Satan and Rainbows

It's been quite a journey but our time with the Blue Öyster Cult is almost at an end. For the first time in the podcast's history we are dedicating a full episode to our final thoughts about the band and our (eligible) studio album ranking. We hope you enjoy (and forgive the weird format Nate decided to introduce for reasons unknown to him now). See you next season! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandra...

After waiting almost two decades for the world to get hip, the Blue Öyster Cult were ready to sign with a new label and put out an album of new material. Is the current lineup able to live up to the expectations? Was it worth the wait? Are smartphones kind of bad for our attention spans (if you really think about it)? Was it that much of a fight? Join us on our penultimate episode and find out! Fa...

The first Blue Öyster Cult album of the 21st century is a less moody and more eclectic one than its predecessor, with a refreshing sense of continuity. Is it too long? Yes? Are there some bad songs on it? Yes. Does Nate end up liking the dumb recycled '80s ballad that doesn't really belong? Y--I mean...you'll have to listen to find out! Join us as we break down Curse of the Hidden Mirror (2001). F...

After a ten year recording hiatus (sort of), an older and wiser (sort of) Blue Öyster Cult link up with the incredibly normal cyberpunk author John Shirley as their new primary lyricist and the incredibly stable CMC Records as their new label. The result is a very interesting album...that was out of print for decades and even now can't be easily heard due to weird streaming rights, so it's probabl...

This week we are tracing the convoluted history behind the infamous Blue Öyster Cult concept album Imaginos . And then, unfortunately, we're also going to listen to it together. ...Yeah, if you are one of those BÖC fans who thinks Imaginos is an underrated hidden gem we love and respect you BUT you may want to skip this episode... Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainb...

A synth-drenched fantasia, a poppy sellout, a....good album?? With some of the best songs the Blue Öyster Cult ever recorded?! And also two of the worst? What a time. Check your shuriken at the door because we're lifting the velvet rope, stamping your hand with an inscrutable symbol, and beckoning you into Club Ninja . Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Fina...

Minus one Bouchard and plus electronic drums galore, the 9th BÖC album begins a period of declining fortunes for the band. But is it that bad? Is it actually bad at all? We certainly don't think so. Listen to The Revölution by Night (1983) with us and we'll tell you why. Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Spec...

MTV! Rejected songs from a cartoon movie for perverts! Joan Crawford! All this and even more if you can believe it. Join us as we discuss the mega-successful Fire of Unknown Origin (1981). Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and voic...

A new decade, a new producer, and a new direction (sort of). Join us as we examine the start of a very dramatic decade for the Blue Öyster Cult and their dark, hard-rocking seventh album. Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and voice...

Last album of the '70s. First album with a new producer. Last chance to capitalize on the momentum from their hit single before it disappeared completely? Well, it's a little more complicated than that, but perhaps the band thought so at the time. It would certainly explain a lot about Mirrors . Also we talk about the band's second live album and their Marvel comics cameo! Join us! Facebook/Instag...

How do you follow up a platinum commercial breakthrough? Do you sell out and go even more commercial? Or do you double-down on the eccentricism that attracted fans in the first place? Well...yes. Join us as we break down Blue Öyster Cult's oft-overlooked fifth album Spectres ! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezon...

After briefly discussing the first (and somewhat premature in our opinion) live album from BÖC, we discuss their platinum breakthrough smash Agents of Fortune . Yes, it's the album with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on it but there's a lot more going on here. But don't worry, we're going to definitively and correctly break the whole thing down and you are going to agree with it all! Facebook/Instagram...

We're back to discuss BÖC's third album Secret Treaties (1974). It's a lot of things: definitely their first gold LP, probably their weirdest, and possibly their most thematically consistent. Inarguably it is a creative triumph for Eric Bloom (while ironically also serving as a creative low point for Buck Dharma). This is a big one, folks. Let's get into it!    Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbow...

Our series continues with an in-depth look at the Cult's sophomore release. Informed by the band's energetic live act at the time, Tyranny and Mutation certainly strengthens their credentials as early heavy metal legends, but is it as artistically successful as their debut? Let's find out! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.c...

We're back! I'll be joined this season by my good friend Dalton to talk in-depth about the career of the utterly inimitable Blue Öyster Cult! For our premiere episode we discuss our connection to the band before diving into their origins, early history, and (eventually) their self-titled debut album. We're on the pod but we ain't no pea!  Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Email:  Contact@satan...

Is the Shield truly Invincible? Was this album worth the wait? Does our old discography ranking from 2018 hold up now? We will answer all of these questions and more as we revisit the newest release by the first band we ever covered on the show. Enjoy! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezo...

Recorded in November of 2023, it's the final episode of our Black Sabbath season. We cover Forbidden (1995), give final thoughts about this "lost" era of the band, and close out with one of our patented discography rankings. Enjoy! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to...

Geezer, Geoff, and Tony Iommi are still here, Dio's gone, Tony Martin is back, and then...wait, who's Bobby? How can a good Sabbath album get made with all this chaos? Well...pretty easily, actually. We're talking Cross Purposes (1994) Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks...

Dio's back!....Yay? Wait, the album is HOW long?! Oh fine. Here's Dehumanizer (1992). Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and voice actor of the Night Shift Podcast, a queer-led urban fantasy docudrama. Chec...

Okay, hear me out...is this the most underrated Black Sabbath album ever? I think I make a pretty good case as a break down the Norse-ish concept-ish album TYR (1990). Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and...

A career-defining triumph for Tony Martin. A crushingly heavy yet somehow also refreshingly melodic musical statement from a band with nowhere to go but up. An episode I had to scrap and re-record at the last minute because I'm bad at this. Yes, you guessed it. We're talking the final Sabbath album of the '80s and the first of the Out-of-Print Era. Let's join all the witches and meet at the Headle...

After the most chaotic period of Sabbath's history, they manage to cobble together a very listenable album and emerge with a singer who will stick around for a while. It's The Eternal Idol (1987)! Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Financial Support: https://ko-fi.com/thenatezone Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She...

An album that some Black Sabbath purists (incorrectly) think shouldn't even BE a Sabbath album. It's going to start getting wacky from here on out, so I hope you've got the sand to listen as we break down Seventh Star (1986) Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate prod...

We usher in a turbulent period in the history of Black Sabbath with a look at their divisive 1983 album Born Again. Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and voice actor of the Night Shift Podcast, a queer-led urban fantasy docudrama. Check it out: www. Nigh...

After a successful reinvention and the loss of another original member, Black Sabbath attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle with their second album of the '80s, Mob Rules. Facebook/Instagram: @satanandrainbows Twitter: @SatanRainbowPod Email:  Contact@satanandrainbows.com Special thanks to our announcer Sasha Aleksandra! She is an associate producer and voice actor of the Night Shift Podcast,...