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Rating: Released in '81, Fire of Unknown Origin is the last BÖC album to feature the band's original lineup: after its release, Albert Bouchard, an excellent drummer and one of the true souls of the group, would leave the band for an uncertain and inconsistent solo career.
In short, FOUO can be defined as a return of the band to the theatrical and sinister sounds that characterized the first three studio albums by BÖC, without abandoning the melodic approach that emerged in the albums released in the latter half of the '70s. The songwriting appears particularly mature, and the production is excellent, with modern sounds that do not detract from the impact of the compositions. The title track, at the album's opening, characterized by Allen Lanier's keyboards, never so present in the previous decade, is marked by a latent tension and a nod to the well-known alien themes of many BÖC pieces: the crescendo of the chorus, in particular, gives a strong emphasis to the piece, with Eric Bloom in top form. The second track, Burnin' for You, is one of BÖC's most successful singles: it is essentially a rock song with a strong radio appeal, featuring great guitar work and a decidedly catchy and hook-laden chorus. It perhaps clashes with the band's traditional sound, marking a clear shift of the group towards the AOR popular in the early '80s, with bands like Foreigner and Toto. The following track, Veteran of the Psychic Wars, is instead one of the group's masterpieces, the last true gem of their career, at least until Imaginos (1988): a rhythmic fabric characterized by Albert Bouchard's pulsating drums supports Bloom's declamations, in a nightmare-like atmosphere carved by the keyboards and the always appropriate guitar interventions by Donald Roeser. Sole Survivor, opened by Joe Bouchard's bass, is distinguished by its driving choruses and a melody that is hard to forget, without losing any impact: a piece surely destined for fiery live performances. Heavy Metal: The Black and Silver is another compositional peak of the album, with a tough guitar riff and particularly nasty and aggressive vocals: an ideal modern reinterpretation of pieces like Stairway to the Stars and Transmaniacon MC. Vengeance (the Pact) is an excellent track with a structure very similar to the previous Sole Survivor: excellent use of choruses, excellent refrain, aimed at creating a true anthem. It is a track comparable, in certain tones, to the pieces played in the same years by Judas Priest, an epic heavy rock. Joan Crawford changes the game once more: it is a track with the group's classic theatrical style, introduced by an excellent piano solo and marked by a compelling chorus: splendid is the central break, in which the return from the underworld of the actress to whom the piece is dedicated is described, and her intention to settle the scores with her daughter, who in those years authored a critical biography of her mother. A dark rock piece, in the sense that can be given to BÖC's tracks, not without irony. The last track of the album is the atmospheric pop rock of Don't Turn Your Back, where the mysterious traits of the group's music return to blend with an easily listened melody, excellently arranged with the balanced contribution of all the musicians, with an intriguing bass accompaniment. Inferior to the masterpieces of the early '70s, FOUO is probably the best Blue Öyster Cult album in the second part of their career, released at a time when the group's fame was experiencing some decline. For the band's fans, it is poignant, either for the farewell to the original lineup or because it revisits, in an adult and now detached way, the typical traits of the group's previous production, in a high and unrepeatable class cliché, with that touch of self-indulgence allowed to the greats. To listen to, with eyes glancing between the album cover and the stars.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Burnin' for You (04:30)
Home in the valley
Home in the city
Home isn't pretty
Ain't no home for me
Home in the darkness
Home on the highway
Home isn't my way
Home I'll never be
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can't see no reason to put up a fight
I'm living for givin' the devil his due
And I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
Time is the essence
Time is the season
Time ain't no reason
Got no time to slow
Time everlasting
Time to play B-sides
Time ain't on my side
Time I'll never know
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I'm not the one to tell you what's wrong and what's right
I've seen suns that were freezing and lives that were through
But I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
Burn out the day
Burn out the night
I can't see no reason to put up a fight
I'm living for givin' the devil his due
And I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
And I'm burnin', I'm burnin', I'm burnin' for you
03 Veteran of the Psychic Wars (04:50)
You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
I've been living on the edge so long
Where the winds of limbo roar
And I'm young enough to look at
And far too old to see
All the scars are on the inside
I'm not sure if there's anything left of me
Don't let these shakes go on
It's time we had a break from it
It's time we had some leave
We've been living in the flames
We've been eating up our brains
Oh, please don't let these shakes go on
You ask me why I'm weary, why I can't speak to you
You blame me for my silence
Say it's time I changed and grew
But the war's still going on dear
And there's no end that I know
And I can't say if we're ever...
I can't say if we're ever gonna to be free
Don't let these shakes go on
It's time we had a break from it
It's time we had some leave
We've been living in the flames
We've been eating out our brains
Oh, please don't let these shakes go on
You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
My energy's spent at last
And my armor is destroyed
I have used up all my weapons and I'm helpless and bereaved
Wounds are all I'm made of
Did I hear you say that this is victory?
Don't let these shakes go on
It's time we had a break from it
Send me to the rear
Where the tides of madness swell
And been sliding into hell
Oh, please don't let these shakes go on
Don't let these shakes go on
Don't let these shakes go on
04 Sole Survivor (04:05)
There walked a lonely man
Silent, mute, the only man
Not knowing how not knowing why
Was he the sole survivor
Why should he be alive
Breathing still while others died
And the only question
Why was he the sole survivor?
Sole survivor
Cursed with second sight
Haunted savior
Cried into the night
Sole survivor
Cursed with second sight
Haunted savior
Cried into the night
Wind blew across the sand
He stood alone he had no plan
And with the last rays of the sun
He screamed aloud began to run
In his tears he sees his face
"I am the end of the human race
When I'm gone there'll be no trace
For I'm the sole survivor"
Sole survivor
Cursed with second sight
Haunted savior
Cried into the night
Sole survivor
Cursed with second sight
Haunted savior
Cried into the night
One night when years had passed
The sky shook from a fiery blast
And there a starship - saved at last
To come rescue this survivor
They beckoned him inside
But only man he would not ride
Instead he found a place to hide
For he's the sole survivor
Sole survivor
Cursed with second sight
Haunted savior
Cried into the night
06 Vengeance (The Pact) (04:41)
See them standing in the foothills
Waiting for the kill
On wings of fear the terror sweeps
Into the city beat
To defend
This is the pact
But when life's scorned
And damage done
To avenge
This is the pact
On wings of vengeance
Taarna finds them
Death for barbarians
To defend
This is the pact
But when life's scorned
And damage done
To avenge
This is the pact
Flying over the oasis
She is captured and they pull her down
Feeling pain
From the air
Close my eyes
And I am there
I feel I'm falling down in a deep dark pit
"Pull him down", the soldier said
"I'll put an arrow in his head"
But the bird
Flew off instead
To save his master
On his back she fled
Her time has come
Riding her bird
High in the saddle
She gets her chance to fulfil the pact now
As their leader
Swoops from the clouds
She sticks him with her sword
Then she throws him down
The enemy shrivel and die
The enemy shrivel and die
To defend
This is the pact
But when life's scorned
And damage done
To avenge
This is the pact
08 Joan Crawford (04:54)
Junkies down in Brooklyn are going crazy
They're laughing just like hungry dogs in the street
Policemen are hiding behind the skirts of little girls
Their eyes have turned the color of frozen meat
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Catholic school girls have thrown away their mascara
They chain themselves to the axles of big Mac trucks
The sky is filled with herds of shivering angels
The fat lady laughs, "Gentlemen, start your trucks"
Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Christina
Mother's home
Christina
Come to mother
Christina
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Joan Crawford has risen from the grave
Joan Crawford has risen
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