This year, Every Sunday Evening, Album Rock WXYG, The GOAT will be featuring a full album at 8:00 PM from the halcyon musical days of 1976. 1976 was one of the top Years in Album Rock history. Another year of tough choices every week. So many great ones to choose from. After 52 Weeks of featuring so many of the great albums that debuted in 1975, next Sunday we will be moving on to another amazing year of ALBUM ROCK EXCELLENCE, 1976.
Tune in at 8:00 PM, Next Sunday Evening, July 26th for “Agents of Fortune”, the fourth studio album by Blue Oyster Cult, released on May 21, 1976.
The album was certified Platinum and the single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, making it BÖC's biggest hit.
Rolling Stone hailed Blue Oyster Cult's “Agents of Fortune” as a "startlingly excellent" work that successfully blended a polished, mature sound with a dark image. Critics praised the release for its confident, melodic, and rocking sound, highlighting tracks like "True Confessions".
The album is an adventure from start to finish. The group was often considered by many to be "the thinking man's heavy metal" and honestly, this album really backs that claim.
The band seems to master this bizarre oxymoron of being loud yet soft and manic yet confident. The album starts out hot with "This Ain't The Summer Of Love" then does a complete 180 as "True Confessions" is one of the band's poppier songs. The band fluctuates from different octaves and levels throughout the album, and it's the most organized confusion you’ll ever hear...which is exactly how Rock N Roll should be. And, of course, you can’t forget about "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
The album is one of the band's biggest hits and could have easily been buried in the mix of all the great albums released in the infamous summer of 1976 which is often regarded as one of the best single years in music history.
Give 'er a listen if you haven't already, you'll be screaming more cowbell before ya know it.
Tune In and Turn On the evening of Sunday, July 26th at 8:00 PM for The GOAT'S "The Long Play with Al Neff”.
