For a while I thought that Blue Öyster Cult’s 1976 Classic ‘Agents of Fortune’ was getting re-released again this year along with a heap of BOC material on the Frontiers label, though the confusing 40th Anniversary tagging is a little annoying with 2020 being the 44th Anniversary of this classic release and this being a ‘Live’ version of the album.
Blue Öyster Cult’s fourth album, “Agents Of Fortune” is interesting in that it hit that commercial ‘home run’ with “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” but is also interesting in that it distracted the band from being “America’s answer to Black Sabbath” and the Metal they purveyed to essentially releasing a mainstream rock album.
I was never a huge fan of this one first time round (My Dad had all their first four albums and I discovered them chronologically) though tracks like ‘Reaper’ (of course), as well as ‘The Revenge Of Vera Gemini’, ‘Sinful Love’ and ‘Tattoo Vampire’ that sit midway have always been my favourites along with the gentle seventies rock of ‘Morning Final’ and the Folky demi-ballad ‘Debbie Denise’.
It sounds good and although ‘live’ the audience noise and ambience is minimal and there is no interaction with those assembled, the band just runs through the album from start to finish.
The press release for once sort of summarises things nicely: “Tinged with a more commercial sound that preserves the band’s heavy metal base, while exploring new and varied musical forms, “Agents Of Fortune” was the band’s breakthrough album. Nothing they had produced previously prepared listeners for the level of sophistication the group found on “Agents Of Fortune” and it’s both an essential document of the band and an iconic release of ’70s rock in general.”
“40th Anniversary – Agents Of Fortune – Live 2016” CD track listing:
01. This Ain’t The Summer Of Love | 02. True Confessions |03. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper | 04. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) | 05. The Revenge Of Vera Gemini | 06. Sinful Love | 07. Tattoo Vampire | 08. Morning Final | 09. Tenderloin | 10. Debbie Denise
