Currently writing a piece on The Cult: probably one of the most complicated and contradictory bands of the 1980s, and consequently one of the most misunderstood.
Departing for the US halfway through the decade, their output and, its critical reception, illustrates the ideological contradictions of rock in the 80s, as well as the lineage between post-punk and grunge. This 60-second clip compiles Act 1: the journey from Ian Astbury’s Southern Death Cult, to their 1985 breakthrough with the Steve Brown produced Love.
The album marked the conclusion of their “English” phase: after a critical backlash in the UK, the band decamped to Electric Lady Studios in New York to work with Def Jam producer Rick Rubin on the album that would become 1987s Electric. The first in a triptych of stadium rock LPs, before a 90s reinvention in the aftermath of Nirvana.
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