Perhaps more significantly, Blue yster Cult knew how to combine humor with its hard rock. Spectres begins with the one-two punch of Godzilla and Golden Age of Leather . The latter starts with this toast: Raise your can of beer on high .
And with it, you can just imagine Archie Bunker giving his proper respects. Pseudo-serious rock bands have often sung about monsters over the years. In fact, Iron Maiden even brings a beast on stage with it to this day.
But the song Godzilla is all about that beautifully cheesy lizard and star of many b-movies. Oh no, there goes Tokyo / Go, go, Godzilla , the song states. And speaking of creepy guys, Blue yster Cult also has a song about that great night crawler, Nosferatu .
I doubt I was the only one that didn t quite get Blue yster Cult back in the day. For instance, the most popular song from Spectres is R.U.
Ready 2 Rock , which received omnipresent FM radio play back when AOR ruled the airwaves. Naturally, the stoners took this track as a call to arms. It was nearly rhetorical because these long hairs were ever-ready to rock out.
But upon close inspection, the song lyric speaks about transcending life s mundane existence. It s about exploring the wonder of light and dying to be born again . Sure, you can still bang your head to it.
But it was made to get that grey matter inside those skulls working, as well. Blue yster Cult also released Some Enchanted Evening right about the same time as Spectres. Naturally, it contains many of the songs from the studio release, including R.
U. Ready 2 Rock and Godzilla . It also includes (Don t Fear) the Reaper , which has lost some of its spook power due to a popular SNL skit featuring Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell, who humorously recreated the song s original studio recording.
This concert s two cover songs say much about Blue yster Cult s true musical inspirations. No, there are no Black Sabbath songs. Instead, these guys do faithful versions of MC5 s Kick Out the Jams and the Animals We Gotta Get Out of This Place .
These were more than just memorable rockers; Kick Out the Jams is fueled by political angst, and We Gotta Get Out of This Place is angst of a more personal nature. One of its bonus tracks is Born to Be Wild , which may be the first place where the term heavy metal ever appeared in song. It s also a song about breaking out on a personal level.
Another added bonus is an 11-song accompanying DVD. Rather than the Atlanta show captured on CD, this visual was taken from a Landover, Maryland, concert in 1978. To fully appreciate Blue yster Cult, you must view them in the context where they made their greatest mark.
The fact that they wrote brainy and memorable songs, and also sold records to many fans too buzzed to notice how good they were, is nothing short of a miracle. That must have made for many strangely enchanted evenings, I suspect.
News RSS