''Heaven Forbid'' is the thirteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...

, released on March 24, 1998. It was the band's first studio album with new material in a decade (not counting the 1992

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to ''

Bad Channels ''Bad Channels'' is a 1992 American science fiction spoof direct-to-video film, produced by Full Moon Features and released by Paramount Home Video. It is about two aliens (Cosmo and Lump) who invade a radio station with the intention of capturi ...

''). American science fiction and horror writer

John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of fantasy, science fiction, dark street fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...

wrote lyrics to most of the songs on the album. While he is primarily known as an author for his

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

stories, many of the lyrics on this album revolve around early science fiction and mystery motifs. The album's working title was 'Ezekiel's Wheel,' after the Biblical story that some take to reference an early visitation by

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s. The album's live song "In Thee" was originally featured on ''

Mirrors A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

''. "Still Burnin'" is a sequel to the song "

Burnin' for You "Burnin' for You" is a song by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. It was released as the lead single from the band's eighth studio album, '' Fire of Unknown Origin'', released in June 1981, where it was the album's second track. The song ...

", which appeared on ''

Fire of Unknown Origin ''Fire of Unknown Origin'' is the eighth studio album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on June 22, 1981. It was produced by Martin Birch. The album, which included the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You" (#1 on Billboard's A ...

''. The inspiration for the alternative cover is

Morgan Fairchild Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since. Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera ''Search for T ...

. This image also appears on the reverse of the insert, and was originally intended to be the front piece as indicated by advertisements from the period. "Harvest Moon", "Power Underneath Despair", "Cold Gray Light of Dawn" and "Still Burnin'" were debuted live during the 1992 tour. The album was re-released on April 17, 2020, by

Frontiers Frontiers may refer to: * Frontier, areas near or beyond a boundary Arts and entertainment Music * ''Frontiers'' (Journey album), 1983 * ''Frontiers'' (Jermaine Jackson album), 1978 * ''Frontiers'' (Jesse Cook album), 2007 * ''Frontiers'' ( ...

Track listing

Personnel

Band members

Eric Bloom Eric Jay Bloom (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on more than 20 albu ...

– guitars, keyboards, lead vocals on tracks 1, 3, 5, and 7, producer *

Buck Dharma Donald Roeser (born November 12, 1947), known by his stage name Buck Dharma, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the sole constant member of hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and ...

– guitars, keyboards, lead vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, 8–11, producer *

Allen Lanier Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and rhythm guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult. Lanier wrote several songs for Blue Öyster Cult albums, including "T ...

– guitars, keyboards *Danny Miranda – bass guitar on tracks 1, 4–9, 11, backing vocals *Jon Rogers – bass guitar on tracks 2, 3 and 10, backing vocals * Bob Rondinelli – drums on track 9 * Chuck Burgi - drums on tracks 1-8 and 10, backing vocals

Additional musicians

*George Cintron – additional vocals *Tony Perrino – additional keyboards

Production

*Steve Schenck - producer on tracks 2, 3, 10, management *Paul Orofino – engineer, mixing *Marc Senesac – engineer and mixing on tracks 2, 3, 10 *

Leon Zervos Leon Zervos is a mastering engineer who has worked with many world-renowned artists, including Pink, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson. Life and career Leon Zervos began his mastering career in 1982 at the then EMI Studi ...

– mastering

References

{{Authority control Blue Öyster Cult albums 1998 albums CMC International albums