Line #65 Music/Imaginos


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imaginos_2.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Imaginos approached the sun, in August in New Hampshire...'']]
3
4	->''"Fresh from zones of moisture\
5	And afterwards, the meat\
6	With spangles on my long-tailed suits\
7	And songs to haunt the one that's saved.\
8	Just call me Desdinova, I'm sure to be the lucky one\
9	When destiny assigns wisdom\
10	Known to me, this starry wisdom!"''
11	-->--[[VillainSong ''I Am the One You Warned Me Of'']]
12
13	''Imaginos'' is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band Music/BlueOysterCult, released two years after ''Music/ClubNinja'' in 1986. It is a RockOpera telling part of the story of [[ProtagonistTitle Imaginos]], or [[GenderBender Desdi]][[PunnyName nova]], a HumanoidAbomination that becomes an agent of chaos and evil for a group of extraterrestrial deities called “Les Invisibles”.
14
15	The Imaginos character, plotline, and concepts were created by the band’s producer Sandy Pearlman in the 1960s, who incorporated them into many of the band’s lyrics. It was not told in a specific order until the ''Imaginos'' album itself was released in 1988, leading to many scattered, cryptic references to the plot across the band’s discography. ''Imaginos'' itself, which covers the years of 1808 up to 1893, is only Act I of III of the storyline. Two other double albums were planned which would follow Imaginos’ story up until the modern day. These were to be called ''[[Music/ImaginosIIBombsOverGermany Act II: Germany Minus Zero and Counting]]'' and ''Act III: The Mutant Reformation''. The full title of the entire narrative was, according to Pearlman, ''The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos: A Bedtime Story for the Children of the Damned''.
16
17	The actual ''Imaginos'' album languished in DevelopmentHell for years, with the original idea of it being a solo album for Albert Bouchard, then being quickly reworked as a full Blue Öyster Cult album. Although this did add more polish and orchestration, it resulted in huge portions of the album (including two full songs, "Gil Blanco County" and "The Girl Who Love Made Blind") being cut and the tracks rearranged in a narratively incoherent order. 16 years passed between Bouchard’s writing of the first pieces of music for the album and the full release. Albert Bouchard’s original demo tape of the album can be listened to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soOHIaSyqtU here]].
18
19	Due to the cryptic nature of the lyrics, which originated as poetry and are often veiled in multiple layers of metaphor, the exact plot of ''Imaginos'' and the ''Soft Doctrines'' in general is hard to deduce in much detail. However, the general plot points are mostly agreed upon and backed up by comments by the band, the album’s [[https://heavymetaloverload.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/imgp0504.jpg liner notes]], and less ambiguous lyrical passages.
20
21	[[folder:Plot Summary]]
22
23	->Imaginos is a “modified child” born in New Hampshire in 1808 (beyond this, his exact nature is vague). He was born during an auspicious astronomical event where the Sirius star was especially bright and prominent. This star is somehow connected to the powers of ''Les Invisibles'', a group of seven extraterrestrial deities who were worshipped in [[{{Mayincatec}} pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and Haiti]]. The worshippers of Les Invisibles were massacred by the conquistadors, who also stole one of the two magical obsidian mirrors that acted as gateways to the beings’ realm and conduits of their power (“''Les Invisibles''”). This mirror ([[https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/john-dees-spirit-mirror a real-life artifact]]) eventually made its way into the possession of John Dee, influencing Britain to crush Spain’s naval might. The other mirror, the [[ArtifactOfDoom Magna of Illusion]], remained sealed in a chamber of jade.
24
25
26	->Imaginos was created as a tool of Les Invisibles to alter the course of human history to their desires. He [[VoluntaryShapeshifting can shapeshift]] and has the ability to [[Main/{{Seers}} see the future]], which he uses to wander the countryside of America on adventures, unaware of the true significance of his powers (“''Imaginos''”).
27
28	->He goes to Gil Blanco County in Texas and catches a disease of some sort (“''Gil Blanco County''”), then travels to New Orleans to plan a journey for the jungles of Mexico to seek the Magna of Illusion that he has seen in his visions (“''Del Rio’s Song''”). The ship sails into a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that Imaginos’ visions did not warn him of. Most of the crew drowns, and Imaginos is left on a beach to die by the only other two survivors. At the moment of his death, he is approached by the “Oyster Boys” who come out of the bay and offer him a deal- he can die, or he can pledge his servitude to Les Invisibles and be resurrected as their servant (“''Blue Öyster Cult''”). He agrees, and is raised from the dead, gaining the additional [[CameBackWrong sociopathic]] [[GenderBender female]] persona of Desdinova, [[LightIsNotGood “the Eternal Light”]] (“''Astronomy''”). Desdinova is commanded to [[ShapeshiftingTrickster shapeshift into various guises and manipulate]] politicians, nobility, and other people of influence, mostly in Europe, to further Les Invisibles’ ends (“''I Am the One You Warned Me Of''”).
29
30
31	->At some point Imaginos falls in love with a woman who he hides his powers from to some degree (“''The Girl Who Love Made Blind''”), and also develops the ability to travel through time and take different personas throughout history, greatly expanding the reach of his influence. One of these personas is Baron von Frankenstein, who may or may not be the same character from Literature/{{Frankenstein}} by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein is distributing a drug called “world-without-end” which has mysterious and possibly cosmic effects (“''The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein’s Castle at Weisseria''”). With his/her great cosmic powers, Imaginos/Desdinova amasses huge amounts of power, money, and influence, and collects occult tomes and artifacts (“''In the Presence of Another World''”).
32
33	->In 1892- a mirror of his first voyage in 1829- Imaginos sets out on his "charmed and armed" ship ''Plutonia'' on another voyage to retrieve the Magna of Illusion, and- [[HeWhoFightsMonsters much like a conquistador]]- ends up slaughtering anyone in the Yucatan who stands in the way of him trying to take it. He brings it back to Cornwall, England, where he now lives part of the time, and gives it to his granddaughter as a birthday present ("''Magna of Illusion''"). By “planting” the Magna of Illusion in Britain, Imaginos spreads the influence of Les Invisibles directly into the minds of the powers of Europe. The dark cosmic gods’ hatred and [[SinsOfOurFathers desire for vengeance]] influence the chain of events that lead to UsefulNotes/WorldWarI- in Sandy Pearlman’s words, “a disease with a long incubation”.
34	[[/folder]]
35
36
37	Albert Bouchard, who has taken over the storyline and mythos after Sandy Pearlman’s death, has [[RetCon retconned]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUaeGVdqa0c a few points]] on his ''Re-Imaginos'' album, released in 2019. In Bouchard’s current continuity, Imaginos went to Europe before Texas, where he met “Frankenstein” and took “world-without-end”, which seemingly unlocked his shapeshifting powers. Also, instead of the entire ship being wrecked, Imaginos is thrown overboard by his friends who learn of the “sickness” he caught during “''Gil Blanco County''”. Bouchard is currently continuing the ''Imaginos'' saga, with ''[[Music/ImaginosIIBombsOverGermany Imaginos II: Bombs Over Germany (minus zero and counting)]]'' released in October 2021 and Imaginos III: Mutant Reformation, released in July 2023.
38
39
40	!!Tracklist
41	[[AC:Side one]]
42	#"I Am the One You Warned Me Of" (5:04)
43	#"Les Invisibles" (5:33)
44	#"In the Presence of Another World" (6:26)
45	#"Del Rio's Song" (5:31)
46	#"The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria" (6:43)
47
48	[[AC:Side two]]
49	#"[[Music/SecretTreaties Astronomy]]" (6:47)
50	#"Magna of Illusion" (5:33)
51	#"[[Music/SecretTreaties Blue Öyster Cult]]" (7:18)
52	#"Imaginos" (5:46)
53
54	!!Principal members
55	* Eric Bloom - Vocals
56	* Albert Bouchard - guitar, percussion, vocals
57	* Joe Bouchard - keyboards, backing vocals
58	* Buck Dharma - guitars, vocals
59	* Allen Lanier - keyboards
60
61	!!The Guitar Orchestra Of The State of Imaginos and Others:
62	* No less than ''sixteen'' additional musicians worked on the recording of this album. On the sleeve, they are collectively credited as ''The Guitar Orchestra Of The State of Imaginos''. They included:
63	* [[Music/TheDoors Robbie Krieger]]
64	* Aldo Nova - a band associate who contributed lyrics for ''Music/TheRevolutionByNight''
65	* Jon Rogers (who replaced Joe Bouchard as [=BOC=]'s bass player)
66	* Joe Satriani (briefly a member of Music/DeepPurple)
67	* Tommy Zvoncheck - at the time the [=BOC=]'s main keyboards player.
68
69	!!Tropes ''TAKEN FROM THE JUNGLE BY CRIME'' include:
70
71	* AlchemyIsMagic: Sandy Pearlman was fascinated with alchemy, and incorporated many references to it in the lyrics. Baron von Frankenstein seems to be an alchemist, and creates [[FantasticDrug world-without-end]], while in ''Re-Imaginos'' Imaginos describes his own experiments with alchemy and astronomy in the added song "''Black Telescope''".
72	* AlternateHistory: Described as such by Sandy Pearlman and Albert Bouchard.
73	* AncientConspiracy: Les Invisibles are described as manipulating human history through the ages, using Imaginos as their primary agent.
74	* ArtifactOfDoom: The Magna of Illusion, an ancient obsidian mirror that poisons the minds of those around it, causing them to become violent and destructive. Its presence in Britain is indirectly responsible for UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
75	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The atmospheric cover art goes with the location of the action in LovecraftCountry in New England. Except that while this is a photograph of a real building, it was in Ocean Beach, California, facing a different ocean.
76	* Myth/AztecMythology: The Magna of Illusion is an obsidian scrying mirror of the kind used by priests of the god [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca]], who (among other domains) is the [[VoluntaryShapeshifting sometimes shapeshifting]] god of the night sky, divination, Ursa Major (which is referenced in "''Les Invisibles''"), and "change through conflict".
77	* BeenThereShapedHistory: See TimeTravel below.
78	* BodyHorror: "''Eyes like bottles and hands in my hair...''"
79	* BrickJoke: A black-coloured brick. [[Music/BlueOysterCult1972 right at the beginning]] in October 1967, Eric Bloom and Donald Roeser started a group with manager Sandy Pearlman. In 1988, 21 years later and after many personnel changes, the last men standing (before the band went into hiatus and temporarily broke up completely) after this album was first conceived in 1967, were Bloom, Pearlman and Roeser.
80	* BroadStrokes: There have been a number of large plot changes across the decades of the storyline's development, with ''Re-Imaginos'' contradicting several plot points established on the original ''Imaginos'', which itself was changed significantly from the ''Soft Doctrines of Imaginos'' poem cycle. This might come with the territory of such a deliberately ambiguous narrative- after all, "the doctrines are soft".
81	* CameBackWrong: Imaginos was always a HumanoidAbomination, but there’s no indication he’s ever evil until he dies and is resurrected.
82	* TheChessmaster: Imaginos, and (by extension) Les Invisibles.
83	* CoolBoat: ''Plutonia'' is "charmed and armed" and used by Imaginos to sail around the world.
84	* CosmicHorror: The overarching theme is of Les Invisibles manipulating human history for their own incomprehensible purposes.
85	* DarkMessiah: Imaginos can be seen as one (see SinsOfOurFathers below), including having MessianicArchetype features like being a vessel for the power of gods, and being killed and resurrected.
86	* DealWithTheDevil: Imaginos pledges his service to Les Invisibles in return for being brought back from the dead. Problem is, he's not exactly ''[[CameBackWrong himself]]'' after that happens...
87	* DemotedToExtra: The album marks Joe Bouchard's final appearance with the band, with him contributing only minor keyboard parts and backing vocals instead of his usual bass or any StepUpToTheMicrophone songs that were previously common for him. Keyboardist Allen Lanier, returing to the band after being absent on ''Club Ninja'' also only played a minor role.
88	* DoubleMeaning: The lyrics are notoriously crammed with wordplay and double (and even ''triple'') entendre phrases, [[PungeonMaster common to Sandy Pearlman's writing]]. For example, "''the tears of God flow as I bleed''".
89	* EldritchLocation: The front cover of the album depicts a real place, the Cliff Top Hotel and restaurant in Ocean Beach, California, as it would have looked in the early part of the twentieth century - a real-life example of American Gothic and a place where Series/TheAddamsFamily could have set up home. [[note]]This building has long ago been knocked down and rebuilt in the same clifftop[[/note]]
90	* EpicRocking: None of the tracks are shorter than 5 minutes.
91	* EtTuBrute: Two of Imaginos’ close friends abandon him as he lays dying on the beach. Shortly afterward, he agrees to become Les Invisibles’ agent manipulating humanity, and rejects his own humanity in the process.
92	* {{Expy}}: Imaginos is rather similar to [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]], being shapeshifting, chaos-causing emissaries of cosmic deities, and both being conduits of "starry wisdom" (a direct reference according to Pearlman).
93	* EvilGloating: "''I Am The One You Warned Me Of''" is five minutes of Desdinova being completely gleeful about her own evil accomplishments.
94	* FaceHeelTurn: The album revolves around one.
95	* FantasticDrug: "World-without-end", the effects of which are vague, but in Bouchard's continuity appear to unlock some of Imaginos' latent powers as well as supposedly extending life.
96	* {{Familiar}}: Desdinova has a dog from the stars as a familiar, accompanying her on her travels (including those as Imaginos).
97	* FrameStory: "''Astronomy''" [[MindScrew may]] be Desdinova talking to Suzy on a beach and metaphorically describing her death and resurrection earlier in the narrative.
98	* GenderBender: Imaginos' female persona is Desdinova, the "Queenly Flux" and "Eternal Light".
99	* HumanoidAbomination: Emphasis on "humanoid" prior his death, emphasis on "abomination" afterwards.
100	* ImmortalityInducer: "World-without-end" is supposed to be a sort of immortality serum in the ''Re-Imaginos'' timeline.
101	* InMediasRes: The narrative opens with "''I Am The One You Warned Me Of''", with Desdinova already in the middle of corrupting the world, before switching to a chronological telling of the narrative starting with "''Imaginos''". According to Albert Bouchard, this is because "every story starts in the middle".
102	* LadyInAPowerSuit: Desdinova wears long-tailed suits with spangles.
103	* LargeHam: [[EvilIsHammy Imaginos]] in the spoken part of “''Magna of Illusion''”. "''I’ve come a long way from Lost Christabel this night… to BLAST your RAFTERS with my surprise!''" He’s somewhat more subdued in the demo tape, though.
104	* LightIsNotGood: Desdinova calls herself “the Eternal Light”.
105	* LoopedLyrics: Lots. "''Seven seven seven seven seven seven seven''", "''carpe diem''", "''your master is a monster''", "''we understand''"...
106	* MeaningfulName: Desdinova is likely derived from the name "Desdemona", the literal meaning of which is ''"ill-starred"''.
107	* MindScrew: Try making sense of the plot ''at all'' without the [[MindScrewdriver liner notes]].
108	* MoodWhiplash: A deliberate example, when listening to the tracks in narrative order the jaunty and upbeat “''Del Rio’s Song''” is immediately followed by “''Blue Öyster Cult''”, where Imaginos lays dying on a beach and is abandoned by his friends.
109	* MysteryCult: The Blue Öyster Cult, who live beneath (and ''[[AnotherDimension besides]]'') a bay and worship Les Invisibles.
110	* MythArc: Sandy Pearlman intended almost all of the lyrics he wrote for Music/BlueOysterCult to take place within the ''Soft Doctrines of Imaginos'' universe. The ''Imaginos'' album is only a fragment of the overarching story, which was apparently supposed to end with the redemption of Imaginos (capped off by the song ''[[RedemptionEqualsDeath "Redeemed"]]'' from the band's first album).
111	* PronounTrouble: Imaginos' alternate persona of Desdinova has been referred to as "he" in the past, but was recently clarified as officially female.
112	* TheProphecy: Imaginos' granddaughter finds a cryptic prophecy written on the oldest scroll in Imaginos' house, which declares “when the riddle begins, the story will end”.
113	* ProtagonistTitle: A half-example, since for most of the album he is using his persona of "Desdinova".
114	* RealityWarper: “''I’ve warped the stuff of ground/What seems to be is not''”
115	* {{Seers}}: Imaginos receives visions of the future from Les Invisibles.
116	* ShapeshiftingTrickster: Imaginos is a particularly dark example, shapeshifting to take different personas and imitate important figures for the goal of causing chaos and ruin.
117	* ShoutOut: The album is full of Shout Outs to Creator/HPLovecraft. For example Desdinova refers to Les Invisibles’ “starry wisdom”, a ShoutOut to the Church of Starry Wisdom from "The Haunter Of The Dark".
118	* SinsOfOurFathers: It is implied that on some level Imaginos' actions destabilizing Europe (particularly Spain) are in revenge for European colonialism and genocide of indigenous Americans.
119	* SpokenWordInMusic: "''Del Rio's Song''" and "''Magna of Illusion''" both contain pieces of spoken word narration.
120	* StarfishAliens: Bouchard describes the Blue Öyster Cult as "aliens who look like oysters", but whether this is a biological resemblance or due to some sort of illusion is unclear.
121	* StealthPun/ HurricaneOfPuns: A lot of the more cryptic lyrics are actually puns on some level. For example, “''these gravely digs of mine will surely prove a sight/and don’t forget my dog, fixed and consequent''”. Desdinova is a shapeshifter who has just come back from the dead, and is referring to her new form as “gravely digs” (digs being slang for clothes). The dog is the star Sirius, which is a “fixed” (non-moving) star in astrology.
122	* StockSoundEffects: The demo version of "''Les Invisibles''" has a stock "boing" sound effect before the second verse and first chorus for some reason.
123	* TimeTravel: Imaginos has the ability to travel through time and takes different personas across history. The mechanics of this are never specified.
124	* VillainProtagonist: Imaginos' goals are to cause chaos, war and death.
125	* VillainSong: Most tracks technically count, with the album's VillainProtagonist, but "''I Am the One You Warned Me Of''" is the most clear-cut and classic example.
126	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Imaginos is an advanced shapeshifter, with examples given of him changing his sex and copying other humans, as well as turning into a buzzard, a pony, and a [[{{Objectshifting}} pinwheel]].
127	* WildMassGuessing: Any attempt to interpret to lyrics beyond the (somewhat vague and cryptic) liner notes ends up being this.
128	* WordSaladLyrics: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], the lyrics that seem to be Word Salad on the surface were usually encoded by Sandy Pearlman with specific symbolism.
129	----
130	-->''"Don't you give up, my young, young friends!''
131	-->''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHSpGhswRJg Here's a story I think will please..."]]''

Context Music / Imaginos