Added: 3 years ago
From: BlueOysterWizard
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  • I broke my neck head banging to BOC.

  • Blue Oyster Cult rocks fan forever

  • I prefer this version because there's MOAR GUITAR <3

  • ASTRONOMY (live ) on SOME ENCHANTED EVENING....is the FINEST live performance EVER recorded...FLAWLESS...BUCK is the fastest smoothest most creatively interesting guitar player out there...the synth TALKS!!!

  • This is my favourite version. I loved this album when it came out. The only thing is it's one of those albums, like Hawkwind's Chronicle Of The Black Sword, that feels too short. Like it should have been a double album.

    Oh, and the title track is kinda sucky.

  • @jaxxstraw That's because it was actually an Alan Lanier solo album. The label refused to release it unless it was a BOC album, so he brought the band in, rerecorded some tracks and released it as a BOC album.

  • @crhymethinc Albert Bouchard solo album*

  • Definitely a top contender for my favorite BOC song......if only I could get Del Rio's Song out of my head :)

  • Speechless.

  • This song sounds like an ancient evil that has sat idle for so long that the idea of right and wrong has completely lost all meaning.

    It has become something to marvel on an astronomical scale.

  • This is very nice. But i prefer the Secret Treaties version.

    This version lacks ST's mystique, and also i prefer Eric Bloom's vocals.

  • @randomstofil The Secret Treaties version is more of a prototype, this version is Sandy Pearlmans original vision.

  • Thank you for posting this. It kills me that in 2011, with all the various ways to get music that now exist, I still can't buy this GD album! I had the cassette back in 1988, and have been dying to replace it, but no dice.

  • @McIntireConspiracy My buddy has the album in digital format. I can ask you were he got it if you would like.

  • Best version for me. Mystic.

  • the original is a lot better this sounds like a ghost song or something it's not bad though

  • ...and I'm sorry, but I like the Imaginos version better than the original >.<

  • why did metallica do so many crappy covers? long live BÖC

  • @jarianb15 amen brotha!!!

  • And the Imaginos version rips. It rips live, too. Awesome song, great album, and always great shows. Go Buck!

  • The Amazon link above is not to the Imagios version. Way to go Amazon. The Imaginos version is not available as a single for sale at Amazon. Amazon stupid.

  • @MidnightRambler73 Agreed....and time for us to get to the BOC Revival tonight and every night. :)

  • Some Enchanted Evening is my favourite version. I don't actually mind the Metallica version, I've no idea why vettels6 got so many negative votes and got slandered by the "wizard" in the comments.

  • My favorite version by quite some margin, however I think all have their merits, why people feel the need to get so bent out of shape about which is best baffles me.

    Have you're own opinion by all means but don't attempt to bully people into sharing it.

  • hmmm... for me, de best version, no doubt.

  • sounds great, but I think the original stays the best =)

  • I love this song, I think it goes well with Reaper, remember hearing it on the radio in 8th grade and I bought the cd with my paper route money, still have it and listen to it today

  • Comment removed

  • the shouts in the background are distracting. and the da-nan-na-na-na-dow hook which is the song's payoff IMO is gone. bad call. BOC did not improve on the Secret Treaties version. the metallica version is equal to the original, if a bit heavier. this one sounds more like a remix, i kept waiting for the brazilian samba interlude, lol. btw ive seen BOC perform this live a bunch and had Secret Treaties on vinyl, so dont give me any backtalk.

  • @TheEarnold I feel the same way this one is ok and it does sound like a remix the original was heard first and is still the best it conjures up a lone figure out in space and is kinda spooky where this does neither never heard metallicas ver. i dont really like them 'cept for a few old songs-Ride the Lightning--The three Black and White BOC albums kick ass!!!...but really all the BOC songs RULE!!!....

  • Can I just say that you, BlueOysterWizard is as far as I know the greatest youtube member there is.

  • Can everyone stop bloody arguing about which band did it better, and just enjoy the vid or leave. Thanks ;)

  • @WoodRatGirl OUCH!...

  • Buck does this version a lot of justice.

  • I wish there was a video with lyrics

  • I prefer this version.

  • I heard subhuman and astronomy first on this album. not metallica, not original blue oyster cult. but here, bouchards 'solo' album. And I must tell you, I can't understand the other versions. for me, these are the real thing, coolest of the cool.

  • The first time I listened to this, I didn't like it. it sounded nothing like the original from Secret Treaties. I felt that song was one of the great showcases for Eric's singing. But this one grew on me after listening to it again and again. Great guitar work - the galloping across time theme is wonderful. I love both versions and I credit them for trying out different ways to present Sandy Pearlman's story.

  • Metallica's cover of this song is why I bought Secret Treaties. No joke. I wanted to hear the original, and this was back when I had dial-up internet and couldn't wait an eternity on YouTube. That album got me into BOC. That being said, they probably should've covered this version. I think it would've suited them better.

  • I couldn't finish the Metallica version. The voice was horrid, and, well, it just wasn't BOC.

  • Chances are, if you prefer Metallica to BOC in general, you'll like that version better. Their cover was just okay to me. They upped the redneck quotient on it which is typical of them. Hetfield's voice sounds really wrong for these lyrics. Turn the Page was a better cover from those guys.

  • This song is.. i can't actually describe it. H.P. Lovecraft would like it :)

  • @Rainmaker2212

    Wow - someone on here actually knows who H. P. Lovecraft is! There may be hope yet for the imminent return of the great old ones. . .

  • The original version sounded very early 70s raw rock. This version is much cleaner and melodic. This version will probably still sound appropriate a hundred years from now. That interlude in the middle is so soothing. It rocks and jams!

  • why isn't this on itunes?!?!?!?1

  • @Tom "I cant spend 10 dollars on an album" Shutter Why dont you buy the album?

  • @igSgtPepper

    I did. I ordered it 4 weeks ago. They say it will take another 4 weeks because of back order. If it was on itunes, I would have it already.

  • @TomShutter4 Ah, i misjudged you good sir!

  • Original is best because Eric Bloom blows "Buck Dharma" away on vocals.

    That said, the Imaginos version is more dynamic and as a result has it's own points of merit. As floridafreedom100 says as well, Buck's voice is suited well for this version and thev point stands even in lieu of my opening point.

    A Rembrandt vs a Picasso...

    The material speaks for itself.

  • This is my favourite version of this song. I don't thing any song has affected me as much as 'Astronomy' did when I first heard it. I think it will always be my favourite song. This version is absolutely stunning I listen to it again and again.

    Though there are other great versions with Eric, too.

  • Metallica sucks. If they aren't covering songs, they're ripping them off.

  • sorry,but MetallicA are MetallicA......

  • love 4:28

  • I love this version

  • I got into my step-dad's 8 tracks and put some old BOC in. Needless to say, my eyes bugged open and never was I the same. Hahaaa! Thank you God for Blue Oyster Cult!

  • even though the beat is light, it is very prominent and catchy.

  • Both versions are fantastic (Secret Treaties and Imaginos). If you get tired of listening to one or the other, you can just jump back and forth to either one to refresh your interest in the other.

  • Man this version sucks in comparison toe the Metallica cover and the original from Secret Treaties

  • @Greenburg If you think The Metallica version is better you need to be on Thorazine.

  • @stigler30 i never said it was better, but it was certainly not worse. it was a nigh perfect cover not better than the original but a damn good song in it's own right, one of Metallica's best

  • @Greenburg You said that this sucks in comparison to the Metallica version.

  • @stigler30 yeah this one does, not the "real" version from Secret Treaties

  • @Greenburg This IS the real version, the Secret Treaties version was the prototype. This is Sandy Pearlman's original vision.

  • @stigler30 well then the prototype is better

  • @Greenburg As I said if you think the Metallica version is better than this you should be on Thorazine.

  • @stigler30 thanks for the advice but it's a matter of taste not fact

  • @Greenburg No, it is a fact that the Metallica version is garbage, its a falsehood to say otherwise.

  • @stigler30 Really? Wow, way to be a stuck up prick.

  • @stigler30 if they think the Sell-out-ica version is better, theyre probably already on Thorazine and a bad mixture of several other things.

  • @StraytRayzorSymphony Metallica sucked even worse before they "sold out"

  • @stigler30 true. but that really not what I was going for. I just get irritated at at people saying "cover's better than original", in general. as far as Im concerned "good covers" dont exist.

  • @StraytRayzorSymphony I know the cover sucks but to say that good covers don't exist is just wrong, haven't you ever heard the Joe Cocker version of With a Little Help From My Friends?

  • @stigler30 hell, i didnt like the original. i hate happy, jolly shit like that.

  • @StraytRayzorSymphony

    You are a MORON...they are NOT a sellout!

    What hallucinogen are YOU on. TELL US SRS!

    TELL US!

    We have "vays" of finding out! You will face lesser consequences if you speak up NOW and NAME YOUR SOURCES!

    Ahh, fawwwwgettit. You don't know JACK

  • @seymouro go piss up a rope, you boring little tit.

    :)

  • Hey...Hey Hey! Call me a BOC suck up anyday if that's what you like... cuz they are grossly underrated... too deep for the casual listener. Been an avid fan since WAY back ...arenas, concert halls, theaters, outside, inside...sideways... Buck Dharma is the man, Buck and Eric still the masters!

  • is this Donald singing???????

  • I think this is better than the original, it's more dreamy and "spacey". But both versions are masterpieces.

  • I always liked this version, thanks for posting! It is way out of print.

  • I love this version!

  • Blue Oyster Cult did the original, Metallica ruined it

  • @BrianRocksOn please tell me how metallica ruined it. it was nearly note for note with the original version from secret treaties

  • Metallica will nver come close to the more superior B. O. C.!!!!!

  • This version of the song reminds me of Megaman. I like it. This song is just good in general, any of the versions recorded that I know of atleast.

  • @Ranzua sorry my brother uses this but i myself just think it a good song and that it doesn't sound like megaman to me

  • I've always preferred this version, but it was the first version I heard. Great song, all versions!

  • There is no bad version of this song Metallica's version kicks ass and all three Blue Oyster Cult versions kick ass in their own respective ways. One of the greatest songs either band has performed

  • i love buck's tone! \m/

  • i cant understand why some people don't like it

  • @vettels6 The Metallica version is horrible. Garbage.

  • @BlueOysterWizard

    Agreed, the Metallica version just blows

  • @BlueOysterWizard is it bollocks

  • @BlueOysterWizard Agree,but take it like a cover and a reverence for one of the greatest bands ever. Just that

  • @BlueOysterWizard its a matter of opinion ffs. just stfu and enjoy the music

  • @BlueOysterWizard no its good but your just being BoC's suck up tool about it

  • @BlueOysterWizard Everyone is blinded by Metalica's fame. Metallica is horrible compared to Blue Oyster cult. Blue oyster cult is underrated, Metalica is overrated. People this is music. This music lives on.

    Good job, Wizard.

  • @Cenarrion well said sir

  • @BlueOysterWizard blue oyster cult's version of course is better, the only good thing about metallica's is that it will keep this music alive at least. maybe some metallica fan will hear the original and become a blue oyster cult fan

  • @BlueOysterWizard please tell me how metallica ruined it. it was nearly note for note with the original version from secret treaties

  • @BlueOysterWizard Not quite. Don't ditch it just because it's a cover. Anyway all 3 versions are interesting :)

  • @mateinegriu You mean Secret Treaties, Some Enchanted Evening and Imaginos right? because I know you're not talking about the Metallica garbage.

  • @BlueOysterWizard I agree about the metallica version. The album version blows everything out of the water.

  • @BlueOysterWizard I agree!

  • @BlueOysterWizard sir, you, sir you are my new hero. period.

  • @BlueOysterWizard YESSSSS YOU  ARE RIGHT!!

  • @vettels6 The Secret Treaties one was like a Beta Version of the song. This version is the fully realized song.

  • @vettels6 This is a place for people who like music that doesn't suck. Metallica sucks.

  • @mrhnm So, I like Metallica, music that I listen to sucks... Then why am I here? I LOVE BOC, so, please...

  • @TheOrionification I'm just being an asshole. I like pre St. Anger Metallica too.

  • I still like more the original intro, but this one is a 5*'s too.

    o_O Now this is the third version of Astronomy that I download to my iPod, with Secret Treaties original, and Some Enchanted Evening live version.

  • Gutair is epic on this song version

  • This is the definitive, fully realised version of Astronomy. It has pathos, better vocals, and superb guitar work. It fully sucks the listener into the story of Imaginos and leaves you craving more. Stunning. The earlier versions of Astronomy don't come close. ...And then there's the video clip - one of the best from the '80's.

  • @agathon75  well said.

  • Correction: The Some Enchanted Evening take is the definitive version, but I still like the Imaginos realization. BÖC's best song, without doubt.

  • @Spoxjox Uh... nope. The guitars have too much prominence over the keyboards in the mix in that version. It doesn't even touch this version of the song, to say nothing of the Secret Treaties or Cult Classic versions.

  • Good version but the original is the best!

  • One of my nominees for the greatest song ever written. By anyone, ever. Buck's vocals here are at their best. Its a true shame that I can't find any tabs or books with this song in. Because I can't learn it by ear. :( Truly incredible. The instrumental at the end gets me every time. LOVE it. :]

  • Does anyone know where I can get tabs for this version of the song?

  • This version is great!

  • Of all the cover versions of the original of this song in the ether, it is of course apt that the best of them be by BOC themselves... or, at least what was left of them.

    Fantastic.

  • how wonderful u xpress it ^* shine on ellyn

  • since the begining , before he wrote this Imaginos

    Sittin at the Sands Sandy Pearl

    , there was a idea of empty space, in stars, beetween them came

    Suzy and Sirius

    and yes respect a poets vision and dont be intellecuual,,

    xcuse my poor englich im scandinavian^*

  • seems like Suzy Dear and Carrie Nurse puzzles us,,,so it did for me since -74. As I see it Susy is the picture of the Woman a Man loves. Carrie, oh carry us home. Carrie , the nurse/helper/mapreader. Hey Hey Hey Oh Suzy Still I Love You

  • Who are Susie and this Carrie nurse?

  • I believe this is the best piece of music ever made.

  • @zeroxcrusher

    Pretty reasonable comment actually.

  • im really impressed. have not heard this before, just metallicas cover. i actually like this better

  • @SuperDonton

    Part of the reason this is so good and haunting is that Buck sings it. Eric is a good singer for many of their songs but Buck is a real and haunting vocal talent (though he's known for being one of the finest American guitarists ever).

  • Love the Imaginos version!

  • Good to read that you're all honouring this superb, exceptional piece of music with brains and wit!

  • think someone has to put their mind to rest.

  • Somebody asked Albert Einstien once "what is time?" and he replied "time is what a clock measures." Many years later somebody else asked John Archibald Wheeler the same question and he replied "time is Nature's way of not letting everything happen all at once" Wheeler writes books on gravitation that are thick enough to choke a small whale. The amount and complexity of his mathematics would make data's cybernetic head explode!

  • Which dog is he talking about? Could it be Sirius the dog star? But it's not fixed, Polaris is the only one I know of that 'they' call fixed. Desdinova? Something to do with novae? Counter time? How do you do that?! Who is the madman? Me? Inference? WTF? These gravely digs of mine...the pyramids? They surely do prove a sight and they are graves made of stone giving double meaning to 'gravely'. The nexus of the crisis and the origin of storms...the big bang? Who is it that can inform me?

  • Desdinova is the name of the main character in the story after his rebirth. This whole album is dedicated to their Imaginos mythos.

  • Like all quality art, it is simply a gift to your imagination. If you search, you can find what it means to BOC members, but really what it means to you, with your unique experience and perspective, is up to you only. Enjoy.

  • Five thousand years ago, the Egyptians had a Star Clock. They set the winding of this yearly clock by the rising of "the Dog Star" (otherwise known as Sirius) with the Sun. The Egyptian culture revolved around the flooding of the Nile. It was noted that this annual inundation coincided with this Stellar conjunction, so they set their clock by it. This calendar proved to be so superior to the Lunar one used by the Greeks and the Babylonians

  • that they adopted it as their own. So your Gravely Digs have proven a sighting, have they not?

    The beauty of a Pearlman Penned Classic is the very open nature of the Words, that leaves it to the imagination of

    the listener to interpret upon his own level of understanding the essential Truth contained. I have seen this lyric compared to Lesbian Lovers and Lunatic Escapism. Horrified Reincarnation Revelation. Alien Abduction. Humility at the insignificance of a single human

  • existence when compared to the vast expanses of the Heavenly reaches. You name it, I've heard it. And they're all right! This song is infinite enough to hold all these things within it's loving grasp. It all depends upon your ability to respond and the level of your understanding.

    I LOVE SANDY PEARLMAN

  • Hey at @ellynlvx !!! Hi again, and great comments, very accurate all three. There are many 'layers' there, that, as you wrote, depends on the level of each understanding. I don't know if you already read martin popoff's book, interesting but I was expecting more details on lyrics.

    There are some interviews to the band members about lyrics, but some answers are direct, other very vague of course !!!. That's the trick, because the jokes on you !!!. Thanx for the revealing info about Egyptian!!!

  • @desdanova3 what book might you be talking about here? hands down this,I think is there best, to bad it did not get any if not more air play, but what does that matter? thy have us.

  • @cbsavage099 The book is titled Blue Oyster Cult Secrets Revealed, from Martin Popoff. . Interesting reading, sad note, no pics, and leave you wishing more facts, but is a great book. He will sign it for you, is like 15-20 dlls. He will sign it : don't fear the reader !!!. Air play ? They got banned since the very beginning. And that's good, more exclusive for the elite, not for the mob. Some things are better for few people, I think cbsavage099. Hopefully you agree with me.

  • @cbsavage099 go to my inbox, and I will tell you where to get it. I wrote the page, bu ytb didn't allow.

  • I've heard all versions this is by far the best. It's faster, better, stronger. It's like the 6 million dollar man.

  • Agreed!

  • Buck sings this version, Eric normally sings it. Buck's melodic voice works better for this song but they both perform it wonderfully.

  • Actually, I find it kind of interesting that BOC's redo of their own song is more unique than Metallica's version of Astronomy.

  • Astronomy is definitely one of the best songs done by BOC, but I like the original the best... The music just kicks so much ass in that one... This version is really cool for a change of pace though.

  • It's a rare BOC dance record. :)

  • DANCE??? DANCE????>>LOL..name a girl that can dance to this

  • Shakira!!

  • I think this version of Astronomy is the best. The liveversion is second, the Secret reaties comes third. Metallicas version is terrible.

  • Metallica's version of anything is terrible.

  • i like metallica`s version

  • its like the beginning of heavy croos by the gossip, dont ya think?

  • To me, the entire song is a mysterious riddle, it's such a great song.

  • I think so. When I was boy , I love this song. Great !

  • It reminds ME of a cashew butter and treacle sandwich on nutbread. What the! LOL Good song.. interesting version.

  • This reminds me of Eye of the Tiger

  • BOC is totally the best band ever!!!

  • As often as I hear this, I still don't understand it... Is Imaginos half human, half alien, and what does he want?

  • "Imaginos - A bedtime story for the children of the damned. From a

    dream world, paralleling our earth in time and space, the invisible ones

    have sent an agent who will dream the dream of history. With limitless

    power he becomes the greatest actor of the 19th century. Taking on many

    ingenious disguises, he places himself at pivotal junctures in history,

    continually altering its course and testing our ability to respond to

    the challenge of evil. His name is 'Imaginos'

  • Like The Highlander...

  • in about 1978 I read an interview with either Eric Bloom or Sandy Pearlman, and the concept already existed, known then as The Soft Doctor of Imaginos. Shame it took so long to record and release it, but good on them all the same

  • I want to read "The Soft Doctrines of Im(m?)aginos" in the original form so badly it keeps me up at night. You must mean the Kerrang! interview? I have part of the rockline interview. It was my first experience hearing "The Voice of the Prophet Sandy Pearlman." May his leather presence ever go before us.

  • it was a U.S. Import of Zig-Zag, a bit before Kerrang started I think. A long time ago, so maybe not? There was some mention of the Curse of the Hidden Mirror too,

  • Oh, seventy eight, not eighty eight. that sounds like Reaperville times? The Kerrang! I was thinking of was the one with the "Imaginos" interview .

  • plus it was an old magazine, complaints were made about the conditions they had to record OYFOOYK under, touring with Jeff Beck. That's why the sound isn't crystal clear evidently. The piece was an interview that included Eric and Sandy, may still have at home, but live abroad currently

  • Would love to read that one!

  • This should be in guitar hero!

  • I gotta say, as good as the Imaginos and Metallica versions may be, neither will ever compare to the original

  • i know i'm gonna get flamed for this but I love all the astronomies. here's my order

    1.Metallica's Astronomy

    2.Imaginos Astronomy

    3.Some Enchanted Evening Astronomy

    4.Secret Treaties Astronomy

  • the other way around.

    Secret...

    Some...

    Imaginos..

  • I have live video of them doing this in San Diego.

  • I have a live bootleg of this track that is amazing. Even Buck didn't know one existed.

  • There's no such thing as a bad version of this song.  What about "tallica's?