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===Black-and-white years (1971–1975)=== [[File:Blue Öyster Cult (1974).png|thumb|upright=1.2|''Billboard'' ad, 1974]] Their debut album ''[[Blue Öyster Cult (album)|Blue Öyster Cult]]'' was released in January 1972, with a black-and-white cover designed by artist Bill Gawlik. The album featured the songs "[[Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll]]", "Stairway to the Stars", and "Then Came the Last Days of May". By this time, the band's sound had become more oriented toward hard rock, but songs like "She's As Beautiful As a Foot" and "Redeemed" also showed a strong element of the band's psychedelic roots. Pearlman wanted the group to be the American answer to [[Black Sabbath]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classicrock.about.com/od/artistsae1/a/eric_bloom.htm |title=Interview with Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult |publisher=Classicrock.about.com |date=June 11, 2010 |access-date=September 23, 2010 |archive-date=March 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329183204/http://classicrock.about.com/od/artistsae1/a/eric_bloom.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> All of the band members except for Allen Lanier sang lead, a pattern that would continue on many subsequent albums, although lead singer Eric Bloom sang the majority of the songs. The album sold well, and Blue Öyster Cult toured with artists such as [[the Byrds]], [[Mahavishnu Orchestra]] and [[Alice Cooper]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Perry |first=Shawn |url=http://www.vintagerock.com/ebloom_interview.aspx |title=The Eric Bloom Interview |publisher=Vintagerock.com |access-date=September 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720122423/http://www.vintagerock.com/ebloom_interview.aspx |archive-date=July 20, 2007 }}</ref> As the band toured, its sound became heavier and more direct. Their second album ''[[Tyranny and Mutation]]'', released in 1973, was written while the band was on tour for their first album. It contained songs such as "The Red and the Black" (an ode to the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] and a rewrite of "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from their debut album, and also a reference to [[The Red and the Black|the novel of the same name by Stendhal]]), "Hot Rails to Hell" and "Baby Ice Dog", the first of the band's many collaborations with [[Patti Smith]]. It featured a harder-rocking approach than before, although the band's songs were also growing more complex. The album outsold its predecessor, a trend that would continue with their next few albums. The band's third album, ''[[Secret Treaties]]'' (1974),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://texasarchive.org/2010_03463|title=Blue Öyster Cult Concert and Interview (1975)|website=Texas Archive of the Moving Image|access-date=December 1, 2019}}</ref> received positive reviews, featuring songs such as "Career of Evil" (co-written by Patti Smith), "Dominance and Submission" and "[[Astronomy (song)|Astronomy]]". As a result of constant touring, the band was now capable of headlining shows. The album continued their upward sales trend, and would eventually go gold.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=blue+oyster+cult+secret+treaties#search_section|title=Gold & Platinum - RIAA|work=RIAA|access-date=March 13, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> As the three albums during this formative period all had black-and-white covers, the period of their career has been dubbed the "black and white years" by fans and critics.<ref name="Brownfield 2022 e597">{{cite web | last=Brownfield | first=Troy | title=50 Years Ago: Blue Öyster Cult Breaks Out | website=The Saturday Evening Post | date=January 17, 2022 | url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2022/01/50-years-ago-blue-oyster-cult-breaks-out/ | access-date=April 7, 2024}}</ref>
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