The Cult - Sonic Temple

I love this album. Total soundtrack to my youth. I crank it and remember going to my first factory job and hearing,like, 3 different tracks off there on Z-Rock every morning!!

I like a lot of tracks off of this one but it's not my favorite.

I feel it's the most commercial of their releases. I like Beyond Good and Evil and Electric a lot more.

More of a "sentimental" fav in this case. That album just has alot of youthful memories attached to it.

That is the first CD I ever bought. It's what brought me into the CD era. I still have my original copy, and I still love it. Geeze, that was like 18 years ago?!

This was the 1st Cult cd I ever purchased as well, so it's always gonna be a sentimental favorite of mine.

It's the first one I bought as well, but they always came off as mediocre to me.

Sonic Temple is a really cool album in that it combines the raw rock'n'roll of Electric with the psychedelic tone of Love. IMO, it sounds like Pump-era Aerosmith mixed with early Doors. "Sun King" is a really powerful tune. I especially like to chorus riff in "New York City"; single-note riffs make songs sound so interesting. I think Billy Duffy really shines on that song. And what a retro cover, eh? I love Duffy's pose; that's rock'n'roll, man.

SONIC TEMPLE is in my top 10 of all time, easy.

Unfortunately the band sucked ass when I saw them live during the tour for that album (when they were opening for Metallica's JUSTICE tour)

So no sound check, I assume FF? Had the Metalli-Ego already taken over by then?

SAXON1500 wrote:

So no sound check, I assume FF? Had the Metalli-Ego already taken over by then?

Nah, from what I could see, Ian Astbury was drunk as a skunk and just didnt' wanna be there. They were getting no crowd reaction so Ian finally just laid on the drum riser for the rest of the set mumbling into the mic while the band played on around him.

I found out later that by that point in the tour (this was towards the end of their run w/Metallica) the Cult guys had gotten so sick of being abused every night by the Metallica crowds that they had just given up.

Which sucked for me, as a fan of BOTH bands who had been hoping for a killer double bill, of course!!!

This album ruled my junior year of high school!!!

The only one of thiers I have and I think it's a very good record.

I like it.

Overblown, excessive, drunken, the curse of Bob Rock! etc. That's what i think about this album.

3 songs tops maybe 4 that are brilliant, Sun King, Edie (Ciao Baby), Fire Woman and New York City (iffy) and the rest......

......Well Astbury and Duffy blew it. The Cult could of been the biggest band in the world. Hell they were the best in 1987 after Electric. Something to do with getting fat, drunk and absorbing the worst aspects of LA rock lifestyles and sounds.

I see no thread for Ceremony? Better left unsaid i guess.

rattpoison wrote:

I see no thread for Ceremony? Better left unsaid i guess.

CEREMONY has its moments but it's basically a pale carbon copy of SONIC TEMPLE. The flat production by Richie Zito didn't help any. Title track and "Wild Hearted Son" are pretty decent songs though.

Fire.....Smoke she is a risin

Love this album. It is my favorite by them.

When I first got this album I thought it was really good. But couldn't really understand all the hype it was getting. I also swore I never wanted to hear Fire Woman again as a sing-a-long party anthem. Eventually years later I got Love and Electric and thought those were incredible.

Today, my love for Sonic Temple has greatly increased while my love for the other two has somewhat faded. Sonic Temple is always the first choice when I go for some Cult.

Hi I'm new in the forum but i would like to say that sonic temple is a good album but my favorite is the Electric great album!!

Elohyin wrote:

Hi I'm new in the forum but i would like to say that sonic temple is a good album but my favorite is the Electric great album!!

Welcome, Elohyin to heart of metal. I hope you enjoy it here. Great album Electric is, but to me it's number 2 on my favs by them.

P.S. LOVE the AVATAR!
Rainbow Rising is a great album. Also one y favs.

Elohyin wrote:

Hi I'm new in the forum but i would like to say that sonic temple is a good album but my favorite is the Electric great album!!

I like both Beyond Good and Evil and Electric better than Sonic Temple.

Welcome!

I don't have Beyong good and evil yet. I want it very bad though. I have heard alot of good things about that album.

thewalkofman wrote:

I don't have Beyong good and evil yet. I want it very bad though. I have heard alot of good things about that album.

Beyond Good and Evil is a lot heavier than the typical Cult album. The song Rise is pure metal IMO.

I have heard rise before, and I like it. I didn't know it was from that album. I would like to hear a heavier Cult. I'll give it a try.

Here ya go;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dN-5N1yzk

SWEET! Thanks for the link, man. You rule.