Heaven Forbid

Heaven Forbid is the thirteenth studio album by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1998. It was the band's first studio album with new material in a decade (not counting the 1992 soundtrack to Bad Channels). American science fiction and horror writer John Shirley wrote lyrics to most of the songs on the album. While he his primarily known as an author for his cyberpunk stories, many of the lyrics on this album revolve around early science fiction and mystery motifs. The album's working title was 'Ezekiel's Wheel,' after the Biblical story that some take to reference an early visitation by UFOs.

This article is about the Blue Öyster Cult album. For The Fray song, see How to Save a Life.
Heaven Forbid
Studio album by
Blue Öyster Cult
ReleasedMarch 24, 1998 (US)
RecordedMillbrook Sound Studios, Millbrook, New York, U.S.
Genre
Length41:17
LabelCMC
Frontiers
ProducerBuck Dharma, Eric Bloom, Steve Schenck
Blue Öyster Cult chronology
Cult Classic
(1994)		 Heaven Forbid
(1998)		 Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best of Blue Öyster Cult
(2000)
Alternative cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[2]

The album's live song "In Thee" was originally featured on Mirrors. "Still Burnin'" is a sequel to the song "Burnin' for You" that appeared on Fire of Unknown Origin.

The inspiration for the alternative cover is Morgan Fairchild. This image also appears on the reverse of the insert, and was originally intended to be the front piece as indicated by advertisements from the period.

"Harvest Moon", "Power Underneath Despair", "Cold Gray Light of Dawn" and "Still Burnin'" were debuted live during the 1992 tour.[3][4]

The album was re-released on April 17, 2020 by Frontiers.

Track listing
  1. "See You in Black" (Eric Bloom, Donald Roeser, John Shirley) – 3:17
  2. "Harvest Moon" (Roeser) – 4:55
  3. "Power Underneath Despair" (Bloom, Roeser, Shirley) – 3:30
  4. "X-Ray Eyes" (Roeser, Shirley) – 3:48
  5. "Hammer Back" (Bloom, Roeser, Shirley) – 3:35
  6. "Damaged" (Roeser, Shirley) – 4:22
  7. "Cold Gray Light of Dawn" (Bloom, Roeser, Shirley) – 3:51
  8. "Real World" (Roeser, Shirley) – 5:08
  9. "Live for Me" (Roeser, Shirley) – 5:19
  10. "Still Burnin'" (Roeser, Jon Rogers) – 3:39
  11. "In Thee" (Live) (Allen Lanier) – 3:40

Personnel

Band members
  • Eric Bloom – guitars, keyboards, lead vocals on tracks 1, 3, 5, and 7, producer
  • Buck Dharma – guitars, keyboards, lead vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, 8-11, producer
  • Allen Lanier – guitars, keyboards
  • Danny Miranda – bass guitar on tracks 1, 4-9, 11, backing vocals
  • Jon Rogers – bass guitar on tracks 2, 3 and 10, backing vocals
  • Bob Rondinelli – drums on track 9
  • Chuck Burgi - drums on tracks 1-8 and 10, backing vocals

Additional musicians
  • George Cintron – additional vocals
  • Tony Perrino – additional keyboards

Production
  • Steve Schenck - producer on tracks 2, 3, 10, management
  • Paul Orofino – engineer, mixing
  • Marc Senesac – engineer and mixing on tracks 2, 3, 10
  • Leon Zervos – mastering

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Blue Öyster Cult - Heaven Forbid review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  2. Popoff, Martin (August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-1894959629.
  3. https://www.setlist.fm/stats/blue-oyster-cult-3bd6b814.html?year=1992
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClKAZ3IKzs4&t
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