Blue Öyster Cult - A Long Days Night

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Sanctuary Records
Catalog Number: 86320
Format: CD
Total Time: 78:02:00

Blue Öyster Cult is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. What better way to party than to release a live album? It has been 20 years since their last live release. It does not seem that long, but then it never does. Just a few short months ago in the windy city of Chicago, BOC recorded A Long Days Night. I immediately thought of the Beatles' Hard Days Night when I saw the title. Recorded on the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year, the album was given birth. This is BOC in their prototypical element. Some of you may remember one of the greatest live recordings ever, On Your Feet Or On Your Knees from 1975, this is good reminder of that two-album set.

All of the classics are covered, "Stairway To The Stars" (Self-Titled 1st album), "Burning For You" (Fire Of Unknown Origin), "Don't Fear The Reaper" (Agents Of Fortune), which fittingly ends the night, "Harvest Moon" (Heaven Forbid), and the incredible "Astronomy" (Secret Treaties). You know all the rest, those happen to be my personal favorites. Whatever songs are your favorites; you will find something you can be tuned in and turned on to. All of these songs still give me an adrenaline-pumping chill. "Buck's Boogie" sounded fantastic! Donald Roeser goes in some different directions on his rockin' boogie instrumental, although he always does that when he plays the song live. It is a flexible and changeable number, and it effortlessly sways and churns along according to Roeser's mood and resourcefulness. The music travels as the captain steers the ship, and that is undoubtedly Buck Dharma. Every track offers different and longer versions of the studio cuts, and that keeps it fresh for all of you old time BOC fans that have heard the same songs over and over again in the studio and in live settings.

Eric Bloom looks the same in the concert pictures provided in the CD sleeve as he did when I saw them play at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY in 1976. He still has the magic touch and knows how to work the crowd. He is the master of the stage when they perform.

The band always seems to come up with eye catching cover art, and this CD has one of the best that I have seen yet. It has become one their trademarks, besides their unique and original sound. Whether you have seen them as their alias Soft White Underbelly or BOC, they are the real deal. They continue to offer some of the best live music anywhere in the world. Make sure you pick up a copy of this from one of New York's finest. A DVD/VHS of this concert including additional tracks will follow in October, just in time for Halloween.

Tracklisting:
Stairway To The Stars (3:53) / Burning For You (4:39) / Od'd On Life Itself (4:41) / Dance On Stilts (5:49) / Buck's Boogie (6:26) / Quicklime Girl (4:58) / Harvest Moon (4:42) / Last Days Of May (10:19) / Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll (5:53) / Perfect Water (5:22) / Lips In The Hills (4:20) / Godzilla (8:44) / (Don't Fear) The Reaper (8:14)

Musicians:
Eric Bloom - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Allen Lanier -keyboards, guitars
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser -guitars, vocals
Danny Miranda - bass, vocals
Bobby Rondinelli - drums, percussion

Discography:
Blue Öyster Cult (1972/1995/1999)
Tyranny And Mutation (1973/1995/1999)
Secret Treaties (1974/1995)
On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (1975)
Agents Of Fortune (1976/1987)
Spectres (1977/1987)
Some Enchanted Evening (1978)
Mirrors (1979)
Cultosaurus Erectus (1980)
Fire Of Unknown Origin (1981)
Extraterrestial Live (1982)
Blue Öyster Cult Live (1982)
The Revolution By Night (1983)
Club Ninja (1986)
Career Of Evil: The Metal Years (1987)
Imaginos (1988)
(Don't Fear) The Reaper (1989)
On Flame With Rock And Roll (1990)
Bad Channels (1992)
Live 1976 (1994)
Cult Classic (1994)
Workshop Of The Telescopes (1995)
Revisited (1996)
Don't Fear The Reaper (1998)
Super Hits (1998)
Heaven Forbid (1998)
Champions Of Rock (1998)
Blue Öyster Cult (comp) (2000)
Don't Fear The Reaper: The Best Of Blue Öyster Cult (2000)
Tales Of The Psychic Wars (2001)
The Curse Of The Hidden Mirror (2001/2006)
A Long Day's Night (2002)
Then And Now (2003)
The Essential Blue Oyster Cult (2003)
Are You Ready To Rock? (2003)
Shooting Sharks: Best Of Blue Oyster Cult (2004)
Extended Versions: The Encore Collection (2004)
Singles Collection (2005)
Collections (2006)
Alive In America, Pt 1 (2006)
Setlist: The Very Best Of Blue Oyster Cult (2010)

Live 1976 (VHS) (1994)
A Long Day's Night (DVD) (2002)
Black And Blue (DVD) (2002)
Live (DVD) (2007)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: September 29th 2002
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
Score:
Artist website: www.blueoystercult.com
Hits: 2125
Language: english