8. ASTRONOMY (1974)

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

New York quasi-metal eccentrics Blue Öyster Cult were promoted as the American Sabbath, but their more sensitive charms were evident on monster smash (Don’t Fear) The Reaper.

Bassist Joe Bouchard left the band in 1986, drifting into a nine-to-five life in publishing. Then he heard that Metallica were covering Astronomy, a song he’d written for BÖC’s third album, 1974’s Secret Treaties. As a result, he quit his day job and went back to full-time music: “I said to myself, to have this kind of success, that honour of being covered by a famous band, really meant that I should write more songs,” Joe told the website Classicbands.com. Since then, he’s been involved with projects featuring the likes of original Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway and Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, and recorded a handful of solo records. “I said,

‘This is pretty lucky,’” added Joe.

“The Metallica record ended up selling about 5 million copies. So, that’s pretty cool.” Yep, you could say that, Joe.