don't Fear the Reaper," which has become the definitive anthem for Halloween.
Their finest albums are incomparable: Spectress, Fire of Unknown Origin, and The curse of hidden mirror.
Furthermore, their guitarist Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser is one of the world's finest guitarists and vocalists. An interesting dynamic of this group is that each member typically sings the songs they wrote. Since Buck Dharma wrote the best tracks, he emerged as the primary vocalist, even though Eric Bloom holds the official title.
It is also notable that every album features an unproven but talented musician on at least one track. Some of these individuals went on to become renowned professionals, such as Aldo Nov.
They are unique in that several of their lyrics were penned by famous science fiction writers.
They are extraordinary musicians with extraordinary songs; even their album covers are often cited as masterpieces of design.
Like many cult acts, they aren't overly famous or mainstream. Consequently, they never achieved the global superstardom that their talent rightfully deserves.
For those interested who haven't discovered them yet, listen to their beautiful ballads: I love the night, Then came The Last Days of The May , veteran of The Psychic Wars, Death Valley Night, Stone of Love, Shooting shark, and more.

I own almost their entire discography except for that one—which many people claim is the best version of Imaginos—but I'll track it down eventually.

Timothy Kim60 said:I own everything they've released except, according to most people, their best album, Imaginos. I'll get around to that eventually.

To be blunt, Imaginos is their worst effort alongside Mirrors. That doesn't mean it's bad compared to other bands out there.
On top of that, the production is incredibly poor...

(Don't Fear) The Reaper 😍 😍
It’s honestly a relief that we have Will Ferrell. 😁

Obviously, I've got a massive soft spot for Blue Öyster Cult 🙂
Their track (Don't Fear) The Reaper is just absolute perfection... and I guess I'm also really digging I'm Burning for You... or whatever the hell it's called...

flaming telepaths <3

One of my absolute favorite bands... their songwriting themes and lyrics are just on another level... I mean, seriously—Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Godzilla, (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Astronomy... how do you even choose which one is better? 😍 They are hands down the most underrated band ever... honestly, how many people have actually heard of them? 😢 If Metallica hadn't done those covers of theirs, I probably wouldn't even know they existed today. Blue Öyster Cult 🙏

Even though they aren't household names, they're widely considered the architects of heavy metal. I honestly can't wrap my head around how they only moved about 14 million albums throughout their career, especially when you look at their peers like Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin, who have cleared well over a hundred million. It’s almost insulting how some critics ignore them; I even saw one guy write an entire piece on the origins of heavy metal without mentioning Blue Öyster Cult once, which just earned him a massive backlash from everyone. It's worth noting, though, that Sandy Pearlman actually coined the term "heavy metal," and their album Secret Treaties is frequently cited as one of the most intense records of the 1970s.

The coolest? I’m not entirely sure what that means in this context... though if we're talking about impact, they were certainly revolutionary... 🙂

They probably aren't quite as famous because they didn't spend all their time causing scandals or making headlines for the wrong reasons—unlike certain 😁...

Look, "extreme" is a pretty subjective term—I basically pulled that definition from Wikipedia—but back then, it was absolute madness. I think most casual listeners who don't really dive into the genre assume anything labeled heavy metal is going to be incredibly intense, when by today's standards, it’s actually quite mellow. We’re talking about the old school legends here, like Blue Öyster Cult, Black Sabbath, or Iron Maiden...

Regarding their fame, I don't think they ever really built a massive cult of personality like other bands do. They went through plenty of lineup changes and constantly shifted their musical style, so they generally stayed under the radar rather than being constant media fixtures.

How could they not have created a cult when they *are* Blue Öyster Cult... 😁 They’ve swapped out members so many times—I think it was those two brothers, was it Bouchard or someone else?—and ever since they left, they haven't really had a permanent keyboardist, drummer... or even a bassist...
Now, look, they might not be "heavy" in the traditional sense, but they have that certain something, you know? 🙏 ...To me, though, they always felt more like a solid rock band rather than pure heavy metal... but hey, who am I to judge? Let's skip the deep philosophy and just enjoy the music. 🙏

Honestly, I’m having a hard time taking a band seriously when the frontman
no matter how killer he is on guitar or vocals
is rocking a mustache
sorry, Husker Du fans

I’ve been spinning their stuff lately and honestly? They’re pretty solid... just a legit, old-school 70s rock band through and through😁