I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: BLUE ÖYSTER CULT-Mirrors (1979).

Lord only knows what happened to BOC on this disc.  It’s almost as if the mirror on the cover was indicating a weird backwards image of the band.  They had been flirting with pop tracks for a few albums now, but this one goes far over the edge.  Backing female vocalists!  Poppy ballads!  No weirdo titles!  And yet still no hits.

The title track is hopeless radio rock (but not even good radio rock). It’s hard to image them touring this album and incorporating these tracks with “Dominace and Submission” (or even imagining Eric Bloom decked out in his leather suit singing these songs).  And the less said about “Lonely Teardrops” the better.

That’s not to say that the album is a total wash.  The super sugary ballad “In Thee” is actually quite good, as ballads go (Allen Lanier has a knack for piano pop).  And “Moon Crazy” has an 80s rock feel mixed with some weird jazzy bits.  “The Vigil” and “I am the Storm” are also pretty good, but they may just stand out among the rest of the tracks.

It may be telling that when Columbia remastered and re-released all of their CDs, they didn’t bother with this one.  Hence, the rather embarrassing cover image above which is more about  Columbia music than Blue Öyster Cult.

[READ: March 1, 2010] “Appetite”

This is a strange little story about work frustration, grilled cheeses, and rain.

The main character is a cook.  He is planning to ask his boss for a raise, but when he goes into the boss’ office, the boss is distressed about the state of the restaurant, specifically the fact that several items were returned that evening.  How hard is it to make  grilled cheese after all?

When the story pulls back a bit the narrator muses about his graduation, where he was simply one of 500 being told about his future by the valedictorian (who clearly cribbed his speech from a book of speeches).   Some of you will go to college; some of you will go to the army; some of you will go straight to the workforce.  He was the latter.  And now, at 25, he can’t quite belive he’s still in the same place.

The story shifts focus a little when a new waitress, who is quite clearly anorexic (but who is strong as an ox) begins working there.  He’s fascinated and a little intimidated by her.

Oh and rain, yes.  It rains every day throughout the story (it’s not stated where it is set).  Oftentimes the rain is torrential, umbrella-busting rain.  On two occasions he is offered a ride home after he is already soaking wet and just  a block or so from his house.  And both times the driver drives him all around the place before finally dropping him off (with different motives, of course).  On one of those times the driver is the anorexic waitress.

The ending is one of those nebulous endings where a seemingly innocuous comment has a huge impact on the narrator’s life.  Although the actual ending leaves it unclear what that impact will be exactly.

It’s available here.

For ease of searching I include: Said Sayrafiezadeh and Blue Oyster Cult