Workshop of the Telescopes

by

Blue Öyster Cult

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"Workshop Of The Telescopes" is a 2 cd compilation of Blue Oyster Cult's work from 1971-1985. The group consisted of the Bouchard brothers; Joe on bass and Albert on drums, Eric Bloom on vocals and guitar, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser on lead guitar and vocals, and Allen Lanier on keyboards and guitar. The band played a sort of progressive "thinking man's" hard rock. Some of their songs were co-written by such people as Sandy Pearlman, Richard Meltzer, and Patti Smith (Lanier's girlfriend). The lyrics were at times abstract, futuristic, and horror/science fiction influenced. Their first three albums are the most interesting and make up the bulk of the material on the first disc. Concert favorites such as "Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll", "Astronomy" (lately covered by Metallica), "Career Of Evil" and other essential cuts are here. Regretably "Then Came The Last Days Of May", and "Hot Rails To Hell" were not included. However, rare live promo versions of "Workshop Of The Telescopes", and "The Red And The Black" were included. Other rarites included are a version of "Buck's Boogie" from a compilation album and previously unissued studio version of "Born To Be Wild". The second disc contains material which was more commercial. Radio favorites like "Don't Fear The Reaper", "Godzilla", "Burnin' For You", and "Take Me Away" are included on the second disc. Other notable tracks on the second disc include "E.T.I.", "Dominance And Submission" and "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" are included. Live covers of MC5's "Kick Out The Jams", and the Animal's "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" are also included. I was disappointed that tracks like "R.U. Ready To Rock", "Black Blade", "Heavy Metal: The Black & Silver", "Dr. Music", "The Vigil" and "Joan Crawford." were not included on the second disc. With many Blue Oyster Cult compilations available this is the most comprehensive. It provides a good overview for an overlooked band. If you are a fan of seventies era guitar rock you will not be disappointed.

An overwrought collection which should be avoided by newcomers and die-hards alike, WORKSHOP OF THE TELESCOPES, offers too much and too little at the same time. There is little of any value here for the dedicated BOC fan - a mere handful of unreleased tracks that would have largely been better left in the vaults and a questionable selection of "hits" from BOC's catalogue. Any curious fan may be turned off by the large number of tracks from the group's latter period. A much better introduction would be either the concise best-of recently released by Columbia or the group's first three albums, which can often be found packaged together at a bargain price. These along with AGENTS OF FORTUNE effectively capture BOC at their best. To the dedicated fan - leave this expensive set on the shelf and wait for a better set of rarities.