Wiki
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Release Date
1 July 1981
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Length
9 tracks
Fire of Unknown Origin is the eighth album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in June 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 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.
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.
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.
"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 famously banned by MTV for featuring a sexually suggestive scene.
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