THE CULT:  Rock Return To Venture Beyond Good And Evil

by Ernie Thomas

               
    Lead by onetime British goth godhead, Ian Astbury, The Cult emerged in 
1984 with a U.K. only album titled, Dreamtime. With it, they began to amass 
what their name signified, a cult following throughout Europe.   

     Import sales gave rise to a cult of Cult fans on this side of the 
Atlantic as well.  Their core audience continued to grow globally with the 
release of 1985’s psychedelic/punk platter, Love.  By the time their hard 
rocking Electric record hit retail in 1987, The Cult had emerged from the 
“underground” scene to become a headline attraction deemed “buzz worthy” by 
the big guns of music media. 

    Thanks to the best-selling 1989 album Sonic Temple and its pair of Top 10 
charting hit singles – “Fire Woman” and “Sweet Soul Sister” –– The Cult 
emerged as one of the brightest and most inspired bands of the burgeoning 
modern rock scene.   

   They helped to spearhead what’s now been coined as “modern rock” and 
wrest control of radio and retail from the fast-fading legions of “hair 
bands” which had dominated the national music scene for the last half of the 
‘80s. 

    The group’s powerful 1991 release, Ceremony, proved the group had the 
muster it needed in a creative sense, but internal issues sadly began to take 
a toll on the group. 

    The Cult shocked its fans when they called it quits midway through their 
1995, playing their last live gig in Rio De Janeiro.  One of the brightest st
ars had turned super nova and burnt out.

   Or so we thought.   The original triumvirate of Astbury, guitarist Billy 
Duffy and drummer Matt Sorum are back on the charts with a brand new Bob 
Rock-produced album –– Beyond Good And Evil –– and have been back on the 
road since early this summer, having done two Chicago dates already and 
having yet another on December 19 at The House of Blues.

     The new album, their first for Lava/Atlantic, came about when the band 
discovered that fans were ready for “round two” of The Cult, after a 1999 
mini-reunion tour sold out in record time.  The creative vibe between them 
returned along with the fans and the momentum has continued since. 

     “[The Cult] has always been the most important thing in my life,” says 
Astbury, who explained their four year “hiatus” by saying that when a group 
of people spend a dozen years together constantly touring and recording, a 
time comes when a break is needed and a chance to explore other creative 
avenues.

    The avenue Astbury walked was a short-lived and admittedly “glorified bar 
band” called The New Barbarians.  He also did a one-off solo recording 
project of electronica/hip-hop laced music.  Sorum had logged time with Guns 
‘N Roses and then moved on to work with former Sex Pistol Steve Jones in The 
Neurotic Outsiders.  Duffy teamed up with former Alarm leader Mike Peters and 
formed a side band called, Coloursound.

     “[I think] it was just a general lack of communication,” said Astbury 
of why the members parted ways in 1995.  “I had my vision of the band and 
Billy had his and the two didn’t match.  There was no harmony.”   Outside 
pressure also contributed as the group had recently shifted management and 
were facing an onslaught of Seattle bands and a changing music scene.

      “We felt that The Cult had left behind some unfinished business,” said 
Duffy on why the band eventually agreed to “give it another go ‘round.”    
The band focused on making the best rock ‘n’ roll album it could and 
ultimately that meant getting back together with longtime collaborator, Bob 
Rock.

     “Bob came in and he was basically the referee,” mused Astbury.  “Me and 
Billy were a bit like two kids fighting with their toys and Bob would come 
along, pick up all the toys and set everything straight.”

     The intense music they have created on Beyond Good And Evil is a staunch 
reaffirmation that this is no watered down attempt to relive past glories and 
grab a good paycheck on the merit of rekindling memories, as so many of the 
‘80s bands have done in recent years.   Their intent is pure and 
music-driven.  The Cult are back to slap the languishing music industry in 
the face and return to their place in the forefront of modern music.

     “We’re not trying to create magic,” says Astbury of the band’s 
reformation and new music.  “There’s already magic here.  There’s something 
very, very special that [has been] created and [now] we really want to see it 
grow.” 

    Their new songs harken back in some ways to the band’s mid-period 
neo-metal/hard rock phase with power chords pounding (“American Gothic” and 
“Rise”), while still retaining a fair share of Astbury’s quirky metaphysical 
lyricism (“Ashes And Ghosts” and “The Saint”).

     “One of the things I’m cultivating for this next Cult period,” said the 
Jim Morrison-esque frontman, “is a very masculine sound.  It’s time for real 
men to come forward, [because] there seems to be a real need for this kind of 
masculine energy again.”

      Thrilled to be back and to find an audience hungry for their music the 
band hopes to spearhead a return to real rock ‘n’ roll.  Can they save the 
masses from the din of “rap-core” and the schmaltzy pre-fabricated teen pop 
presence?  

     “People are putting a lot on this band to be some sort of savior and to 
give rock its credibility back,” said Astbury.  “I really don’t want that 
[kind of expectation].  I just want to make great rock records.”  

THE CULT perform DECEMBER 19 at the House of blues in Chicago