Customer Reviews

Agents Of Fortune

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The fourth studio album from Blue Oyster Cult which was remastered and reissued and which Sony put out on the Columbia/Legacy label. As with the other three reissues there are lyrics, photos, and liner notes (by Lenny Kaye). In addition, on this release there are four bonus tracks, none of which were previously released.

"Agents of Fortune" was recorded in 1975 and 1976, and released in May of 1976. Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman were joined by David Lucas as producers of this album. This remastered CD was released on July 3rd of 2001, and it was produced by Bruce Dickinson.

"Agents of Fortune" was the start of a new period for the group. The first three albums are often called their "black-and-white" period, and the live album "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" marked the end of that period. This album has a number of memorable songs, such as "This Ain't The Summer of Love", "E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)", "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", and the too often overlooked "Morning Final". Of course it is best known for "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" which is one of the greatest Rock songs of all time.

The four bonus tracks consist of songs considered for the album. "Fire of Unknown Origin" was an outtake which would appear on the album of the same name five years later, although it is a significantly different version of the song. "Sally" was demoed for the album, but not used. It later was used by Albert Bouchard on "Trepanation", which was the 1995 release from his band "The Brain Surgeons". The third piece is the original demo for "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The last piece is another demo called "Dance the Night Away" which was used by Jim Carroll (who co-wrote the song with Allen Lanier) on his "I Write Your Name" album.

The band credits for this album are: Eric Bloom (vocals, guitar, percussion), Albert Bouchard (drums, vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, and harmonica), Joe Bouchard (bass, vocals, piano), Allen Lanier (keyboards, vocals, guitar and bass), and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (guitar, vocals, synthesizer, percussion). Guest artists on this album include Patti Smith (vocal on "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", and Michael and Randy Brecker (horns).

It is unfortunate that as of yet there are no additional remastered releases of the Blue Oyster Cult catalog available. It would be wonderful to see what other hidden gems could be added to such albums as "Spectres", "Fire of Unknown Origin", or even their live albums. Until that happens, we will just have to be satisfied with the remastered versions of their first four albums.

In my opinion, this is the best record put out by Blue Oyster Cult- I had not heard of Blue Oyster Cult, I heard this record and I was hooked!! I think that Blue Oyster Cult is one of the most underrated bands of the 70's......

Agents of Fortune is probably B.O.C.'s peak album, a high-point in a strong body of work. Anchored by the mega-hit "Don't Fear The Reaper", Agents Of Fortune has lots of great guitar, and typically "dark" Blue Oyster Cult topics. The production is smoother than the previous albums, with a very polished sound. But the guitar licks are still prominent.

"Don't Fear The Reaper" is, of course, a masterpiece. But the whole record is good, especially "ETI", "Sinful Love", "Revenge of Vera Gemini" and "Morning Final" (which has a wonderful piano "hook"). "True Confessions" and "Debbie Denise" are comparative low points, but are still good songs. An interesting side-note: "Vera Gemini" and "Debbie Denise" were co-authored by punk priestess Patti Smith, who also adds her vocal talents to "Vera Gemini". Agents of Fortune is one of the best hard-rock / AOR albums of the mid seventies, and is "must-have" disc.

The bonus material on this CD is a nice addition, unlike all too many records. There's a demo version of "Fire Of Unknown Origin" which is dramatically different from the eventual release (5 years later). Same lyrics, but that's about it. It's fascinating to hear the genesis of this song. The demo version of "Reaper" is equally interesting. Recorded on 4-track, it is dramatically more sparse that the final version. But it sounds great, and you get to hear the early guitar work. The demos of discarded songs "Sally" and "Dance The Night Away" give good examples of "almost made it" songs.

5 stars, solidly.

This band, B.O.C., never did anything that I would rate above one or two stars.
Agents of fortune is the exception.
Every song is well written. The melodies on songs like "E.T.I.", "Morning Finale" and "Revenge of Vera Gemini" are fantastic.
Rock hard but still music on "Taatto Vampire" and " Sinful Love".
You gotta get over the production though. It is as terrible as 99% of albums that were produced in the 70's.
If the music counts and your looking for quality songs that are straight ahead then I would highly recommend "Agents".
It is the only B.O.C. album you will need.

This LP shows all the colors that make BOC one of the most original American hard rock bands. Every band member has their moment on this one--the Bouchard brothers pepper the song line-up w/their eerie, dark edge, Allen Lanier gives us a midnight taste of "Tenderloin", and Eric and Buck unravel some classics upon the masses such as ETI & DFTR...this the one that pushed the Oyster Boys to the next level.

If you buy only one BOC (Blue Öyster Cult) album in your entire life, make it THIS one.

(Don't Fear) The Reaper is clearly the band's *magnum opus* in the almost 40 years they've been together. If you listen to this one song, all by itself, you'll have at least a basic grasp of the musical genius which drives BOC.

Imagine my surprise when my wife announced that we were going to New York to see the latest Broadway smash "AGENTS OF FORTUNE"! Finally, someone did this fine album justice and presented it the way it was truly meant to be!
As we stood in line at the theatre, my heart raced. Would the songs be as good as on the album? Would it be better than RENT? Inside, a smelly dude in a Kingfish Trident shirt assured me he'd seen the production ten times, and that it was even better than MAMMA MIA. Of course, I had my doubts.

When the curtain rose, all my concerns were laid to rest as the cast broke into the opening number, "This Ain't the Summer of Love": 30 bikers who all looked like the leather guy from the Village People scooted their shiny new Harleys around the stage in tight formation. Their brand new leather jackets were as shiny as their hogs. As the all male chorus repeated "This ain't The Summer....This ain't The Summer..." chorus for the last time, parking their bikes center stage, and slapping each other on the ass in time with the drums, chills ran up my spine. Absolutely perfect. The numbers kept coming: each one a knockout: "True Confessions" with it's Fonzie piano, "Don't Fear the Reaper" sung by a soprano seated on a pink grain thresher, and the show's highlight, "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", which bore an incredible resemblence to WEST SIDE STORY's "Somewhere", with the male and female leads looking heavenwards, singing "We're gonna swim like the fish".

I don't want to spoil the rest for you, because you MUST see this production for yourselves. Let me just say this: When the hero returns at the end, wearing his dried **** incrusted leather pants, and sings to Debbie Denise, I cried....and I don't cry very often. So forget CHICAGO - theres not enough lingere in the world to save that stinker. And forget CATS.... AGENTS OF FORTUNE is the finest Broadway Musical ever.

AGENTS OF FORTUNE, along with SPECTRES, BLUE OYSTER CULT, FIRE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN, and TYRANNY AND MUTATION, is one of Blue Oyster Cult's best studio albums. Most of the songs are great, and even though there's some filler it's a uniformly excellent piece of work. After THE BEST OF: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER and SUPER HITS, get this one and the others I've mentioned.

For the life of me I cannot understand why some people are rating this superb 70's rock album only 1 star. The only thing I can think of is that some of the younger listeners were expecting a whole album of "Don't Fear The Reaper" and AOF is so much more than that one proverbial aor classic. This was the peak of Blue Oyster Cult and imo their best album.

i have never heard any of these songs but my friend says it's great so I'm taking his word for and saying:THIS CD IS THE BEST