The moment Blue Öyster Cult broke into the mainstream
As incredible as their earliest releases may have been, the first few years of Blue Öyster Cult‘s existence were underwhelming in terms of their chart performance. Neither of their first two albums managed to break into the top 100 in the US, and while Secret Treaties almost found its way into the top 50, it was still a position that didn’t match up to the talents on display across this opening trilogy of records.
Rather appropriately for their name, they did have something of a cult following, but considering the success of British counterparts such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, it was disappointing that they weren’t able to gain as much traction in their home country. It was clear that there was the potential for them to break into the mainstream, and while they were desperately pushing to do so, something else was needed for them to garner the attention they deserved.
If they were making the best records they could possibly come up with, then they needed to establish what it was that would tip them over the edge into greater notoriety. What Black Sabbath had in their favour was an ability to court controversy and shock with their occult-flavoured lyricism and menacing presence. Blue Öyster Cult needed to be able to do this in their own way, without directly copying what their peers were doing.
It was evident that the most important thing they could do was focus on their presentation and promotion of their material, and so, after the release of their third album, which saw a slight rise in chart performance, they chose to dial up the shocking nature of their image in order to grab attention. Considering the content of their first three records was still worth pushing under the noses of the general public, they decided that the best way of packaging their work was to release a live album of their most stellar material.
It would be the release of the 1975 live record, On Your Feet or on Your Knees, that would help propel Blue Öyster Cult to greater heights, and even though they may have deserved fame prior to that, they knew exactly how to court attention by this point, and hammed it all up to get audiences talking about them.
From a musical standpoint, the collection of songs that the band chose to put into their setlist for the album spoke for themselves and showcased just how formidable they were at writing heavy riffs with a progressive edge to them. However, it was the marketing campaign conducted by Columbia Records that truly drove sales of the record, with them opting to spin the press into a frenzy by releasing promotional materials that used imagery of Christianity and sadomasochism all rolled into one.
After On Your Feet or on Your Knees reached number 22 in the US album charts, the band would see their pedigree rise significantly, with singles such as 1976’s ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ and 1981’s ‘Burnin’ For You’ both reaching the top 40 in the Billboard Hot 100. However, while this saw a slight softening of their hard rock sound, it was still thanks to the fearsome and shocking campaign behind their 1975 live record that they were able to get traction in the first place.
