notparticularlybrilliant musicians, but they are genuinely soulful and have undeni- able songwritingpotential. The anthem American Music, for example, is a rousing a and effective paean to just that, and Border Radio is touching and heartfelt in the man- ner of the very best . The rest here are mostly ready-mades of varying degrees of effectiveness, and the al- bum is underproduced in a manner that suggests not deliberation but simple inexpe- rience in the studio. In short, this is an interesting young band that may or may not have great potential. Bear in mind, of course, that such judg- ments are relative.I mean, given a choice between hearing the Blasters or, say, For- eigner on the radio, I'd vote for these guys in a minute. S.S.

RECORDING OF SPECIAL MERIT BLUE OYSTER CULT: Extraterrestrial Lire. Blue Oyster Cult (vocals and instru- mentals);instrumentalaccompaniment. E.T.I. (Extraterrestrial Intelligence); Dr. Music; Black Blade; Joan Crawford; Burn- in' for You; Veteran of the Psychic Wars; 6 -Melanie and seven others. COLUMBIA KG 37946 two discs, © KGT 37946, 0 KGA 37946, no list price. -HAY now, as the Fox and the Crow seamless instrumentation is. At any rate, SAused to say. Melanie, one of the genuine I'm so fascinated with the vocals through- Performance Scorching stylists of the rock generation, with herout "Arabesque" that the strings don't Recording Excellent cracking, throbbing, aching voice, is back- bother me too much. and set against the garbage bands of the This two -record set brings to five the total Melanie still sounds a little like Piaf to number of live discs in the Blue Oyster Cult early Eighties, she is more impressive than me. She still regards singing a song as a ever. I'm not sure I can say the same for her catalog, and it illustrates how much this isa highly emotional experience, and she stillperforming band. In fact, looking back on muse; the five songs she wrote for her new puts it and herself through the wringer. And Blanche/Jem album, "Arabesque," the group's seven studio albums, it's hard to are she does seem a little older and wiser, and a find one that can match the live sets for overshadowed by Detroit or Buffalo, an ex- sus- little less extreme about some of her vocal tained quality, never mind energy. cellent progressive -type rock song by Bar- quirks, yet she is eternally childlike. A few "Extraterrestrial Live" may be BOC's bara Keith and Leo Feist,by Michael more like her and the flesh -and -blood side McDonald's simpler It Don't Matter Now, best live album yet. It covers a wider range could retrieve pop music from the clutches of the group's output than did "Some En- and by Chip Taylor's venerable Any Way of the androids. -Noel Coppage That You Want Me. But singing is her chanted Evening," reaching back to such early classics as Cities on Flame, Hot Rails strong suit anyway, and her writing stands MELANIE: Arabesque.Melanie Salka- up well in the larger context of today's pop. to Hell, The Red and the Black (all pre- Schekeryk (vocals, , piano); instru- viously recorded live), and Dominance and Besides, if she keeps on finding material mental accompaniment. Detroit or Buffalo; this good, she doesn't need to write much. Submission (which, strangely, was not). It Don't Matter Now: Any Way That YouAnd, of course, it draws on the superior These songs were chosen partly for their im- Want Me; Roadburn; Fooling Yourself; pact as drama, for Melanie is quite a dra- work BOC has done since their first live LP, Too Late; Chances; Standing on the Other 1975's "On Your Feet or on Your Knees." matic singer-and that's probably also why Side (of Your Love); Love You to Loath she is often backed by a rock band which is That excellent album relied heavily on the Me; When You're Dead and Gone; Imagi- fire and brimstone of satanic lead guitarist in turn backed by strings. I'm not sure the naryHeroes.BLANCHE/JEM BL 6177 strings are a good thing, but some kind of Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser. "Extrater- $8.98, © BLC 6177 $8.98. restrial" finds the group more balanced, the songs more complete-formidable entities in their own right, not just vehicles for Roeser's riveting solos. We get a survey of the best recent work by this thinking man's heavy-metal band, including three tracks Anderson is the quintessential one -joke I'm Shakin'; Border Radio; American Mu- act, of course. There's been a lot of loose from their last record, "Fire of Unknown sic: and sevenothers. SLASH/WARNER Origin," the by -now show -stopping (Don't talk about the satirical pungency of her lyr- BRos. BSK 3680 $8.98, M5 3680 $8.98. Fear) The Reaper, and a rousing cover of ics, which is nonsense, and, for all its hip Performance: Uneven theDoors' Roadhouse Blues, withthe trappings, her stuff has the aesthetic depth Doors' original guitarist Robbie Krieger and profundity of vintage David Seville. By Recording: Undernourished lending extra authenticity to the proceed- any reasonable standard, 0 Superman was The Blasters are being hyped in some cir- ings. BOC also has a lot more electronic merely 198I's The Chipmunk Song. That's cles as the Great White Hope of American okay; given the ponderous solemnity of gadets at its disposal now and treats us to a rock-and-roll, which probably says as much virtuosic display of them on the towering what's on the radio these days, we could use about the sad state of the music as it does tour de force Godzilla. more Chipmunk songs. But my guess is that about the group's merits. The most irre- This band clearly enjoys itself and is de- "Big Science" will seem as quaint someday sponsible talk casts them as a new Creed- termined to drag us along for the fun. But as some of those Twenties Moderne pieces ence Clearwater Revival, which on the basis forall with titles like Soviet Iron Foundry. the blistering boogie and torrid S.S. of this debut album is plausible only ifyou chops, I think my favorite moment on "Ex- remember that the first Creedence album traterrestrial Live" is when Eric Bloom an- THE BLASTERS. The Blasters (vocals and was one of their weakest. nounces to the upstate New York audience instrumentals); , At this stage, the Blasters seem to be sim- that "We know Poughkeepsie is serious (saxophones). Marie Marie; No Other Girl; ply a good, sweaty, r -&-b bar band. They're (Continued on page 91) 88 STEREO REVIEW