Track Listing

1. Fire of Unknown Origin
2. Burnin' for You
3. Veteran of the Psychic Wars
4. Sole Survivor
5. Heavy Metal: The Black and Silver
6. Vengeance (The Pact)
7. After Dark
8. Joan Crawford
9. Don't Turn Your Back

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15699 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-01
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

By Using Their Strengths, BOC Got Their 2nd Biggest Hit
Blue Oyster Cult's two previous studio albums had been quite different from one another; "Mirrors" was a mostly light metal collection of pop attempts and the following "Cultosaurus Erectus" had been just the opposite, an almost stripped-down crunching guitar-dominated record. This may be why 1981's "Fire of Unknown Origin" received such a warm welcome; it sounded as gutsy and confident as their mid-70s breakthroughs, but was all the while accessible and easily enjoyable.
The success of "Agents of Fortune" been seemingly accidental; it certainly wasn't what you'd call mainstream for 1976, but it was BOC's unlikely commercial breakthrough. Its follow-up, "Spectres" saw the band trying to find another runaway hit single like they had with 'Don't Fear the Reaper,' yet still keeping their heavy metal poison in tact (the next year they would tone down the metal side). "Fire of Unknown Origin" sounds like a mix of those two albums. It has all of the blazing, dark, cryptic musical imagery of "Agents of Fortune" and their earlier works, yet there is still a catchiness to a lot of the music, making it an album fans will want to play again and again. Old friends such as Sandy Pearlman, Richard Meltzer, and Patti Smith made cameo appearances, but their contributions were mostly limited to being lyrical, as this album catches the band out-showing the outsiders. The title track is one of those BOC songs that's almost-a-ballad-but-not, an overlooked classic, while the album boasts some other classics like the crunching mystic 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars' and 'Heavy Metal: The Black and The Silver,' but the group still managed to score a big hit with 'Burnin' For You' The old imaginary sci-fi movie themes pop up often, notably in 'Joan Crawford (Has Risen From the Grave).' These two songs nicely explain the recipe for the perfect contrast and chemistry between the voices of Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and Eric Bloom as they sing their respective songs; Roeser sounds like the sincere wandering poet, while Bloom's voice is like the ghoulish captain of a phantom ship.
Blue Oyster Cult wisely decided to embrace their strengths on "Fire of Unknown Origin," as opposed to the previous two experiments. "Mirrors" and "Cultosaurus Erectus" were far from bad albums, but if BOC was looking for another hit album/single while keeping their pioneering metal sound the top priority, this was the perfect blueprint.

The last successful Cult album, and also one of the best.
This was the most commercial incarnation of Blue Oyster Cult's music so far, and what the band lost in eccentricity, it made up with better production, its usual attention to songwriting, and brighter lyrics.

Eric Bloom's voice sounds wonderful as usual, and on "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" and title track "Fire of Unknown Origin", he sounds like the crusader he's always been, the consummate storyteller, intelligent but also exciting. On "Burnin' for You" Blue Oyster Cult almost approaches pop, resulting in the band most un-Cult-like track, but also its biggest hit since "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". "Joan Crawford" is mesmerizing, a little creepy, but sonically stunning.

Production-wise this was the best Cult release until Imaginos, and a worthy addition to the band's catalogue or any record collection.

One of BOCs 3 best albums (post-Black/White Trilogy)
I listened to this album over and over when it first appeared in the early 80's. Don't know where that original LP went to (my brother says he doesn't have it) so I bought the CD. Glad I did. "Burnin' for You" isn't even the best song -- that distinction belongs to "Joan Crawford" imho. Really there's not a single horrible cut on this record -- even "Sole Survivor" is tolerable. That said, this album is still number six on my list overall. Here are the top five: Secret Treaties, Tyranny and Mutation, Blue Oyster Cult, Agents of Fortune, Spectres.