Tyranny and Mutation (stylized on the cover as THE BLVE ÖYSTER CVLT: TYRANNY AND MVTATION), the second studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, was released in February 1973 by Columbia Records. It was produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. On May 12, 1973, the album peaked at No. 122 on the Billboard 200 chart. This is the only album in BOC's catalog to include the definite article The in the band's name.
The only single released from the album, "Hot Rails to Hell", did not chart.
"Baby Ice Dog" features lyrics by singer/poet Patti Smith, who would make several more lyrical contributions to the band's repertoire over its career.
The song "The Red and the Black", with lyrics referencing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is a re-titled, re-recorded version of "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from the band's eponymous debut album. The song was later covered by the Minutemen and Band of Susans. AllMusic critic Hal Horowitz called it "one of the best and most propulsive rockers in the BÖC catalog".
Critical reception
"Tyranny and Mutation" received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone wrote a rave review of the album and called Blue Öyster Cult "one of the best bands America's got". Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, praised the band's disregard for "the entire heavy ethos" but wondered if the "parody-surreal refraction of the abysmal 'poetry' of heavy" in the lyrics could be a start for a return to conformism. Ian MacDonald of the British New Musical Express was very critical of the Pearlman/Meltzer "crass Satan-speed-and-sadism" lyrics and of the band's music which "tend to leave the listener aurally shaken, but emotionally unstirred."
Modern reviews are generally positive. Thom Jurek of AllMusic noted how BÖC "brightened their sound and deepened their mystique" on this album and described the music as "screaming, methamphetamine-fueled rock & roll that was all about attitude, mystery, and a sense of nihilistic humor that was deep in the cuff", judging Tyranny and Mutation just as much a "classic album" as its follow-up Secret Treaties.