Blue Oyster Cult !

[ronmac]

Yep. Looks like a Russian bootleg

A bootleg would be unreleased music.

[GuitarGeek]

That cover is hideous. Did they have anything involvement with this release? Seems amateurish and not up to their standards compared to their rest of the catalog.

You mean besides recording it? They re-recorded the songs for Cult Classic. As I recall, some of the songs used the alternate arrangements they used live. For instance, ETI has that whole coda section they'd add where it fades out on the record. And I remember when it came out, Stephen King's The Stand had recently been on TV, so there was a sticker on the packaging advertising "(Don't Fear) The Reaper, as heard on TV's The Stand" or something like that.

[ronmac]

You mean besides recording it? They re-recorded the songs for Cult Classic. As I recall, some of the songs used the alternate arrangements they used live. For instance, ETI has that whole coda section they'd add where it fades out on the record. And I remember when it came out, Stephen King's The Stand had recently been on TV, so there was a sticker on the packaging advertising "(Don't Fear) The Reaper, as heard on TV's The Stand" or something like that.

Yeah, I was just wondering. I didn't know they were re-recorded. It just seems like the cover is out of character for a band that valued their cover designs so much. Is this the original cover or a new design?

[Dan Roth]

Yeah, I was just wondering. I didn't know they were re-recorded. It just seems like the cover is out of character for a band that valued their cover designs so much. Is this the original cover or a new design?

The blurb from Frontiers says it has "updated artwork", but I found an original release of it on sale on eBay and it looks the same to me:

[ronmac]

Is this the original cover?



If so, I wouldn't call the new one an update. Typically, an update implies an improvement. The new one seems suspect to me. It's totally amateurish and I would be surprised if the band approved the POS.

[Dan Roth]

Is this the original cover?



If so, I wouldn't call the new one an update. Typically, an update implies an improvement. The new one seems suspect to me. It's totally amateurish and I would be surprised if the band approved the POS.

No. The original cover is pretty much the same as this remaster reissue. (I posted a pic of the original in post #354). This is the first in a series of reissues in the band’s new deal with Frontiers. So it seems the band approved “the POS” each time.

[3LockBox]

A bootleg would be unreleased music.

Yeah, well... knockoff then. I bought a Gerry Rafferty compilation CD off Ebay years ago that I'd never seen before. Really cheesy looking cover graphics that looked worse in person, no liner notes and the sound quality was that of a high speed dubbed cassette. A poster on another message board said the seller was from Russia.

[spellbound]

I was puzzled by the red sticker on the cover. I knew nothing about this release so I looked it up on a review site. Where the sticker says "new digital versions of their greatest hits" it means the songs were re-recorded c. 1994 for this release. Since the BOC catalog has long been remastered for CD, I thought they were claiming the old remasters were new. But no, this album consists of studio re-recordings of the hits.

Then there's the "24 carat gold audiophile picture disc CD," for those who are convinced that it is what the disc looks like that determines its audio quality.

This is not a criticism of Blue Oyster Cult, long one of my favorite bands. If I ever run across this disc I will likely buy it, if for nothing else than to compare it with the older versions of the songs.

[GuitarGeek]

The blurb from Frontiers says it has "updated artwork", but I found an original release of it on sale on eBay and it looks the same to me:

Yep, that's what my copy looked like when I bought it at, I think, Coconuts. I remember at the time there was talk that they had a new deal with Atlantic and they were recording a new album. Whether that was just a rumor, or what, I never knew, but it took a few more years for a new studio album to come out, and it wasn't on Atlantic (I forget which label it was on).

Cult Classic strikes me as a strange thing to reissue, given that it's really just a best of, even if the songs were re-recorded, with sometimes altered arrangements and such. Who knows? Maybe there's a demand from a fanbase, I guess it's been around long enough, there's young fans who grew up with their parents copies.

BTW, I forgot that it was released on Herald Records. That was the same label that put out some of Steve Howe's 90's era records, such as Not Necessarily Acoustic and the first couple of the Homebrew titles.

[GuitarGeek]

I was puzzled by the red sticker on the cover. I knew nothing about this release so I looked it up on a review site. Where the sticker says "new digital versions of their greatest hits" it means the songs were re-recorded c. 1994 for this release. Since the BOC catalog has long been remastered for CD, I thought they were claiming the old remasters were new. But no, this album consists of studio re-recordings of the hits.

Then there's the "24 carat gold audiophile picture disc CD," for those who are convinced that it is what the disc looks like that determines its audio quality.
.

If you recall, at the time, there was a lot of those "24 carat gold audiophile" CD's coming out. The industry tried to lay this trip on the consumer that the gold content was supposed to somehow improve the sound quality or something. I recall reading where someone said it actually has no impact on sound whatsoever, and any improvement hinged on the given disc being a different master from the one used for the regular CD release. It was just another way for Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, Clive Davis and the rest of those goons to scam more money out of us.

[rapidfirerob]

IMO Cult Classics is worth owning, as they are well done re recordings of some of the songs from their back catalog.

[3LockBox]

If you recall, at the time, there was a lot of those "24 carat gold audiophile" CD's coming out. The industry tried to lay this trip on the consumer that the gold content was supposed to somehow improve the sound quality or something. I recall reading where someone said it actually has no impact on sound whatsoever, and any improvement hinged on the given disc being a different master from the one used for the regular CD release. It was just another way for Ahmet Ertegun, David Geffen, Clive Davis and the rest of those goons to scam more money out of us.

I guess the record companies wanted a slice of that audiophool pie. Seriously, audiophiliacs will spend thousands of dollars on cables, so why wouldn't they believe the gold CD bit? May as well throw in some reiki sessions while they're at it.

[TheLoony]

This talk of gold discs got me to pull out something I haven't looked at in years.

https://www.discogs.com/Rush-The-Big...elease/7954493

Doesn't say it's gold but it looks like it. Can't seem to remember why I actually bought this other than it's Rush. Wasn't cheap and I couldn't watch the video until years after I got it as I didn't have any way to play it. I basically threw money away buying this.

[moecurlythanu]

I think the gold disc is supposed to last longer. I recall CDRs by Kodak that were gold, and touted by the manufacturer for it's longevity. Are they? I suppose time will tell.

[TheLoony]

^^^Yeah, I do remember that as a selling point but I have discs from the '80's that play fine and there's no gold involved there. Supposedly they shouldn't play or so I was told BITD when the gold discs were around.

[Nearfest2]

IMO Cult Classics is worth owning, as they are well done re recordings of some of the songs from their back catalog.

Totally agree. The version of "ETI" is far superior to the original IMO.

[moecurlythanu]

^^^Yeah, I do remember that as a selling point but I have discs from the '80's that play fine and there's no gold involved there. Supposedly they shouldn't play or so I was told BITD when the gold discs were around.

Projecting the performance of a musical medium 40 years down the road is a total crapshoot, and is obviously so at the time it's stated. Grain of salt territory.

[Dan Roth]

Then there's the "24 carat gold audiophile picture disc CD," for those who are convinced that it is what the disc looks like that determines its audio quality.

This is not a criticism of Blue Oyster Cult, long one of my favorite bands. If I ever run across this disc I will likely buy it, if for nothing else than to compare it with the older versions of the songs.

The remaster that Frontiers is releasing has no mention of it being gold, so I guess a normal everyday CD does the trick for the reissue.

[Jerjo]

It's a decent selection on the Cult Classic. But no Bouchards. Are the bass and drums any higher in the mix than the originals?

[TheLoony]

Projecting the performance of a musical medium 40 years down the road is a total crapshoot, and is obviously so at the time it's stated. Grain of salt territory.

Well, a fool and his money are soon parted and I was a fool back then. Just had to have it even if it was nothing.

[GuitarGeek]

^^^Yeah, I do remember that as a selling point but I have discs from the '80's that play fine and there's no gold involved there. Supposedly they shouldn't play or so I was told BITD when the gold discs were around.

I recall hearing circa 88-89 that they figured out that CD's would not "last forever", as they were touted when they first came out, but would eventually "wear out" or whatever. But it was supposed to take decades, if not centuries for it to happen.

Most of my CD's from the 80's that I still have play just fine, at least the ones that I've played recently. The last time I played Frank Zappa's Guitar it played fine, but for the better part of two decades, I had a problem with, I think, disc one where the players I had somehow lost the ability to track it, unless I poured water over the playing surface, then wiped it off completely. I remember having to do that all through the 90's. I don't think I did it the last time I played the disc though.

And my mid 90's EMI remaster of Space Ritual has develoepd a glitch on disc one, and nothing I do seems to fix it, so I may have to buy a new copy of that one.

[ronmac]

^ Are you able to make a copy of the disc? Sometimes you can do that and get a clean copy even if it's glitchy.

[GuitarGeek]

^ Are you able to make a copy of the disc? Sometimes you can do that and get a clean copy even if it's glitchy.

If you're asking about Space Ritual, I could copy up until the track where the glitch occurs, and then the computer couldn't read it. The disc from Frank Zappa's Guitar it was able to track fine.

[3LockBox]

If you're asking about Space Ritual, I could copy up until the track where the glitch occurs, and then the computer couldn't read it. The disc from Frank Zappa's Guitar it was able to track fine.

Have you tried Exact Audio Copy?

[TheLoony]

Read a comment on Youtube that BOC will be opening for Deep Purple next year. A good pairing, would be cool to see. Said it was in Glasgow so I don't know if that bill will hit the U.S. or even if Purple are going to play the U.S. anymore. They've already been here three times on this tour.