Tyranny and Mutation
Encyclopedia
Tyranny and Mutation was the second album by hard rock
band, Blue Öyster Cult
, released in 1973.
Was recorded from tunes written while touring in support of their eponymous first album. BOC continued to develop their style of "intelligent heavy metal" on this record. This was the first BOC album to feature a contribution from punk poetess Patti Smith
, who would go on to co-write several songs for the band and at one time dated Allen Lanier as well.
The song "The Red and the Black" is a re-titled, re-recorded version of the band's "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their first studio album. The lyrics are a reference to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
.
format or any other format where gaps exist before or after songs.
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band, Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
, released in 1973.
Was recorded from tunes written while touring in support of their eponymous first album. BOC continued to develop their style of "intelligent heavy metal" on this record. This was the first BOC album to feature a contribution from punk poetess Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, who would go on to co-write several songs for the band and at one time dated Allen Lanier as well.
The song "The Red and the Black" is a re-titled, re-recorded version of the band's "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their first studio album. The lyrics are a reference to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
.
Side one - The Black
- "The Red and the Black" (Albert BouchardAlbert BouchardAlbert Bouchard and grew up in Clayton, New York. He is a drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of Blue Öyster Cult and a driving force through the band's first decade...
, Eric BloomEric BloomEric Bloom is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the main vocalist, and "stunt guitar" for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on over 20 albums...
, Sandy PearlmanSandy PearlmanSandy Pearlman is an American music producer, artist manager, professor, poet, songwriter, and once was a record company executive...
) – 4:24 - "O.D.'d on Life Itself" (Bloom, A. Bouchard, Joe BouchardJoe BouchardJoe Bouchard was the original bassist for Blue Öyster Cult. He grew up in Clayton, New York...
, Pearlman) – 4:47 - "Hot Rails to Hell" (J. Bouchard) – 5:12
- "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Donald RoeserBuck DharmaDonald "Buck Dharma" Roeser is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being a member of Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967...
, Pearlman) – 7:01
Side two - The Red
- "Baby Ice Dog" (A. Bouchard, Bloom, Patti SmithPatti SmithPatricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
) – 3:29 - "Wings Wetted Down" (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard) – 4:12
- "Teen Archer" (Roeser, Bloom, Richard MeltzerRichard MeltzerRichard Meltzer was one of the earliest rock music critics. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock, evolved out of his undergraduate studies in philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and graduate studies at Yale University...
) – 3:57 - "Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)" (A. Bouchard, Pearlman) – 5:08
2001 CD Reissue bonus tracks
- "Cities on Flame with Rock and RollCities on Flame with Rock and Roll"Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" is a rock song by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult from their 1972 self-titled debut album. It was written by Sandy Pearlman, Donald Roeser, and Albert Bouchard, and released as a single. The riff was inspired by Black Sabbath's song "The Wizard",...
" (Live) (Pearlman, Roeser, A. Bouchard) – 4:44 - "Buck's Boogie" (Studio Version) (Pearlman, Bloom, A. Bouchard) – 5:22
- "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" (Live) (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Roeser, Pearlman) – 14:01
- "O.D.'d on Life Itself" (Live) (Bloom, A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Pearlman) – 4:52
Personnel
- Donald "Buck Dharma" RoeserBuck DharmaDonald "Buck Dharma" Roeser is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being a member of Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967...
: guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, lead vocals on track 7 - Eric BloomEric BloomEric Bloom is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the main vocalist, and "stunt guitar" for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on over 20 albums...
: stun guitar, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8, co-lead vocals on track 6 - Joe BouchardJoe BouchardJoe Bouchard was the original bassist for Blue Öyster Cult. He grew up in Clayton, New York...
: bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, lead vocals on track 3, co-lead vocals on track 6 - Albert BouchardAlbert BouchardAlbert Bouchard and grew up in Clayton, New York. He is a drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of Blue Öyster Cult and a driving force through the band's first decade...
: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals - Allen LanierAllen LanierAllen Lanier was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult. Lanier played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He currently resides in Manhattan....
: keyboards, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
Old CDs
On at least one pressing of the album on CD prior to the 2001 Remaster, some of the segues between songs were mispositioned. This affects every track except for the last. Three of them (O.D.'d on Life Itself -> Hot Rails to Hell, Hot Rails -> 7 Screaming Diz-Busters -> Baby Ice Dog) are minor, but all the other erroneous segues are fairly noticeable and a bit disruptive, especially if listened to in MP3MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format or any other format where gaps exist before or after songs.
Charts
| Year | Album | Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Tyranny and Mutation | #122 |