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Rating: The Cult is a creation formed in the early eighties from the meeting between American singer Ian Astbury and English guitarist Billy Duffy, who already had a notable musical background, having played in the legendary dark band Theatre of Pain. Initially named Southern Death Cult, later changed to Death Cult, and finally to The Cult, the band played a prominent role in the American hard rock scene of the eighties, especially with the best-selling albums “Love”, “Electric”, and “Sonic Temple”, becoming one of the reference groups for the birth of American hard street rock beloved by bands like Guns n' Roses and so on.
However, before arriving at a more conventional hard rock sound, The Cult, following the dark and gothic movement that was rampant in the early eighties, produced their first two albums, “Dreamtime” and the already mentioned “Love”, in which the classic rock heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin (Astbury and company were often reproached for the very Zeppelin-like sound of their songs) and AC/DC was accompanied by a light but decisive vein of gothic rock, so much so that even today many critics place the band’s first two efforts in the gothic rock cauldron of the period.
“Love” represents the highest point of their discography and was also the best-selling album, driven by the famous hit “Rain”. However, it would be a big mistake to absorb the entire album in its most famous song because the album contains truly intense moments, divided as it is between the charge of rock rides represented by songs like the aforementioned “Rain”, the opener “Nirvana”, the title track, “The Phoenix”, “Hollow Man” where the more rocking aspect strongly influenced by Zeppelin and AC/DC prevails; the gothic hues of songs like “Big Neon Glitter”, “Little Face” and the disturbing “She Sells Sanctuary”; the melancholic charm of the ballad “Revolution”, the rock blues of “Judith”.
Particular attention deserves “Brother Wolf, Sister Moon”, where, as can be inferred from the title, melodies and sounds echo that bring us back to the culture of Native Americans (a theme very dear to Astbury and that will accompany him throughout his career), and which represents, in my opinion, the highest point of the entire album for intensity and for the emotions it knows how to instill in the listener.
In conclusion, I can confidently say that although The Cult were not inventors of anything and, as mentioned many times, they drew heavily from the repertoire of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, we are faced with a great band that made grit and dedication its strength (thanks especially to the charisma of the founders Astbury and Duffy) and that had the merit of always playing warm and visceral rock inspiring many street rock bands born in the late eighties.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Nirvana (05:28)
I float through day and night life, well most of the time
Till I hung up my blues on a nail in your wall
It rained flowers when the music began
Love all around when the music is loud
Every day, nirvana
Always this way, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wish that every day, nirvana
Always this way
I'm not looking for girls or cheap thrills and pills
Or happy to sit on your merry-go-round, no, no
I don't think there's an easy way out of here
But when the music is loud, we all get down
Every day, nirvana
Always this way, always this way, yeah
I wish that every day was like nirvana
Always this way
Take it here, now
Run this through your head
Oh, every day, nirvana
Always this way, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wish that every, like the sun, nirvana
Always this way, oh yeah, yeah
Every day, nirvana
Always this way, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Every, like the sun, nirvana
Always this way, oh yeah
Every day, nirvana
Always this way, oh yeah, yeah
I wish that every, like the sun, nirvana
Always this way
Nirvana
02 Big Neon Glitter (04:56)
Oh, drag me back, and drag me back
And drag me back, drag me back, drag me back
Through the revolution, without solution
And the walls get taller
While ye get smaller
While we get smaller
The fear is getting taller
A big neon glitter pushes onto you, oh baby
Sex from the hip at the crack of a whip, oh yeah
The wall gets taller while ye get smaller, yeah
Push against the big neon glitter, pushes onto you
None may indeed go out
Oh, drag me back, drag me back
And drag me back, drag me back, drag me back
Through the revolution, without solution
And the wall gets taller
While ye get smaller
While ye get smaller
The fear is getting taller
Neon glitter onto you, oh baby
Sex from the hip at the crack of a whip, oh yeah
The wall gets taller while ye get smaller, yeah, yeah, yeah
A big neon glitter pushes onto you, oh baby
Yeah
A big neon
A big neon
A big neon glitter
A big neon glitter
A big neon
A big neon
A big neon glitter
A big neon glitter
A big neon glitter
05 Rain (03:58)
Hot sticky scenes, you know what I mean
Like a desert sun that burns my skin
I've been waiting for her for so long
Open the sky and let her come down
Here comes the rain
Here comes the rain
Here she comes again
Here comes the rain
Hot sticky scenes, you know what I mean
Like a desert sun that burns my skin
I've been waiting for her for so long
Open the sky and let her come down
Here comes the rain
Here comes the rain
Here she comes again
Here comes the rain
I love the rain
I love the rain
Here she comes again
Here comes the rain
Oh, rain
Rain
Rain
Oh, here comes the rain
I love the rain
Well, I love the rain
Here she comes again
I love the rain
Rain
Rain
06 Phoenix (05:08)
Yeah
Oh, dig this
Like the heat from a thousand suns that burns on
Rising ever higher
A phoenix from a pyre
My eternal desire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
Like a kiss from the lips of Ra that burns on
The pleasures getting wilder
Circling ever higher
A servant of desire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
Like the heat from a thousand suns that burns on
Rising ever higher
A phoenix from a pyre
My eternal desire
Like a kiss from the lips of Ra that burns on
The pleasures getting wilder
Circling ever higher
A servant of desire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
I'm on fire
Like the heat from a thousand suns that burns on
Rising ever higher
A phoenix from a pyre
My eternal desire
My eternal desire
My eternal desire
My eternal desire
Fire
07 Hollow Man (04:47)
It's so nice to get
Get away for a day
I see a hollow man gun in hand
Gun in hands it points my way
He follows me everywhere and everyday
I got to get away
I won't miss him if he goes away and stays away
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man hollow man hollow man
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man
Hollow man
Hollow man
It's so nice to get
Get away for a day
I see a hollow man gun in hand
Gun in hands it points my way
You know he follows me everywhere and everyday
I got to get away
I won't miss him if he goes away and stays away
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man hollow man hollow man
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man
Hollow man
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man hollow man hollow man
Just a hunter for the devil
Hollow man
Hollow man
Hollow man
08 Revolution (05:29)
Pictures of never ending dreams
I can't see what these images mean
Locked inside me
Can't set the rainbows free
Like perishing flowers
They sag and twist and die
There's a revolution
There's a revolution, yeah
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
Sorrow
What does revolution mean to you?
To say today's like wishing in the wind
All my beautiful friends have all gone away
Like the waves
They flow and ebb and die
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a, there's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution, yeah
Joy or sorrow
What does revolution mean to you?
To say today's like wishing in the wind
All my beautiful friends have all gone away
Like the waves
They flow and ebb and die
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
There's a revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution
Revolution, yeah
09 She Sells Sanctuary (04:24)
Oh the heads that turn
Make my back burn
Oh the heads that turn
Make my back burn
The sparkle in your eyes
Keeps me alive
The sparkle in your eyes
Keeps me alive
And the world and the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
Oh the heads that turn
Make my back burn
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive
The fire in your eyes keeps me alive
I'm sure in her you'll find
The sanctuary
I'm sure in her you'll find
The sanctuary
And the world and the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
Ah...
Hey-yeah...
And the world
And the world turns around
And the world and the world
Yeah, the world drags me down
And the world
Yeah, the world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
Sanctuary
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