''Mirrors'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American 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". The band h ...

, released on June 19, 1979. It was the first BÖC album not produced by long-time producer and manager

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

, instead being produced by

Tom Werman Tom Werman (born 1945) is an American former record producer responsible for many hard rock and heavy metal albums. Early life and education Werman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Newton. He earned a bachelor's degree and an ...

Background

After the success of 1976's Platinum '' Agents of Fortune'', 1977's Gold '' Spectres'' and 1978's Platinum live effort ''

Some Enchanted Evening "Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''South Pacific''. It has been described as "the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show." Mast, Gerald''Can't Help Singin': ...

'', the fact that ''Mirrors'' struggled to reach Gold status disappointed band and label alike. According to interviews with the band and production staff, the intent for this album was to make a high-charting record with glossy production; however, the backlash from this attempt led to the band's future pairing with

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

and an attempt to return to a darker sound.

Artwork

The album front cover image is a

photorealistic Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be ...

painting by Loren Salazar, of a

side-view mirror A side-view mirror (or side mirror), also known as a wing mirror, is a mirror placed on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside the driver's peripheral v ...

. The album’s inner sleeve is an image from the house of mirrors scene in ‘’

The Lady From Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

’’.

Songs

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 ...

's acoustic ballad " In Thee" charted at No. 74. The song's line "Jim says some destinies should not be delivered" references the Jim Carroll Band song "Day and Night." "The Great Sun Jester" was co-written by

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 ...

, John Trivers, and British fantasy/science-fiction author

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

based on Moorcock's novel '' The Fireclown''. This would be the first of several songs that Moorcock would co-write with the band.

Track listing

Personnel

Blue Öyster Cult

– rhythm guitar, vocals * Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser – lead guitar, vocals *

– keyboards, guitar *

Joe Bouchard Joseph J. Bouchard (; born November 9, 1948) is an American musician. He was the bassist and one of the lead singers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult during their most successful period. He is the younger brother of original Blue Öyster ...

– bass, vocals *

Albert Bouchard Albert Thomas Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American musician. He is a founding member and the original drummer of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the brother of former Blue Öyster Cult ...

– drums, vocals

Additional musicians

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried "Mickey" Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or rec ...

– harmonica on "Dr. Music" *Jai Winding – strings on " In Thee" *

Genya Ravan Genya Ravan, a.k.a. Goldie (born Genyusha Zelkovicz; April 19, 1940) is an American rock singer and music producer. She was lead singer of The Escorts, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, and Ten Wheel Drive. Life and career Childhood Ravan was bo ...

and

Ellen Foley Ellen Foley (born 1951) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom '' Night Court'' for one season. In music, she has released five solo albums but is best known for her colla ...

– background vocals on "Dr. Music" and "Mirrors" * Wendy Webb – background vocals on "Lonely Teardrops"

Production

– producer *Gary Ladinsky – engineer, mixing

Charts

Album

Singles

In Thee

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirrors (Blue Oyster Cult Album) Blue Öyster Cult albums 1979 albums Albums produced by Tom Werman Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles) Columbia Records albums