| Tyranny and Mutation | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Blue Öyster Cult |
| Cover: | Blue_Oyster_Cult-Tyranny_and_Mutation.jpg |
| Recorded: | 1972 |
| Studio: | Columbia Studios, New York City |
| Length: | 38:11 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman |
| Prev Title: | Blue Öyster Cult |
| Prev Year: | 1972 |
| Next Title: | Secret Treaties |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
Tyranny and Mutation (stylized on the cover as THE BLVE ÖYSTER CVLT: TYRANNY AND MVTATION), the second studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, was released in February 1973 by Columbia Records.[1] It was produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. On May 12, 1973, the album peaked at No. 122 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2]
The only single released from the album, "Hot Rails to Hell", did not chart.[2]
The album was recorded in late 1972 at Columbia Studios in New York City.[3]
"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.[4]
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".[5]
"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".[6] 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 Records 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".[7] 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."[8]
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.