On Your Feet Or On Your Knees [Live]

 

 

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Anytime I have a friend over who is a virgin to the music of Blue Oyster Cult, I put on the song Last Days of May. Within a 10 second period, the virgin will scream out "who is this Band?"
The second question is "who is the guitar player?" Then I will proceed with other albums form this great group and the virgin will become a member of the Cult. Switching gears, this is what a true live album sounds like, because it was taped and not cleaned up. You can smell the people, the smoke, the beer, the amps, etc..I just wish the young mucis fans could be exposed to BOC, but unfortunately MTV killed this kind of Rock, and in turn killed the truth.

When surveying Blue Oyster Cult's catalog of live albums, it's apparent that each of these in-concert releases was carefully placed at a specific point in the band's career, to sum up or end a particular epoch. Such albums include "Some Enchanted Evening" (1978), "Extraterrestrial Live" (1982), and the recent triumph "A Long Day's Night." Each live album balanced old and new material, describing the advances and new territories discovered, while making sure to note the material from previous eras that made the progression possible. 1975's "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" was the first of these releases, an homage to BOC's first three albums (all of which were landmark recordings for the heavy metal genre), and a reliable testament to what kept this great band alive-loyal touring and performing.
The blazing fury on this album completely blows away many, if not most, live albums that came before it; in 1975, Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive" was still a year away, and artists were not yet mistaking his example and disguising greatest hits albums under the live album mask (though some bands did manage to make live albums a meaningful event). Some of the only concert recordings released before "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" that had as much fire and energy were The Who's "Live at Leeds," Deep Purple's "Made in Japan," and Bob Dylan & The Band's "Before the Flood."
The focus on these songs should not be so much on melody as on the fact that each of these five men are playing their guts out. The extended guitar readings that dominate the album are pure heavy metal passion and a musical bond that few bands can perfect. A perfect example is 'Seven Screaming Diz-Busters,' which features a searing guitar exercise in which drummer Albert Bouchard's driving drum beats are kept perfectly in time with the soaring guitar work, one musician in heavy metal harmony with another. And when BOC does show a hint of restraint, it is just as hypnotic; Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser's 'Then Came the Last Days of May' is one of the best songs written during their early era, a haunting but deceptively melodic tune about the futility and violence of the drug business. The collection closes on an appropriate note, a cover of 'Born To Be Wild,' one of the songs that coined the phrase "heavy metal."
Perhaps it's best that "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" has not yet been fully remastered. The studio polishing would only take away from the raw sound that places the listener amidst the battalion of appreciative fans cheering for a band that were among the most unrelenting pioneers in heavy metal. As non-mainstream (for the 70s) as this music was, "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" was Blue Oyster Cult's first album to break into the Top 30, a stunning document of the innovations to come; it is both the end and the beginning of an era.

This live LP capped off the 1st era of the mighty BOC. The tracks are given a live shakedown, and the viciousness of early 70s hard rock is evident. Rarely is this (2004) age will you hear such clear, sharp, and piercing riffing as heard on this one. Buck Dharma really shines, and the band as a whole shred thru the eerie opener "The Subhuman" all the way to the closing cover tunes--"Masarati GT" and "Born/Wild" are left in smoking ruins of busted guitars and strings. "ME 262" showcases the 5-guitar prowess of this, the best American hard rock band ever.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Live Summation Of Early BOC
ON YOUR FEET OR ON YOUR KNEES is a great live summary of the first three Blue Oyster Cult albums. It misses some classics from the first two albums in favor of numerous songs from... Read more

Published on April 25 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars After 30 Years, Still the Greatest
In brief, I agree with the many reviewers who have preceded me in ranking On Your Feet as the greatest live rock album ever. Read more

Published on Feb 15 2004 by Jurgen1919

4.0 out of 5 stars Nearly meets the mark but there are problems.
This was a landmark release for several reasons. It was the first BOC effort to appear in color; simultaneously, it was the first to be live. Read more

Published on Nov 11 2003 by Johnny S Geddes

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