<span>The entire Blue Oyster Cult catalog was reissued on CD circa Y2K and since then, the iPod has enabled anyone to amass their own ultimate BOC mixtape. So why an <em>Essential Blue Oyster Cult</em>? There is always the pleasure of letting someone else curate a collection and, afterward, arguing over what was included and what was left out. How dare they deem the band's collaboration with the still little-known Patti Smith, “The Revenge of Vera Gemini,” as unEssential!</span><span><br /><br />But for some of us, the appearance of another “best-of” will prompt a reexaminationa close listen after years of benign neglect. <em>The Essential's</em> first track, “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” (1971), stands in hindsight as a road mark for things to come. Its Godzilla-heavy riffs, sepulchral vocals and lurid vision brought rock's demonic dimension into high, cartoon reliefperhaps more sardonically than their British contemporaries, Black Sabbath.</span><span><br /><br />Although <em>The Essential Blue Oyster Cult</em> lacks any unreleased tracks, it boasts an insightful essay by Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith guitarist, longtime rock critic and probable Cult associate in the long-ago New York of the '70s. He perceptively identifies their roots in the transition from their psychedelic origins to the Long Island biker bar where they finally sharpened their teeth. A dark cosmic vision pervaded their lyrics; their music became hard as steel while retaining the expansiveness of the '60s. Echoes of blues-rock and even jazz can be heard.</span><span><br /><br />No one was more surprised than the Cult itself when the spine-tingling “Don't Fear the Reaper” (1976) climbed the singles chart and lifted them from cult status into arenas. Kaye wisely passes over their post-“Reaper” career in a few paragraphs. There were good moments as the '70s slipped into the '80s, but the best recordings (1971-76) occupy all of <em>The Essential's</em> disc one and the first few tracks of disc twoa time when their spooky, hard-pounding but loose-jointed rock occupied a narrow zone between the emerging camps of heavy metal and punk. Nostalgia? The best of their music escapes its era, yet I can't help but chuckle at a reference from 1971's “Before the Kiss, a Red Cap” to something being “cheap as gas.” Those were different times, indeed.</span>
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