Fire of Unknown Origin

Fire of Unknown Origin
Cover art by Greg Scott
Studio album by
Blue Öyster Cult
Released June 22, 1981
Recorded Spring 1981
Studio Kingdom Sound Studios, Long Island, New York
The Automatt, San Francisco, California
Genre
Length 39:06
Label Columbia
Producer Martin Birch
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
Cultösaurus Erectus
(1980) 		Fire of Unknown Origin
(1981) 		Extraterrestrial Live
(1982)
Singles from Fire of Unknown Origin
  1. "Burnin' for You"
    Released: August 1981 (US)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 9/10

Fire of Unknown Origin is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on June 22, 1981. It was produced by Martin Birch.

The album, which included the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You" (#1 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart), represented a resurgence of the group's commercial standing after two albums with disappointing sales. It became the band's highest-charting studio album on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 24. Fire of Unknown Origin would be the final studio LP featuring the band's original lineup; during the subsequent tour, the band fired original drummer Albert Bouchard.

Songs

Several of the songs were intended for the soundtrack of the animated film Heavy Metal, such as "Vengeance (The Pact)," the lyrics of which follow in detail the plot of the "Taarna" segment of the movie. However, only the song "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (ironically not written for the film), co-written by science fiction author Michael Moorcock, ended up in the film's final version and soundtrack. The title track was used in episode 17 of season 1 of Supernatural entitled "Hell House," written by long-time BÖC fan Trey Callaway.

The album's closing track, "Don't Turn Your Back," marks Allen Lanier's final songwriting contribution to Blue Öyster Cult; it was played live by the group for the first time on June 17, 2016, at a special concert highlighting Lanier's music.

The album's title track, "Fire of Unknown Origin," was originally considered for the band's fourth album, but was cut. The original version of the song is available through the band's 2017 compilation Rarities.

"Joan Crawford" was a moderate success, reaching #49 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The subject of the song is the actress of the same name, who had died four years before the song's release. A music video was created for the song, which was banned by MTV for featuring a sexually suggestive scene.

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "Fire of Unknown Origin" Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard, Donald Roeser, Patti Smith Bloom 4:09
2. "Burnin' for You" Roeser, Richard Meltzer Roeser 4:29
3. "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" Bloom, Michael Moorcock Bloom 4:48
4. "Sole Survivor" Bloom, Liz Myers, John Trivers Bloom 4:04
5. "Heavy Metal: The Black and Silver" Bloom, A. Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman Bloom 3:16
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
1. "Vengeance (The Pact)" A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard J. Bouchard 4:41
2. "After Dark" Bloom, Myers, Trivers Bloom 4:25
3. "Joan Crawford" A. Bouchard, Jack Rigg, David Roter Bloom 4:55
4. "Don't Turn Your Back" A. Bouchard, Allen Lanier, Roeser Roeser 4:07

Personnel

Band members
Additional musicians
  • Karla DeVito – background vocals on track 4
  • Sandy Jean – background vocals on track 9
  • Bill Civitella, Tony Cedrone – additional percussion on track 3
  • Jesse Levy – string arrangements on tracks 3 and 8
Production
  • Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Clay Hutchinson – engineer
  • Paul Stubblebine – mastering
  • Greg Scott – album artwork

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.