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The Cult



 
 
The Cult are an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 rock
Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
 band which gained a dedicated following in their native Britain with mid-1980s singles like "She Sells Sanctuary
She Sells Sanctuary

"She Sells Sanctuary" was a single from the rock band The Cult's Love album in 1985 .The band has released various versions of this song....
" before breaking into the American metal market in the late '80s with "Love Removal Machine
Love Removal Machine

"Love Removal Machine" is a song recorded by The Cult. It was the first Single to be released from the group's 1987 album Electric . First recorded during a radio session, the song was originally titled "Love Removal"....
". The band fuses a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism...of The Doors
The Doors

The Doors were an United States rock music band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by Singer Jim Morrison, keyboard instrument Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger....
, the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock music band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal music bands....
, and the three-chord crunch of AC/DC
AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock music rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by brothers Malcolm Young and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock, and considered pioneers of heavy metal music, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll"....
, while adding touches of post-punk
Post-punk

Post-punk was a popular musical movement with its roots in the mid to late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the early 1970s....
 goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford
Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield....
 during 1981
1981 in music

See also:* :Category:Record labels established in 1981* list of 'years in music'...
, the band has had various line-ups, and the longest serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury
Ian Astbury

Ian Robert Astbury is an English rock music musician known for his role in the The Cult....
 and guitarist Billy Duffy
Billy Duffy

Billy Duffy is a hard rock and alternative rock guitarist best known for his role in post punk band The Cult. His fusion of punk and rock riffs had a dark, mystic vibe....
, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, the band released the album Love
Love (Cult album)

Love is an album by the England rock music band The Cult, released in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records. The record has been released in nearly 30 countries worldwide, and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies....
, which charted at #4 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain
Rain (The Cult song)

Rain is a song by The Cult from their Love album. It was briefly known as "Sad Rain" during its recording, and the lyrics were reportedly inspired by a Hopi Indiana rain dance....
".






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Encyclopedia


The Cult are an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 rock
Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
 band which gained a dedicated following in their native Britain with mid-1980s singles like "She Sells Sanctuary
She Sells Sanctuary

"She Sells Sanctuary" was a single from the rock band The Cult's Love album in 1985 .The band has released various versions of this song....
" before breaking into the American metal market in the late '80s with "Love Removal Machine
Love Removal Machine

"Love Removal Machine" is a song recorded by The Cult. It was the first Single to be released from the group's 1987 album Electric . First recorded during a radio session, the song was originally titled "Love Removal"....
". The band fuses a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism...of The Doors
The Doors

The Doors were an United States rock music band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by Singer Jim Morrison, keyboard instrument Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger....
, the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock music band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal music bands....
, and the three-chord crunch of AC/DC
AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock music rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by brothers Malcolm Young and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock, and considered pioneers of heavy metal music, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll"....
, while adding touches of post-punk
Post-punk

Post-punk was a popular musical movement with its roots in the mid to late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the early 1970s....
 goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford
Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield....
 during 1981
1981 in music

See also:* :Category:Record labels established in 1981* list of 'years in music'...
, the band has had various line-ups, and the longest serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury
Ian Astbury

Ian Robert Astbury is an English rock music musician known for his role in the The Cult....
 and guitarist Billy Duffy
Billy Duffy

Billy Duffy is a hard rock and alternative rock guitarist best known for his role in post punk band The Cult. His fusion of punk and rock riffs had a dark, mystic vibe....
, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, the band released the album Love
Love (Cult album)

Love is an album by the England rock music band The Cult, released in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records. The record has been released in nearly 30 countries worldwide, and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies....
, which charted at #4 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain
Rain (The Cult song)

Rain is a song by The Cult from their Love album. It was briefly known as "Sad Rain" during its recording, and the lyrics were reportedly inspired by a Hopi Indiana rain dance....
". In the late 1980s, the band adopted a more hard rock
Hard rock

Hard rock is a sub-genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock and psychedelic rock and is considerably harder than conventional rock music....
 sound with Electric
Electric (The Cult album)

Electric is the pivotal third album by The Cult. Released in 1987, the album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band from a Gothic rock to a hard rock group....
, the single "Love Removal Machine", which is a playable track on the recent Guitar Hero: World Tour game, and the album Sonic Temple
Sonic Temple

Sonic Temple is the fourth album by the The Cult, released in 1989. It features some of the band's most popular songs, "Fire Woman", "Sun King", "Edie " and "Sweet Soul Sister"....
, which enabled them to break into the North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n market. By the early 1990s, the band was fraying behind the scenes, due to alcohol abuse
Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions to describe the detrimental effects of alcohol intake.In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite health problems and negative social consequences....
 and off-stage tensions, leading to a split-up in 1995. Between 1999 and 2002, the band reformed to record the album Beyond Good and Evil, and they reissued all of their albums in Asia and eastern Europe in 2003 and Japan in 2004. In 2006, the band reformed again to perform a series of worldwide tours. In October 2007, the band released the album Born into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
, on the Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records is a record label that concentrates on heavy metal music bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group....
 label. As of December 2008, The Cult are back in the studio and currently writing new material for a ninth album release due for the summer of 2009.

History


Southern Death Cult

The origins of the band can be traced back to 1981, in Bradford
Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a Historic counties of England of northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Because of its great size, over time functions were increasingly undertaken by its subdivisions, which have been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire....
, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury
Ian Astbury

Ian Robert Astbury is an English rock music musician known for his role in the The Cult....
 formed a band called the Southern Death Cult
Southern Death Cult

Southern Death Cult was a gothic rock band in the early 1980s. It is now primarily known for having given its lead singer and parts of its name to the multi-platinum hard rock band The Cult....
. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex

The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifact , iconography, ceremony and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from 1200 CE to 1650 CE....
 or Southern Death Cult as it sometimes known, from the Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
 delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England
Southern England

Southern England is an imprecise term used to refer to the southern counties of England. Differing usages apply the term with varying geographic extents....
 (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North-South divide
North-South divide in the United Kingdom

In Great Britain the term North-South divide refers to the economic and cultural differences between southern England; the South East of England, Greater London, South West England and parts of East of England, and the rest of the United Kingdom, generally including Scotland, Wales, North East of England, North West of England and Yorkshire...
 based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined in the band by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi
Aki Nawaz

Aki Nawaz a.k.a. Aki-Stani, Righteous Preacher and Propa-Gandhi is a United Kingdom singer and musician, part of the band Fun-Da-Mental....
 (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on October 29, 1981. The band were at the forefront of a new emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk
Post-punk

Post-punk was a popular musical movement with its roots in the mid to late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the early 1970s....
 and gothic rock
Gothic rock

Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes....
 (then known as positive-punk), they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans very early on.

The band signed to independent record label Situation Two
Situation Two

Situation Two, aka Situation 2, was a record label which began life in 1981 in music as an offshoot of the larger Beggars Banquet Records label....
, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records
Beggars Banquet Records

Beggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels....
, also releasing a triple A-side single, Moya, in this day. They toured through England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 headlining some shows on their own and also touring with Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)

Bauhaus were an England Rock music band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J ....
 and Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate

Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in United Kingdom in 1980.Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk rock band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bass guitarist Stan Stammers , saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis /The Straps....
. The band played their final performance in Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
 during February 1983, meaning after only sixteen months the band was over. A compilation under the name Southern Death Cult
Southern Death Cult (album)

A collection of studio outtakes, demos and live recordings of the Southern Death Cult....
 was released, this is a collection of the single, radio sessions with John Peel
John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, Order of the British Empire , known professionally as John Peel, was an England disc jockey, radio presenter and journalist....
 for Radio One
BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a United Kingdom international radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in current popular music throughout the day, with a slight bias to Rock music & Independent music music....
 and live performances - one of which was recorded by an audience member with a tape recorder.

In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy
Billy Duffy

Billy Duffy is a hard rock and alternative rock guitarist best known for his role in post punk band The Cult. His fusion of punk and rock riffs had a dark, mystic vibe....
 and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had previously been in The Nosebleeds, Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate

Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in United Kingdom in 1980.Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk rock band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bass guitarist Stan Stammers , saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis /The Straps....
. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart
Jamie Stewart (The Cult)

Jamie Stewart was bassist of the 1980s United Kingdom post-punk/hard rock group The Cult. He played bass guitar and keyboards on each of The Cult's first four albums ....
 (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London
Harrow, London

Harrow is a town in the London Borough of Harrow, North West London. It is a suburb situated 12.2 miles west northwest of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan....
 based post-punk
Post-punk

Post-punk was a popular musical movement with its roots in the mid to late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the early 1970s....
 band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo
Oslo

is the Capital and largest List of cities in Norway in Norway.Metropolitan Oslo or the Greater Oslo Region makes up the third largest urban area in Scandinavia after Metropolitan Stockholm and Metropolitan Copenhagen....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
 in late June 1983 and released the Death Cult
Death Cult (ep)

The Death Cult compact disc is a compilation which collects the first single and EP by the then post-punk band, The Cult. These two recordings were issued under the band's original name, "Death Cult"....
 EP
Extended play

An extended play is a vinyl record, Compact disc, or music download which contains more music than a Single , but is too short to qualify as an LP album....
 in July 1983, then toured throughout Europe. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the northeast, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest....
 and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate

Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in United Kingdom in 1980.Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk rock band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bass guitarist Stan Stammers , saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis /The Straps....
. The single "God's Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed later that autumn. To tone down the gothic
Gothic rock

Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes....
 connotations of their name, and to gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "The Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4
Channel 4

Channel 4 is a UK Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television broadcaster which began transmissions on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the #Channel Four Television...
 television show, The Tube
The Tube (TV series)

The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five series, from 5 November 1982 until 1987....
.

The Cult

The Cult's first studio record was recorded at Rockfield Studios, in Monmouth, Wales in 1984. The record was originally to be produced by Joe Julian, but after having already recorded the drum tracks, the band decided to replace him with John Brand
John Brand

John Brand was an England antiquarian.Born in Washington, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, he was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Lincoln College, Oxford....
. The record was ultimately produced by Brand, but guitarist Duffy has said that the drum tracks used on the record were those produced by Julian, as Preston by that time had become too unreliable. The band recorded the songs which later became known as; "Butterflies", "(The) Gimmick", "A Flower in the Desert", "Horse Nation", "Spiritwalker", "Bad Medicine (Waltz)", "Dreamtime", "With Love" (later known as "Ship of Fools", and also "Sea and Sky"), "Bone Bag", "Too Young", "83rd Dream", and one untitled outtake. It is unknown what the outtake was, or whether it was developed into a song at a later date. Songs like "Horse Nation" showed Astbury's already intense interest in Native American issues, with the lyrics to "Horse Nation", "See them prancing, they come neighing, to a horse nation", taken almost verbatim from the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by American writer Dee Brown is a history of Native Americans in the United States in the American West in the late nineteenth century, and their displacement and slaughter by the United States federal government....
, while "Spiritwalker" dealt with shamanism
Shamanism

Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun ....
, and the record's title and title track are overtly influenced by Australian Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 beliefs.

On April 4, 1984, The Cult released the single "Spiritwalker", which reached #1 on the independent charts in the UK, and acted as a teaser for their forthcoming album Dreamtime. This was followed by a second single, "Go West (Crazy Spinning Circles)", that summer, before the release of Dreamtime in September; an album which reached UK #21, and sold over 100,000 copies in Britain alone. On July 12, 1984, the band performed five songs live in the BBC Maida Vale 5 studio. Both before and after the album's release, The Cult toured extensively throughout Europe and England before recording another single, "Resurrection Joe" (UK #74), released that December. Following a Christmas support slot with Big Country
Big Country

Big Country were a Rock band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, popular in the early to mid-1980s but still releasing material for a cult following....
, The Cult toured Europe with support from the Sisterhood. This tour took place in January 1986, as Wayne Hussey
Wayne Hussey

Wayne Hussey is a British musician, best known as a member of Mission UK and The Sisters of Mercy.Hussey grew up in Bristol. His early influences included Marc Bolan and his band, T....
 and Craig Adams
Craig Adams (musician)

Craig Adams is a United Kingdom musician, bass guitarist and songwriter for the following band :* The Expelaires * The Sisters of Mercy * The Mission ...
 didn't leave The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy are an England Rock music band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output as a strike against their record company....
 until mid-1985 (after a concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
 show, documented on the Wake video. Dreamtime
Dreamtime

In Aboriginal mythology, Dreaming or Altjeringa is a sacred 'once upon a time' time out of time in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation....
 was released initially only in Britain, but after its success, and as The Cult's popularity grew worldwide, it was issued later in approximately 30 countries.

Mainstream success (1985-1990)
In March 1985, The Cult recorded their fourth single, "She Sells Sanctuary
She Sells Sanctuary

"She Sells Sanctuary" was a single from the rock band The Cult's Love album in 1985 .The band has released various versions of this song....
", which charted at #15 in the UK charts. It re-entered the charts at #56 in September 1986, spending 41 consecutive weeks on the charts. The song was recently voted #18 in VH1's Indie 100. In June 1985, following his increasingly erratic behaviour, Preston was fired from the band. Big Country
Big Country

Big Country were a Rock band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, popular in the early to mid-1980s but still releasing material for a cult following....
's drummer Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki

Mark Brzezicki is a rock music drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and is a former member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum....
 was picked to replace Preston, who died in 1992. Brzezicki was also included in the video for "She Sells Sanctuary". The Cult recorded their second album in July and August 1985, which became the Love
Love (Cult album)

Love is an album by the England rock music band The Cult, released in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records. The record has been released in nearly 30 countries worldwide, and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies....
 album. The band's music and image shifted from their punk-oriented roots to 1960s psychedelia influences. Love was a successful independent record, selling 300,000 copies in the UK, 500,000 copies in Europe, 100,000 in Australia, and eventually over 1.5 million copies in North America. To date, the record has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.

From mid-1985 to 1986, the band went on a worldwide tour with new drummer Les Warner
Les Warner

Les Warner is a British born musician and producer, primarily a drummer best known for his work with The Cult. On the reverse of the Electric album, he is in the far right picture....
 (who had previously played with Julian Lennon
Julian Lennon

John Charles Julian Lennon , known universally as Julian Lennon, and by some fans as Jude, is an England singer, songwriter, musician, and first son of The Beatles John Lennon and the only child of Lennon's first wife Cynthia Powell....
 and Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders

Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an Italian American rock and roll/punk rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.Though he disapproved of the term "punk rock", Thunders is widely recognized as a seminal influence on the genre, particularly for his penetrating guitar sound....
). Two more official singles from the Love album followed; "Rain" (charting in the UK at #14) and "Revolution" (charting in the UK at #30). Neither of these singles charted in the US. Another single, "Nirvana", was issued only in Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
. The album version of "Rain", as well as the remix "(Here Comes the) Rain", were used in the Italian horror film Demoni 2
Demoni 2

D?moni 2 is a Italian films of 1986 Cinema of Italy horror film directed by Lamberto Bava and co-written and produced by Dario Argento. It is a sequel to Bava's 1985 film D?moni and stars David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, as well as Argento's youngest daughter Asia Argento in her debut film performance at ag...
. Once back in England, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios
The Manor Studio

The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford....
 in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love), and recorded over a dozen new songs. The band were unhappy with the sound of their new album, Peace, and they decided to go to New York
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 so that producer Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin

Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an United States record producer and is currently the co-head of Columbia Records. He is given credit for merging hip hop music and heavy metal music as well as producing the "Johnny Cash discography#American Recordings" albums with Johnny Cash....
 could remix the first single, "Love Removal Machine".

Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire record. The Cult's record company, Beggars Banquet, was displeased with this, as two months and £250,000 had already been spent on the record. However, after hearing the New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed. The first single was released in February 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that same year as Electric
Electric (The Cult album)

Electric is the pivotal third album by The Cult. Released in 1987, the album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band from a Gothic rock to a hard rock group....
, reaching #4 and outselling Love
Love (Cult album)

Love is an album by the England rock music band The Cult, released in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records. The record has been released in nearly 30 countries worldwide, and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies....
. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of "Love Removal Machine", and "Lil Devil". The full Peace album would not be released until 2000, when it was included as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult box set. The band toured with Kid Chaos
Kid Chaos

Kid Chaos a.k.a. Haggis is a rock bassist and guitarist who played in incarnations of hard rock bands Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, The Cult, and The Four Horsemen as well as guesting with Appetite For Destruction era Guns'N'Roses....
 (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass, with Stewart on rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar

Rhythm guitar is the use of a guitar to provide rhythmic chord al accompaniment for a singer or other instruments in a musical ensemble. In ensembles or "bands" playing within the country music, blues music, rock music or Heavy metal music genres , a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition supports the melodic lines and solos play...
. One more single, "Wild Flower", was released later in summer 1987.

In the US, The Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then unknown Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American Rock music band, formed in Los Angeles, California, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation....
. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival is held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the four biggest annual Music festival in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandf?r and Jesper Switzer M?ller, and promoter Carl Fischer....
 in Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
 in June 1987. When the world tour wound through Australia, the band wrecked £30,000 worth of equipment, and as a result they could not tour Japan, as no company would rent them new equipment. At the end of the tour the Electric album had gone platinum in Britain, and sold roughly 3 million copies worldwide, but the band were barely speaking to each other by then. Haggis left the band at the end of the Electric tour to form The Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen (band)

The Four Horsemen were an American hard rock band that had brief popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their style was blues influenced heavy rock and their fame was both fleeting and full of tragedy....
 for Rubin's Def American
American Recordings

American Recordings is a Los Angeles, California-based record label headed by record producer Rick Rubin. The label's most successful artists include Slayer, The Black Crowes, Danzig , Johnny Cash and System of a Down....
 label. Astbury and Duffy fired Warner and their management team Grant/Edwards, and moved to Los Angeles with original bassist Stewart. Warner sued the band several times for his firing, as well as what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles. The Cult signed a new management deal and wrote 21 new songs for their next record.

For the next album, Stewart returned to playing bass, and John Webster was brought in to play keyboard
Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
s. The band used Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor or Christopher Taylor may refer to:*Chris Taylor , owner of TMKO Lawyers & Last Gang Records*Chris "The Glove" Taylor, American DJ, one of the pioneers on the West Coast...
 to play drums during rehearsals and record the demos, with Kiss
KISS (band)

Kiss is an United States Rock music Musical ensemble formed in New York City in December 1972. Easily identified by its members' trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid and late-1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and...
 drummer Eric Singer
Eric Singer

Eric Doyle Mensinger , better known as Eric Singer, is a Hard rock and Heavy metal music drummer for the rock band Kiss and singer Alice Cooper....
 performing during the second demo recording sessions. The Cult eventually recruited session-drummer Mickey Curry
Mickey Curry

Michael Timothy Curry is an United States drummer. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips , Tom Waits, The Cult,Steve Jones and other musicians....
 to fill the drumming role and Aerosmith
Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an United States hard rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston, Massachusetts" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band"....
 sound engineer, Bob Rock
Bob Rock

Robert Jens Rock, aka Bob Rock,, is a Canada musician, sound engineer, and record producer....
, to produce. Recorded in Vancouver
Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest city in British Columbia and the second largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest region....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 in October, November and December 1988, the Sonic Temple
Sonic Temple

Sonic Temple is the fourth album by the The Cult, released in 1989. It features some of the band's most popular songs, "Fire Woman", "Sun King", "Edie " and "Sweet Soul Sister"....
 record gained multi-platinum status worldwide. The band went on tour in support of the new album and new single "Fire Woman
Fire Woman

"Fire Woman" is a rock song by the band The Cult, written by singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album Sonic Temple, and was subsequently featured on all of The Cult's compilation/ greatest hits albums, as well as being a steady fixture of the band's live performances....
" (UK#15) with yet another new drummer, Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum

Matthew William Sorum is an United States hard rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses . Matt currently is playing drums for Supergroup Velvet Revolver , which features former GN'R members Duff McKagan and Slash ....
, and Webster as keyboard player. The next single, "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (UK#25) has become a regular song at concerts for many years.

In Europe they toured with Aerosmith, and in the US, after releasing another single "Sun King" (UK#42), they spent 1989 touring in support of Metallica
Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal music band that formed in 1981 in Los Angeles. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a local newspaper, Metallica's line-up has primarily consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, while going through a number of bassists....
 before heading out on their own headlining tour later that same year. A fourth single, "Sweet Soul Sister
Sweet Soul Sister

"Sweet Soul Sister" is a song by England hard rock band The Cult. It was first released on their 1989 album Sonic Temple, and was later released as a single....
" (UK#38), was released in February 1990, with the video having been filmed at Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena

Wembley Arena is an indoor arena in Wembley, London, UK. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 British Empire Games by Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool....
, London, on November 25, 1989. "Sweet Soul Sister" was partially written in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 and was inspired by the bohemian
Bohemianism

The term bohemian, of French origin, was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished artists, writers, musicians, and actors in major European cities....
 lifestyle of that city. Released as a single in February 1990, the song was another hit in Britain, and reportedly reached number one on the rock charts in Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
. After playing a show in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, in February 1990, the band's management told Astbury that his father had just died of cancer. As a result, the remainder of the tour was cancelled after a final leg of shows were performed in April. After the tour ended in April 1990, the band were on the verge of splitting due to Stewart retiring and moving to Canada to be with his wife, and Sorum leaving to join Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American Rock music band, formed in Los Angeles, California, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation....
.

In 1990, Astbury organised the A Gathering of the Tribes
A Gathering of the Tribes

A Gathering of the Tribes was a two-day music festival organized by The Cult's Ian Astbury with Bill Graham at the head of Bill Graham Productions....
 festival in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
 and San Francisco with artists such as Soundgarden
Soundgarden

Soundgarden was an American Rock music band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by lead singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto....
, Ice T
Ice T

Tracy Marrow , better known by his stage name Ice-T, is a Grammy Award and NAACP Image Award winning rapper, actor, and author. He is credited with helping to pioneer gangsta rap, a sub-genre of hip hop music, in the late 1980s....
, Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls are an American folk rock duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They got their start in Atlanta, Georgia as a regular act at The Little 5 Points Pub and were tangentially part of the Athens, Georgia college rock scene that included The B-52's, Pylon , R.E.M., The Georgia Satellites, and Love Tractor....
, Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American Rapping, Singing, CoverGirl and actress. Latifah's work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe Award award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nominat...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop, born James Newell ?sterberg, Jr. on April 21, 1947, is an American Rock music singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. Although he has had only limited mainstream success, Iggy Pop is considered an innovator of punk rock, garage rock, and other related rock music....
, The Charlatans, The Cramps
The Cramps

The Cramps were an American garage punk band formed in 1976. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of lead singer Lux Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy as the only permanent members....
 and Public Enemy appearing. This two day festival drew 40,000 people, and inspired Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an American music festival featuring alternative rock, hip hop music, and punk rock bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths....
, which started in 1991. Also in 1990, a ten CD box set was released in Britain, containing rare songs from The Cult's singles. The CDs in this box set were all issued as picture discs with rice paper
Rice paper

Rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, like rice straw or rice flour. However, the term is also loosely used for paper made from or containing other plants, like hemp, bamboo or mulberry....
 covers, housed in either a white box called "Singles Collection", or a black box called "E.P. Collection '84 - '90". In 1991, director Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone

William Oliver Stone is an United Statesn film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural issues, often controversially....
 offered Astbury the role of Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison was an United States singer, songwriter, poet, writer and film maker. He is best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic Lead singers in rock music history....
 in Stone's film The Doors
The Doors (film)

The Doors is a 1991 in film biopic about the 1960s rock band The Doors which emphasizes the life of its lead singer, Jim Morrison. It was directed by Oliver Stone, and stars Val Kilmer as Morrison, Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson , Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Densmore and Kathleen Quinl...
. He declined the role because he was not happy with the way Morrison was represented in the film.

Ceremony and the lawsuit (1991-1994)
In 1991, Astbury and Duffy were writing again for their next album. During the demo recordings, Todd Hoffman and James Kottak
James Kottak

James Kottak is an American drummer for the hard rock band Scorpions , which he joined in 1996.Prior to joining Scorpions, Kottak was a drummer for Nut House, Mister Charlie, Buster Brown, Montrose , Kingdom Come , Wild Horses , the McAuley Schenker Group, Warrant , and Ashba....
 played bass and drums. During the actual album recording sessions, Curry was recruited again to play drums, with Charley Drayton
Charley Drayton

Charley Drayton is an United States multi-instrumental musician and producer, who has played as a drummer and bass guitarist for many bands and artists and is currently the drummer in Australian rock band Divinyls....
 on bass, and various other performers. Astbury and Duffy's working relationship had disintegrated by that time, with the two men reportedly rarely even in the studio together during recording. The resulting album Ceremony
Ceremony (album)

Ceremony is an album by The Cult that was first released on 10 September 1991....
 was released to mixed responses. The album climbed US#34, but sales were not as impressive as the previous three records, only selling around one million copies worldwide. Only two official singles were released from the record: the explosive and Cult definitive "Wild Hearted Son" (UK #34, Canada #41) and "Heart of Soul" (UK #50), although "White" was released as a single only in Canada, "Sweet Salvation" was released as a single (as "Dulce Salvación") in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 in 1992, and the title track "Ceremony" was released in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
.

The Cult's Ceremonial Stomp tour went through Europe in 1991 and North America in 1992. In 1991 The Cult played a show at the Marquee Club
Marquee Club

The Marquee is a legendary music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts....
 in London, which was recorded and released in February 1993, packaged with some vinyl UK copies of their first greatest hits release. Only a handful of CD copies of it were ever manufactured originally, however it was subsequently reissued on CD in 1999. An incomplete bootleg
Bootleg recording

A bootleg recording is an sound recording and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority....
 video of this show is also in circulation.

The band were sued by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of Ceremony, for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image. This image of the boy is also burned in the video for "Wild Hearted Son". When the child viewed this video on television, he did so from the perspective of his cultural heritage which includes the belief in what modern Westerners call sympathetic magic. When he saw his own image engulfed in flames the child was traumatized. The impact on his life, including his participation in the ceremonial life of the community, was very negative. This lawsuit delayed the Ceremony record's release in many countries including Korea
Korea

Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries, a civilization, and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia....
 and Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
, which did not see the record's release until late 1992, and it was unreleased in Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
 until The Cult played several shows in Istanbul
Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
 in June 1993.

A world tour followed with backing from future Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Republic of Ireland in 1969. The band were led throughout their recording career by Bass guitar, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott, and are best known for their songs "Whiskey in the Jar", "Jailbreak " and "The Boys Are Back in Town", all major international hits still played regula...
 drummer Michael Lee
Michael Lee (musician)

Michael Lee was an England drummer who toured and sound recording and reproduction with former Led Zeppelin musicians Robert Plant and Jimmy Page....
 and bassist Kinley Wolfe, and keyboardist John Sinclair returning one last time, and the Gathering of the Tribes moved to the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. Here artists such as Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is an American rock music band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready ....
 performed. The warm-up gig to the show, in a small nightclub, was dedicated to the memory of Nigel Preston, who had died a few weeks earlier at the age of 31. Following the release of the single "The Witch" (#9 in Australia) and the performance of a song for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 Action film-Comedy film-horror film about "valley girl" Cheerleading Buffy Summers chosen by fate to fight and kill vampires....
 movie soundtrack entitled "Zap City", produced by Steve Brown
Steve Brown

Steve Brown may refer to:* Steve Brown , American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator* Steve Brown , American pastor, syndicated radio host, and seminary professor...
 and originally a B-side to "Lil' Devil", two volumes of remixes of "She Sells Sanctuary", called Sanctuary Mixes MCMXCIII, volumes one and two, and in support of "Pure Cult - For Rockers, Ravers, Lovers And Sinners", a greatest hits compilation which debuted at UK #1 on the British charts and later went to number one in Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
, Astbury and Duffy fired the "backing band" and recruited Craig Adams
Craig Adams (musician)

Craig Adams is a United Kingdom musician, bass guitarist and songwriter for the following band :* The Expelaires * The Sisters of Mercy * The Mission ...
 (The Mission) and Scott Garrett for performances across Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 in 1993, with some shows featuring Mike Dimkitch on rhythm guitar. This tour marked the first time the band performed in Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
, Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
, and the Slovak Republic.

The Cult (Black Sheep) (1994-1995)
With the same line-up still in place, the band released The Cult
The Cult (album)

The Cult is the sixth studio album from England rock band, The Cult. It was released in October, 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records. It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover....
 (also referred to as the "Black Sheep" record) in October 1994 produced by Bob Rock. Astbury referred to the record as "very personal and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston, to his directionless years spent in Glasgow
Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and List of largest United Kingdom settlements by population in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's Scottish Lowlands....
 in the late 1970s. But the record achieved little success, only reaching #69 in the US, and #21 in the UK. Duffy remarked that he thought that the record wouldn't sell well all of the offensive lyrics. The record went to number one in Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 also, but quickly dropped out of sight. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star", was officially released with a live appearance on UK TV show The Word. "Star" began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" and was recorded at the "Sonic Temple" demo sessions as 'Starchild", being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected once again, and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".

When the band began the Beauty's On The Streets tour in winter 1994, they augmented the line up with James Stevenson
James Stevenson (musician)

James Stevenson is a United Kingdom punk rock / rock music guitarist, at one time appearing with The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel and Chelsea ....
 on rhythm guitar. As with the Ceremony record several years earlier, no other official singles were released, but several other songs were released on a strictly limited basis: "Sacred Life" was released in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
, "Be Free" was issued in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 and France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, "Saints Are Down" was issued in Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
, but none of the songs gained much commercial success. During this tour, The Cult made their first ever appearance in Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
.

Break-up (1995-1998)
During the Black Rain tour of South America in spring of 1995, despite the fact that several more new songs had already been recorded, the tour was cancelled after an appearance in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , is the second largest city of Brazil and South America, behind S?o Paulo, and the third largest metropolitan area in South America, behind S?o Paulo and Buenos Aires....
 in March, and the band split up citing unspecified problems on a recent South American tour. Astbury started up a garage band
Garage band

The term garage band can refer to:* A band that performs garage rock* GarageBand, audio production software published by Apple Inc.* GarageBand.com, a website that helps publicize emerging bands...
 called Holy Barbarians a few months later. The band made their debut at the 100 Club
100 Club

Not to be confused with 100 Club, the name of several civic clubs in the United States which support families of public servants killed or injured in the line of duty....
 in London in February 1996 and released their first (and only) record in May 1996, and toured throughout North America and Europe for the rest of 1996. The band started writing material for a second record in 1997, but the band were dissolved and Astbury began writing and recording a solo record. Throughout 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded his solo record, originally to be titled Natural Born Guerilla, later called "High Time Amplifier". Ultimately the record remained unreleased until June 2000 when it was released under the name Spirit\Light\Speed
SpiritLightSpeed

SpiritLightSpeed is a studio album by The Cult's singer Ian Astbury. The record was recorded in the later 1990's but sat unreleased until summer of 2000, when it was ultimately released to little fanfare....
. Astbury played one solo concert in 1999.

In November 1996, a number of CD reissues were released; the band's American record company released High Octane Cult, a slightly updated greatest hit compilation released only in the US and Japan, The Southern Death Cult a remastered edition of the 15 song compilation CD, a ten song compilation CD by Death Cult called Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance

Noted in historical accounts as the Ghost Dance of 1890, the Ghost Dance was a religious movement incorporated into numerous Indigenous peoples of the Americas belief systems....
, consisting of the untitled four-song EP, the single "God's Zoo", and four unreleased songs from a radio broadcast, and a remastered repackaging of the Dreamtime album, containing only the ten original songs from the record in their original playing order and almost completely different but original artwork. Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum
Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum

Live at the Lyceum is a live album by The Cult, recorded live at the Lyceum Ballroom in London on 20 May 1984. The band performed 15 songs at the concert, which was edited down to nine songs for this release....
 was also remastered and issued on video and for the first time on CD, with the one unreleased song from the concert, "Gimmick".

Reunion (1999-2001)
In 1999, Astbury and Duffy reformed The Cult with Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum

Matthew William Sorum is an United States hard rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses . Matt currently is playing drums for Supergroup Velvet Revolver , which features former GN'R members Duff McKagan and Slash ....
 and ex-Porno for Pyros
Porno for Pyros

Porno for Pyros was an United States alternative rock group formed in 1992. It was Perry Farrell's and Stephen Perkins' next project after the breakup of their former band Jane's Addiction....
 bassist Martyn LeNoble
Martyn LeNoble

Martyn LeNoble is a bassist who has played in Porno for Pyros, The Cult, Jane's Addiction and others. He was born in Vlaardingen, The Netherlands on April 14,1969....
. Their first official concert was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert
Tibetan Freedom Concert

Tibetan Freedom Concert is the name given to a series of rock festivals held in North America, Europe and Asia between 1996 in music and 2001 in music to support the cause of International Tibet Independence Movement....
 in June 1999, after having rehearsed at shows in the Los Angeles area. The band's 1999 'Cult Rising' reunion tour resulted in a sold out 30 date tour of the US, ending with 8 consecutive sold out nights at the LA House of Blues. In 2000, the band toured South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
 for the first time, and North and South America, and contributed the song "Painted On My Heart" to the soundtrack of the movie Gone In 60 Seconds. The song was featured prominently and the melody was fused into parts of the score. In June, Astbury's long delayed solo record was finally released as Spirit\Light\Speed, but it failed to gain much success. In November 2000, another authorised greatest hits compilation was released, Pure Cult: The Singles, along with an accompanying DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
, which was later certified gold in Canada.

In November 2000, Beggars Banquet released 15000 copies of a six disc boxset (with a bonus seventh disc for the first 5000 copies) titled "Rare Cult". The boxset consists of album outtakes, demos, radio broadcasts, and album b sides. It is most notable for including the withdrawn "Peace" album in its entirety. In 2001, the band signed to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an United States record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm & blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Long one of the most important American independent labels, Atlantic now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which consolidated Atlantic Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group into one...
 and recorded a new album, Beyond Good And Evil, originally being produced by Mick Jones
Mick Jones (Foreigner)

Mick Jones is an England guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known as the founding member of the Rock music Musical ensemble Foreigner ....
 of Foreigner
Foreigner (band)

Foreigner is a Rock music band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald , along with then-unknown vocalist Lou Gramm ....
, until Jones bowed out to tour with Foreigner. Astbury and Duffy co-wrote a song with Jones, an odd occurrence, as in the past, neither Astbury or Duffy would co-write their material. Bob Rock was the producer, with LeNoble and Chris Wyse
Chris Wyse

Chris Wyse is the current bass guitarist for the influential hard rock band The Cult. He is also the vocalist and bassist of his own band, Owl ....
 as recording bassists, as Mike Dimkitch played rhythm guitar on tour.

However Beyond Good And Evil was not the comeback record the band had hoped for. Despite reaching #37 in the US, #22 in Canada, and #25 in Spain, sales quickly dropped, only selling roughly 500,000 copies worldwide. The first single "Rise", reached #41 in the US, and #2 on the mainstream rock charts, but Atlantic Records quickly pulled the song from radio playlists. Astbury would later describe the experience with Atlantic to be "soul destroying", after Atlantic tried to tamper with the lyrics, the record cover, and choice of singles from the record.

After the first single from the record, the band's working relationship with Atlantic was on paper only, with Atlantic pulling "Rise" from the radio stations playlists, and stopping all promotion of the record. The second single "Breathe" was only released as a radio station promo, and the final single "True Believers" was only on a compilation sampler disc released in January 2002 (after The Cult's tour had already ended). Despite "True Believers" receiving radio airplay in Australia, both singles went largely unnoticed, and both Astbury and Duffy walked away from the project. LeNoble rejoined the band for the initial dates in early 2001, and Billy Morrison
Billy Morrison

Billy Morrison is a guitarist and singer who has played in rock bands Stimulator and The Cult, and is a member of the cover band Camp Freddy and the front man of new band Circus Diablo....
 filled in on bass for the majority of the 2001 tour.

The European tour of 2001 was cancelled, largely due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the band flew back to the US to tour again with Aerosmith
Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an United States hard rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston, Massachusetts" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band"....
. But the eleven-week tour was considered by fans to be a disaster, as the band played only a brief rundown of their greatest hits. In October 2001, a show at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed for release on DVD. After the tour ended in December 2001, the band took most of 2002 off, apart from a few shows in the US to promote the release of the DVD, with Scott Garrett and Craig Adams rejoining the band.

Second hiatus (2002-2004)
In late 2002, Ian Astbury declared the Cult to be "on ice" indefinitely, after performing a brief series of dates in October 2002 to promote the release of the Music Without Fear DVD. During this second hiatus, Astbury performed as a member of the Doors (later dubbed The Doors of the 21st Century, later still renamed D21c, and most recently known as Riders on the Storm) with two of the original members of that group). D21c was sued numerous times, both by Jim Morrison's family and by drummer John Densmore
John Densmore

John Paul Densmore is an United States musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock music band The Doors from 1965 to 1973....
. Astbury supposedly started work on recording another solo album that would later become the backbone for The Cult's Born Into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
.

At the same time, Duffy was part of Coloursound with bassist Craig Adams and ex-The Alarm
The Alarm

The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from Wales in the early 1980s. They started as a local punk band with a spirited, energetic acoustic/folk influence and stayed together for ten years....
 frontman Mike Peters
Mike Peters (musician)

Mike Peters , is a Wales musician, best known as the frontman of The Alarm. He currently lives in Dyserth, North Wales.Peters was born in Prestatyn, North Wales ....
, then Dead Men Walking
Dead Men Walking

Dead Men Walking are a United Kingdom based rock music band with a multi national line-up, who have toured the UK, Ireland and the United States...
 (again with Peters) and later Cardboard Vampyres. Sorum became a member of the hard rock supergroup
Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups." Supergroups tend to be short-lived, often lasting only for an album or two....
 Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver

Velvet Revolver is a Grammy Award-winning hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash , Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk rock band Wasted Youth....
. In 2003, all of The Cult's records were issued on CD, with several bonus tracks being issued on the Russian, Belarus
Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
ian, and Lithuanian versions. These eastern European releases had many printing mistakes on the jacket sleeves and lyric inserts. In October 2004, all of The Cult's records were again remastered and issued again on CD, this time in Japan in different cardboard foldout sleeves. "She Sells Sanctuary" appeared in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a Nonlinear gameplay action-adventure game computer game and video game designed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games....
, playing on rock
Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
 station V-Rock
V-Rock

V-Rock is the name of two radio stations, one of which are broadcasting as of today.*WSTB #V-Rock was the branding of WSTB in Streetsboro, Ohio, during the 90's when the station played heavy metal music. See WSTB ....
.

Second reunion (2005-2007)
In 2005, the band reunited to prepare for the Return To Wild world tour in 2006, making their first live appearance in three-and-a-half years on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Their lineup consisted of Astbury (vocals), Duffy (lead guitar), John Tempesta
John Tempesta

John Tempesta is a metal drummer who has worked several bands, namely Exodus , Testament , and White Zombie . He also played with former White Zombie singer Rob Zombie as a solo artist, and served as drum tech for thrash outfit Anthrax for a while....
 (drums), Dimkitch (rhythm guitar) and Wyse (returning as bassist). Their first stage show was held in March 2006 in San Francisco, California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, at The Fillmore
The Fillmore

The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham . Named for its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard, it lies on the boundary of the Western Addition and the Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California neighborhoods....
. The entire tour was recorded by Instant Live
Instant Live

Instant Live is a service by Live Nation which provides for the distribution of digital live recordings of concerts and music events, available soon after a performance has ended....
 and sold after each show. In May, they did an eight date tour in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
. Later that summer, they toured central and eastern Europe and played their first concerts in Bulgaria
Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
, Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
 and Serbia
Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country in Central Europe and Balkans Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans....
. An eleven date UK tour followed as well as several more dates in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, finishing with a South American tour in December. That year, Duffy began the band Circus Diablo
Circus Diablo

Circus Diablo is an alternative rock band, formed in early 2006 in Los Angeles. The band consists of Billy Morrison on vocals, Billy Duffy on lead guitar, Ricky Warwick on rhythm guitar, Brett Scallions on bass guitar and Jeremy Colson on drums....
 with Billy Morrison, Sorum, Brett Scallions and Ricky Warwick (). During these tours, the band occasionally played an extended set, including several songs the band had not performed in decades: King Contrary Man and Hollow Man, neither of which had no been performed since 1987; also, Libertine was performed approximately three times, for the first time since 2000, and Brother Wolf, Sister Moon, which was only performed one time since 1986 (for this particular song, the band played an abridged version which has never been performed before or since)

Astbury announced in February 2007 that he was leaving Riders on the Storm
Riders on the Storm

"Riders on the Storm" is a song by The Doors from their 1971 album, L.A. Woman; it reached number 14 on the charts. According to band member Robby Krieger, it was inspired by the song, " Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend"....
, The Doors
The Doors

The Doors were an United States rock music band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by Singer Jim Morrison, keyboard instrument Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger....
 reunion project, and returning to The Cult. He stated: "I have decided to move on and focus on my own music and legacy." The Cult was featured on list of ultimate air guitar
Air guitar

Playing air guitar is a form of dance and movement in which the performer imagination to play rock or heavy metal music-style electric guitar guitar solo....
 players. On 21 March 2007, it was announced that the band would be touring Europe with The Who
The Who

The Who are an England Rock music band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon....
. The first confirmed tour date was in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in early June, with at least a dozen shows set to follow.

The band played a gig in London's West End at the CC Club on June 7 2007, along with nearly two dozen shows across continental Europe during summer. The tour also includes the first performance in Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
 and Croatia
Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. On 29 May 2007, the band signed a deal with major metal label Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records is a record label that concentrates on heavy metal music bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group....
. Their 8th studio album, titled Born into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
 was released on 16 October,and was produced by Martin "Youth" Glover
Martin Glover

Martin Glover, also known as Youth, is an influential record producer and a founding member and bassist of the United Kingdom band Killing Joke....
, bass player for Killing Joke
Killing Joke

Killing Joke are an England post-punk rock band formed in October, 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England. However, several conflicting sources have stated that they formed in early 1979Related news articles:...
. Born Into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
 was released as regular single disc and Limited Edition double disc.

Born Into This and beyond (2007-present)
In October 2007, the band released the album Born into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
, on the Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records is a record label that concentrates on heavy metal music bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group....
 label. Prior to the album's release, the band played festival and headline dates, and supported The Who
The Who

The Who are an England Rock music band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon....
, in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 through summer 2007, with a U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 headline tour to follow. The special edition version of the latest album Born Into This
Born into This

Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
 includes a bonus 5 track CD holding the following tracks: "Stand Alone", "War Pony Destroyer", "I Assassin (Demo)", "Sound of Destruction (Demo)" and "Savages (Extended Version)".

The band's appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 in early November 2006 was filmed and was released in 2007. The Cult New York City, issued by Fontana North and is The Cult's first high definition DVD release. Meanwhile, Astbury lent vocals on two tracks of the 2007 UNKLE
UNKLE

Unkle is a United Kingdom musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and has employed a variety of guest artists and producers....
 album "War Stories
War Stories (album)

War Stories is the third album from Unkle. The album was released in Japan on June 20, 2007 Europe and the UK on July 9, 2007, followed by a July 24 release date in North America....
", one of them being the first single from the album, "Burn My Shadow".

The band performed a UK and European tour in late-February and early-March 2008. On March 24, they will start their North American tour including a major 13-city tour in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, with several more European festival dates already announced for the summer, including dates in Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, and Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
. Also, the band have been tentatively scheduled to appear at the Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival is held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the four biggest annual Music festival in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandf?r and Jesper Switzer M?ller, and promoter Carl Fischer....
 in Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
, which would be their first appearance since 1987. During September 2008, The Cult did a brief series of dates in the northeast United States, and they will tour in Brazil as part of the South American tour in October 2008. As of May 2008, according to The Gauntlet
The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet is a 1977 in film action film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The film also stars Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney, and longtime personal friend Mara Corday who would appear with Eastwood in another three films....
, The Cult are currently unsigned and no longer under contract with Roadrunner Records. However, the band has plans to begin work on a ninth album to be released in 2009. In October 2008, it was announced that The Cult would headline the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio, to be run November 16, 2008. According to Sacred Soul, as of November 2008, The Cult are in the studio currently writing and recording new material for a ninth album due for summer 2009.

Discography

For all releases, see The Cult discography
The Cult discography

This is a comprehensive discography of The Cult, an England Rock music band. The band have released eight studio albums, two live albums, five compilation albums, several extended plays, three box sets and twenty-seven official Single ....
.


  • 1984: Dreamtime
  • 1985: Love
    Love (Cult album)

    Love is an album by the England rock music band The Cult, released in 1985 on Beggars Banquet Records. The record has been released in nearly 30 countries worldwide, and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies....
  • 1987: Electric
    Electric (The Cult album)

    Electric is the pivotal third album by The Cult. Released in 1987, the album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band from a Gothic rock to a hard rock group....
  • 1989: Sonic Temple
    Sonic Temple

    Sonic Temple is the fourth album by the The Cult, released in 1989. It features some of the band's most popular songs, "Fire Woman", "Sun King", "Edie " and "Sweet Soul Sister"....
  • 1991: Ceremony
    Ceremony (album)

    Ceremony is an album by The Cult that was first released on 10 September 1991....
  • 1994: The Cult
    The Cult (album)

    The Cult is the sixth studio album from England rock band, The Cult. It was released in October, 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records. It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a black sheep on the front cover....
     (Black Sheep)
  • 2001: Beyond Good and Evil
  • 2007: Born into This
    Born into This

    Born Into This is The Cult's eighth studio album, and was released on in the US and Canada, also South Africa and Sweden. It was released in Hungary, Denmark, Spain and France on October 1, and in Finland on the 3rd....
  • 2009: TBA


External links

  • by Sonya Koshuta