On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (live album) by Blue Öyster Cult

From spigelwii 04/02/2024 12:07

A wonderful anthology of early Blue Öyster Cult from top to bottom, and one that leans completely into the mythos that BÖC were cultivating at the time: A bunch of sinister-looking dudes playing sinister-sounding music with seemingly impenetrable lyrics about harvesting eyes (buying drugs), killing and maiming--it's alright (police brutality), Hitler (Hitler), and diz-busters, blue sky bags and bungo ponies (I dunno). Just look at the cover art...it's the classy kind of unsettling, like In the Mouth of Madness meets mysterious men in black suits.

If you still don't understand the brilliance of what BÖC was doing in those early days, I'll spell it out: The band was essentially stabbing you in the throat with their tongues planted in their cheeks. It's a marvelous joke designed to mortify parents, alarm the deep-dive-averse, and galvanize those precious few who were actually able to decode the borderline pretentious attempt to develop such a highly specific image.

Many people in the know have described the first three albums in the band's catalog as "the first chapter in a book," with the softer, more commercial Agents of Fortune, Spectres, and Mirrors following the "black and white" era. OYFOOYK contains the strongest material of BÖC's first three albums, and although sonically it's not the greatest live album of all time, the hard-edged warts-and-all menace somehow makes the album even more attractive, like the good girl in school who was always into the bad boys.

Oh, you wanted to hear about the music? Sure, the margins of this album are splattered with all sorts of creative ink that contextualizes why it's so great, but if you wanted to take this LIVE ROCK AND DAMN ROLL ALBUM at face value, you're welcome to it. Buck Dharma's guitar solos rip (and why wouldn't they, his name is BUCK DHARMA), Al Bouchard's drumming is ferocious, and Eric Bloom's subdued vocal/sneer evokes the visage of someone who might have served as Alice Cooper's supervisor.

The album opens in unsettling fashion with a chill "Subhuman" that morphs into a furious rager by the end, paving the way for the madcap "Harvester of Eyes" (and a proper band introduction), "Hot Rails" and "Red and the Black" smoke with 70's era pyrotechnic smoke, and "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" plays out like a surrealistic nightmare ("I know Lucifer so well I call him by his first name--Lou"). The second half of the album is led by "Buck's Boogie", which provides a moment of what almost passes for levity due to it existing for an excuse for dudes to just shred for a while. This returns a little bit later, too, with the "Five Guitars" section of "ME 262" where all five band members just stand up front with guitars and all shred a gnarly jam complete with an actual arrangement and guitar harmonies. The triple-encore feature doesn't let up either, with the band's ominous take on their own "Before the Kiss, a Redcap," and a bow of respect to The Yardbirds and Steppenwolf with aggressive readings of "I Ain't Got You" and "Born to Be Wild" respectively.

I love this damn record. It isn't perfect, but I don't want it to be. It's dirty, it's wild, it's foreboding, and it's grungy, and I wouldn't have it any other way to represent the best band on the planet staring into the nuclear void at the peak of their reign of terror or, if you will, Career of Evil.

Hm... I really like Blue Öyster Cult and attended at least 10 live shows since 1983. But sorry... this live recording is terribly overrated. There's just a kind of a mediocre garage band playing poor songs. To be honest, the guitars are great and really rock... but the songwriting is terrible, although some tracks like "Cities On Flames" or "Hot Rails To Hell" became "Cult classics". Nevertheless... the "Career Of Evil" started one year later with "Agents Of Fortune" and lasted 'til "Imaginos".

Well chosen selection of tracks to perform live...and "ME 262" sticks out as particularly memorable. Yet, this record has always failed to hold my attention. BOC seemed more exciting as a studio band. And I say that having seen them several times. I still prefer this to ETI Live though.

From Fischman 12/15/2016 16:02

Easily one of the best live albums by anybody. This album perfectly captures the energy and vibe of an early BOC concert, and the set list is perfect.

This was my introduction to Blue Oyster Cult. I absolutely love this album. I still go back and sample it frequently. My favorite BOC albums were the earlier ones. This is also my favorite album cover. It just has that occult feel to it.