Classical Composer Reaction & Analysis of Astronomy (Blue Öyster Cult) | The Daily Doug (Ep. 498) 

BOC is the textbook definition of "underrated."

BOC is one of the most criminally underrated bands EVER. Unique. It's funny like everybody always think they could/should have been heavier (even though Tyranny And Mutation is heavy indeed).

Secret Treaties is one of those albums I can listen to front to back over and over and never get tired of it! Great selection!

Quite frankly, I think this blows Stairway to Heaven away. They should have released this as a single.

During the pandemic Joe and Albert Bouchard started their own record label, Rock Heart Records. Joe made his 7th solo album, and Albert re-made the Imaginos Trilogy, and the third record is coming out soon.

Check the live version from "Some Enchanted Evening"...Magnificent!

I am over the moon that you're doing a Blue Oyster Cult song. My favorite band. They have a deep, deep catalog of very interesting and diverse rock music. I'm glad you're starting with Astronomy (both versions) as that's some top tier BOC. Imaginos, the album and its creation, is itself controversial, with a backstory as crazy as the Imaginos mythos itself.

Blue Oyster Cult are one of my favourite bands. Imaginos was a mythical album to me when I was first introduced to it.

Secret Treaties is such a great album! I remember hearing Career of evil for the first time and how blown away I was... This band has so much more to offer then just Don't fear the reaper...

It should be noted that the "Buck Dharma" name is something that Sandy Perlman came up with, as well. The band had been having trouble getting a record deal, both as "Soft White Underbelly" and "Oaxaca", so when Sandy gave them a new name, he suggested that all the musicians should also adopt stage names, but only Donald Roeser took him up on it. (Eric Bloom was going to be "Jesse Python" if Sandy had gotten his way, lol.)

The song before on this album, Flaming Telepaths, is really good, too. It has an intense rock ending that abruptly stops as the delicate beginning of Astronomy begins. Should be played back-to-back like on the album.

Albert Bouchard is redoing Imaginos in line with Sandy's original story. He has three albums planned and two in current release.

I really appreciate that you did your homework on this band. I've been a fan of Blue Öyster Cult since I was a teenager back when they were releasing these albums. I recognized from Secret Treaties they were trying to tell a story, but the information was very sketchy. There was a lot gaslighting and plausible deniability on the part of people I knew who liked this band. Then many decades later, I heard the Imaginos album, read the liner notes and it confirmed for me they were indeed telling this story in those songs. The only thing I want to add deals with this part of the song: "The four winds at the Four Winds Bar Two doors locked and windows barred. One door let's to take you in. The other one just mirrors it Hey! Hey! Hey! . . . In Hellish glare and inference The other one's a duplicate In queenly flux eternal light Oh the light that never never warms Oh the light that never warms, never warms, never warms." There are several images that repeatedly show up in Pearlman's corpus. They include but are not limited to dogs, mirrors, doors (especially doors that lock), mirrors, and a woman named Suzie. In this verse we see doors that mirror each other. They let to take you in, but they lock, trapping Suzie and her friend Carrie into an inexorable encounter with Imaginos fully revealed to them as Desdenova, eternal light. The light that never warms informs us that this is a light that's not of this world. It is an extra-terrestrial light that presents Imaginos as the alien he truly is. So your reference to the light that never warms as coming from the moon gets partway there, but I saw it's a light of origins far beyond the Moon. Mirrors are important because they are portals through which Les Invisibles impress upon the minds of humans their wishes leading mankind into diabolical chaos. The liner notes also mention the black stone that worked as a mirror. The notes mention that Queen Elizabeth's occult advisor, John Dee possessed this stone, giving an historical relevance to it. Sandy Pearlman really tied this all together. The song Astronomy represents a major crossroads in the story. This song is so rich, it continues to amaze me after all these years. Thank you for your thorough commentary on this song.

So happy you're continuing your BOC journey. If you're looking for some more greats by them, 2 of my favorites are I Love the Night and Nosferatu. Thanks for the great entertainment and education, Doug. Enjoy!

The version on the "Some Enchanted Evening" live album is pure magic.

Been a fan since 1973. Never cared all that much for the Imaginos version of Astronomy. Eric's vocals are symbiotic with the original version, and his pipes were never better, than in 1974. Nice job and song selection.

They have another song from Secret Treaties that they redid on Imaginos: "Subhuman" is the '70s version, "Blue Oyster Cult" is the Imaginos version.

PLEEEEASE do the whole album Fire of Unknown Origin because both veterans of the psychic wars and sole survivor are killer tracks. If I could make toto and steve lukuther play sole survivor live that would be so so sick lol

Metallica did a sweet cover of this song. Definitely one of the best songs off the garage inc. album

One of my favorite deep tracks of all time. When I was in radio in the mid 70s, this was the first BOC song I ever played on the air. I love that bass line and guitar solos.

This was the First BOC album I Bought in the 1970's From Oz records and Tapes Birmingham Alabama. I have all BOC Vinyl Now. Thank You for Posting This :)

Dude I was so happy to see BOC on your channel, totally underrated band. Please check out Veterans of a thousand psychic wars and Vengeance(the pact) by them

Doug Dude, the live version of this off 79's Some Enchanted Evening is far superior to the studio version. Glad you are also doing to remade version off Imaginos, but the live version is still the best!!!

the whole " Agents of Fortune" Album is perfect. One of the best Albums I've ever heard.

The answer to your question about which version that they do live is: neither, they have an about 10 minute version where everyone gets a turn in the spot light. You get a big guitar solo from Buck, still harder drums, loads of keyboard and piano work, all supported by drivng base and dynamite percussion work. Great song from a great band, that does their best work live. Still touring, still fabulous

Oh so close. This is one of the classic examples of a great song being transformed into one of the greatest in rock history by a live performance taking it to a completely different level. The version from the album Some Enchanted Evening was one of those nights where a higher power intervened to create something so good it defies description.

One of my favorite live bands. The live version of this song great example of how much better things get live.

Astronomy is the last song on this “concept” album…a full story front to back almost a revision of WWII. As a stand alone song, I can see why some BOC fans (of the later music) may not appreciate this song. But it fits perfectly with the story of the album…a “goodbye”. So for those of us who used to play “albums”…there’s probably more appreciation for what the song “represents” as part of the full story associated with the album. The jet on the cover and the last song of on side A is ME262…definitely a WWII reference. My favorite song on this album is Dominance/Submission.It’s an excellent stand alone song for BOC fans whose prefer to “cherry pick” songs.

You really should do an Extended Play Lounge of a side of a BOC album. One of the great parts about BOC is there is no "BOC sound", with every member of the band and the manager, and friends and fans of the band writing; plus 2 primary lead singers and occasional vocals from everybody; and 2 multi-instrumentalists the BOC sound varies drastically from song to song. I know for EPL you like to focus on the Big albums so probably Agents of Fortune (the album with Reaper) or Fire of Unknown Origin (with their other big hit Burning for You and their Heavy Metal soundtrack song Veterans of the Psychic War co-written by fantasy author Michael Moorcock) would be the obvious choices. But the first 3 albums (the "black and white trilogy") or Spectres (Godzilla), would be excellent choices too. I think you'd have a lot of fun going through multiple BOC songs together.

Big Blue Oyster Cult fan. Saw them at the Spectrum in 1976. Cities on flame, she's as beautiful as a foot, I might be on the lamb but I ain't no sheep, hot rails to hell, I could keep going

I’ve seen this band 5 times. I love Blue Oyster Cult. I’m surprised she didn’t request the live version from On Your Feet or On Your Knees. I played the hell out of that album through high school.

So cool to see someone fire up and give a critical listen to Imaginos. A lot of BOC fans don’t give that album too much attention, but it’s one of my favorites.

Proud to say that I saw Blue Oyster Cult in May of 1972 when they opened for Alice Cooper. I had never heard of them before. I was blown away.

Such a great band. I remember getting into them in the mid to late 70's when I was discovering Heavy Rock and they were classed as Heavy Rock/Metal but they were far more eclectic than that. Their music has always been very diverse and they deserve much more recognition that they've had.

If you want awesome piano I would suggest the song Joan Crawford.

More BOC Black & White era songs!

Glad to see you going to early BOC but most of the tracks are tied together. I highly recommend that you do the complete Secret Treatise LP . especially since this is the closing track .

Great commentary about one of my favourite bands and their best song. I definitely prefer the original Secret Treaties version, but the live versions from 1976 (from "Live 1976") and especially "Some Enchanted Evening" (1978) are great too. They're quite similar to the original version. There is also a rerecorded version from 1994 (from "Cult Classic") that is closer to the Secret Treaties version than the Imaginos version. As someone else have said Albert Bouchard is in the process of recording and releasing the whole Imaginos saga. He has released two out of three so far. One comment about Sirius "the dog star". It's not in the constellation of Orion, it's in Canis Major. Other than that you summarized the complex story of Imaginos pretty accurately. I'd like you to make other videos about the music of Blue Öyster Cult. They have a great variety and musicianship, and to hear the point-of-view from a classically trained musician is very interesting.

As a big music fan who doesn't play anything, your ability to play along with it that quickly seems like magic. Maybe you are Imaginos.

I just listened to this one just a few days ago... fantastic tune and it made me happy to hear it as always. Thanks for all the info about the vision behind Astronomy and the story it helps to tell... The later version sounded to me like an update to a more 80s pop sound--whoops, you just said that, lol... probably at the urging of the record company but I'm just guessing... BOC is all about telling tales of wonder and woe, bringing you along with music to places you never thought songs could go... When you revisit Blue Oyster Cult I hope you consider: *Black Blade* *I Love The Night* *Veterans Of The Psychic Wars* *Cities On Flame For Rock & Roll* Be well S.W.

Yeah, AWESOME SONG: most of their stuff is pretty AWESOME!

Most of B.O.C were classically training musicians in NY state. Cultisaurus is their best album. They came into their own and sounded less 60's & 70's. Were signed to be direct completion to Black Sabbath. Black Blade is an epic cut on that album. Excellent insights... love your channel. 1st version is most epic on Astronany. Eric Bloom sings this version.

BOC just released their first new album in over 15 years, a couple years back. Lots of great tracks, buy I'd recommend Tainted Blood and The Alchemist to start! TOOL is Pink Floyd for the new millennium, but BOC is eternal. 🤘🧙‍♂️🤘 Rich the Ancient Metal Beast

So glad you've gotten to BOC, Doug. While many people know Don't Fear the Reaper, Burnin' for You, and Godzilla, they have so many more great songs, like Astronomy. With multiple band members who could sing, unusual subjects and themes, collaborators like fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, punk icon Patti Smith, and visionary manager Sandy Pearlman, BOC were consistently challenging and fun. Their first five albums are all absolute Classics IMO. And they have been an enduring touring act, playing live coast to coast year after year for 5 decades. On top of that, last year they released their first album of new material in almost 20 years, and it's fantastic. I look forward to more reactions, Doug!

The Subhuman (from Secret Treaties) was reworked as Blue Oyster Cult on the Imaginos album and further dives into the mythology.

Good choice in songs, and great insight into the music. Thanks Doug.

One of my favorite lines in this song is "It's the nexus of the crisis and the origin of storms"... Also, the line "Don't forget my dog, fixed and consequent..." is a reference to Sirius, the dog star.

BOC is AMAZING! So many great songs. So glad to see you react to this. SO underrated.

GOOD!!! Someone FINALLY checked out and reacted to the IMAGINOS version! The original was actually a part of the poetry Sandy Perlman wrote. It was supposed to be a part of the double album IMAGINOS which never came to fruition. It wa released on SECRET Treaties originally, but was rearranged, basically sped up massively, for the IMAGINOS recordings. It was a major improvement in my opinion when it came out fast on the IMAGINOS album. I love both versions but my preference is for the IMAGINOS version. I would LOVE to find out your reaction to their song VETERAN OF THE PSYCHIC WARS... many actual Veterans feel that Michael Moorcock and Eric Bloom (the co-authors of the song) with their lyrics absolutely nailed how the Veterans felt... to quote a friend of mine, "It is almost like they got into my head and are voicing my innermost horrors and nightmares from my time in Service."

As others have stated, you really need to listen to "Joan Crawford" by BOC. It's such a wonderfully weird and twisted song. "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" is another great one.

So, if you're looking for a version of Astronomy with a guitar solo, I'd advise checking out the Long Days Night version.

BOC has a great catalog.

Do more BOC, they have a very mature kind of hard rock/metal. I would strongly suggest "The Last Days of May", and for a weird Wednesday "Joan Crawford has Risen from the Grave"

The other song on Imaginos that comes from early BOC is "Blue Oyster Cult" which is a redo of their old song "Subhuman". The difference between those tracks is far wider than the two Astronomys. I prefer the Imaginos version, but I'm an 80's kid and it was sort of "my" version of the song. Al Bouchard has released Re-Imaginos in 2020 and Imaginos 2 since then. I love Bouchard, but his vocals are rough, and even I have trouble with them. That said, a few of his new Imaginos tunes are fantastic, Black Telescope and OD'd on Life Itself, in particular (Both old BOC tunes.) Black Telescope is done as a sea shanty, so definitely a departure from the original material.

Many, many thanks Doug & team! The fact that you gave viewers such as I a chance to be a guest DJ was yet another reason why I consider this channel to be very special. Kudos to the amount of research you did for the song! For those interested in the Astronomy/Imaginos story, Albert Bouchard made a promise to Sandy Pearlman before he passed that he would finish the Imaginos trilogy, releasing them as solo albums while keeping Sandy's vision in mind.

Hey Doug, you liked their piano in that one? Give a listen to the intro to Joan Crawford. Yeah, BOC is great. I discovered Tyranny and Mutation and been a fan ever since. Spectres is one of my faves. That's a deep pool you're diving into.

Favorite song by my favorite band. My favorite version is from the live album Some Enchanted Evening

Love me some BOC. Tyranny and mutation is my favorite album.

I found this song on accident and now i fell in love with more of BÖC masterpieces... Incredible

If you want to dig deeper into the BOC, you might try Golden Age Of Leather, I Love The Night (both from Specters), and/or The Vigil (Mirrors), and then maybe something live like Veteran Of The Psychic Wars and/or Black Blade...

They were the first to have the laser light show. To this day greatest show ever. This was the song when it happened. After the tour the Government band the laser show

Growing up on long island NY in the 70s and early 80s you just knew BOC! I love of course Don't Fear The Reaper, but Astronomy is such an underated gem which thanks to my 5 year older sister, I heard and embraced this fantastic song from the great 1970s. The live versions with Buck Dharma's guitar is what 70s classic rock is all about!! Fantastic pick!!

You did it!!! I suggested BOC and specifically this song months and months ago. Thanks, Doug!

Sorry I'm late. But I saw this in my feed (after 3 days, thanks so much youtube algorithm), and my response was "Ooh!" I do love this song.

Secret Treaties is the album that made me a BÖC fan and Astronomy is a great closer. Thanks for digging into their catalog!

The Imaginos version of this song is so pretty. But you probably know a couple other BÖC songs too: "Burning for You" gets a lot of radio play, and "Godzilla" is a cult classic (pun intended).

Imaginos is really a great album, some people don’t like it because of all the session musicians but as far as I’m concerned the core of BÖC is still there. I think my favorite song on the album is “Magna Of Illusion”, but all but 1 or 2 songs (IMO) are very strong.

One of the best bands ever. More people need to discover them.

Astronomy is my favorite BOC song, especially the live version on Some Enchanted Evening

I've bought all their albums in the '70s when they were first released. Secret Treaties is my favorite and you did a great job opening my eyes to new info. Another great BOC tune with a back story is 'Then Came the Last Days of May' off their first album.

This is why I watch the channel. What a nice surprise!

Good appraisal of the most overlooked band ever. I'd like to hear your views on Albert Bouchard's more recent versions of the story, including Re-Imaginos....well worth it, believe me. Keep up the good work - I find it fascinating.

Metallica did a swell job of covering this tune also

This is a great song from, I think, their best album of material: Secret Treaties. EPL-worthy? Absolutely.

They also made another version of this song for "cult classic" it's basically a compilation album but all the songs featured are new versions

Oi joi, BÖC. I prefer the 1988 version of this song, as that whole album is one of my favorites, along with a handful of gems from 70´s and 80´s from the BÖC catalog. What a wonderful band you never get tired of. Their new album was surprisingly good. And, if you want to enjoy more BÖC, I would recommend song Joan Crawford. It is just that good !

I second the motion for reviewing the live version of Astronomy from the "Some Enchanted Evening". It is a stellar performance, an absolute tour-de- force and elevates this song to "classic" status.

Love Blue Oyster Cult, have a bunch of their stuff on vinyl, and even got to see them live around 2010 (they've still got it, too, started off The Red & The Black played faster than on the album!). I've wondered for years if there was something more to the recurring names in their songs like Suzie. Now I know!

The live album, On Your Feet or On Your Knees, does the best job of showcasing BOC’s incarnation as a pure rock band.

Blue Oyster Cult and the amazing band Hawkwind both wrote a number of songs based on the Science Fiction books of amazing writer Michael Moorcock.......You should to a show on the whole of the 1st side of Warrior On The Edge Of Time by Hawkwind (Lemmy is on bass and it'll give you a proper taste of the diversity and brilliance of Hawkwind.

BOC FOREVER!!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸 Even though this song is probably one of BOC's most popular, but their catalogue of music is vast and their latest album, "The Symbol Remains" is absolutely outstanding and, in my humble opinion, will stand with any of their earlier albums including the first three. ROCK ON!!!

The Imaginos album is sort of divisive among fans (or it was in the past) but for me it's my favorite album of them, and I listen to it in the proper order (somewhere around in the wiki it's well explained) once a week. Magna of Illusion is a personal favorite of mine of that album, and I very much prefer "Blue Oyster Cult" to "Subhuman" from the earlier albums.

One of my favourite band of all time and my favourite song, I am delighted! I am so glad you talked about Imaginos, I love that album but it's so underrated. In live performances they perform the Secret Treaties version, at least that's what they did in Newcastle a couple of months ago.

This is exactly the format for this song....both are needed for context. Also, as a huge fan of BOC I appreciate you getting into the backstory....thanks Doug.

The current line up of Blue Öyster Cult sometimes plays a version of Astronomy at live shows which combines both versions of the song beginning with the 1974 song which merges and culminates into the later 1988 track from Imaginos. It always gives me chills to hear this song live, whichever version they play. I really enjoy Albert Bouchard's latest incarnation of this song from his Re~Imaginos sessions. If you haven't heard it yet, check it out!

An interesting exercise in contrasts. Definitely 1970s versus 1980s. As someone for who my musical formation was from the later 1970s through the 1980s onwards, 1974 is slightly early for me. But the earlier version is definitely the better of the two. The 1988 version is certainly a product of its time, and all the worse for it. As for Sirius, it is the brightest star in the sky, and is in the constellation Canis Major, not Orion. The connection with Orion is that the three stars of the Belt of Orion point to Sirius in one direction and Aldebaran in Taurus in the other.

I really liked the video and how you had gathered info about the Imagines vstory. Albert ( Bouchard) has released two of the Imaginos redo- albums "Re- Imaginos (2020)" and "Imaginos 2 - Bombs Over Germany minus Zero and Counting ( 2021). The third album Imaginos 3 - The Mutant Reformation should be released sometime at 2023. Side note about the dog in Astronomy. It is his dog ( not the dog star) to be referred in the song Manga Of Illusion. It would be good if you would make videos of thisa Albert Bouchard albums.

Great analysis Doug, the BOC song Subhuman is a continuation of the Astronomy story and has two versions. The version on the Inaginos album is my favourite.

Great you've showcased BOC Doug. Then Came the last days of May or Shooting Shark from their live Cleveland album need the Doug treatment. Also consider The City from Triumph's Rock & Roll Machine album. Keep rockin' Doug.

Great reaction to one of my favorite songs! I just re-visited this with my 19-yar old because he's a big BOC fan, and something hit me like a freight train. Around 15' 40," Doug says 'I don't know who Carrie is.' What dawned on me is who Carrie might be. Is it a reference to the character in his novel/movie(?)...not so much because he introduced the song, but because might he have had access to, and been influenced by, Sandy Pearlman's Imaginos?! (Though it wouldn't explain who 'Suzie-dear' is). Maybe I'm out in left field. Does anyone else agree it's a plausible connection?

We love you Dougie. Great analysis of two great songs by a great band. Great just great 😉

Some Enchanted Evening version is by far the best.

Music written chiefly by multi-instrumentalist Joe Bouchard, who was mainly limited to bass in BÖC because they needed a bass player when he joined. In fact, Joe played the piano intro to the song, as well as as another famous piano intro of theirs for Joan Crawford. Version of this song covered by Metallica. You mentioned the name of the band was pulled from Sandy’s story. The song Subhuman from Secret Treaties was also resurrected for the Imaginos album, under the name Blue Öyster Cult. Imaginos version also has Buck singing lead instead of Eric.

You're great, man. Thank you!

BOC is always fascinating and yet overlooked a lot it seems. "Last Days of May" is a great story - "Lips in the Hills" is fun. "Career of Evil" is another good one.

The second version is sung slower, while the build up is faster. And interesting dichotomy. I much prefer the original on Secret Treaties. Although that may be because it was a watershed moment in my radio career. My Spotify playlists use the Live version from "Some Enchanted Evening".

"Fire of Unknown Origin" _IS_ fire (of _KNOWN_ origin) IMO, of course.

finally some BOC, and it isn't Don't Fear The Reaper, Godzilla or Burnin' For You!

Dominance and Submission and Flaming Telepaths on Secret Treaties are BOC at their rockin' best.

One of best rock-composition in all time,imho