Tyranny and Mutation

Tyranny and Mutation
Studio album by Blue Öyster Cult
Released	February 1973
Recorded	1972 Columbia Studios, New York
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	38:11
Label	CBS
Producer	Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
Blue Öyster Cult (1972) Tyranny And Mutation (1973) Secret Treaties (1974)

Tyranny and Mutation (On the album cover: THE BLVE ÖYSTER CVLT: TYRANNY AND MVTATION) was the second album by hard rock band, Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1973.

The album was recorded from tunes written while touring in support of their eponymous first album. BOC continued to develop their style of "intelligent heavy metal" on this record. This was the first BOC album to feature a contribution from punk poetess Patti Smith, who would go on to co-write several songs for the band and at one time dated Allen Lanier as well.

The song "The Red and the Black" is a re-titled, re-recorded version of the band's "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their first studio album. The lyrics are a reference to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	B+ link

Track listing

Side one - The Black

1. "The Red and the Black" (Albert Bouchard, Eric Bloom, Sandy Pearlman) – 4:24
2. "O.D.'d on Life Itself" (Bloom, A. Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Pearlman) – 4:47
3. "Hot Rails to Hell" (J. Bouchard) – 5:12
4. "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Pearlman) – 7:01

Side two - The Red

5. "Baby Ice Dog" (A. Bouchard, Bloom, Patti Smith) – 3:29
6. "Wings Wetted Down" (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard) – 4:12
7. "Teen Archer" (Roeser, Bloom, Richard Meltzer) – 3:57
8. "Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)" (A. Bouchard, Pearlman) – 5:08

2001 CD Reissue bonus tracks

9. "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" (Live) (Pearlman, Roeser, A. Bouchard) – 4:44
10. "Buck's Boogie" (Studio Version) (Pearlman, Bloom, A. Bouchard) – 5:22
11. "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" (Live) (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Roeser, Pearlman) – 14:01
12. "O.D.'d on Life Itself" (Live) (Bloom, A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Pearlman) – 4:52

Personnel

• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser: guitar, lead vocals on track 7
• Eric Bloom: stun guitar, synthesizers, lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8, co-lead vocals on track 6
• Joe Bouchard: bass guitar, keyboards, lead vocals on track 3, co-lead vocals on track 6
• Albert Bouchard: drums, vocals
• Allen Lanier: keyboards, rhythm guitar

Notes

This is the only album by Blue Öyster Cult which renders the band name as The Blue Öyster Cult.

On the original record, one side had the original black text-on-red background style for the label of side A (called "The Black") where side B ("The Red") had the opposite - a black background with red text. On the 2001 remasters of this album and of Blue Öyster Cult, this red-on-black style is used on the disc. (Secret Treaties and Agents of Fortune use the black-on-red style.)

Some erroneous lyrics to the song "Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)" were printed in the remastered version of this album and have been propagated through the Internet. The corrected lyrics as supplied by Albert Bouchard are:

• "that Duke's joint" should be "that juke joint"

• "A harvester lifts his arms to the rain" should be "A harvest of limbs, of arms and of legs"

Old CDs

On at least one pressing of the album on CD prior to the 2001 Remaster, some of the segues between songs were mispositioned. This affects every track except for the last. Three of them (O.D.'d on Life Itself -> Hot Rails to Hell, Hot Rails -> 7 Screaming Diz-Busters -> Baby Ice Dog) are minor, but all the other erroneous segues are fairly noticeable and a bit disruptive, especially if listened to in MP3 format or any other format where gaps exist before or after songs.

Charts

Year	Album	Billboard 200
1973	Tyranny and Mutation	#122