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Apr 6, 20235 min read

The Cult — Electric (1987)

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

The Cult — Electric (1987)

Tracklist:

𝟶𝟷. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 (𝟹:𝟹𝟽)

𝟶𝟸. 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚐 (𝟹:𝟹𝟺)

𝟶𝟹. 𝙻𝚒𝚕‘ 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕 (𝟸:𝟺𝟺)

𝟶𝟺. 𝙰𝚙𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚌 𝙹𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 (𝟺:𝟷𝟷)

𝟶𝟻. 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 (𝟸:𝟺𝟿)

𝟶𝟼. 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙵𝚞𝚗 (𝟹:𝟹𝟹)

𝟶𝟽. 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚗 (𝟹:𝟷𝟸)

𝟶𝟾. 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 (𝟺:𝟷𝟽)

𝟶𝟿. 𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍 (𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 𝙲𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛) (𝟹:𝟻𝟻)

𝟷𝟶. 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚊𝚠 (𝟸:𝟻𝟸)

𝟷𝟷. 𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙷𝚒𝚙 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎 (𝟺:𝟶𝟷)

The Cult:

Ian Astbury – 𝚅𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜

Billy Duffy – 𝙶𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛

Jamie Stewart – 𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚜

Les Warner – 𝙳𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚜

Production:

Rick Rubin – 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚛

Tony Platt – 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐

Overview:

The Cult released their third full-length studio album, Electric via Beggars Banquet/Sire Records on April 6th, 1987. It was the follow-up to their commercial breakthrough Love. The album equalled its predecessor's chart placing by peaking at No. 4 in the UK but exceeded its chart residency, spending a total of 27 weeks on the chart (the most successful run for an album by The Cult).

Background:

The album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band's sound from gothic rock to more traditional hard rock. Rick Rubin, the producer on Electric, had been specifically hired to remake the band's sound in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of hard rock and heavy metal in the 1980s. The album was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Production:

After the breakthrough success of their second album, Love, and after returning to England following the tour in support of the album, the band booked themselves into the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, with producer Steve Brown (who had produced Love). In the summer of 1986, they recorded twelve tracks at the Manor Studio. These recordings, which came to be known as the Manor Sessions, were to make up a new album, tentatively entitled Peace. However upon completion of the recording sessions, the band decided that they were unhappy with the sound, and began to look for a new producer.

They decided to go to New York so producer Rick Rubin could remix the first single, Love Removal Machine. Rick Rubin was known for producing albums for Hip Hop artists and Thrash Metal band Slayer.

Rubin agreed to work with the band, but only if they rerecorded the song. Rubin eventually talked them into rerecording the entire album. The band'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 initial New York recording, Beggars Banquet agreed to proceed.

These new recordings, with a slightly different track-list and running order, became the album that was released. Engineer Tony Platt recalled that Rubin used AC/DC as a benchmark for the album's sound:

“Rick Rubin was recording The Cult in Studio A and we [Platt and the studio engineers] stood in the airlock just outside the studio. A snatch of Highway to Hell would get played and then a snatch from Back in Black and then a snatch of Led Zeppelin, and we thought, "What the hell's going on there?" [A studio assistant] said, "Well, he's getting the guitar sounds from Back in Black, the drum sound from Highway to Hell and the voice sound from Led Zeppelin!" Literally, as he was mixing he was getting a guitar sound on The Cult and then comparing it directly with the guitar sound that he wanted to get from Back in Black. The same with all the other instruments.”

The first single, Love Removal Machine, was released on February 16th, 1987, and the new version of the album appeared in April that year, now renamed as Electric.

The band toured with Kid Chaos (also known as "Haggis" and "The Kid") on bass guitar, with Stewart on rhythm guitar.

Two more singles followed in support of Electric.

The albums second single was Lil Devil, which was released on April 20th, 1987.

The albums third single, Wild Flower was later released on July 27th, 1987. A few tracks from the original Peace album appeared on the single versions of Wild Flower, and Lil Devil.

In the US, The Cult, now consisting of Astbury, Duffy, Stewart, Warner and Kid Chaos, were supported by the then-unknown Guns N' Roses. The band also appeared at Roskilde Festival in Denmark 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 been certified Gold in the UK, 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 for Rubin's Def American 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 for what he felt were unpaid royalties due to him for his performance on the Electric album, resulting in lengthy court battles.

The Manor Sessions, Peace & Electric/Peace Reissue:

Although all twelve of the Manor Sessions tracks were initially scrapped, (as previously noted) Electric featured several re-recorded songs from those Peace sessions.

Tracks 2, 5, 6 and 10 below first appeared on the limited The Manor Sessions EP in 1988. Tracks 7, 8, 9 and 11 were issued as B-sides to singles from Electric in 1987. The full Peace album was not released in its entirety until 2000, when the rest of the unreleased Steve Brown-produced tracks were made available as Disc 3 of the Rare Cult boxed set.

In 2013 the album was re-released as a double CD set under the title Electric Peace, with one disc featuring the originally released album and the second containing the entire Peace album recorded during the Manor Sessions.

Manor Sessions/Peace Track Listing:

𝟶𝟷. 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 (𝟻:𝟷𝟼)

𝟶𝟸. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 (𝟺:𝟷𝟶)

𝟶𝟹. 𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚐 (𝟻:𝟶𝟿)

𝟶𝟺. 𝙰𝚙𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚌 𝙹𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝 (𝟺:𝟸𝟻)

𝟶𝟻. 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝙾𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 (𝟺:𝟷𝟹)

𝟶𝟼. 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙵𝚞𝚗 (𝟼:𝟸𝟺)

𝟶𝟽. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛 (𝟸:𝟻𝟹)

𝟶𝟾. 𝚉𝚊𝚙 𝙲𝚒𝚝𝚢 (𝟻:𝟷𝟻)

𝟶𝟿. 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 (𝟹:𝟻𝟻)

𝟷𝟶. 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚊𝚠 (𝟻:𝟶𝟽)

𝟷𝟷. 𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙲𝚘. (𝟺:𝟷𝟹)

Critical Reception:

Rolling Stone wrote that "despite the hovering shades of Zeppelin, Bon Scott and others, Electric does more than pilfer bygone Metal mayhem. It swaggers, crunches and howls, all right, but it does so with irreverence (not surprising with raunch expert Rick Rubin behind the board)."

Trouser Press wrote: "As sensually gratifying as it is cornball retro-moronic, Electric can lay claim to one of history's worst versions of Born to Be Wild.”

Note: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells