Blue Oyster Cult: Workshop of Telescopes

[gretzinabluehat]

This is what is playing on the edge of spacetime!

[MrDlobMusic]

this closely resembles the tibetan book of the dead

[wilsonrandal]

Esa portada transporta a un momento en el tiempo en el transporte publico subiendo aquella colina con el cielo estrellado, la voz del fondo penetrante al oido conduceme al pasillo de las mil puertas para llegar a el cruzifijo que esta en el infinito y de pronto la calma. Eso me hace sentir la imagen del disco

[5till12]

by the time this tune started we BLOTTO and weren't comin' back soon

[hyspeses]

I this could be Blue Oyster Cults greatest song...

[jas22]

yea, like im going to not skip the ad in 5 seconds. youtube should pay bands that preceded the digital age....BOC should get royalties.

this is a band with a weird, weird, body of music....and one of my favorites.

[terryturtlecom]

 LIFE IS

[gretzinabluehat]

I always like to listen to the Workshop as I start up the morphogentic resonator before popping into the Faraday cage for a bit of spectral mind sweeping.

[pendodecahedron]

my god they used by be a great group what happened to them?

[Hurriken42]

@pendodecahedron They still tour...at least Buck darhma and Eric Bloom do. I believe Rudi Sarzo is with them as well. I've seen them three or four times, great show every time. Once was outdoors at a fair after a down pour. The fair people canceled the show. Eric Bloom came to the mic and said please wait it out . I did...first time I ever went to a show by myself. Is that a sign of addiction? They refunded our money and played for an hour and a half to no more than 100 people. Still they rocked

[mswaking]

@pendodecahedron the Bouchard Brothers left and Eric has lost most of his ability to hold a note judging by the last time I saw them. I hope it was just a temporary condition. They still rocked, even though they always play Shooting Shark instead of any number of far better songs.

[sevenismagicman]

i may have a new favorite piece...

i love riff, and that flat 2 flat 4 middle eastern guitar soloing! brilliant!

[pduvall100]

I get everything except "

automatic writing session".

[TransducerX]

@pduvall100 Auto-writing is a an exercise whereby you do not censor your stream of conscious from what you are writing on the paper. You write without second thought, consideration, even syntax and sentence structure might be thrown to the wind,

[mrromantimothy]

same here boc rules

[frimodigger]

You know you can't get bye my black telescope...

[JEDIALADDIN]

By silverfish imperetrix, whose incorrupted eye Sees through the charms of doctors and their wives By salamander, drake, and the power that was undine Rise to claim Saturn, ring and sky By those who see with their eyes close They know me by my black telescope Your green tree mantle from which these things derive A lens of quartz and refract spoke that crystal lens Whose crystal rope once bound me to those Doctors and wives

[JEDIALADDIN]

@JEDIALADDIN When my vision was oh, so cloudy And I saw things through two eyes I am a sailor on the raging depths And I know a thing or two Back to the corner mates and over the side Yes I know a thing or two By silverfish imperetrix, whose incorrupted eye Sees through the charms of doctors and their wives By salamander, drake, and the power that was undine Rise to claim Saturn, ring and sky By those who see with their eyes closed you'll know me by my black telescope

[JEDIALADDIN]

@JEDIALADDIN Before my great conversion when the ridge was closed

Before my visit to the workshop of telescopes

By silverfish imperetrix, whose incorrupted eye

sees through the charms of doctors and their wives

By salamander, drake, and the power that was undine

Rise to claim Saturn, ring and sky

By those who see with their eyes closed

you'll know me by my black telescope

[hyspeses]

@JEDIALADDIN

Thanks for posting the lyrics mate!I was the only guy in junior high circa 1982 that listened to these cats at that shit hole of a school...God I think these guys got me through.Highly thoughtful creative imagination:Where have these ideals gone these days?

[spiralflow]

@MidnightRambler73  ...all things in moderation bro....:)

[HAScorpify]

nobady thinks this needs more cowbell

[Themostancient]

incredible lyrics by intelligent metalheads...

[guitar1195]

I love this song, but I can't find any videos or tabs on the internet showing how to play it...so I'm trying to learn it by ear...HAH!

[pindermid70s]

This song almost makes me have flash backs, lmao, I tripped a lot to the first two BOC LPs as a teen. Saw them more times than I can remember. Used to play with Aerosmith a lot in Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom in the 70s, met my first wife there in about 73 at the brawlroom.

[rvhawkeye]

this album and song were masterpieces before anyone knew

[porcupineinteruptus]

Summer 77 Bridgeport Hai-Lai fronton.....couldnt get NEAR the stage....had been a fan for 3 yrs at that point and still had no idea what they LOOKED like....wouldnt have known them if I passed them in a store....guess it was part of the mystique...

[JEDIALADDIN]

@porcupineinteruptus You are SO RIGHT about the Blue Oyster Cult MYSTIQUE about their appearance. In the early 70's, they had a far greater mystique than even Sabbath, I feel. Once a fan, always a fan....because thier music and lyrics, like spells, eternally call you back to them again and again. LOVE IT! You have to admit there is truly something DIFFERENT about them in concert...something MUCH different than any other band of the 70's....OH WHAT EVER COULD IT BE?!?! :) OR WHO?!?! :) lol!!!!

[pduvall100]

No one did a finer job of melding lyricks with incredible musicianship and heavy

driving power. Mystery Masters..

[pduvall100]

Haunting..

[wattruth]

I dont know about the other guy but I just sat stoned immaculate with BOC haunting the rock while the gypsys danced and the freaks stared back at me in disbelief. Who cares what others think when Buck is pulling his strings....and yours !

[paperboy6996]

@coburnellibelli Im 52 and just saw them in Feb at a bar in Balt. I hadnt seen them since the 70's when they were packing the b arenas what a treat to see them in a small venue i wish I had some freash bltter for that

[pduvall100]

@paperboy6996 I'm 54.. saw them in the '70s too at Capital Centre circa '76 & '78

and at Alexandria Roller Rink w/Nazareth circa '75, not to mentionCole Field House Univ Of Maryland,

Circa '72

[Damaged262]

Always has been my favorite band. I grew up outside of Buffalo, NY and adjacent to my street there was a huge amount of cemeteries. We'd do all our late night partying back there. Spectres was my first purchase and nothing was more awesome than hanging out in the spooky cemetery with each new BOC purchase in the portable 8 track playing at max, kicking back those Genesee Cream Ale's, smoking those doobies or dropping those hits of Black Star acid and listening to the haunting BOC tunes.

[CaptainReverb]

I keep expecting "Redeemed" to start playing.

[soxx6666]

my fav band in high school along with uriah heep, rush, genesis, deep purple, tull and so on

[JonM11100]

I remember BOC playing this song during their first U.S. Tour. I saw them in 1972 as a warm up band to Alice Cooper. I still have the ticket stub, after all these years. I remember Buck Dharma introducing the band when they came out on stage. He was wearing is trademark white suit. Since then I've seen them 5 times, as best as i can remember. I had front row seats in 1973 when they warmed up for the British band, SLADE. When I hear BOC music i get an image of a fantasy alien world....

[sawdust5]

I always thought BOC was a so called satanic/ black magic type band but was proven wrong.

[xoxgodofgodsgodxx]

Deep cuts of prog rock are the best

[luridplanet]

I knew nothing of what Sandy Pearlman was doing back then - I was just enjoying the craziness of the lyrics

[kissthesettingsun]

This song gave me a (perhaps) ingenious Idea for a song. BOC, you guys can't let me down, you just fucking can't.

[WhenTheMusicsOver2]

Holy shit, progressive rock that doesn't suck. heh

[bradominus]

I always said that BOC are the Edgar Allan Poes of rock... ;)

[Nerblette]

@bradominus DUDE. Awhile ago I got really into reading stories by Edgar Allan Poe while listening to BOC. I thought I was the only one who realized they went so well together. :D

[Drizzlerman]

@bradominus Back n the '70's Buck Dharma looked like the reincarnation of Edgar Allen Poe.

[Jlipnicki]

@bradominus yeah...

[aoarecruiter]

@bradominus Funny you say that. Cause on "I write like" I put the lyrics of this song on there and the analyzer result was Edgar Allan Poe.lol

[pduvall100]

One of the coolest guitar riffs of all time- I feel like I'm standing

in the middle of a field in the middle of a clear, full-moon night

and I look up in the sky and there's this lazer light shining

through the sky from some U.F.O. To me, the sound from this

song is comming from some other source other

than here on Earth. Hence, the Telescope.

[Drizzlerman]

This track makes me think about being in a hidden castle off in the wilderness surrounded by swampy rives and jagged cliffs, and being a practitioner of occult magik practices and alchemy.

[Johnhoulgate]

The song is about Imaginos/Desdinova, who's eyes are like black telescopes seeing deeply into the affairs of humans (doctors and their wives). The song was written by Sandy Pearlman, who's vision for the band was to help him spin the mythos of Imaginos. He refers to being a sailor on the raging depths who knows a thing or two. And later he refers to his conversion before the ridge was closed. The song is another description of Imaginos and his ability to see with an incorrupted eye.

[29958867]

Attention, keyboard/synth players: I need to know how to get the warbly keyboard tones of "Screams" and "Deadline" for a song I am composing that absolutely has to have that cool organ tone. Thanx. By the way, this is just one more tune that proves the fretboard supremacy of D. Roeser!

[chaosopher23]

Those spinning speakers are the ONLY way to get that sound right. I forget what they're called...

[slant40]

@chaosopher23 That is called a Leslie unit. Hammond organs (which BOC used back in the early days) employ them. I believe Kurzweil makes a plug-in that can duplicate this current-model polyphonic synths.

[Drizzlerman]

This song is about alchemy and transformation and attaining elevated or purified states of conscious and becoming a perfected being because of it able to see through social structure and other man made illusions and constructs of life and survival. Doctors and wives being the institutions set up to trap your mind in the 5 sense reality, the black telescope being the sight through the negrito or burnt out state of consciousness from which one must go to then flourish again in a higher state

[sweetttina666]

That was beautiful.

[Drizzlerman]

glad you enjoyed it ( ;

[mswaking]

@Drizzlerman whoa...

[somebodysvids]

@Drizzlerman very nice explanation!

[MAGNUM2F]

@Drizzlerman WHATEVER IT IS ITS A TREMENDOUS SONG, IT REALLY IS...

[Bojoe777NaBl]

well, all I can say for sure is that, I have no idea what the song is about. But give this a thought. Think about how stoned they were when they were doing this, and thinking up of lyrics for it! :P just kidding, there has got to be some meaning behind it. Gives you something to talk about if you ever got to ask them for their autograph lmao..

[sweetttina666]

I have no clue what this song is about either. At first I thought it was just about a perv with his black colored telescope watching "those doctors and wives". At least the ones who forgot to draw the blinds, lol. Now I'm sure it's way deeper than that.

[Thereyago21]

While I wouldn't ever recommend it (a long time ago and not always positive), this song is about acid. Up there with 'Two Heads' (Jefferson Airplane) and Dylan's 'Memphis Blues Again'. It includes lyrics that can only be made by someone in the know, including seeing through human superficiality, perspective from the edge of your field of vision, colour flashes with the eyes closed, etc. The music complements it too, especially the peaking guitars, the drumming, and the treble-into bass finish.

[Themostancient]

I HAVE LIVED THIS\....by silverfish imperatrix!

[SFNightauditor]

*This* is Blue Oyster Cult.

[blackoystercultist]

Does any know if it's possible to play the main riff with a slide guitar?

[solfromnorthglenn]

nothing like it wish they would surprise sometime.

[cuttlefisch]

Weird song!! Does anyone have a clue what it's about??

[Noseheros]

It just might be about a workshop of telescopes, lol, JK or something to do with stars/the sky, aliens, you know, look up the lyrics and figure it out...I SAW THESE GUYS AUGUST 22!!!

[That70sJoker]

Wow, trippy (the music AND the lyrics). I think I just had a flashback.

[sabrinaqedesha]

I first heard this song when i was 13. It burrowed itself into my subconscious, and it still makes my hair stand on end.

This song sounds like something channeled into a dream from another dimension, and the lyrics read like a magical invocation written during an automatic writing session.

By silverfish imperatrix, whose incorrupted eye

Sees through the charms of doctors and their wives

By salamander, drake, and the power that was undine

Rise to claim Saturn, ring and sky

[nate556]

By those who see with their eyes closed....

That line reminds me of "Magna of Illusion"

The line that goes, "Behind closed eyes, realise your sight"

I honestly didn't like this song at first, but now, I love it. It seems the older and smarter i get, the more and more i appreciate this music, even their songs i didnt care for before. Id love to see them live. I know they probably arent the way they used to be and i missed something good, but id still like to see them, just once before i die.

[SamLowry99]

You're right! I would guess then that his black telescope is probably the magna of illusion itself, that being The mirror found in the chamber of jade.

[slant40]

The line "I am a sailor on the raging depths, and I know a thing or two" is likely an allusion to Imaginos himself, as he sailed his charmed ship "Plutonia" to Mexico and back to retrieve the mirror. This is one of the few songs I know of where Buck plays a Telecaster ("Mes Dames Sarat" and "Redeemed" the others) - he uses it to brilliant effect here.

[deadflo]

Wow, tell me more, what are you referring to exactly? Ive been listening to this song since 1972. I was an amateur astronomer then (and now) ,and always dug that it something to with mirrors and such, but WTF exactly??

[slant40]

There is a Wikipedia article which discusses the story of Imaginos and the role the mirror and the search for it in Mexico played in the tale. Just search for "Imaginos" and the page has an explanation. A number of BOC's early songs had allusions to the Imaginos myth. Another one is "7 Screaming Diz-Busters", as the tale of the Seven Invisibles is re-told in a different light.

[deadflo]

Hey thanks for the info, very interesting stuff!

[Irish0400]

thats why they call Blue Oyster Cult the thinking man's band...

[cpdaddy7]

@SamLowry99 conceptual continuity

[longfootbuddy]

@sabrinaqedesha blue oyster cult had a great spooky sound, whether they were playing southern sounding hard rock or synthesized 80s stuff...its one of my all time faorites and it always gae me alot of spooky flaored, cold blue steal rainy black red and green ufo graeyard cemetary red moon fuck a sheep raise the dead type feelings

[TheChromeArrow]

@sabrinaqedesha I can relate. Ready to buy the t-shirt and call it a day. I claimed Saturn by the way, ring and sky. Not sure what I am going to do with it yet but it will come to me eventually... probably give it to a friend as a wedding present. Will have to play it by ear.

[Efrasnel]

Gotta love that sleeve...as confusing now as it was in '73.

[gk10002000]

great spacey sound. vocal accents were great. lots of emotion. One of my favorites off this album. So wore it out in college. Was a freshman in 1975.

[EmpressOfWyoming58]

I'm so glad I got to see them live in 75 at the Omni in Atlanta, GA. I was 16. Damn. That was light years ago...

[motorhead1308]

great song might be my fav of this album....... does anyone get a hint of "Layla" in there ????? lol

[Oni64]

This song was way over its time... Post Punk bands and new wave bands would surely imitate.