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Rating: With Agents of Fortune (’76), the second part of the Blue Öyster Cult's career officially begins. This phase started five years earlier and evolved through the release of three excellent studio albums and a live one. The change implemented by the New York quintet isn’t painless for the fans, given that the music produced from now on by Bloom and company will be characterized by less inventiveness and impact, in favor of more refined and muffled sounds, in line with the American rock blues tradition: especially overseas, the audience will gather in large numbers, and BÖC's name will become part of the mainstream, together with contemporary acts like Aerosmith, Grand Funk Railroad, Kiss, Styx, ZZ Top, Journey, Kansas, labeled as part of the so-called "Arena rock" that was so popular in the latter part of the '70s and continuously played by many FM radios of the era. This leaves a taste of bitterness for those who remember BÖC's underground origins, essentially relegated to the discography of the average American à la Homer Simpson, who, unsurprisingly, is a declared fan of the group, mentioned in some episodes of the well-known cartoon. The reader should not think that this introduction implies an inexorable failure for the album under review, which, at times, is a more than good product, even if it irreparably marks the loss of the magic present in the eponymous debut album, in Tyranny and Mutation and in Secret Treaties.
Rather than describing the album track by track, I prefer to rearrange the order of the songs, dividing them between those that most clearly express the group's sonic shift and those that better reconnect to tradition. The first category includes the opener This ain't The Summer Of Love, a track that doesn’t reach three minutes and frankly seems banal, with rather irritating vocals for the band’s standards, almost mannerist, the trivial True Confessions, written by Allen Lanier, the first concession to pop rock in the group's career. A separate discussion is warranted for the now famous Don’t Fear the Reaper, written and sung by Donald Roeser, a well-crafted track with a beautiful melodic appeal, especially famous for being included by John Carpenter in the Halloween (’78) soundtrack and being highly appreciated by Stephen King: the melancholy of the lyrics coordinates well with the electroacoustic sounds of the guitars, although listening to the track repeatedly can become tiresome.
Always characterized by strong melodicism is E. T. I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), in which the band revisits the established sci-fi references, with an excellent guitar work and a nice off-beat riff closing the chorus: one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album. A debt to American classic rock is also Debbie Denise, a touching ballad closing the album with intense acoustic passages and a relaxed chorus, written by Patty Smith (with original lyrics hinting at lesbianism, later changed during the process). The second category includes more atypical and less predictable tracks, where the hand of the Bouchard brothers is evident, who in hindsight are the true architects of the group’s darker side: The Revenge Of Vera Gemini, written with the usual Patty Smith, sees Bloom at the top of his form and perhaps more at ease in a piece particularly modern for its time, alternating with the female voice that gives a particular unease to the track, almost from another dimension. Note the excellent guitar work, more focused on the rhythmic texture and emotional tension creation than on the rock evolutions one might expect from the group. Sinful Love, a rhythmic track built around drums, with a killer riff, benefits from the intervention of female choirs to create an obsessive and perverse climax, in line with the lyrics. Tattoo Vampire, written by the bassist, is almost a sped-up version of the old Hot Rails To Hell, and thus the most violent track of the entire album, a devilish and defiant rock‘n’roll. Also by Joe Bouchard is the splendid Morning Final, a ballad with debts to late '70s psychedelia, with uncommon development and refined arrangements: the splendid lyrics reference city life and the urban decay of New York of those years, depicted in "Serpico" or in "Dog Day Afternoon" with Al Pacino. Tenderloin is an excellent contribution by Lanier to the album, also a mid-tempo supported by keyboards and synthesizers, with great melody and excellent development.
At the end of the listening, there remains doubt about the rating to attribute to the album: I settle on a 4/5 in view of the intrinsic quality of the work, although true fans of BÖC might feel authorized to give a lower rating. Overall, it is still a recommended work for those who are not familiar with the group, and want to approach, step by step in the sonic universe of the best American band of the '70s. A concluding note on the cover: "Agents Of Fortune" are the cards held by the magician pictured on the cover, but beware of the individual’s index: it points to the cross of Kronos/chaos cross, of disorder and of the "non-sense" that governs the group's cosmogony. Genius and subtly disturbing.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 True Confessions (02:56)
True, true confessions, I lied
True, true confessions, I lied
Spent all night with Candy's eyes
Dragged myself 'cross the warm blind side
Spent all night with Candy's eyes
Dragged myself 'cross the warm blind side
True, true confession, she cried
True, true confession, she cried
Stand in the doorway in a jealous rage
Drag myself 'cross her wild terrain
Stand in the doorway in a jealous rage
Drag myself 'cross her wild terrain
We're never sorry, we're never sad
We're modern lovers, what fun we had
True, true confessions, we tried
True, true confessions, we tried
Naked, exposed like fine rock-n-roll
Perfect as strangers, imperfect as love
Naked, exposed like fine rock-n-roll
Perfect as strangers, imperfect as love
We're never sorry, we're never sad
We're modern lovers, what fun we had
03 (Don't Fear) The Reaper (05:08)
All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain (We can be like they are)
Come on baby (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand (Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby I'm your man
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
Valentine is done
Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity (Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women every day (Like Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women every day (Redefine happiness)
Another 40,000 coming every day (We can be like they are)
Come on baby (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand (Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby I'm your man
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
Love of two is one
Here but now they're gone
He came last night out of sadness
And it was clear that she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew and then disappeared
The curtains flew and then he appeared (Saying don't be afraid)
Come on baby (And she had no fear)
And she ran to him (Then they started to fly)
They looked backward and said goodbye (She had become like they are)
She had taken his hand (She had become like they are)
Come on baby (Don't fear the reaper)
04 E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) (03:43)
I hear the music daylight disc
Three men in black said, "Don’t report this...
Ascension." and that’s all they said
Sickness now the hour of dread
All praise
He’s found the awful truth
Balthazar
He’s found the saucer news
Wait! there’s more…
I’m in fairy rings and tower beds
“Don’t report this" three men said
Books by blameless and by the dead
King in yellow, the Queen in red
All praise
He’s found the awful truth
Balthazar
He’s found the saucer news
Dead leaves always give up motion
I no longer feel emotion
When prophecy fails the falling notion
Don’t report this
Agents of Fortune
All praise
He’s found the awful truth
Balthazar
He’s found the saucer news
07 Tattoo Vampire (02:41)
I went down last night with a tattoo madam
To a nude dagger fantasy domain
Wrapped in hell, I lost my breath
Chest to stimulating chinese breast
Grisly smiles, that don't flake off
Corny-colored demons leering
Vampire photos, sucking the skin
Seeding the night at the inker's parlor
Flash permabrand pricked for a dollar
Her wrist surreal a heart and flying skull
Lettered "Life and love pass swiftly"
Grisly smiles, that don't flake off
Corny-colored demons leering
Vampire photos, sucking the skin
08 Morning Final (04:12)
He cast a grim shadow
Through the busy street
Said he was a junkie
And he punctuated his walk with a gun
Motiveless murder
The papers scream
The cops all said
The crowd was iced by the sight
Oh baby don't it make you feel so bad
Dark clouds are over the street
After what I read, I can hardly feel my heart...
My heart beat
Down the subway stairs
After him they leapt
An echo snap and scream of fire
The hot pursuit was done
For the last time he felt the light
And gave up his last fight
Oh baby don't it make you feel so bad
Dark clouds are over the street
After what I read, I can hardly feel my heart...
My heart beat
09 Tenderloin (03:57)
I come to you in a blue blue room
By some abuse and some heart
You raise the blinds say, "Let's have light on life,
Let's watch it fall apart. Let's watch it fall apart."
Night time flowers, evening roses
Bless this garden that never closes
Treat her gently, treat her kind
Tenderloin will last all night
I'm feeling hungry, have another line
So faith is taken up
You raise your eyes say, "That's just like life,
There's never quite enough. There's just never quite enough."
Night time flowers, evening roses
Bless this garden that never closes
Treat her gently, treat her kind
Tenderloin will last all night
I come to you in a blue blue room
By some abuse and some heart
You raise the blinds say, "Let's have light on life,
Let's watch it fall apart. Let's watch it fall apart.
10 Debbie Denise (04:09)
She kept the light open, all night long
For me to come home, and sing her my song
Oh Debbie Denise was true to me
She'd wait by the window, so patiently
And I'd come on home with my hair hanging down
She'd pin it up, and softly smile
But I was out rolling with my band
And I was out rolling with my band
I never realized, she was so undone
I didn't suspect she had no life of her own
She was so true but she was a she
She was just there I would just come
Stumbling in she'd show me she'd care
I didn't care cause she was just there
But I was out rolling with my band
And I was out rolling with my band
I wouldn't come home for weeks at a time
She wouldn't accept that she was free
Oh Debbie Denise was true to me
She'd wait by the window so bitterly
Wanting me to come close, I guess I noticed
I couldn't see, so what could I say
That more affection could I show her
I had only one thing on my mind
When I come to her, she'd pin back my hair
And out past the fields out the window I'd stare
Where I was out rolling with my band
I was out rolling with my band
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