Blue Öyster Cult had hit it big with 1976’s Agents Of Fortune but they were starting to sound like they were going through the motions by the time of 1979’s Mirrors. The slick Tom Werman production and generic songwriting displays little of the band’s usual esoteric adventurousness. The pastiche Moon Crazy should never have seen the light of day and the title-track has some woeful lyrics: “Pretty girls have a love affair/with their eyes and their shining hair”. The AOR approach mostly results in decent but forgettable tracks like Lonely Teardrops but does at least manage to offer up one Cult classic in the wistfully pretty single In Thee. The album is on stronger footing when the band finally starts to sound like the BÖC of old on The Vigil and I Am The Storm, a great cosmic pairing that livens up the second half. Definitely a lesser effort compared to its predecessors but Mirrors has just enough going for it to be worth a look.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
I bought some BOC yesterday as you may have noticed. Not Mirrors — I’m not ready to go to studio albums yet! (And maybe never Mirrors, now…)
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I did notice. I don’t think you’d need this until you had a ton of their other stuff. Popoff loves it though!
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He sometimes finds the gold among the underdogs.
I’ll absorb this massive 2 CD set I have now, and see how it goes. It’s lovely.
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Yeah sometimes. Think he’s a bit too kind about this one though.
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Well, I trust you most.
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I wrote Mirrors while looking through a Vogue magazine 43 years ago. If you don’t like it, well, that’s fine with me. I did my best.
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Glad you’re fine with it. Just not my cup of tea. Thanks for commenting.
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Lot’s of love between you two..Kinda Cultish…
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I always considered myself a BOC fan but never went deep into their catalogue. Gotta dig out some of that old vinyl, On Your Feet…Some Enchanted Evening, Fire of Unknown Fortune, Cultasuarus Erectus…
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Fire and Cultasaurus are great! Could never get into On Your Feet… though.
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I bought it from Columbia House mail order back in the day. So any album that came was absorbed…but Im with you! Not their best.
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Love that period so I thought a live album from then would be a slam-dunk! Apparently not… Some Enchanted Evening is good though.
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I really appreciate how you include the umlaut in both the band name and the BÖC acronym!
Decent but forgettable is dangerous territory – glad to hear there was enough strength to keep it worthwhile
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Attention to detail is everything! A lot of folk really hate this one but it’s got its moments.
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ÜMLAUTS RÜLE ÖK?
Is there an indispensable BÖC album? If so, which?
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Secret Treaties and Agents of Fortune are essential but they have lots of other great albums. I love the debut, Spectres and Fire Of Unknown Origin a lot too.
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Thanks, oracle of all things H.
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I agree it’s not up there with Agents but I thought it was a pretty good album. Maybe a little too AOR but I liked it.
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I like it too. Enjoyed listening to it again. Just some average songs letting it down but there’s great stuff on it. And it’s a bit different to their other albums so worth having.
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I picked up a bunch of BOC albums for cheap at a thrift store years ago. Look like someone had dumped their collection. I gave each a spin once and none stood out to me. I think this might have been one of them, but I’m not sure.
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Not a one listen band really. If you’ve got Secret Treaties or Agents of Fortune give one of them a few listens and you won’t regret it! If you don’t have those let me know what you’ve got and I’ll point you in the right direction.
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I do have Agents of Fortune. The others are Mirrors, Some Enchanted Evening, and a self titled one.
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Give Agents a good bash then, the s/t is really good too but I think Agents is a good gateway album. That’s how I got into them.
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Will do
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I have this one kicking about here, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it. Or at least I don’t remember it leaving any sort of impression. Which sounds about right. I might go drag it out of hiding and give it a whirl… just so I can say “a 3?… a 3?… a 3 out of 10, you mean!”
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Didn’t make an impression on me for a while but there’s some good stuff in there after repeat listens. Definitely a disappointment compared to what came before though.
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