YMMV / Blue Öyster Cult

• Awesome Music: "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla" and "Burnin' For You" are obvious first choices.
• Bizarro Episode: "Tenderloin," from Agents of Fortune, practically invents the vocal style used by ABC's Martin Fry six years early.
• Complete Monster: Spectres' "Nosferatu": The titular Nosferatu is a malevolent vampire who leaves Transylvania for Germany with plague rats under his command, killing the crew of the ship transporting him. Upon arrival, he unleashes a deadly epidemic and terrifies the population. When a pure-hearted woman named Lucy sacrifices herself by offering her blood to him, he spends the night slowly killing her by feeding on her until dawn.
• Covered Up: "Astronomy" is a rare example of a band covering themselves up. It first appeared on Secret Treaties but the definitive version is from Imaginos. Or vice versa.
  • The same LP also self-covers Sub Human from Secret Treaties, reworked on Imaginos as Blue Öyster Cult.
  • "This Ain't the Summer of Love" is a loose cover of a song by the Imperial Dogs, a little-known proto-punk southern California band of the early '70s.
  • "I’m on the Lamb, But I Ain’t No Sheep" from the first album was covered by themselves on the second album as "The Red and the Black."
• Epic Riff: "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." If you don't immediately recognize the iconic guitar riff, then you'll recognize the cowbell in the background.
  • Also "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You." These are the band's 3 biggest songs for a reason.
  • It might be easier to list the number of songs that don't fit the trope.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Fans started to refer to the band as "Two Oyster Cult" when Bloom and Roeser were the only original members left in the band. From 1987 to 2006, where Bloom, Roeser, and Lanier were the three remaining original members of the band, the nickname 3OC was used.
  • Sardonic British rock journo Tony Tyler witnessed the band's Five Guitars setpiece during a London gig. Writing for the NME, he contrasted the size of the guitars against the generally medium height of the band members and labelled them the Five Dwarves Of Heavy Metal.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The band is much more popular in Japan than in the United States, largely thanks to their song about Godzilla more than anything else, whereas in the US the group has largely faded into obscurity. The divide is illustrated by their 1999 tour, wherein they sold out sports arenas and stadiums in Japan, then came back to America to play casinos and state fairs. They probably get more cowbell at the fairs though.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: After the release of Godzilla (1998), the band made a parody version of their song called "No-zilla" as a response to their song not making it into the movie. 21 years later and their song does make it into an official Godzilla movie, by way of an epic cover.
• Magnificent Bastard: "The Alchemist" from The Symbol Remains: The Alchemist is a brilliant Evil Sorcerer with a grudge. When a King killed his father for a crime he was innocent of, the Alchemist swore vengeance upon the King's entire bloodline; from there on out, the Alchemist proceeded to gain the secret of eternal life to carry out his revenge. Killing every member of the bloodline once they reach a certain age, the Alchemist makes it seem like an accident every time, so successful he convinces the family that they are cursed. When the last member of the bloodline finally foils the Alchemist before he can destroy the entire line, the Alchemist proves defiant in the face of death, declaring his everlasting hatred with his last breath.
• Memetic Mutation
  • DFTR (Don't Fear The Reaper) has been appended to so many obituaries that the acronym appears to have become a contemporary alternative to RIP
  • "More cowbell" and every variation thereof from the Saturday Night Live skit depicting the (fictitious) recording session for "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
  "GUESS WHAT?! I've got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!"
  • Many of the lyrics from "Godzilla" are now heavily associated with the film franchise it's about (the entire first verse is the page quote for the franchise on This Very Wiki). Not surprisingly, many news reports about the 2014 reboot quoted the lyrics "With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound" and "Oh no, there goes Tokyo!".
• Narm Charm: The lyrics of "Godzilla" are total cheese, but that's largely why people love it.
• Parody Displacement: Mention this band or "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" to anyone nowadays and count how many people don't respond with "I need more cowbell!" It's surprisingly easy.
• Signature Song: "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burnin' For You".
• Tear Jerker:
  • "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is either incredibly bittersweet or Nightmare Fuel depending on your perspective.
  • "Live For Me", a ballad about what happens to telepathic twin brothers when one of them ends up in a fatal car accident.
  • "In Thee" off the Mirrors album, in which Allen Lanier draws a final line under his long-term lover Patti Smith throwing him over for Fred "Sonic" Smith. Maybe she just wanted to keep the paperwork simple after getting married.

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