On the Shelf 070 : The Cult
Aug. 7th, 2012 06:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Well, my last three picks have been all by 60 year old men (Iggy Pop, Jimmy Cliff, Neil Young), so anyone I post now will look like a youth movement.
I knew The Cult had a new album out this year, but I really didn't plan on paying any attention to it. However, after I heard a couple of places referring to it as a possible 'album of the year' candidate, I figured it must be at least worth checking it out.
The story of the Cult has been written. They have one album that is a post-modern classic (Love, though others may say Electric). They peaked with the most Cult-ish of albums, the Bob Rock produced Sonic Temple, which was the band's stab at the big time (and fairly successful at doing that). The Cult bottomed out when grunge rock came along, but while 2007's reunion Born Into This wasn't groundbreaking, it at least was a return to form.
Of course, Ian Astbury grew up wanting to be Jim Morrison (and actually got the chance to live it.) Though, the best days are behind them, one could suspect that one of the Bastard Sons of Morrison, still had one great album in them. I would have put my odds that the BSoJM who would do it would probably be Glen Danzig, but he hasn't been able to reach his previous heights in some time.
So, it's Astbury who gets their first, with an album that is undeniably Doors influenced, but spends some time stretching out those blues influences. Astbury Hotel it is then. He trumps his chief competition with "Lucifer", which Glen surely wishes he had in his canon.
The other touchpoint would be the Cult's 90s hard rock hero counterparts, Guns N Roses. Axl would surely wish he had these tunes as well. There's a lot of Use Your Illusionisms here too (sure there's a Matt Sorum connection here, but he's not on this record). Guitar heroics, balls out rockers, epic drawn out arena anthems, and some should-have-been-left-on-the-cutting-room-floor missteps.
Still, overall, it works, and it works quite well. Ian isn't Elvis Costello, and there's plenty of awful lyrics on the album, but that shouldn't be a surprise (Most times, the music is enough to power it through like "For the Animals"). Once again, Bob Rock is behind the helm to make it all happen.
I knew The Cult had a new album out this year, but I really didn't plan on paying any attention to it. However, after I heard a couple of places referring to it as a possible 'album of the year' candidate, I figured it must be at least worth checking it out.
The story of the Cult has been written. They have one album that is a post-modern classic (Love, though others may say Electric). They peaked with the most Cult-ish of albums, the Bob Rock produced Sonic Temple, which was the band's stab at the big time (and fairly successful at doing that). The Cult bottomed out when grunge rock came along, but while 2007's reunion Born Into This wasn't groundbreaking, it at least was a return to form.
Of course, Ian Astbury grew up wanting to be Jim Morrison (and actually got the chance to live it.) Though, the best days are behind them, one could suspect that one of the Bastard Sons of Morrison, still had one great album in them. I would have put my odds that the BSoJM who would do it would probably be Glen Danzig, but he hasn't been able to reach his previous heights in some time.
So, it's Astbury who gets their first, with an album that is undeniably Doors influenced, but spends some time stretching out those blues influences. Astbury Hotel it is then. He trumps his chief competition with "Lucifer", which Glen surely wishes he had in his canon.
The other touchpoint would be the Cult's 90s hard rock hero counterparts, Guns N Roses. Axl would surely wish he had these tunes as well. There's a lot of Use Your Illusionisms here too (sure there's a Matt Sorum connection here, but he's not on this record). Guitar heroics, balls out rockers, epic drawn out arena anthems, and some should-have-been-left-on-the-cutting-room-floor missteps.
Still, overall, it works, and it works quite well. Ian isn't Elvis Costello, and there's plenty of awful lyrics on the album, but that shouldn't be a surprise (Most times, the music is enough to power it through like "For the Animals"). Once again, Bob Rock is behind the helm to make it all happen.
