Setlist: The Very Best of Blue Öyster Cult Live

Sony's Setlist series isn't a standard budget-line compilation: these discs bypass hits in favor of live tracks cut throughout the years, mixing up highlights from classic live albums with a handful of rarities, including some unreleased cuts. In the case of Blue Öyster Cult's entry, this combines selections from 1977's On Your Feet or on Your Knees, 1978's Some Enchanted Evening, and 1982's Extraterrestrial Live, adding several rarities and previously unreleased cuts from the same era to the mix, including a promo single of "Godzilla" from Detroit's Cobo Arena in 1977, a 1979 version of "The Vigil," and the 1981 U.K. single, "Flaming Telepaths." This may not quite be enough rarities for the hardcore, but they'd want nothing but unreleased material. What Setlist does present is a snapshot of BÖC at their prime and it's a strong, unfussy rock & roll album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine