Fire of Unknown Origin
LP by Blue Öyster Cult
Released	May, 1981 (US)
Recorded
Genre	Hard Rock
Length
Label	Columbia Records (US)
Producer(s)
Professional reviews
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
Cultösaurus Erectus (1980)	Fire of Unknown Origin (1981)	Extraterrestrial Live (1982)

Fire of Unknown Origin is an album by Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1981. It was produced by Martin Birch, a producer who worked with many heavy metal bands (with his works with Iron Maiden and the blues-era Whitesnake being amongst the most famous) of the early 80's. Image File history File links FOUO.jpg File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A gramophone record, (also phonograph record - often simply record) is an analog sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides. ... Blue Öyster Cult is a psychedelic/heavy metal band probably best known for two songs: their 1976 single (Dont Fear) The Reaper from the album Agents of Fortune, and their 1981 single Burnin for You from the album Fire of Unknown Origin. ... This article is about the month of May. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Hard rock is a form of rock and roll music which finds its closest roots in early 1960s garage rock. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... Columbia Records is the oldest continually used brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Blue Öyster Cult is a psychedelic/heavy metal band probably best known for two songs: their 1976 single (Dont Fear) The Reaper from the album Agents of Fortune, and their 1981 single Burnin for You from the album Fire of Unknown Origin. ... Cultösaurus Erectus is a Blue Öyster Cult album released in 1980. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Extraterrestrial Live is a Blue Öyster Cult live album released in 1982. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Blue Öyster Cult is a psychedelic/heavy metal band probably best known for two songs: their 1976 single (Dont Fear) The Reaper from the album Agents of Fortune, and their 1981 single Burnin for You from the album Fire of Unknown Origin. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Martin Birch is a British music producer, who has produced albums for bands such as Deep Purple, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and Blue Öyster Cult. ... It has been suggested that true metal be merged into this article or section. ... Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band from east London. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale as well as a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ... Whitesnake was a British band, active primarily in the 1980s. ...

The album continues BOC's tendency to write quirky songs, from the title tracks's refrain of love lost to the strangely surreal "Joan Crawford (Has Risen From The Grave)".

The album contains the second track that most people think of when their name is mentioned, "Burning For You", which showed that behind the quirky psychedelia there lurked a keen songwriting ability. Many of the songs came about for use with the animated film Heavy Metal such as the song "Vengeance (The Pact)", however only the song "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" ended up being used for the film. Psychedelia is a term describing a category of music, visual art, fashion, and culture that is associated originally with the high 1960s, hippies, and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California. ... Heavy Metal is a Canadian animated film released in 1981 and produced by Ivan Reitman with the cooperation of various international animation studios. ... Veteran of the Psychic Wars is a song by the american band Blue Öyster Cult, written by Eric Bloom (band vocal) and Michael Moorcock (british writer, creator of Elric, Hawkmoon, Ereköse, Corum, Jerry Cornelius and the myth of Eternal Champion). ...

Radio Airplay and Album Charting -Fire of Unknown Origin reached #24 on the Billboard Charts in 1981.

-Burnin' For You reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1981 -Burnin' For You reached #40 on the Pop Singles Chart -Joan Crawford reached #49 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart

Track listing

1. Fire of Unknown Origin (J. Bouchard, P. Smith, E. Bloom, A. Bouchard, D. Roeser)
2. Burnin' for You (D. Roeser, R. Meltzer)
3. Veteran of the Psychic Wars (E. Bloom, M. Moorcock)
4. Sole Survivor (E. Bloom, J. Trivers, L. Myers)
5. Heavy Metal: the Black and Silver (A. Bouchard, E. Bloom, S. Pearlman)
6. Vengeance (The Pact) (A. Bouchard, J. Bouchard)
7. After Dark (E. Bloom, J. Trivers, L. Myers)
8. Joan Crawford (E. Bloom, J. Trivers, L. Myers)
9. Don't Turn Your Back (E. Bloom, J. Trivers, L. Myers)

Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939) is a prolific British writer of both science fiction and science fantasy. ... Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939) is a prolific British writer of both science fiction and science fantasy. ...

Personnel

• Eric Bloom - lead vocals, stun guitar

• Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - lead guitar, vocals

• Allen Lanier - keyboards, guitar

• Joe Bouchard - bass, vocals

• Albert Bouchard - drums, vocals