Blue Öyster Cult - Born To Be Wild (1977)

I've never thought of Blue Öyster Cult as the sort of band who'd spend extra time in the studio recording more tracks than were actually needed for an album, being more of a 'bang 'em out and get it in the shops' sort of outfit, so I was surprised at just many rare tracks I was able to uncover. For all of their early singles, both sides were taken from the then current album, and it wasn't until 1975 that they issued a single that wasn't taken from an album, with a cover of 'Born To Be Wild', although they soon went back to the traditional 'two songs from the album' for subsequent singles. Even from their very earliest recording sessions in 1972, however, they taped a lot of music which was shelved at the time, so there's actually enough rare stuff to fill a 47 minute album. I have to admit that they do seem to have used the best stuff for their albums, so some of these can be a bit throw-away, like the 50's pastiche of 'Betty Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes', but most of the rest are definitely worth hearing. They include some great tracks like the studio version of 'Buck's Boogie', and the rollicking 'Mes Dames Sarat', and although they attempted a cover of The Ronettes 'Be My Baby', I've left that off this album as it really was quite unremarkable and could have been anyone. Everything else is here, though, and so you can now enjoy five years worth of previously unheard songs from one of the pioneers of heavy metal. 

Track listing

01 Donovan's Monkey (previously unreleased 1972)
02 What Is Quicksand? (previously unreleased 1972)
03 A Fact About Sneakers (previously unreleased 1972)
04 Betty Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes (previously unreleased 1972)
05 Buck's Boogie (previously unreleased 1973)
06 Boorman The Chauffer (previously unreleased 1974)
07 Mommy (previously unreleased 1974)
08 Mes Dames Sarat (previously unreleased 1974)
09 Born To Be Wild (single 1975)
10 Sally (previously unreleased 1976)
11 Dance The Night Away (previously unreleased 1976)
12 Night Flyer (previously unreleased 1977)
13 Please Hold (previously unreleased 1977)
14 Dial M For Murder (previously unreleased 1977)