The Giant Panther

One of the hotter bands the 80's will be remembered for is an English rock band called The Cult. They formed in 1983 and released their first record called Dreamtime in 1984. You can file them under Alternative Rock, Post Punk, Goth Rock, Hard Rock or Heavy Metal, but just make sure you file them. Between 1985's breakthrough Love right up until 1991's Ceremony The Cult rocked my world. I never played in a band, got a tattoo or had hair down to my arse, and maybe that's been a mistake, but the first time I heard She Sells Sanctuary I was on the bandwagon lock, stock and barrel. They just hit my AC/DC sweet spot between Classic Rock and Alternative Rock. I couldn't get enough of them once upon a time. That just happens sometimes doesn't it?

At their inception, The Cult were known as Southern Death Cult before shortening it to The Cult. I think they made the right move. The word "Cult" is quasi off putting as is let alone adding some Southern Death to it no? 1984's Dreamtime was no slouch of a record, but their sophomore record Love was a smash. The first track was called "Nirvana." Hmmm. "She Sells Sanctuary, Rain and Revolution" were all great songs. The record went on to sell over 2 million copies and I'm betting the lion's share of those sales were to U.S. based upstanding citizens like myself. Or maybe not...I'm just guessing. What we can safely say is that The Cult were best described as vocalist Ian Astbury, guitarist Billy Duffy and "Friends." And I'm not talkin' Jennifer Aniston. Pretty soon these two guys weren't even friends if the stories are true. Over on the always helpful, but taken with a grain of salt Wikipedia I count 21 ex-band members. Think those guys are tough to work with? Just sayin'.

Beggar's Banquet was the label that bankrolled these guys and even though they were undeniably successful with Love, the label was apprehensive about their next release back in 1987. They say that their followup to Love was originally called Peace, but I didn't even know that until ten minutes ago. Some rock historian I turned out to be huh? Apparently The Cult were not happy with the sound of the record and they turned to none other than Rick Rubin to remix their new single "Love Removal Machine." The label wanted no part of re-recording or remixing anything, but Rubin's presence can be very persuasive. He produced a minor hit record by a little known act called The Beastie Boys the prior year you might recognize as License To Ill. Holy game changer Batman. How many times have I heard No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn you ask? Don't even go there. Suffice to say, at whatever the cost, The Cult and their label did the right thing letting Rubin talk them into re-recording the entire record and renaming it Electric. I played the vinegar out of this record back in the day.

My favorite Cult tune has got to be "Wild Flower," but "'Lil Devil" and "Rain" or "Revolution" are in the conversation. They have at least ten others that get me going as well. It's funny, you almost have to apologize for liking metal anymore. People get so worked up with genres. I just know what I like and I have no problem saying Joni Mitchell and Carole King are supreme talents. None. I'll be blogging about them when you least expect it. I'm endlessly curious, but I write mostly about what I know cold because I'm still trying to digitize my music library. I don't know if I see a light just yet, but my hard drive has about 65,000 songs on it as we speak. I'm guessing I'm about 2/3 of the way there, but when (not if) I cross the 100,000 mark I'll make a formal announcement. As if anyone cares right?

As for The Cult, they imploded around 1991 after releasing Ceremony in an acrimonious legal haze, but have resurrected, to coin a Resurrection Joe type phrase, a couple of times since. I haven't really followed them since 1991 even though I did buy their last two records. I don't know that The Thrill is Gone, but the rocket fuel sound of their music in the 80's hasn't quite been matched since. "Wild Flower" is still a song that puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. Maybe it'll work for you too.