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Album

Fire of Unknown Origin

Blue Öyster Cult

About “Fire of Unknown Origin”

Fire of Unknown Origin is BÖC’s eighth album and included the Top 40 hit “Burnin' for You” (#1 on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart), it represented a resurgence of the group’s commercial standing after two albums with disappointing sales. The record would be the final studio LP featuring the band’s original lineup; during the subsequent tour, the band fired original drummer Albert Bouchard.

The album continues BÖC’s tendency to write quirky songs, from the title track (featuring Patti Smith lyrics) to “Joan Crawford.” Many of the songs were intended for the soundtrack of the animated film Heavy Metal, such as “Vengeance (The Pact),” whose lyrics follow in detail the plot of the “Taarna” segment of the movie. However, only the song “Veteran of the Psychic Wars” (which was not written for Heavy Metal) ended up in the film’s final version and soundtrack. The album’s closing track, “Don’t Turn Your Back,” marks Allen Lanier’s final songwriting contribution to Blue Öyster Cult; it was played live by the group for the first time on June 17, 2016, at a special concert highlighting Lanier’s music.

I think any BOC fan would salute this record. We’ve got Burnin’ For You, another big hit. Buck took lyrics from Richard Meltzer and turned it into a song. It has the same chord progression – B-A-G – as many tunes, including (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, but it sounds totally different. It clicked.

I wrote Veteran Of The Psychic Wars, which got picked up for the Heavy Metal movie, so I got lucky there. Joan Crawford has a great piano by Allen – it was a live mainstay for us for many, many years. Fire Of Unknown Origin was another gold record for us.

Patti Smith has lyrics on the title track. By this point, she was the queen of punk. She lived with Allen for eight years, so we saw a lot of her. I used to go to her poetry readings before anybody ever heard of her. She’s great.

Eric Bloom

“Fire of Unknown Origin” Q&A

  • What have the artists said about the album?

    Eric Bloom talked about the album in an interview for Music Radar:

    I think any BÖC fan would salute this record. We’ve got “Burnin’ For You”, another big hit. Buck took lyrics from Richard Meltzer and turned it into a song. It has the same chord progression – B-A-G – as many tunes, including “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, but it sounds totally different. It clicked.

    I wrote “Veteran of the Psychic Wars”, which got picked up for the Heavy Metal movie, so I got lucky there. “Joan Crawford” has a great piano by Allen – it was a live mainstay for us for many, many years. Fire Of Unknown Origin was another gold record for us.

    Patti Smith has lyrics on the title track. By this point, she was the queen of punk. She lived with Allen for eight years, so we saw a lot of her. I used to go to her poetry readings before anybody ever heard of her. She’s great.

What is the most popular song on Fire of Unknown Origin by Blue Öyster Cult?
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Album Credits

Album Credits

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