Fire of Unknown Origin

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Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
Martin Popoff 9/10 stars[2]

Fire of Unknown Origin is the eighth album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in 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. Fire of Unknown Origin would be the final studio LP featuring the band's original lineup until 1988's Imaginos; during the subsequent tour, the band fired original drummer Albert Bouchard.

The album continues BÖC's tendency to write quirky songs, from the title track (featuring lyrics by Patti Smith) to "Joan Crawford". Many of the songs were intended for the soundtrack of the animated film Heavy Metal, such as "Vengeance (The Pact)", whose lyrics follow in detail the plot of the "Taarna" segment of the movie. However, only the song "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (which, ironically, was not written for Heavy Metal), co-written by science fiction author Michael Moorcock, ended up in the film's final version and soundtrack.

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Fire of Unknown Origin"   Joe Bouchard, Patti Smith, Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Donald Roeser 4:09
2. "Burnin' for You"   Roeser, Richard Meltzer 4:29
3. "Veteran of the Psychic Wars"   Bloom, Michael Moorcock 4:48
4. "Sole Survivor"   Bloom, John Trivers, Liz Myers 4:04
5. "Heavy Metal: The Black and Silver"   A. Bouchard, Bloom, Sandy Pearlman 3:16
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
6. "Vengeance (The Pact)"   A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard 4:41
7. "After Dark"   Bloom, Trivers, Myers 4:25
8. "Joan Crawford"   A. Bouchard, David Roter, Jack Rigg 4:55
9. "Don't Turn Your Back"   A. Bouchard, Allen Lanier, Roeser 4:07
Total length:
 39:06

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

Album

Year Chart Position
1981 Billboard 200 (North America)[4] 24
UK Album Chart[5] 29

Singles

Year Title Chart Position
1981 "Burnin' for You" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[6] 1
"Joan Crawford" 49
"Veteran of the Psychic Wars" 24
"Vengeance (The Pact)" 16
"Fire of Unknown Origin" 11
"Burnin' for You" Billboard Hot 100 (North America)[6] 40

Sales Certifications

Year Country Organization Sales
1982 U.S. RIAA Gold (500,000+)[7]
Canada CRIA Gold (50,000+)[8]

References

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