My relationship with the music of The Cult is mercurial, to say the least.
She Sells Sanctuary was my entry point, though I subsequently preferred previous album Dreamtime to the 'hit' follow up, Love.
My curiosity was piqued by the Rick Rubin reboot with Electric, enough to see The Cult live at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 1987.
After that, my interest waned and I've only occasionally dipped in and out of their catalogue.
Those early Goth/alternative stylings that resonated with teen me (including their previous incarnations as Southern Death Cult, then Death Cult) didn't mask the fact that what frontman Ian Astbury really wanted to do was R.O.C.K.
Paired with the incredible guitar skills of Billy Duffy, it was no surprise that the step from Love to Electric and then 1989's Sonic Temple completed that transition. Unfortunately, for this listener at least, The Cult were leaning too much into Bon Jovi and Guns 'n' Roses territory, at a time when I was heading in the opposite direction.
Decades later, I can look back and hear these songs more favourably. As much as Astbury didn't shy away from his Jim Morrison aspirations (he even fronted The Doors for a while twenty years ago), neither did he have any qualms about embracing other rock 'n' roll tropes.
Ian's copy of Rock's Lyrical Cliches is more well thumbed than Penry The Janitor's Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu, songs littered with references to one horse towns, filthy dirty little boogie children, and doing time for someone else's crime.
For all that, in the right mood, The Cult hit the spot and this 45-minute selection collects 10 of my favourites, starting with the B-side of She Sells Sanctuary, the first single (12", naturally) of theirs that I bought, and ending with another B-side, the last single (CD in a bargain bin) that I acquired in the 1990s.
The Manor Sessions were songs recorded in 1986 with producer Steve Brown for the follow up to Love. A year later, switching to Rick Rubin resulted in the Electric album, though the two songs included here ended up as single B-sides.
North was an outtake from the sessions for 1994's self-titled album. Never intended for inclusion on the finished record, North was instead a chance for childhood friends Billy Duffy and Johnny Marr to get together in the studio.
Ressurection Joe (sic) and Go West were both singles in 1984, although I bought them on 12" vinyl in the wake of She Sells Sanctuary. I was a little miffed that I had to quietly remove my Go West badge from my school bag when Peter Cox and Richard Drummie had the nerve to pilfer the name for their pop pap shortly after.
Enjoy the ride, embrace the cliches and, more importantly, play LOUD!
1) No. 13 (Single Version) (1985)
2) Ressurection Joe (Long Version) (1984)
3) North (ft. Johnny Marr) (1994)
4) Heart Of Soul (Acoustic) (1992)
5) Lil' Devil (Album Version) (1987)
6) Groove Co. (Manor Session) (1986)
7) Rider In The Snow (Album Version) (1984)
8) Zap City (Manor Session) (1986)
9) Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles) (Original Mix) (1984)
10) The Witch (Full Version) (1994)
1984: Dreamtime: 7
1984: Ressurection Joe EP: 2
1985: She Sells Sanctuary EP: 1
1987: Electric: 5
1987: Lil' Devil EP: 8
1987: Love Removal Machine EP: 6
1992: Heart Of Soul EP: 4
1994: Star EP: 10
2000: Rare Cult: 3
2000: The Best Of Rare Cult: 9
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