Tyranny and Mutation

The album was recorded in late 1972 at Columbia Studios in New York City.{{cite AV media notes |title=Tyranny and Mutation |others=Blue Öyster Cult |year=2001 |first=Lenny |last=Kaye |author-link= Lenny Kaye|page=4 |type= CD Booklet|publisher=Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings |id=502235 2 |location=New York City}}

"Baby Ice Dog" features lyrics by singer/poet Patti Smith, who would make several more lyrical contributions to the band's repertoire over its career.{{cite AV media notes |title=Tyranny and Mutation |others=Blue Öyster Cult |year=2001|pages=6-11 |type= CD Booklet|publisher=Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings |id=502235 2 |location=New York City}}

The song "The Red and the Black", with lyrics referencing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is a re-titled, re-recorded version of "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from the band's eponymous debut album. The song was later covered by the Minutemen and Band of Susans. AllMusic critic Hal Horowitz called it "one of the best and most propulsive rockers in the BÖC catalog".{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-red-and-the-black-mt0032318807 |title=Blue Öyster Cult- The Red and the Black song review |last=Horowitz |first=Hal |work=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network |access-date=August 31, 2018 |archive-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718084219/https://www.allmusic.com/song/the-red-and-the-black-mt0032318807 |url-status=live }}

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/tyranny-and-mutation-mw0000201312 | title = Blue Öyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation review | access-date = October 25, 2012 | last = Jurek | first = Thom | work = AllMusic | publisher = Rovi Corporation | archive-date = November 15, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121115141542/http://www.allmusic.com/album/tyranny-and-mutation-mw0000201312 | url-status = live }}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = B+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: B|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=70|access-date=February 22, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|archive-date=May 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517130444/https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=70|url-status=live}}

|rev3 = Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal

|rev3Score = 8/10{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing| date = October 2003 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | isbn = 978-1894959025| page=53}}

|rev4 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last= C. Strong |first= Martin|title= Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year= 2004|publisher= Canongate|isbn= 1841955515}}

|rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev5Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|last1=Brackett|first1=Nathan|last2=Hoard|first2=Christian David|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|year=2004|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/87 87]}}

}}

"Tyranny and Mutation" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone wrote a rave review of the album and called Blue Öyster Cult "one of the best bands America's got".{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blueoystercult/albums/album/125381/review/5942624/tyranny_and_mutation | title = Album Reviews: Blue Oyster Cult – Tyranny and Mutation| access-date = October 25, 2012 | last = Fletcher | first = Gordon |date = April 12, 1973| magazine = Rolling Stone | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091012085950/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blueoystercult/albums/album/125381/review/5942624/tyranny_and_mutation | archive-date = October 12, 2009}} Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, praised the band's disregard for "the entire heavy ethos" but wondered if the "parody-surreal refraction of the abysmal 'poetry' of heavy" in the lyrics could be a start for a return to conformism. The Rolling Stone Album Guide described the album as "one molten hook after another" and praised the four-song "opening suite" comprising the first side of the album.

However, Mike Saunders of Phonograph Record judged "Tyranny and Mutation" "a real disappointment", definitely inferior to their debut album and lacking "the sort of brashness that almost defines hard rock or metal music".{{cite magazine |title=Blue Oyster Cult: Tyranny and Mutation |magazine=Phonograph Record |date=April 1973 |last=Saunders |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Saunders (musician) |volume=3 |issue=9 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/blue-oyster-cult-ityranny-and-mutationi |access-date=2018-09-15 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915155033/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/blue-oyster-cult-ityranny-and-mutationi |url-status=live }} Ian MacDonald of the British New Musical Express was very critical of the Pearlman/Meltzer "crass Satan-speed-and-sadism" lyrics and of the band's music which "tend to leave the listener aurally shaken, but emotionally unstirred."{{cite magazine |title=Blue Oyster Cult: Tyranny And Mutation (Columbia Import) |magazine=NME |date=16 March 1974 |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |author-link=Ian MacDonald |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/blue-oyster-cult-ityranny-and-mutationi-columbia-import |access-date=2018-09-15 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915192232/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/blue-oyster-cult-ityranny-and-mutationi-columbia-import |url-status=live }}

Modern reviews are generally positive. Thom Jurek of AllMusic noted how BÖC "brightened their sound and deepened their mystique" on this album and described the music as "screaming, methamphetamine-fueled rock & roll that was all about attitude, mystery, and a sense of nihilistic humor that was deep in the cuff", judging Tyranny and Mutation just as much a "classic album" as its follow-up Secret Treaties. Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal acknowledged the progress achieved in production values compared with their debut but found the sound "still mired in an oddly appealing maze of cobwebs", despite Blue Öyster Cult parading a slew of classic songs and "quickly becoming something very imposing".

In addition to the conventional 2-channel stereo version, the album was also released in a 4-channel quadraphonic version on LP record and 8-track tape in 1974. The quad LP release was encoded in the SQ matrix system.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one – The Black

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = The Red & the Black

| writer1 = Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman

| extra1 = Eric Bloom

| length1 = 4:20

| title2 = O.D.'d on Life Itself

| writer2 = Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman

| extra2 = Eric Bloom

| length2 = 4:47

| title3 = Hot Rails to Hell

| writer3 = Joe Bouchard

| extra3 = Joe Bouchard

| length3 = 5:12

| title4 = 7 Screaming Diz-Busters

| writer4 = Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Sandy Pearlman

| extra4 = Eric Bloom

| length4 = 7:01

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two – The Red

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Baby Ice Dog

| writer1 = Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Patti Smith

| extra1 = Eric Bloom

| length1 = 3:29

| title2 = Wings Wetted Down

| writer2 = Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard

| extra2 = Joe Bouchard, Eric Bloom

| length2 = 4:12

| title3 = Teen Archer

| writer3 = Eric Bloom, Donald Roeser, Richard Meltzer

| extra3 = Donald Roeser

| length3 = 3:57

| title4 = Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)

| writer4 = Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman

| extra4 = Eric Bloom

| length4 = 5:08

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2001 CD reissue bonus tracks

| total_length = 66:30

| title9 = Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll

| writer9 = Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman, Donald Roeser

| note9 = live; originally from the promo-only Blue Öyster Cult Bootleg EP

| length9 = 4:44

| title10 = Buck's Boogie

| writer10 = Donald Roeser, Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman

| note10 = studio version

| length10 = 5:22

| title11 = 7 Screaming Diz-Busters

| writer11 = Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Sandy Pearlman

| note11 = live; from the band's personal archives

| length11 = 14:01

| title12 = O.D.'d on Life Itself

| writer12 = Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman

| note12 = live; from the band's personal archives

| length12 = 4:52

}}

;Band members

• Eric Bloom – rhythm guitar, synthesizers, vocals
• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser – lead guitar, vocals
• Allen Lanier – keyboards, rhythm guitar
• Joe Bouchard – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Albert Bouchard – drums, vocals

;Production

• Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman – producers
• Tim Geelan, Lou Schlossberg, Phil Giambalvo – engineers
• Bill Gawlik – artwork
• Jack Ashkinazy – mastering
• Bruce Dickinson – reissue producer
• Vic Anesini – re-mastering

{{Reflist}}

{{Blue Öyster Cult}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Blue Öyster Cult albums

Category:1973 albums

Category:Albums produced by Murray Krugman

Category:Albums produced by Sandy Pearlman

Category:Columbia Records albums