Blue Öyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best of Blue Öyster Cult [2LP Clear & Black Marble]

Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best of Blue Öyster Cult lands as a limited 2LP set on 180 gram clear and black marble vinyl, imported from Holland.

Few hard rock bands were as clever, or as strange, as these Long Island lifers. They paired heavy riffs with sci-fi lyrics, occult imagery and a dry sense of humour, and this collection traces that run from their 1972 debut through the early eighties.

Early cuts like the stomping Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll and the eerie, slow-building Astronomy show the band finding its dark, literate voice. Then come the songs everyone knows. (Don't Fear) The Reaper is the crown jewel, Buck Dharma's chiming guitar figure and hushed harmonies turning a meditation on mortality into one of classic rock's most hypnotic singles. Godzilla follows with a riff as huge as its subject, and Burnin' for You shows the band's sleek, radio-ready side without losing its edge. Later cuts like Joan Crawford and Shooting Shark reveal a group happy to get theatrical and moody.

Four sides, and barely a wasted moment.

For collectors, the marbled pressing gives a fittingly otherworldly look to a band that always seemed to be broadcasting from somewhere slightly off the map.