Secret Treaties

Secret Treaties

Track Listings

1. Career of Evil

2. Subhuman

3. Dominance and Submission

4. ME 262

5. Cagey Cretins

6. Harvester of Eyes

7. Flaming Telepaths

8. Astronomy

Tracks:

Career Of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance And Submission
ME 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester Of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy
Boorman The Chauffer
Mommy
Mes Dames Sarat
Born To Be Wild (Single B-Side)
Career Of Evil (Single Version)

Customer Reviews:

great rock and roll........2007-04-13

They don't make albums like this anymore.As i can say for most of ever thing in the 60s and 70s.anyway great melodic rock.

How many times have I bought this album?.......2007-01-22

I bought the cassette in the 70's.
The LP in the 70's.
I think I bought the LP again in the 80's to get the picture sleeve.
Bought the CD, bought it again in a 3 pack (along with Tyranny and Mutation and their first self-titled album, which along with On Your Feet Or On Your Knees are their 4 best albums),
and I bought the remastered version (didn't care for the bonus tracks).

It won't surprise me if I buy it again.

Dark Hard Rockin Abbey Road.......2006-12-15

This is the pinnacle of BOC's career as well as being one of rock music's greatest achievements. The remastering is spectacular, lending this recording great depth and texture. What's really killer is when Dharma, Bloom and Lanier line up the guitars and play triple leads left, center and right, creating a layered effect, pushing the framework of modern rock music to boundries its never been to, since. If that's not enough, you've got the tightest rhythm section ever recorded...and keyboards! Secret Treaties is one of the most creative and entertaining progressive rock recording, easily comparable to Ziggy Stardust, Who's Next, Machine Head, etc. Treaties starts strong, and never lets up, songs flowing seamlessly into each other, creating a unified suite of songs, the last time BOC produced such an "Album Oriented Rock" record, abandonning this approach for uneven albums, and steller singles the rest of their career. Sensing the inevitable ending during the resonating piano of "Flamming Telepaths" and "Astronomy", I hoped this experience would last another 40 minutes. Instead, when done, I immediately played the cd again...with headphone. Needless to say, this is on my heavy rotation...as well as their debut and Tyranny and Mutation.

One of BOC's MOST treasured albums!.......2006-02-24

The Oyster Boys really went out on a limb on this one, and it payed off and then some, because a ton of long-time BOC fans consider it to be the bands ABSOLUTE best, out of them all. Although I don't consider it the "best", I can certainly see why alot of fans do. Of the B&W (Black & White) period, I consider Secret Treaties a mere fraction behind Tryanny & Mutation. I just never get that excited about "Cagey Cretins", and that's the only reason why. Secret Treaties remains a very consistent album all the way through, and contains a few of the bands most respected and treasured songs, such as "Subhuman", "Dominance & Submission", "Flaming Telepaths", and the incredible "Astronomy". BOC even threw in a WWII ballad, "ME262" to spiff it up a little. The Bouchard brothers (guitarist and drummer) really put to good use their song-writing chops on Secret Treaties, and every time I listen to it, that fact is more than obvious, and perhaps more-so than the the majority of their other albums. But then again, Secret Treaties is the last of the dark and cryptic B&W period, and after this they show their more commercially accessible and successful side, and in my opinion, it is in this slighlty new style that they begin to REALLY shine. It only gets better from here on out, but long-time, devoted fans will no-doubt forever remember BOC's infamous B&W period, and in particular, Secret Treaties, and after hearing it, you'll understand why.

Incredible.......2006-02-18

This is probably my favorite album ever, and with good cause.
This is a masterful album. I can put it on and tell myself that I'll listen to something else afterwards, but just find myself replaying the whole thing over and over again and loving every minute of it. Other reviewers have been over the songs, so I'll not go into those in detail, but I can say that "Astronomy" is my favorite BOC song, if not my favorite song period. It's a thing of dark beauty, with cryptic lyrics (which one can only really understand if one knows the Imaginos storyline). "Dominance and Submission" is a powerful song, and the live version is in my opinion even better (from "Extraterrestrial Live" or the "A Long Day's Night" DVD). "Harvester of Eyes" is great, if somewhat nonsensical(even if you know its context), and "Flaming Telepaths" is an amazing work... the pulse of the keyboard note, and the drug and yet somehow something more lyrics are just magic. This is really more of an experience than an album.

Average customer rating:

Secret Treaties
Blue Öyster Cult
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000P28R9Y
Release Date: 2007-07-02

Tracks:

Career of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance and Submission
ME 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy
Boorman the Chauffer [#][*]
Mommy [#][*]
Mes Dames Sarat [#][*]
Born to Be Wild [Non LP Single (Single B-Side)][*][Version]
Career of Evil [Single Version][*]

Album Description

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007.

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Average customer rating:

The single best BOC album
B.O.C. at their best
Superlative Material, Dubious Production
COMETH TO ME ALIEN
R U Ready to Rock!?

Secret Treaties
Blue Öyster Cult
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Tyranny and Mutation

ASIN: B00000252M
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Career Of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance And Submission
ME 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester Of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy

Customer Reviews:

The single best BOC album.......2005-08-26

I was a fan of the Oysters from the first time I heard the opening chords of "Cities on Flame" rip through the AM airwaves. Since then, I've probably owned every one of their albums at least once, as well as Buck Dharma's solo Flat Out album (which was FINALLY brought to CD two years ago after too many years of utter rarity).

Sometimes they did an album that's a little scattered, but they'd always come roaring back with the next one.

But if I was going to hand one album to someone as a perfect example of what the band could do at their finest moments, it'd be "Secret Treaties."

When William Gibson first published "Neuromancer," I kept flashing back as I read to this set of BoC tracks -- I can't think of a better album to catch the street-wise high grunge of that genre of science fiction.

The only down-side I can think of isn't much, & that's that "Astronomy" is kind of a letdown, especially the last half. However, it's still a good track, & hardly enough to drag down the near-perfection of the rest.

Though there's an interestingly strange interpolation between each of the tracks, each one stands out for its own reasons. I'll give a few of my favourite features.

The slow, almost understated guitar chug that drives "Harvester of Eyes" is hypnotic & forboding... & then they throw in a rhythmic change. And another. It winds to a halt, & you're hoping/dreading that it picks up again.

"ME 262" is an arena-rocker about at incredibly unlikely subject: the almost-successful jet fighter, first of its kind, that, if it'd been completed a little earlier, might have won WWII for the Nazis.

"Flaming Telepaths" has evocative, unsettling, precisely-crafted lyrics from the first: "I've opened up my veins too many times..."

"Dominance & Submission" grows out of an awkward, grating chord that has probably been used on three tracks in the history of rock. If you're a guitarist, you'll want to learn it -- just because it's so unique.

The absolute winner, though, is "Career of Evil." Though a little silly with some of its imagery, I'd put the chorus up as one of the best American poems ever written, with a very dense internal rhyme/rhythm scheme. And, hell, it's great to sing along with, too!!

In passing, this is the album that cued me to the thought that there might be some strange, dark, dystopic science-fiction worldview underlying the band's songs.

While I won't disparage ANY of BoC's other work, this is the one that any remotest fan simply has to have (followed, of course, by "Agents of Fortune," but that's another review...).

B.O.C. at their best.......2001-07-23

This is not only the bands best work but one of he best rock albums ever. I have never tired of it. Opening with Career of Evil and closing with the classic Astronomy, this rocks all the way through. Every song a gem. I love this band, and have bought abot 80% of their work, but this is the one that defines this great band.

Superlative Material, Dubious Production.......2001-06-09

Without question, Blue Oyster Cult at its prime was heavy metal's brainiest and wittiest band - but they were fool enough to cut their second two albums ("Tyranny and Mutation" and this set) all but on the run, amidst a near-insane touring pace. And it shows. The material is top rate ("Subhuman," "Dominance and Submission," "ME 262" and "Astronomy" are the standouts, though there really isn't a lame song on the entire set), the musicianship is superlative, but it almost sounds as though the Oyster Boys were watching the clocks while cutting the tracks, so rushed do even the more moderate tempi feel when they finish the play, and so plain seems to have been the recording and production (hence the two-star docking). It's worth having for the songs, even though three of them - "Subhuman," "Harvester of Eyes" and "ME 262" - are done better justice (and have slightly different and more gripping arrangements, for that matter) on the concert album which followed a year later, "On Your Feet or On Your Knees". And, for a nutball lyric, you can't exactly do that much more nutball than this routine: "Just last week I took a ride/so high on eyes I almost lost my way/I'm the harvester of eyes."

COMETH TO ME ALIEN.......2001-06-02

So much of BOC prompts unison physical movement. Never more true than in "Career of Evil". Ones bod sways forth and back as you subjugate yourself happily to beautiful lyrics of theft, rape, and extortion. But it's OK! That business about the Blue-eyed Horse-shoe, and the Emerald horny-toad (and the dirt road), justifies it all. That sub-human mantra "Subhuman" grows on ya...it's a bit spacey. I guess cut 3, "Dominance and Submission" has something to do with riding around until sado-masochistic urges surface to the point that....PLEASE STOP ME! "ME 262", being clearly in worship of the Third Reich, is a fine song with a wonderful opening string blend worthy of Kottke and Moroder. We used to play "Cagey Cretins" at the state institution Iworked at. Our, uhm, guests, actually liked it. "Harvester of Eyes" is your standard evil-toon. It keeps running through your head. The final cuts, "Flaming Telepaths", and "Astronomy", more rightly belong to the future. Because here we see the ground-school for BOC's take-off into alien/sci-fi/monster rock. Both tracks re-appear. Very slick and assaultive. Very loud.

R U Ready to Rock!?.......2001-05-13

In my estimation, THE best BÖC album to date. Eric Bloom is in rare form on every track! What's more, if you've ever been to one of their shows, you know that the songs from this album are the highlight of their performance. From Dominance and Submission on down through Me 262, Harvester of Eyes, and Flaming Telepaths this album contains some of the best rock songs of all time. Ladies, fish, and gentlemen this album IS rock 'n' roll!

Blue Oyster Cult /Tyranny & Mutation / Secret Treaties (3CD)

Average customer rating:

Thee BO'C starter kit!
Really good, but...
I'm playing catch up
TYRANNY... OR ON YOUR KNEES ! ! !
Mandatory - The BOC Curriculum Vitae

Blue Oyster Cult /Tyranny & Mutation / Secret Treaties (3CD)
Blue Öyster Cult
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Transmaniacon MC
I'm On The Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep
Then Came The Last Days Of May
Stairway To The Stars
Before The Kiss, A Redcap
Screams
She's As Beautiful As A Foot
Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll
Workshop Of The Telescopes
Redeemed

Tracks:

The Red & The Black
O.D.'d On Life Itself
Hot Rails To Hell
7 Screaming Diz-Busters
Baby Ice Dog
Wings Wetted Down
Teen Archer
Mistress Of The Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)

Tracks:

Career Of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance And Submission
ME 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester Of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy

Customer Reviews:

Thee BO'C starter kit!.......2004-11-04

You can't go wrong with this set of the first three classic BOC albums!

The perfect place to start and hear what all the fans were raving about. No "Don't Fear The Reaper",no,no that was far into the future. This is the stuff that punk bands loved!

Yes,it's dated...but damn it great!

You need this!

Really good, but..........2002-02-01

This box set is a handy collection of Blue Oyster Cult's first three albums, collectively known as the "black-and-white period", when the band was a cult attraction nevertheless drawing increasing attention. These three records, which contain standards like 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll', 'The Red and the Black' and 'Career of Evil', form the core of the evidence for BOC's being the ultimate "thinking man's metal band". The only thing is that, since this box was released, all three of these albums have been remastered and re-released with bonus tracks and new liner notes, so this collection is a bit outdated. By all means, however, it is worth checking out these classic albums in practically any form.

I'm playing catch up.......2001-12-17

20 years ago, when I was turned on to BOC, I didn't like these albums. They sounded "different". Well, all I have to say to that is damn, did I miss out! These are really GREAT albums. About '98 are realized I was hungry for more BOC. I remembered I didn't care much for their "early" work but they are my favorite band, bar none. What a shock I got. Now I know why they are so highly rated among others even more so. This stuff is fantastic. I'd also like to get across the fact that these albums did not "grow" on me. The last time I heard these albums was back in '79/80. I just didn't get it then. As soon as I played these CDs I was blown away and amazed that I waited this long. DAMN! The plus is, this is like new music to me. Its all very fresh. You can say I returned to old gods. 5 stars be damned! 10+ stars! Excellent price too! Enjoy.

TYRANNY... OR ON YOUR KNEES ! ! !.......2001-11-07

Voici la plus grande trilogie du heavy-metal qui allait tout bouleverser dans l'ésotérisme métallique. Et quelles harmonies ! Il fallait s'appeler Fougeray pour ne pas percevoir la grandiosité de ces opus en Black Sabbath majeur. C'est toujours un bonheur que d'entendre "Cities on flame with r'n'r". Quant à "The last days of May", si vous n'comprenez pas après çà qu'elle ne reviendra plus jamais, cette salope, allez vous faire pendre ailleurs ! (Fâches-Thumesnil, 25 Juillet 1998)

Mandatory - The BOC Curriculum Vitae.......2001-08-26

Sometimes you get so tunnel-visioned into scanning for obscure and hidden trees that you miss the Stalk-Forrest (one of this band's earlier tags). This commendably low-priced set represents the black-and-white-covers era when , true to their final choice for band name, these guys mainly WERE a cult item. At this early stage, BOC were short on marketing strategies but long on creativity and experimentation, thus the songs off these first three lps -while nominally "metal"- have a je nai sais quai (my apologies to outraged French grammarians) that sets these tracks apart from their later, slicker, post-AGENTS OF FORTUNE output. Odd touches and surreal moments abound, with just enough pedal-to-the-metal applied to remind you that these guys are primarily a hard rock band, albeit one with enough craft and smarts to not get bogged down in formula. The self-titled first features such rave-ups as "Transmaniacon MC", "Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll" and "Stairway to the Stars", but the album's real treasures are its unclassifiable cross-genre hybrids: "Before the Kiss, A Redcap" (wonderfully strange jazzy blues), "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" (an early version of "The Red and the Black" best described as progressive bluegrass), and the haunting and otherworldly "Then Came The Last Days of May" (a classic of subtle, idyllic menace presaging "Don't Fear The Reaper" years later). Only the album's inferior mix annoys - thus this overall set only nabs four stars from me. TYRANNY & MUTATION fixes the sound problems and steps up the intensity besides - it was around this time that the band's ambient liner notes started to backfire on them (believe it or don't, there was some scuttlebutt at the time that BOC were neo-Nazis - despite the fact that most of the band's Jewish! Of course, in those days, there were a lot of such silly urban legends afoot regarding longhaired heavy-rockers) and highlights on the album include at least three stone-classics: "Hot Rails to Hell", "OD'd On Life Itself" and "7 Screaming Diz-Busters". The last album collected, SECRET TREATIES, is probably the apogee of this early, eclectic BOC style, a way-out blend of mysticism, pop-culture science fiction imagery and highly tasty melodic metal which resulted in one great song after another: "Career of Evil", "Subhuman", "Flaming Telepaths", "Harvester of Eyes", etc. After this slam-dunk of seductive strangeness, the influence of producers Pearlman & Krugman and creative consultant Richard Meltzer -which had been considerable- lessened somewhat (but paved the way for Michael Moorcock's later work with the band). If you're waiting for me to add "and they were never this good again", well, that's a bit harsh. They remained a quality band - just a lot less unpredictable and bizarre, though there's always a little more than meets the ear on all of their subsequent albums.

Average customer rating:

Great CD

Secret Treaties
Blue Öyster Cult
Manufacturer: Sony/Columbia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Classic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000AKP2T
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

Career of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance and Submission
ME 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy

Album Description

2002 reissue of 1974 album, that's unavailable domestically, packaged in a digipak. 13 tracks including five bonus tracks, 'Boorman The Chauffer', 'Mommy', 'Mes Dames Sarat', 'Born To Be Wild' (Single B-side), & 'Career Of Evil' (Single Version). Columbia.

Customer Reviews:

Great CD.......2004-06-18

It's cracking.

Not the usual "don't fear the Reaper" stuff, beautiful yes, but a bit depreciated for too much celebrity.

Citations of the Deep Purple (Smoke on the water reef, very contemporary) and in general a perfect example of '70 years rock.

Tracks:

The Red & The Black
O.D.'D On Life Itself
Hot Rails To Hell
7 Screaming Diz-Busters
Baby Ice Dog
Wings Wetted Down
Teen Archer
Mistress Of The Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)
Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll
Career Of Evil
Subhuman
Dominance And Submission
Me 262
Cagey Cretins
Harvester Of Eyes
Flaming Telepaths
Astronomy
Stairway To The Stars

Album Description

Exclusive French coupling of their mythical albums presentedin the infamous Axe Killer double leather digi-packs. Both CDs have been remastered and feature bonus tracks. 'Tyranny & Mutation' adds 'Cities On Flame With Rock And Roll' while 'Secret Treaties' adds, 'Stairway To The Stars'. Features a 28 page booklet with the bands biography,album lyrics and exclusive photos. 2000 release.

Album Details

Two Cult Albums in a Deluxe Edition, Silvered Double CD Digipack. A Total of 18 Tracks Integrally Remastered Including Two Bonus Tracks, a 28 Page Booklet with Exclusive Photos, Lyrics and Biography.

Customer Reviews:

Remastered.......2001-06-03

Well,these two albums sound a little better re-mastered than the original Columbia CD releases. It might be just my copy(though it sounds like it's in the master) of the original Secret Treaties has a weird skip in the song 'Cagey Cretins', that is fixed up here. It might be just me, but was there additional reverb added to these albums on this re-master ?(that's a no no,don't mess with a classic, see my review of Iggy And The Stooges "Raw Power") The packaging is OK, the booklet fairly informative, however the 'bonus tracks' are nothing more than cuts that are already available on the first album, totally an unnecessary addition. I still have to give this such a high rating because you can't find fault with the music on either of these two albums. Tyranny and Treaies both represented BOC at their pinnacle; musically they never rose to this level again, despite commercial hits (I don't care about things like that) on later albums that mainstream guys will try to tell you are better because they sold more. The original 3 "Black And White" (referring to the artwork concept)albums are the ones that really matter. Cult was an intellectual metal band with prog rock leanings that helped inspire(along with Budgie, Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Grand Funk Railroad,Black Sabbath) what is termed today as 'stoner rock' (see Monster Magnet, Kyuss, George Brigman & Split,Sunwheel Power Express,Spirit Caravan etc.)Their music needs to live on.

2 albums + 2 tracks.......2001-05-20

Made in FRA in 2000, Serial# 3063322, Playing Time 84:23

Part of "The Back To Black Collection", this 2-disc set unites BOC's 2nd album, 1973's "Tyranny And Mutation" on disc 1, plus 1 track from their 1st album, along with a 2nd disc which is made up of 1974's "Secret Treaties", their 3rd album, plus another track from their 1st album.

If you're unfamiliar with this series, the packaging is made like a black booklet, with the artwork in silver, while the inside (28 pages) features lyrics, liner notes, all in full-colour.