In an age of processed pop music having a monopoly on the "Hits" station and the "Billboard Hot 100" charts, there's also a fervent sense of nostalgia- in some cases pseudo nostalgia, but nostalgia nonetheless- growing among the younger generation. Cultural icons, trends, and bands from the 70s, 80s, and 90s are being brought back into the mainstream. Having revered bands like ''The Rolling Stones", "The Ramones", "Led Zeppelin", "Guns n Roses", etc. upon etc. dominate your playlists is one thing, but the thing that many younger people don't realize is that it isn't just nostalgia. Most, if not all are still playing. Still touring, and still famous.
One such gem is "Blue Öyster Cult." Still playing, still touring, still awesome. From 1967 to present day the band started under the names "The Disciples" and "Travesty" before settling on "Blue Öyster Cult" with members John Wiesenthal, Allen Lanier, Donald Roeser, Albert Bouchard, and Andrew Winters, alongside manager Sandy Pearlman. Being in the "right place, right time" and coming together to make songs that got them a veritable cult following.-- See what I did there? The songs that would ring a bell the most to the average Joe would be "Burnin' For You" and "Don't Fear The Reaper" from the albums "Fire of Unknown Origin" and "Agents of Fortune", respectively.
Most of the members met while in college and dropped out to focus on creating the sick, quality music we know today. Trippy songs with hints at psychedelics were a big part of the era but didn't have as many influences in the Blues' music. Starting the band 3 years before the Summer of Love, the band's albums and songs centered more so on death with beautiful album art and inventive song titles and lyrics that transcend trends.The theme of death is especially prevalent in "Agents of Fortune" and with songs like "Don't Fear The Reaper", "Dial M For Murder", "Nosferatu" and more. While drugs and free love didn't influence their music as much, biblical themes appear much more frequently.
Like many artists, different themes and tones appear from album to album. The Blues' sang with the true and honest passion of real musicians both on stage and in the studio. The music isn't superficial even when it's simply about a girl.
I'm thinking of "Debbie Denise" here, but just like that example all music that comes from somewhere of genuine feeling and quality is good. You look at the way that bands like the Blues' and others from that time are on stage, how they throw themselves into it and they are full-on musicians and not simply vocalists and you lament for a bit about how the majority of music isn't that way anymore.
That isn't only true for this band and/or any others of the genre. Rockers go by their own rules. They make controversy because they do not have to apologize for themselves like pop-stars often do. The Blues' showed off this with the song "Joan Crawford", the actress who was criticized for physical and emotional abuse to her two children (and thus, spawning the movie "Mommie Dearest).
Remember this; if anyone calls you a poser for saying you like an ''old band'', pay them no mind. Whether you only like a few of the most popular songs or you're well-versed in all the facts of the best from AC/DC to Zeppelin, you have every right to enjoy some of the best music ever made.
Don't keep calm, and rock on.
