Blue Oyster Cult - Heaven Forbid
See You In Black
Harvest Moon
Power Underneath Despair
X-Ray Eyes
Hammer Back
Damaged
Cold Gray Light Of Dawn
Real World
Live For Me
Still Burnin'
In Thee
Label: Steamhammer/SPV
Year: 1998
Producer: Buck Dharma
Duration: 44:57 m:s
Review Date: August 1998
Bargain bin searching many years ago I picked up a cassette copy of one of their live albums. It was huge disappointment and I've steered clear of these guys ever since. The one album that I have thought about buying a couple of times is Fires Of Unknown Origin. The Heaven Forbid album marks the return of BOC after a lengthy period of inactivity. After reading a couple of reviews where the critics raved about good this album was, I am here listening to my first BOC studio album.
See You In Black is a storming start to the album. The guys come out fighting with an interesting option for victims of domestic violence. This is followed by the uptempo AOR of Harvest Moon. Power Underneath Despair is classic BOC. Moody and menacing. A great chorus. More uptempo AOR in X-Ray Eyes. The are back in heavy mode for Hammer Back which is like a heavy version of The Kinks' You Really Got Me. They then give Purple a run for their money on Damaged, which is propelled along with some great Hammond blasts. My fave tune from the album. Cold Grey Light Of Dawn is a BOC ballad. The acoustic blues mid-west pop of Real World comes as a big surprise. Live For Me is an AOR tune that reminds me of the stuff I've heard from Fires Of Unknown Origin. Still Burning is more of the same. The final track is an acoustic version of In Thee, which I think is a song from one of their earlier albums.
This is a well-balanced album that is a good mixture of their more AOR-ish material and their heavier style. It certainly makes me think that I should check out Fires Of Unknown Origin after all.
Rating: 8/9
