Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: December 4, 2020 (reissue)
Producers: Steve Schenck & Richie Castellano
Running time: 78.08 min (LP/CD) / approx. 120 min (DVD/Blu-ray)
Genre: Heavy Metal/Heavy Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
There’s no need to waste words on Blue Öyster Cult, those cult agents of conspiracy and good-for-nothing astral travelers who’ve been sowing plagues of “super-biblical” proportions over modern man for more than 50 years. Let me just quickly recap: after moving under the wing of the Italian label Frontiers Music Srl. in the middle of last October, this iconic rock band finally put out a new studio album, “The Symbol Remains”, after a dry spell of 19 years (I know, I know – the RockLine review is still waiting and waiting, but it’s in the works). The label had also backed this big return of the legendary band with a whole string of releases beforehand. Whether it was a heap of live albums or reissues, like the compilation “Cult Classic” (1994, RockLine review) and the albums “Heaven Forbid” (1998, RockLine review) and “Curse of the Hidden Mirror” (2001, RockLine review). Then last December two more live albums followed. One of them is “A Long Day’s Night”, which has now gotten its reissue.
This is officially the band’s fifth live album, first released in 2002. It comes from a show Blue Öyster Cult played at the Navy Pier / Skyline Stage theater in Chicago on the solstice, the longest day of the year, June 21, 2002. When the band played that gig, and by the time the album came out, they were celebrating 35 years in business. They were still running with original member Allen Lanier back then, who left the band in 2007 due to failing health and passed away in mid-August 2013. So the lineup featured three original members at the time: Buck Dharma, Eric Bloom and the aforementioned Lanier. The rhythm section was made up of “pounding” drummer Bobby Rondinelli, who earned his bread in Rainbow, Riot and Black Sabbath, among others, and bassist Danny Miranda, who rejoined the band two years ago and recorded the current album “The Symbol Remains” (2020) with them. That very same lineup we hear on this live recording opened the shows on Uriah Heep’s European tour in the fall and winter of 2003. The band was out promoting their then-current album “Curse of the Hidden Mirror” at the time, playing it at the shows. In 2003 Blue Öyster Cult showed up on their last tour with a proper run of dates. Afterwards they only played Europe at the odd festival here and there, which made it incredibly hard for fans living in the Republic of Slovenia to catch the band live from then on.
After a good 18 years, the reissue has gotten a sonic facelift and comes back out in three formats: DVD/CD, Blu-ray and double vinyl. Of the three, the Blu-ray is the only one that actually delivers every single track Blue Öyster Cult played that night. There were 21 in the set. The Blu-ray version now also adds Joan Crawford. Added. As a bonus track, along with Astronomy, neither of which the DVD (still) doesn’t include. Until now, only the CD had Astronomy. The vinyl reissue is a double, which means it has the same track order and a good 78 minutes of music. Just like the CD. No changes, in other words. The same goes for the DVD. Maneuvers like this, aimed straight at the consumer’s wallet, were business as usual back in 2002. You had to buy the DVD, the CD and whatever else, since the CD carried songs the DVD didn’t and vice versa. Even more “endearing” were the moves where material deliberately left off could be bought later as a separate album, which is exactly what happened here, when the ten “missing” songs came out in 2004 as “Extended Versions: The Encore Collection”. That’s all in the past now, since sales of physical media have dropped drastically in the meantime. And, luckily, so has the labels’ appetite for cracking those tasteless profit-hungry jokes.
The band didn’t overdo it with songs from the then-current album “Curse of the Hidden Mirror” in the setlist, and instead threw in two hefty surprises, Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl) (“Tyranny And Mutation”, 1973) and Lips on the Hills (“Cultosaurus erectus”, 1980). They haven’t played those all that often over the years, though Lips on the Hills has become a more frequent guest at the band’s shows again over the last decade. The band is razor-sharp, tight, in superb form. Like good old wine. Already back in 2002. No need to point that out. Like I said – it’s a shame the whole thing stayed “chopped up” and tailored to different formats even with the reissue. If Frontiers Music Srl. had gone the route of re-releasing this show in its entirety – that is, all 21 numbers played in full order – the new version of this live document would have had to become at least a triple, with the CD a double. We’ll most likely never live to see that.
However you slice it, this live reissue is a must in the collection of any true Blue Öyster Cult fan. Even if the band isn’t your first pick on the music menu, but say your second or third, this live document will serve up a treat better than any “best of” compilation, one that, combined with the staples of the iron-clad repertoire, credibly presents the face and work of this boundless and timeless heavy metal and heavy rock bastion. Amen.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
CD/2LP
1. Stairway To The Stars
2. Burnin’ For You
3. O.D.’d On Life Itself
4. Dance On Stilts
5. Buck’s Boogie
6. Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)
7. Harvest Moon
8. Astronomy
9. Cities On Flame With Rock ‘N’ Roll
10. Perfect Water
11. Lips In The Hills
12. Godzilla
13. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Blu-ray/DVD:
1. Stairway to the Stars
2. Burnin’ for You
3. O.D.’d on Life Itself
4. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
5. Dance on Stilts
6. Harvester of Eyes
7. Buck’s Boogie
8. Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)
9. Flaming Telepaths
10. Harvest Moon
11. Then Came the Last Days of May
12. Cities on Flame with Rock-and-Roll
13. ME 262
14. Perfect Water
15. Lips in the Hills
16. Godzilla
17. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
18. Dominance and Submission
19. The Red and the Black
bonus tracks (Blu-ray only):
1. Joan Crawford (previously unreleased video performance)
2. Astronomy (previously unreleased video performance)
Lineup:
Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser – guitar, vocals
Eric Bloom – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Allen Lanier – keyboards, guitar
Danny Miranda – bass guitar, backing vocals
Bobby Rondinelli – drums, percussion
