Blue Öyster Cult: Secret Treaties (1974)
Probably their best album, certainly their most cryptic.
Kronomyth 3: The Messerschmitt hits the fans.
The music of Blue Öyster Cult defies ready comprehension. Are they stoned-out, science fiction/fantasy fanboys? Heavy metal renegades? Poets of the purple twilight? In the color-coded apocalypse, there was a method to the madness: Black Sabbath was heavier than Deep Purple, who were heavier than Blue Öyster Cult. All three bands were interested in fantasy and the occult, but BOC took wider liberties with their libretto of evil, mixing fiction with speculation and chemical experimentation so that what emerged was a shadow of things glimpsed but never seen. If the songs on Secret Treaties were just a shade darker, this could have been the greatest heavy metal album ever made. But they aren’t, and I’m not even comfortable calling this heavy metal. So, let’s leave it at science fiction & fantasy rock and split the difference. A theme has been suggested for Secret Treaties involving Nazis and HP Lovecraft and whatever else was passing through their collective minds at the time. Certainly, the Nazi imagery is clear on ME262 (so named for the Messerschmitt Me262 turbojet, which is pictured on the front cover) and Flaming Telepaths may be about Nazi mind experiments. The meaning behind Harvester of Eyes, Subhuman and Cagey Cretins is murky at best. The opening Career of Evil sets the tone for the band’s dark designs, the closing Astronomy (like the ending to the film Phantasm) asks more questions than it answers. In the middle of it all is Dominance and Submission, which could be about sex or drugs or rock & roll or all three. Secret Treaties has its cult following and I honestly envy them for putting their faith in this music. I guess I just wanted the band to rock harder so I could have some release. They’ll jerk you around for forty minutes, but the climax never comes. Which isn’t to say that there’s no pleasure in hearing the band rip through these songs. The record definitely rocks, and the weird endings on “Harvester of Eyes” and “Dominance and Submission” are a nice, spooky touch. But, oh, I so wanted to be terrified by Secret Treaties, and I worry that the chance won’t come again.
Original elpee version
A1. Career of Evil (Albert Bouchard/Patti Smith) (3:54)
A2. Subhuman (Eric Bloom/Sandy Pearlman) (4:37)
A3. Dominance and Submission (Albert Bouchard/Eric Bloom/Sandy Pearlman) (5:22)
A4. ME 262 (Eric Bloom/Donald Roeser/Sandy Pearlman) (4:45)
B1. Cagey Cretins (Albert Bouchard/Richard Meltzer) (3:15)
B2. Harvester of Eyes (Donald Roeser/Eric Bloom/Richard Meltzer) (4:40)
B3. Flaming Telepaths (Albert Bouchard/Eric Bloom/Sandy Pearlman/Donald Roeser) (5:18)
B4. Astronomy (Joe Bouchard/Albert Bouchard/Sandy Pearlman) (6:23)
CD reissue bonus tracks
9. Boorman the Chauffer
10. Mommy
11. Mes Dames Sarat
12. Born to Be Wild
13. Career of Evil (single version)
The Players
Eric Bloom (lead vocals, keyboards, stun guitar), Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals), Alan Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar, all synthesizers), Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser (lead guitar and vocals). Produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman; engineered by Tim Geelan.
The Pictures
Cover art by Ron Lesser. Design by John Berg.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, quadraphonic elpee and 8-track in April 1974 in the US (Columbia, KC/CQ 32858) and the UK (CBS, S80103) and the Netherlands (CBS, 32055) with picture innersleeve. Reached #53 on the US charts (RIAA-certified gold record).
- Re-issued on elpee in the US (Columbia, PC 32858).
- Re-issued on compact disc in the US (Columbia, CK 32858).
- Re-packaged with Blue Öyster Cult and Tyranny & Mutation on 3CD in 1997 in the US (Columbia, C3K-64806) and Brazil (Sony, 2 064806).
- Re-issued on expanded, remastered compact disc on July 3,2001 in the US (Columbia, 85480) with 5 bonus tracks.
