Ahh, the good old days of the live album…  sure, some of them weren’t really “live” and have been touched up in spots but there is still a lot of greatness on those discs.  Live discs were a staple of rock artists from the 70s and 80s and even with some newer artists up through today.  Unfortunately, live material is a bit of a dying breed and I miss hearing cuts that were transformed and taken to another level in front of a live crowd.  Over the next few posts I will be reviewing my favorite live albums of all time, some of these being very well known and others less so, but influential to me nonetheless.

10.  Blue Oyster Cult, Extraterrestrial Live

BOC has released a number of live albums over the years and this one will always be my favorite.  In 1982 I was a full on music addict and had been transfixed by “the big three” from the Cult, namely “Don’t Fear The Reaper”, “Godzilla”, and “Burnin’ For You”.  At the time I didn’t own any material but due to the wonders of the Columbia House music club (you remember…  thirteen LPs or tapes for ONLY one dollar!) I was able to track down the BOC record which, at the time, had all three cuts on it.  I didn’t really care that the album was live as I’d caught a couple of band shows on the “King Biscuit Power Hour” (I’m getting all nostalgic here) and had taped one of them and listened to it religiously.  But this was an actual album and I could throw on the headphones and check out the liner notes and learn something about one of my newest favorite bands.

So after four to six weeks of waiting, the album finally arrived.  As you can see, the cover had a bit of mystique to it…  alien spaceship arrives with two dobermans accompanied by the band’s road cases, and on the back of the album the band is featured as part of the artwork.  I ripped off the shrinkwrap, threw the disc on the turntable, and was treated to some of the finest rock of the time.  Extraterrestrial Live kicks off with the one two punch of “Dominance and Submission” and “Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll”, two songs which were new to me but I dug immediately.  Also high on the list of new favorites to be were the brisk pace of “The Red And The Black” and the magnetic “Joan Crawford”, plus the sci fi tale “Veteran Of The Psychic Wars”.  But those were nothing compared to the two songs that I played endlessly from this disc:  the venerable “Godzilla” and a truly transcendent version of “Don’t Fear The Reaper” that closes side four of the album.

“Godzilla”…  hoo boy…  that intro from lead singer Eric Bloom really sets the tone here.  Yes, back in the day BOC had a giant mechanical Godzilla as part of their shows and his “arrival” plays a key at the beginning of this cut.  And from there, you know the rest!  This is a great live version and even includes a solo from then drummer Rick Downey, complete with “Asteroid” and space ship sound effects midway through the song, adding extra oomph to an already over the top version.

“Don’t Fear The Reaper” here is an example of a live version of a song that moves to another level.  The song here is played a little bit faster than the studio version, which elevates the excitement to a certain level, and the band background vocals and playing is spot on (Joe Bouchard’s bass is great here).  But where this really takes off is the last two and a half minutes of the song as Buck Dharma’s stinging leads (this guy is SERIOUSLY underrated as a player) really push the element and this song builds and builds to an awesome crescendo until the final crashing chords.  This song and this version is hands down why this is my favorite BOC live album and why it earns a spot in my top ten.

Oh yeah, “Burnin’ For You”?  I didn’t quite care for this live version nor any I’ve heard.  Its mastery is the studio version.  But hey, you can’t win ’em all!