On Your Feet or on Your Knees is the first live album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on Feb. 27, 1975 by Columbia Records. The album features three songs from each of the band's first three studio albums, two covers ("I Ain't Got You", albeit with modified lyrics, and "Born to Be Wild"), and one ("Buck's Boogie") original instrumental that remains a staple of the band's live shows to this day. The 12 songs include performances at the Academy of Music in New York City, the Paramount Theatre in Portland, the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, the Show Palace in Phoenix, the Long Beach Arena, the P.N.E. Coliseum in Vancouver and the Capitol Theatre in New Jersey, although it's not clear which songs came from which venues and on what dates.
| On Your Feet or on Your Knees | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | February 27, 1975 | |||
| Recorded | April 27, 1974 October 5–21, 1974 | |||
| Venue | Academy of Music, New York City Paramount Theatre, Portland, Oregon Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington Show Palace, Phoenix, Arizona Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California P.N.E. Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia Capitol Theatre, New Jersey | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 78:13 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Blue Öyster Cult chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Blue Öyster Cult live chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[2] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[3] |
| Rolling Stone | (mixed)[4] |
The cover lettering designed by Gerard Huerta, also used on the 2012 boxed set, was one of the first "Heavy Metal" logo designs. The cover art, photographed by John Berg, prominently features St Paul's Episcopal Chapel in South Salem, New York.[5]
The album reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200,[6] in so doing becoming the band's highest-charting album in the United States.[7]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Subhuman" | Eric Bloom, Sandy Pearlman | 7:30 |
| 2. | "Harvester of Eyes" | Donald Roeser, Bloom, Richard Meltzer | 4:55 |
| 3. | "Hot Rails to Hell" | Joe Bouchard | 5:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "The Red and the Black" | Albert Bouchard, Bloom, Pearlman | 4:33 |
| 5. | "7 Screaming Diz-Busters" | A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard, Pearlman, Roeser | 8:27 |
| 6. | "Buck's Boogie" | Roeser | 7:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Then Came the Last Days of May" | Roeser | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Cities On Flame" | Roeser, A. Bouchard, Pearlman | 4:08 |
| 3. | "ME 262" | Bloom, Roeser, Pearlman | 8:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Before the Kiss, A Redcap" | Allen Lanier, Murray Krugman, Roeser, Pearlman | 5:05 |
| 5. | "I Ain't Got You" | Calvin Carter | 8:59 |
| 6. | "Born to Be Wild" | Mars Bonfire | 6:36 |
| Total length: | 78:13 | ||
Personnel
edit- Band members
- Eric Bloom - lead vocals on tracks 1–2, 4–5, 9, 11–12, stun guitar, synthesizer
- Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - lead guitar, lead vocals on "Then Came The Last Days of May" and "Before the Kiss (A Redcap)"
- Allen Lanier - rhythm guitar, keyboards
- Joe Bouchard - bass, lead vocals on "Hot Rails to Hell"
- Albert Bouchard - drums, guitar, lead vocals on "Cities on Flame With Rock-And-Roll"
- Production
- Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman - producers
- Tom Scott, Kurt Kuntzel, Aaron Baron, Tim Geelan, Pete Weiss, Jerry Smith - engineers
- Jack Douglas - engineer, mixing
- John Berg and Gerard Huerta - design
- John Berg - cover photograph at St. Paul's Chapel, Vista, New York[8]
Charts
edit| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] | 22 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[10] | 19 |
| US Billboard 200[11] | 22 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[12] | Gold | 500,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Blue Öyster Cult - On Your Feet or on Your Knees review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-1894959025.
- ^ Miller, Jim (May 8, 1975). "Album Reviews: Blue Oyster Cult - On Your Feet or on Your Knees". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ^ "Blue Oyster Cult Founders Explain Back Story on Classic Live Album On Your Feet or On Your Knees". Retrieved 2024-03-06.
- ^ "On Your Feet or on Your Knees Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ "Blue Öyster Cult Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
- ^ "Musical Maps".
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3959a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – B". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Blue Oyster Cult from the menu, then press OK.
- ^ "Blue Oyster Cult Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "American album certifications – Blue Öyster Cult – On Your Feet or on Your Knees". Recording Industry Association of America.