Blue Öyster Cult – Fire of Unknown Origin (1981)
Most people I’ve met who are Öyster divers mention Secret Treaties as their favourite BÖC album. I’m partial to this little gem.
Released in 1981, and immaculately produced by Martin Birch. It was one of the most enigmatic pieces of music I had ever come across at the time. Who was Joan Crawford? What was a psychic war? And what was this fire of unknown origin that took his baby away?
Mysteries, all of them, and wasn’t Burning for you an earworm for the ages?
Fire of Unknown Origin didn’t leave my turntable for months. BÖC was such a strange band. Not quite heavy metal, not really hard rock, and certainly not symphonic rock like Yes or ELP (that was before we used to call it prog).
To this day Fire of Unknown Origin gives me that indefinable feeling that this album contains mysteries that I still haven’t been able to uncover. And that cover art is just sublime. For many years I was certain that the cover art was made by the French comic book creator Enki Bilal. It looked very much like his work. Turned out it was made by Paula Scher. To this day I suspect that Scher was very much inspired by Bilal when she made the artwork. The similarities are almost uncanny.
Anyway, Fire of Unknown Origin is still my all-time favourite BÖC album.
Frode Singsaas | Now Spinning Magazine
