Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:44 pm**

Sorus wrote:I don't have either of those yet. (For shame!) Need to pick them up one of these days.. er, years.

Is that about when John Shirley started writing lyrics?

Exactly! He has been their lyricist for their two latest albums. (I used to like some of the old Bloom lyrics though, especially on Fire of Unknown Origin and The Revolution By Night, and I hope he tries his hand at it again)

I have not seen Black and Blue yet...

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:46 pm**

How new are the "new" albums? I thought Imaginos was the last original album.

Posted: **Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:04 pm**

Cail wrote:How new are the "new" albums? I thought Imaginos was the last original album.

"Heaven Forbid" came out in 1998, and "Curse of the Hidden Mirror" was released in 2001. FYI the lineup is three original members (Buck Dharma, Eric Bloom, Alan Lanier) and a new bassist and drummer.

Posted: **Thu Feb 09, 2006 3:58 pm**

The Vigil

In a purple vision
Many thousand years ago
I saw the silent stranger
Walk the earth alone

Twenty-seven faces
With their eyes turned to the sky
I've got a camera
And an airtight alibi

I know they're out there
We see them coming
Faster than the speed of light
They greet us in the dead of the night

Somewhere, someday, someone
They'll be light and sound
They'll alight on the ground
On which we stand

Somewhere, someday, someone
Will help us to survive
They're gonna show us hell
And bring us back alive

Well, I'm no poet, but I can't be fooled
The lies don't count, the whispers do
I hear the whispers on the wind
They say the earth has fallen due

We run in circles
Our days are numbered
Every night I look away
To the heavens and I pray

Come to us
Come to us

Our lights are dim
Our roads are crumbling
And we don't know what to do
We're sick and tired
And dying to meet you
'Cause we bit off more than
We can chew

Posted: **Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:51 pm**

Well I bumped inside the magic man
And he laid some tricks on me
He said, you do need help my friend
I whispered, obviously
He laid a spread of jacks and queens
And he bade me take my pick
But every face it had your face
I cried out, I am sick

Sick of hauling your love around
Want to run the train alone
But the engine tracks straight through your heart
And weighs me like a stone

Oh, it’s a hard load to love you
It takes up all my time, having you
So familiar
Like last life’s
Nursery rhyme

So I gave away the pictures
And your golden ring
And the phone calls you sent me
And the silver birds that sing
Then the man he told me something
That really brought me down
Your things were thrown away, it’s true
But you were still in town

Sick of hauling your love around
Wanna run the train alone
But the engine tracks straight through your heart
And weighs me like a stone

Oh, it’s a hard load to love you
It takes up all my time, having you
So familiar
Like last life’s
Nursery rhyme

The magician let a message
It flashes when I hide
Accept the chains of loving
Accept or else remove yourself from her side
And do without her love
And I lay back with a steel chain
I keep it by my side
I could mail a letter to you but I still
Have my pride

Sick of hauling your love around
Wanna run the train alone
But the engine tracks straight through your heart
And weighs me like a stone

Three times I’ve sent you back from me
Three times my bones gone dry
And three times I’ve seen the shooting shark
Lighting up the sky

Oh, it’s a hard load to love you, babe
It takes my breath away
The fourth time round
Is the last time round
There’s nothing else to say

Interesting trivia-Randy (American Idol) Jackson plays bass on this song.

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:14 am**

Listened to Cultasaurus Erectus during my workout tonight. I'm convinced that this is the best BOC album extant. If there was any doubt about Buck's status as a guitar god, it's put to rest right frickin' here. If you can get past the embarassingly bad lyrics on The Marshall Plan (even though Eric is singing his butt off), Buck's guitar is second to no one. He's all over the place with some amazing fills and a great riff. Shame the lyrics are so bad.

Then there's Lips in the Hills. Buck's never played with this sound or fury before or since. This song is archtypical heavy f-in' metal.

I'd go as far as to say that there isn't a bad note played on this album, and with the exception of The Marshall Plan's lyrics (I liked 'em when I was 14), there's nothing bad at all about it.

I think it's better than the three "Black and White" albums, and that's saying something.

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:14 am**

Old stuff! Some Enchanted Evening, BOC, Agents of Fortune, Secret Treaties, Tyranny and Mutation, On Your Feet or on Your Knees!!!!!

Hot Rails To Hell

Riding the underground, swimming in sweat
A rumble above and below, hey cop don't you know?
The heat's on alright
The hot summer day didn't quit for the night

1277 express to heaven, speeding along like dynamite
1277 express to heaven, rumbles the steel like a dogfight
You caught me in it's spell
Trying to leave but you know darn well
The heat from below can burn your eyes out

Blackened out eyes, scratched on a wall
Stoned out looks from the crowd, the king will not know
On the wall it was said
The flash of his cards was sprayed with red

1277 express to heaven, speeding along like dynamite
1277 express to heaven, rumbles the steel like a dogfight
You caught me in it's spell
Trying to leave but you know darn well
The heat from below can burn your eyes out

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:18 am**

danlo wrote:Old stuff! Some Enchanted Evening, BOC, Agents of Fortune, Secret Treaties, Tyranny and Mutation, On Your Feet or on Your Knees!!!!!

Agreed.
Lately I been playing E.T.I.- Live and Some Enchanted Evening.

On Your Feet... has always been a favorite of mine too.

Go go Godzilla!

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:11 am**

Don't get me wrong, the old stuff is fantastic. OYFOOYK has been in my CD player in the truck for nearly a month.

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:56 pm**

Cultosaurus Erectus is one of my 'desert island CDs'.

Deadline

You said you'd be here at a quarter to five
I didn't know if you were dead or alive
How long you think that I can sharpen my knife
I've got better things to do with my life

It's almost the deadline
Don't miss the deadline, darling
When all your bad dreams will come true

Don't miss the deadline
It's almost the deadline, darling
I wouldn't want it to happen to you

Phil screamed at him, and he hung up the phone
I wonder if he ever felt more alone
He never finished his coffee that night
The photo they showed David was a terrible sight

He missed the deadline
He passed the deadline, darling
And I believe that somehow he knew

He crossed the deadline
He passed the deadline, darling
There wasn't a thing anybody could do

Listen my darling, now, don't play with fire
You find a way to balance faith and desire

It's almost the deadline
Don't miss the deadline darling
Consequences are easily misconstrued

Don't miss the deadline
It's almost the deadline, darling
I couldn't live if it happened to you

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:15 pm**

I was sooooo close to posting that one last time. Since we're on the trip....

From the dust I rose on high
Thunder cloud in a two-lane sky
From the world I did rebel
A fallen angel

Highway lust was in my blood
No girl could ever take my love
Cold and cruel and then I fell
A fallen angel

A girl so strange I lost my head
Lost it all got left for dead
I curse the day now I’m just a shell
A fallen angel

Gonna rise up from hell
I’m the fallen angel

When the brink of ruin lies
Upon the world angels shall rise
To lead the fallen now remember world
A fallen angel

Gonna rise up from hell
Gonna rise up from hell
Gonna rise up from hell
I’m the fallen angel

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:23 pm**

Yeah!

I am gripped by what I cannot tell
Have I slipped or have I merely fell
I feel gypped my senses telling lies
I've been stiffed by serpent's soundless cries

Up in the hills
An apparition
Filling me
With superstition
A fiery night the night that I saw,
The night that I saw
The night that I saw
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills in the hills
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills
In the hills

I'm so flipped snared by hidden claws
I've been t-tripped I'm crawling on all fours
I've been stripped the insulation's gone
Wish I'd slept to waking in the morn

Up in the sky
Beyond the chasm
My eyes behold
A rare phantasm
The Godless night, the night that I saw
The night that I saw
The night that I saw
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills in the hills
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills
In the hills

I am gripped by what I cannot tell
Have I slipped or have I merely fell
I feel gypped my senses telling lies
I've been stiffed by serpent's soundless cries

Up in the hills
An apparition
Filling me
With superstition
The Godless night
The night that I saw
The night that I saw
The night that I saw
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills in the hills
Lips Lips
Lips in the hills
In the hills

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:33 pm**

"Lips" is my favorite song on the album. I borrowed a mix tape of a friend of mine that it was on (this would've been '81 or so), and I was like "holy crow!, I can't believe they're not playing this on the radio!"

Track 2:
Keep goin' getting higher
New worlds waiting in the sky
Escape the feasting and the hunger
Not the monsters in our minds

Got our hands on a ship
And stole away into the night
The four of us and Pasha dear
She to steer and we to fight

Fed up with rules and regulations
No more laughter left on Earth
Outer Space our one salvation
May God help us in our search

We fled so fast that we grew younger
Put the ship on cruise control
We all did our best with Pasha
But not as good as good ol' Joe

Monsters, monsters, monsters.....In the night
Monsters, monsters, monsters.....In black and white
Monsters, monsters, monsters.....Out of control
Monsters, monsters, monsters.....When you're alone
Monsters, monsters, monsters.....Feed on themselves
Monsters, monsters, monsters.....On the road to hell

Love never should have entered
It was never in the plan
We were finally going to have her
And let Joe be damned!

Joe awoke from a stupor
It was clear something was wrong
He rushed in and found us with her
And in his rage he aimed his gun

One shot and it was over
Pasha smiled and then was gone...

I cannot wait 'till Sony gets around to remastering this album.

Oh, and what do you think of Imaginos Sorus? I bought it when it came out, and didn't like it (other than the unbelievable re-working of Astronomy). It's growing on me now.

Posted: **Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:47 pm**

I've always been a fan of concept albums. I did have to listen to it a couple of times before it started to grow on me, but it did pretty fast.

Okay, Astronomy on loop for awhile - always been one of my all-time favorites, and that's just an awesome version.

Fresh from zones of moisture
And afterwards the meat
With spangles on my long-tailed suits
And songs to haunt the one that's saved

Just call me Desdinova
I'm sure to be
The lucky one
When destiny assigns wisdom
Known to me
The starry wisdom

I am the one you warned me of
I am the one who'd never, never lie

The writing in the notebook
Notation from the stars
Songs by Desdinova
And frost warnings from the women's farm
Whose agents could not ever see
His hilly eyes and too green rings
Obscured sight and fancy dreams
Holy mass, those 13 fancy dreams

I am the one you warned me of
I am the one who'd never, never lie

Eyes like bottles and hands in my hair
Bottles of blackness the blacker the spare
I'll sit myself behind that clock
And play tunes on its belfry

Five fingers have I to play them like ten
Ten fingers have I to play them again
In decimal chains whose mimic cry
Whose notes will never, never fly
Until they quit those timely tunes
And entered that system from outside

I am the one you warned me of
I am the one who'd never, never lie

Posted: **Sat Mar 04, 2006 5:25 pm**

God I love this band.

I just did my workout to Cultasaurus and On Your Feet Or On Your Knees (really good workout), and I'm struck yet again how good (and underrated) this band was/is. I cannot believe they're not in the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame yet.

Parched land no desert sand, sun was just a dot
And a little bit of water goes a long way, ’cause it’s hot
Three good buddies were laughing and smoking in the back
Of a rented ford
They couldn’t know they weren’t going far

Each one with the money in his pocket
Could go out and buy himself a brand new car
But they all had the money they had
Money they hoped would take them very far

The sky was bright, a traffic light, now and then a truck
And they hadn’t seen a cop around all day
They brought everything they needed
Bags and scales to weigh the stuff
The driver said the border’s just over the bluff

It wasn’t until the car suddenly stopped
In the middle of a cold and barren place
And the other guy turned and spilled
Three boys blood, did they know a trap had been lain?

They’re ok the last days of may, I’ll be breathing dry air
I’m leaving soon, the others are already there
You wouldn’t be interested in coming along, instead of staying here
They say the west is nice this time of year.

Posted: **Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:39 am**

I've got an interesting question for hardcore BOC afficianados: Is anybody disturbed by the production of the Cult's initial album? I just listened to I'm on the Lamb, but I Ain't no Sheep 1st by BOC and then by Stalk-Forrest (who, incidently had a hit with their cover before Blue Oyster Cult attained a big following). Stalk-Forrest's version is, I hate to say, better--but BOC's could have been just as good except you can barely hear the details and intonations...somebody seriously shortchanged BOC with their 1st album--somebody PLEASE remaster it!

Now to brighten your mood: reprise (Esmer

) the awesome: Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll (better live on OYFOOYK imho...)

My heart is black, and my lips are cold
Cities on flame with rock and roll
Three thousand guitars they seem to cry
My ears will melt, and then my eyes

Oh, let the girl, let that girl, rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll

Gardens of nocturne, forbidden delights
Reins of steel, and it's alright
Cities on flame, with rock and roll
Marshal will buoy, but Fender control

Let the girl, let that girl rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll

My heart is black, and my lips are cold
Cities on flame with rock and roll
Three thousand guitars they seem to cry
My ears will melt, and then my eyes

Let the girl, let that girl rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll

repeat

Posted: **Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:05 pm**

The first four studio albums were recently remastered. I have yet to get them (I'm still listening to them on cassette tapes I made from the LPs), but I hear they're quite good.

FWIW, I prefer all the live versions on OYFOOYK to their studio counterparts.

Posted: **Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:53 am**

I have the remasters and they fixed a lot of the sound problems of the first 3 albums (Agents of Fortune was produced with a little more care at the time and didn't really need to be fixed). Although its almost strange to hear Cagey Cretins without the little tape distortion in the middle.

Posted: **Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:55 am**

Cagey Cretins

Ooo cagey - what you got?
What you got there dummy?
What you got there man?
Ooo cagey - what you got?
What you got there honey?
What is it, a worm?

Dumb clouds are raging
Stupid clouds at my door
Creepy weather coming
Coming 'round my floor
Dumb clouds stay away
Don't come back no more

Ooo cagey - what you got?
Got an awful tummy,
Oh no it's inflamed
Ooo cagey - what you got?
It's so lonely honey
In the state of maine

Dumb clouds are raging
Stupid clouds at my door
Creepy weather coming
Coming 'round my floor
Dumb clouds stay away
Don't come back no more

I'm graduating in one more term
Because I haven't any time to burn
Repeating taste of high-heeled shoe
An eel is waiting under the train

Being chased around by the neighbor's cat
Well it's so lonely in the state of maine

Dumb clouds are ringing
Ringing in my ear
Mother's wombs are crying
Ringing in my fear
Mothers never run
Except when rape is near

Ooo cagey

Posted: **Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:58 am**

My favorite:

Quicklime Girl

Down in the garden district
Where the plants grow strong and tall
Behind the bush there lurks a girl
Who makes them strong and tall

Villagers call her: quicklime girl
Behind her back: quicklime girl
Behind the bush: quicklime girl
She's the mistress of the salmon salt: quicklime girl

In the fall when plants return
By harvest time, she knows the score
Ripe and ready to the eye
But rotten somehow to the core

Villagers call her: quicklime girl
Behind her back: quicklime girl
Behind the bush: quicklime girl
She's the mistress of the salmon salt: quicklime girl

A harvest of life, or harvest of death
One body of life, one body of death
And when you've gone and choked to death
With laughter and a little step
I'll prepare the quicklime, friend
For your ripe and ready grave

It's springtime now and cares subside
And the planting's almost done
And fertile graves, it seems, exist
Within a mile of that duke's joint
Where coast guard crews still take their leave
Lying listless in the sun
And the quick lime girl still plies her trade
The reduction of the many from the one

And they call her: quicklime girl
Behind her back: quicklime girl
Behind the bush: quicklime girl
She's the mistress of the salmon salt: quicklime girl

A harvest of life, a harvest of death
Resumes it's course each day
Because it exists by schedule
A harvest to live, ...............................
And those that crawl, and those that chirp
And next life's swans that seem to turn

Kevin's Watch

The Blue Oyster Cult Appreciation Thread