The Revölution by Night

The Revölution by Night is the ninth studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on November 8, 1983. The album was intended to capitalize on the success of Fire of Unknown Origin two years prior, hence the blend of straight-ahead rock and pop elements. This was the first BÖC album not to feature all of the band's classic members, drummer Albert Bouchard having been fired during the previous tour and replaced by roadie Rick Downey.

The Revölution by Night
Cover art by Greg Scott
Studio album by Blue Öyster Cult
Released	November 8, 1983
Recorded	May 1983
Studio	Boogie Hotel Studios, Port Jefferson, New York Kingdom Sound Studios, Long Island, New York The Automatt – Studio C, San Francisco, California
Genre	Hard rock pop rock heavy metal
Length	41:44
Label	Columbia
Producer	Bruce Fairbairn
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
Extraterrestrial Live (1982) The Revölution by Night (1983) Club Ninja (1985)
Singles from The Revölution by Night
"Take Me Away" Released: November 1983^[1] "Shooting Shark" Released: February 1984^[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10^[4]
Rolling Stone	^[5]

In contrast to the success of Fire of Unknown Origin, the album failed to go Gold in the United States.

Songs

Lead single "Shooting Shark" was modestly successful on radio, reaching #83 and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts, respectively.^[6][7] Its accompanying video became one of MTV's most requested clips upon its release.^{[citation needed]} The lyrics to "Shooting Shark" were based on a poem by Patti Smith.

"Take Me Away," co-written by Eric Bloom and Canadian rock musician Aldo Nova, also received significant airplay on AOR. An earlier version of the song, titled "Psycho Ward", was being written by Nova before Bloom offered to contribute some lyrics, coming up with the chorus.^[8] The song reached #11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.^[9] A music video was created for the song and was featured on MTV.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Take Me Away"	Eric Bloom, Aldo Nova	Bloom	4:31
2.	"Eyes on Fire"	Gregg Winter	Bloom	3:56
3.	"Shooting Shark"	Donald Roeser, Patti Smith	Roeser	7:09
4.	"Veins"	Roeser, Richard Meltzer	Roeser	3:59

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
5.	"Shadow of California"	Joe Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman, Neal Smith	Bloom	5:10
6.	"Feel the Thunder"	Bloom	Bloom	5:48
7.	"Let Go"	Bloom, Roeser, Ian Hunter	Bloom	3:28
8.	"Dragon Lady"	Roeser, Broadway Blotto	Roeser	4:08
9.	"Light Years of Love"	Bouchard, Helen Wheels	Bouchard	4:05

Personnel

Band members

• Eric Bloom – guitar, vocals
• Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser – lead guitar, keyboards, vocals, mixing (uncredited)^[10]
• Allen Lanier – piano, keyboards
• Joe Bouchard – bass, electric and acoustic guitars, vocoder, vocals
• Rick Downey – drums

Additional musicians

• Larry Fast – synthesizers, programming
• Aldo Nova – guitar and synthesizers on "Take Me Away"
• Gregg Winter – backing vocals on "Eyes on Fire"
• Randy Jackson – bass on "Shooting Shark"
• Marc Baum – saxophone on "Shooting Shark"

Production

• Bruce Fairbairn – producer, mixing
• Dave Wittman – engineer
• George Geranios, Ken Kessie – additional engineering
• Chris Isca, Ron Coté, Ray Pyle – assistant engineers
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Sandy Pearlman – management, mixing (uncredited)^[10]
• Steve Schenck – management

Charts

Album Chart (1983) Peak position UK Albums (OCC)^[11] 95 US Billboard 200^[12] 93

Singles Shooting Shark Chart (1983-1984) Peak position UK Singles (OCC)^[13] 97 US Billboard Hot 100^[14] 83 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)^[15] 16 Take Me Away Chart (1983) Peak position US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)^[15] 11

References

1. "Blue Oyster Cult singles".
2. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 76. ISBN 9780862415419.
3. Ruhlmann, William. "Blue Öyster Cult The Revolution by Night review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
4. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
5. Somay, Errol (March 1, 1984). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 13, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
6. "Blue Öyster Cult Shooting Shark Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
7. "Blue Öyster Cult Shooting Shark Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
8. "Aldo Nova Explains His Blue Öyster Cult Connection". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
9. "Blue Öyster Cult Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
10. Popoff, Martin (March 2009). "The Revolution by Night". Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! (2 ed.). Toronto, Canada: Power Chord Press. pp. 196–199. ISBN 978-0-9752807-0-6.
11. "Blue Oyster Cult | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
12. "Blue Oyster Cult Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
14. "Blue Oyster Cult Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
15. "Blue Oyster Cult Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.