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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The beginning of the slide into AOR mediocrity, 12 Dec 2001
In 1976 Blue Öyster Cult were on the cusp of something big. They had released three studio albums to great acclaim and one live album that was a monster seller. Then came 'Agents of Fortune', replete with 'Don't Fear The Reaper', and they must have known they had it made. The album was huge, and the single (need you ask?) was a worldwide hit, and it is still probably the only Blue Öyster Cult song that most people could name.The album revealed a different, quasi-commercial approach, the beginning of their slippery slide into 'Boston-esque' oblivion. Everything sounds more polished, more stylised and less interesting. There are some classic 'rock' tracks here, such as 'ETI', 'This Ain't the Summer of Love' and 'True Confessions', but they are all lacking in the majesty and humour of much of their earlier work. It's almost as if the band and their producer and mentor Sandy Pearlman had set out to make a 'classic' rock album. Albert Bouchard has recently confirmed that this is just what they did, and they certainly got it right. However, the album does have some high points, notably 'The Revenge of Vera Gemini', a real Cult cracker, featuring the vocals talents of Patti Smith, and 'Debbie Denise', both provided by drummer Albert Bouchard and Ms Smith. The bonus tracks, of which there are four, are equally interesting, revealing that what was left off was of equal commercial stature to what was put on the record. Interestingly, one of the bonus tracks is a version of 'Fire of Unknown Origin', later the title track of their 1981 outing with different music. It's not a bad album, but the quirkiness and drive that made the first three so good was now irrevocably gone, replaced by an increasingly rampant bland commercialism. If you love 'Don't Fear the Reaper', then buy this now, but if you want to know what lay at the heart of the band, get one of their first three, or the live 'On Your Feet Or On Your Knees'.
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![Best of Blue Oyster Cult, the [Don't Fear the Reaper]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CVCXSBCiL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
