Blue Öyster Cult
Some Enchanted Evening (2007 Remasters)

THE REVIEW

It's a real shame that talented groups like Blue Öyster Cult are unknown to most; yet the entire metal scene owes a lot to this fantastic band born from the twisted minds of the Bouchard brothers. The lyrics and sounds capable of creating intense and dark atmospheres make the Cult a rare and precious episode in the musical landscape of the '70s.

"Some Enchanted Evening" perfectly captures the spirit and grit that the band transmitted live, serving us a handful of tracks taken from performances in the late '70s. Originally, this album consisted of only 7 tracks, too few for a live album (even though over a million copies were sold in the States). Fortunately, last year a new version of the album was released, containing 7 bonus tracks and accompanied by a bonus DVD with another entire performance (filmed here) by the band. 

Inserting the first audio CD, the first track, introduced by the usual announcer, is R U Ready 2 Rock, a hard-hitting song perfect for immediately energizing the audience. Needless to say, this and almost all the other songs are played excellently, almost surpassing the respective studio versions. E.T.I. essentially follows the same concept as the previous track: live, it loses something in terms of atmosphere but certainly gains impact and involvement. Astronomy is a separate episode in the tracklist. It's the only song that doesn't fully convince; to be fair, it's played very well, but without the presence of those piano parts that characterize the studio version, the song loses much of its charm. Then comes the first cover of the platter, Kick Out The Jams by the little-known MC5, a cute and catchy song, nothing more. Godzilla and (Don't Fear) The Reaper most likely need no introduction, being practically the band's signature songs and executed to perfection. Another cover, We Gotta Get Out of This Place by the Animals. You've surely heard it somewhere, in any case, the BOC version is decidedly better than the original. 

Here we arrive at the bonus tracks. M2 262, Harvester of Eyes, and Hot Rails To Hell are taken from the band's second and third albums, in the early period, and are performed (I'm just repeating myself at this point) with great skill and precision. (This Ain't The) Summer of Love is a track that, in my opinion, could have been easily omitted; it's not up to the standard of the others. As it should be, the moment of improvisation arrives with 5 Guitars where, indeed, the guitarists (and especially the bassist) show off their technical skills. The third (and last) cover is probably the most famous. Who doesn't know Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf, the song that introduced the very term Heavy Metal? This version is more modern than the original, and Eric Bloom's voice certainly makes it more expressive than the original. For some arcane and unknown reason, to close the CD is another version of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. Bah.

The DVD containing the filmed performance of BOC is unfortunately of good but not excellent quality; in particular, the direction does a mediocre job, limiting itself to the usual 3-4 shots. In any case, it's an addition that's certainly appreciated. 

In conclusion, this live album can easily be considered on par with the others "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" and "Extraterrestrial Live", which portray the band in the other 2 "periods".