Photo: Ted Van Pelt from Mechanicsburg, PA, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Our Top 10 Songs from The Cult looks at one of the great rock bands formed in the 1980s. The band broke onto the scene in 1984 with their first album entitled Dreamtime. However, it was the band’s second album that served as their breakthrough record. That album entitled Love was released in 1985. Two years later, the band would release an album that would prove even more popular than it’s predecessor. The album entitled Electric would become a huge seller for the band. However, two years later in 1987 The Cult released the album Sonic Temple. That album would turn the band into a household name with the album’s massive hit “Fire Woman.” If you were a rock fan that had still not heard of The Cult in 1987, the release of the album Sonic Temple opened your eyes immediately.
The Cult would continue on releasing great rock records into the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The band broke up in 1995 for almost a five year period but reformed at the turn of the century. A few years later they went on hiatus but reformed rather quickly. They have been going strong ever since. The band has gone through many lineup changes over the years but the two constants have remained in the form of musicians Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. Over the years the Cult have released ten studio albums including Dreamtime in 1984, Love in 1985, Electric in 1987, Sonic Temple in 1989, Ceremony in 1991, The Cult in 1994, Beyond Good and Evil in 2001, Born Into This in 2007, Choice of Weapon in 2012 and Hidden City in 2016.
The Cult released two smoking live albums through their career including Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum in 1984 and Live at the Marquee in 1993. The Cult and their record companies also released some nice compilations such as Death Cult in 1988 and reissued in 1996, Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners released in 1993, High Octane Cult: Ultimate Collection, 1984–1995 released in 1996, Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995 issued in 2000, The Best of Rare Cult also issued in 2000, Weapon of Choice in 2012 which was an iTunes exclusive and Electric Peace in 2013. No classic rock band’s catalog would be complete without at least one box set. The Cult released four. Those four included, Singles Collection: 1984–1990 released in 1991 as a rare limited edition with only ten thousand copies printed, Rare Cult released in 2000 as a rare limited edition with only fifteen thousand copies printed, Rare Cult: The Demos Sessions released in 2002 as a rare limited edition with only three thousand copies printed which was pretty surprising and, Love: The Omnibus Edition released in 2009.
The Cult also released forty one singles during their long career. Their first single release was issued in 1984 entitled “Spiritwalker” which only charted in the UK and peaked at the number seventy seven position. Their last single release as of this writing in 2020 was a song called G/O/A/T/ which was issued in 2016 off the album Hidden City. They never had a single break the U.S. Top 40. Their highest charting song was “Fire Woman,” which hit number one in New Zealand and stands as their only number one single on a world wide basis. However The Cult were a great rock band that were not about singles but rather great overall rock albums in the same manner Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden or Motorhead were not singles bands.
The bands original members that appeared on their first album included Ian Astbury on vocals Billy Duffy on guitar Jamie Stewart on bass and Nigel Preston on drums. On the band’s second album Love the drum parts were split between Mark Brzezicki and Nigel Preston. The drummers seat in the Cult became a revolving door very reflective of the Spinal Tap spoof when the Cult hired a their third drummer for their third album Electric named Les Warner. Their fourth album Sonic Temple featured another different drummer named Mickey Curry. On the band’s fifth album longtime bassist Jamie Stewart left the band. Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy would remain the only original members on the band’s fifth release which featured new members Craig Adams on bass and Scott Garrett on drums.
After the release of their fifth album, The Cult broke up for about five years. They returned in 2011 with a new album entitled Beyond Good and Evil that featured former Guns N’ Roses sensational drummer Matt Sorum. The band stood as a trio on the album. The band’s next album would feature two more new members with Chris Wyse on bass and John Tempesta on drums, Chris Wyse had also played with Ozzy Osbourne, while Tempesta had played with Rob Zombie. For the first time in years the band would actually retain the same lineup for their next release entitled Choice of Weapon in 2012. The bands most recent album entitled Hidden City issued in 2016 featured Bob Rock and Chirs Chaney splitting up the bass parts as Chris Wyse was not on the record.
Our Top 10 Songs From The Cult List features various songs from the band’s fabulous career. Of course it’s just subjective, but we believe it serves as a great starting point for those rock fans looking to get into the band and check out some really good Cult songs.
# 10 – Dirty Little Rockstar
Riffs, riffs and more riffs all played on the bass define this killer song and a great way to open up our Cult songs list. The song “Dirty Little Rockstar,” was released on the Born Into This album. The record was released in 2007.
# 9 – Edie (Ciao Baby)
Continuing with our top 10 songs from The Cult we turn to the album Sonic Temple. It will not be the albums only appearance on this Cults songs list. Hands down Sonic Temple its our favorite Cult album. The song Edie (Ciao Baby)
# 8 – Rise
The song “Rise,” was released on the album Beyond Good and Evil. The album was released in 2001. This song is as heavy as it gets, yet still retains that classic Cult sound.
# 7 – Love Removal Machine
The Cult’s intense third album Electric contained so many killer songs it was extremely difficult which ones to choose to represent the album. We think we picked a great one with the song “Love Removal Machine.”
# 6 – New York City
The great song New York City is the second song to appear on this top 10 Cult songs list from the Sonic Temple album.
# 5 – Ressurection Joe
The song “Ressurection Joe,” was a non-album single released in 1984. The song later appeared on compilation releases and box sets.
# 4 – Rain
A big time Cult song that stands as a fan favorite is the classic track “Rain.” The song was released on the album Love. The record was issued in 1985. “Rain,” was a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom and Canada.
# 3 – She Sells Sanctuary
We got two Cult songs in a row from the great album Love. The song “She Sells Sanctuary,” was released as the first single from the Love album. The song peaked at the number fifteen position on the UK charts. The song also did well commercially in various countries around the world. The legend of The Cult began to spread with this song’s release.
# 2 – Lil’ Devil
One listen to this amazing song and you will be hooked on this band forever. This killer track “Lil’ Devil” was released on the band’s third album entitled Electric.
# 1 – Fire Woman
We close out our top 10 songs from the Cult list with the great track “Fire Woman.” The song was released on their smash album Sonic Temple. It is the band’s most successful song from at least a commercial point of view.
