Another workout, another forgotten record played and reviewed:

Blue Oyster Cult, Cultosaurus Erectus

Let’s get this out of the way: there are no cowbell credits on this record. Bokay? No cowbell jokes! Got that?

I’ve always liked these guys’ attitude. Despite their alignment with Black Sabbath, they seemed to have a lighter touch, a bit of tongue-in-cheek sensibility that gave them a sense of fun. Over the years, they cowrote songs with Jim Carroll and Patti Smith. And generally, Patti Smith doesn’t fuck around with posers. One of them, I think it was Joe Bouchard, used to hang out at the Nines in Ithaca when I tended bar there. I think he had gone to Ithaca College years before.

But aside from a brief appearance by Don Kirschner on Hungry Boys, I can’t remember anything from this record, and I just listened to it. I mean, I literally turned the stereo off ten minutes ago, and I can’t recall a thing.

Granted, I was working out, so I was a little distracted. But that’s the case for all of these reviews. I can’t/don’t take notes–that would imply a level of commitment I haven’t approached.

Oh yeah, looking at the credits, I see Mark Rivera credited for saxophone, and that does indeed remind me of the rather bizarre structure of the song Monsters, which shifts into something that sounds like the cantina song from Star Wars for about a 30-second interval. I could be wrong, but I think that’s how it worked.

You see what I mean, you gotta respect a band, kind of billed as heavy metal, that slips some flapper music in the middle of a track.

Black Blade is cowritten by Michael Moorcock. According to Wikipedia, it is a retelling of his story Elric of Melniboné. Haven’t read that, can’t remember anything about the song.

There is a sameness, a slickness that runs through the whole thing. Snazzy guitar, competent singing, clean production, that makes it all hard to distinguish. When Don Kirschner or an out of place saxophone punctuates that sound, it’s really the only thing you remember.

You know what this record could really use? Some kind of single note percussive instrument, kind of clangy, but with a hollow, dull sound that would really cut through that smooth veneer. Something that would really just anchor right to the beat. Yes, it needs more….