Electric

the fuck kind of joke is this? make us listen to a full album of incredibly average local rock pub rock made for men in faded black van halen t shirts and stonewashed jeans on the proviso that you will get to hear she sells sanctuary to then not be sold any sanctuary at all. my emotions have been toyed with in a way that is unreasonable.

If you asked an AI audio model to generate a hard rock album from 1987 this is what it would give you

Perhaps the most generic hard rock I've ever heard. 6/10

430 albums in, and this might be the most confusing and worst pick I've seen so far. For context, The Cult were originally a post-punk and goth rock band that blended those genres with psychedelia and hard rock, and it resulted in a pretty interesting take on the genre. The album before this - called Love - has one has their most popular song (She Sells Sanctuary) and is their most critically celebrated album, which is why I question why they instead included this, which is nothing but generic hard rock front to back. I would have given this a 2 because Love Removal Machine is pretty good, but it's immediately followed by the most unnecessary cover of Born to Be Wild. Fuck you Cult, for selling out, and fuck you book author for choosing yet another hard rock album instead of something interesting.

Makes me want to wash my trans am

“Y-air, yeah, yeah, yay-air, ye-hay-air!”Thought I’d already reviewed this because I listen to it so often, must have mixed it up with AC-DC or Zeppelin! Riffs everywhere. All the different ways to say “yeah”! Influences stolen from all over, love The Beatles in Aphrodisiac Jacket. Simply outstanding balls out rock and roll. Amazed few other reviewers agree with me - hey-ho, never mind.

Would love to hate this band for their inflated egos and late 80's bullshit and pullin 'all the fine honeys', but the fact is that this album is an underappreciated highlight in an gluttonous rock-saturated decade. Billy Duffy is an incredibly underrated guitarist and the blast from Ian Astbury's 'yeahh-aha-ahs' put them in a league of their own. Back in the day, these guys presented a cool factor that was super-douchey yet regrettably, enviable. Time has not been kind to these guys, victims of their own success, they're still touring but withered, fat and flat... truly in the form that you'd expect them to be.

Some of my greatest memories of my senior year of high school are set to this album. Along with Rain 1985 and Sonic Temple 1988 these are the bedrock of the Cult's sound and catalog. One of the greatest albums of the 80s!

I was all in on The Cult before Rick Rubin got involved, and I tend to favor their previous album over this one. That's mainly because of the "hits", or their legacy songs if you will. This album is more consistent overall (there's not a skippable track, I even enjoy the Steppenwolf cover). This was apparently back when Rubin actually brought something to the table, before his main role as a "producer" was to just sit back and say, "Sounds good" whenever he heard something he liked. It's still surprising The Cult never completely broke through in the states.

Highlights: Love Removal Machine, Bad Fun, Electric Ocean Leave Em's: Born To Be Wild, Peace Dog, King Contrary Man Overall Thoughts: A classic rock album that isn't trying to be anything more then what it is. I actually enjoyed this record more then I thought I was going to. The Rock and Roll sound shines through this album and I think they do a good job of not making the loud instrumentation and vocals abrasive. This album also embodies the sound that I imagine rock music taking in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Despite its predictability and lack of variety, The Cult did what they do well and produced a rock album that does rock. Score Breakdown: 3.173 & 4 -> 3.587

Wow! I was surprised by this album. I did not know who The Cult were before this list, but this is one helluva head-banging rock album. Very hard rock, 80s, glammy metal feel. I do not know why it is so low rated, but I highly recommend fellow metalheads to give this one a listen! Favorite Song(s): "Wild Flower", "Bad Fun", "Love Removal Medicine", "Aphrodisiac Jacket", "Lil Devil"

I love this record! It's a dumb as a box of hammers, but sometimes you just need that. It's like Jim Morrison fronting ACDC. I was introduced to this album by Ben and Chris. I was friends with Ben's brother, but (frankly) his parties were a bit dull, and so I would gravitate to Ben's room where he and Chris would be playing their guitars along to records, which was more my speed. They introduced me to a bunch of things, including this (then recently released) record, which I fell in love with. Ben and Chris have played together in a series of bands over the past 35 years, and I still regularly go to see them play. I used to feel guilty about liking it because it is really dumb, and I felt dumber listening to it, but it does feel great in the way that only dumb rock can. And it doesn't pretend to be anything than it is; everything great about classic rock with absolutely nothing extra. Moments I love: - any time Ian Astbury yells "huh, woman!" or "yeah-uh!" - tambourine! You can tell it's the chorus because there's tambourine - homage or plagiarism? who cares? Let's rock! - the hilariously bad lyrics, especially Peace Dog - tempo changes! Double time! Half time! - the bit in Love Removal Machine where the band drops out and Ian goes " baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, I fell from the sky". And the bit in Peace Dog where the band drops out and Ian goes "baby, baby, bay, baby, baby!" - actually, any time the band cuts out for a few beats to allow a guitar line to hang or a vocal to pop out. They do it nearly every song, but it sounds great every time. - trash can endings on songs As Ira Robbins wrote in Trouser Press: "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.'" Agreed. One star off for that. Otherwise, mwah (chef's kiss), perfection.

Fuck yes. If this were any further up my alley I'd be tasting it. Exactly what I think of when I try (and regularly fail) to explain what my favourite genre of music is. Just a straight up clean good time. I also firmly believe a well executed cover should be mandatory on all albums (insert a million qualifiers here but you get what I mean). OWWWW

This is just the sexiest album.

Brilliant. At last! A decent album in this otherwise mediocre and uninspiring list and one which I've not heard before. Imagine AC/DC jamming with the Rolling Stones...yeah, that's right. It rocks.

Incredible lead in to the album with Wild Flower. In fact almost all the songs have a great intro. That's the power of guitar solos followed quickly by banging drums. "Hit those skins explode my brain".

I can't load any other reviews for this. Am I the first? Fuck yeah! Anyway, I'm a big fan of these guys. Sonic temple is better but only by a sliver. Has a distinctly 80s feel but also a timeless rock vibe. Like they knew about hair metal but only dipped their toes cause they knew it had a use by date. Perfect summertime beer music. 5/5.

This just a good old fashioned rock album. Great licks, fun song subjects, and high energy. It’s clear which bands influenced them and I think I could pick out a few bands they influenced. Tons of fun, but not so good it earns 5 stars.

The Cult has such a classic bad boy/punk sound to them, really helped by Ian Astbury's almost growling vocals. He really shines throughout this album. Bad Fun is arguably the best track on this album, and it's shocking to me that it isn't their most listened to tracks from the album. I remember absolutely jamming to this track playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater back in the day. Not every track is a hit here, and I can definitely appreciate the sentiments that this is somewhat generic. But it's also just too good to not love. This is the kind of album you jam all the way down the highway to (or skate to).

Overall a decent album but can't understand why it's on the list

The Cult drop the post-punk/gothic rock influences of their previous album Love in favour of this sell-out, cock rock, derivative garbage.

Not for me. Couldn't wait for it to be over.

genuinely the most uninteresting genre

possibly the worst album i’ve ever listened to its so bad, guns and roses dupe, awful, trash

In full honesty (with myself) - if I didn't live through this album there's a very high chance I might have heard this today and thought it was laughably terrible. But. I did live through it, it IS hilarious in many ways, and I fucking love it unapologetically and know pretty much every riff and note by heart before even putting MY ORIGINAL 1987 VINYL copy on the turntable and truly annoying the fam. PEACE! DOG! ...I really came close to docking it a full star for Born To Be Wild which even as a kid I knew could end up historically-awful. Goal achieved! But yeah the whole album brings back memories - learning every song on guitar (a great album to learn riff rock from). And yes it's all so goddamn dumb but I dgaf - it's a blast. 9/10 5 stars.

I have no clue why this album was chosen instead of "Love" which is far, far better. In any case, this is big departure from The Cult sound that was developed over previous releases, including the masterpiece, "Love". It's more raw, more hard rock/metal sounding. I like it, but it's definitely not The Cult album you need to hear before you die. Do yourself a favor and listen to Love Removal Machine, it's the best song on this album and it rocks. Do yourself a favor and skip their god awful cover of Born to be Wild. It's terrible. 3.41/5 stars = 3.

Another throwaway to listen to before I die, this time with the image of Rick Rubin rubbing his tummy as he faxes notes, “more Plant, dial up Young (Angus), lighten the Van (Halen, Eddie), park the cowbell?” This is fun and the Cult were clearly a strong rock unit, but as we’re almost halfway through the list I fear we won’t have ZZ Top’s ‘70’s run, or much from the Groundhogs, sprees from bands who made and mastered this mode rather than made a straightforward call-back to it.

This Album made my hair grow 40cm. I went to a protest against the Vietnam war, slept with the girlfriend of my best friend and died of an overdose while listening to my own song in the radio for the first time. Best 2 weeks of my life.

Rick Rubin, I can smell you.

Huh, I didn’t realize there were three AC/DC records on the list.

Cock-rock by the numbers, if competently played. I was not interested in re-heated "Start Me Up" when I was 12, and remain unimpressed.

Super super mediocre. I’m not familiar with the band, but the Wikipedia summary makes their previous albums sound much more appealing than this one.

Wow, was decent until Born to Be Wild. Oof.

I’m familiar with a handful of songs by The Cult, but I’ve never listened to one of their full albums before. I like their sound though, so I think there’s a good chance that I’m going to enjoy this album. Unfortunately, I can’t think of many positive things to say about this album. The Cult songs that I’m familiar with have a really distinct sound, featuring some guitar effects that I really enjoy. However, Electric was full of unremarkable and generic rock songs. This album reminds me a lot of Bad Company, in the way that there was really nothing unique about it. The guitar playing, the drumming, and the vocals were all incredibly bland. It’s really a shame that this album wasn’t good, because I know The Cult can write great songs. I’m really miffed as to why this album made the list.

Yeah, yay, yeeeaah! no thank you!

I LOVE THE CULT SO MUCH They don’t get nearly enough praise overall. And on this site, this album gets hated on way too much. Thankfully, me and the other 8 Electric enjoyers on this site will give it 5 stars The solo on Aphrodisiac Jacket will always be top tier. The first solo I went about learning on guitar

A big dumb pure classic - love it!

All time fave!

Driving vocals, good ol' fashioned in your face rock/punk music. This album was like eating a really good burger. It wasn't trying to be anything more than it was, but it was cooked perfectly, well balanced, and very satisfying. The influences on later pop-punk, new wave, and alternative music were obvious. Great album.

Solid rock album!

Such a shot in the arm. Was late to The Cult, started with Sonic Temple and worked backwards. So many punchy, catchy rock riffs from Billy and Ian’s Sonic vocals matched perfectly. Did not get bogged down from the late ‘80s cheesiness.

Love it still.

Cult at their best

Excellent. Need on vinyl

Rick Rubin produces a riff rock classic.

Solid rock record!

In late 1986 The Cult put all their influences in a big black cauldron and called Rick Rubin. Something about a cauldron, a bunch of songs that were on the verge of getting it on, the need to break America and English pussy... Rubin listened to the message again & called the boys back, within days Rubin started digging in that rusty beast and found hard psychedelic rock, Highway to Hell era AC DC, The Whiskey au Go Go via The 100 Club, some Led Zeppelin magic, a little Rolling Stones swagger, some T Rex, some goth rock, some T&A and started sorting it all out in his lab. The Cult rerecorded every song they had ready for the next album under the watchful eye of Rubin and renamed the album Electric to better reflect the newly recorded music. It rocked. Not long after the fruits of their labor was released in America & beyond to great success. Electric was hailed from schoolyards to the New York Times as hard rock perfection. Rubin took off his glasses and fell asleep on his shabby couch (his beard full of peanut shells) peacefully knowing that he gave The Cult his best. The boys hit the road for months of sold-out dates and they rocked electric for Electric rocked.

First time listening to this album, really enjoyed, would seek physical copy, probably a 4.5 so rounding up ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Niet het beste album wel hard

An all time great.

The Cult is probably my favorite Hair Band now. Really good guitar and the singer isn’t scream singing and actually sounds pretty good. Glad to come across this one.

Had only heard and loved "love removal machine" before but damn this is my jam. This is no masterpiece but this really taps into what I listened to as a child so this is really biased. The energy is really contagious, it's easy listened Hard Rock and for some reason I always thought they were from the 90s or later. Does it deserve a spot on the 1001 albums you have to listen to? meh, but it is better than allot of other albums on this list and enjoyed it to 100% so why not if I have to suffer through like all of Elvis Costello's discography

A my się bardzo podoba. 5/5. Może ja po prostu lubię hard rock, więc generyczne albumy muszą mi się podobać.

It bugged me the whole time I was listening that it sounded so familiar but The Cult doesn't sing the song that I kept thinking back to. (And I couldn't place it...) anyway, this album was great. Tons of positive energy and great guitar. Loved it.

Fuckin' A -- Besides Born To Be Wild, I've never heard songs from The Cult, but I loved it!

a really fun straight rock album. it's raucous in all the right ways. the only thing I wish was that the production was a little more rough around the edges to match the energy, but otherwise a great surprise!

Sehr gelungenes Heavy Metal Album. Starke Songs mit viel Riff und High Speed. Jederzeit wieder hörbar.. Gute Songs sind „Electric Open“, „King Country Man“ sowie die Interpretion von „Born To Be Wild“. Stilecht, Kurzweilig mit Starken Songs 😊

Gran disco

Gooood!!!

I thought that the only song by The Cult that I knew pretty well was She Sells Sanctuary (which isn’t found on this album). However, Lil’ Devil is definitely familiar to me. I found pretty much everything on this album to be fantastic. It’s absolutely dad-rock through and through, and I’ll fight anybody who tells me that’s a bad thing. My only nitpick is that their cover of Born To Be Wild is a little weak, but otherwise I loved this album. His voice is exceptional.

Really good album enjoyed this 👌

That’s a hell yea from me brother Love Removal Machine = A+++

Favourite songs: Love Removal Machine, Bad Fun, Lil' Devil, Peace Dog, Born To Be Wild, Aphrodisiac Jacket, Electric Ocean, Wild Flower, Outlaw Least favourite songs: Memphis Hip Shake 5/5

Not in the same league as their previous album, Love (5 star / 10/10 album) but still this is a great Cult album of course, in particular Lil Devil and Love Machine and Peace Dog and Little Flower and King Country Man and.. etc score in 1987: 9/10 score in 2024: 9/10

There are some stinkers on this record and it marks a departure from some of the darker more overt goth vibes of their previous work... But, hear me out, if a cool older brother passes the CD along to his younger brother and you all spend a Summer with this as your soundtrack street skating the best curbs and other little bits of your suburban American town then this album is going to become an irrational, emotional favorite that you will still want to throw on 35 years later. Nothing beats the feeling of a Summer breeze on your face with your friends cheering an impossibly landed sick skate trick while Love Removal Machine is blasting out a cheap speaker. Sometimes music is made better by the moment and method of introduction. Five Stars for the feels on a Three Star record.

Rocks hard with excellent guitar work from the first minute to the last. Loved this one.

Well pepper me silly, roll me in flour, and call me a metal fan. Who knew? I am a fan of the Cult. It sounds like the English cultivar of AC/DC, or put differently, if Motorhead and ACDC had a good look descendants, with a bit of polish and discipline, this would be them. Good clean propulsive fun. (Using it for housework right now) I thought it was just their tongue twister sea shell song I liked... #mymusiceducashion Thanks 1001.

LOVE THESE GUYS!

So simple but done so well. Astbury does the inter lyric yowl better than almost everyone.

Great rock album

geil

Cult perfection

lmao that was a real wacky inclusion on the list it just kinda sounded like some guys at the pub. But I do like going to the pub. But also I don't think I'd rate going to the pub as a top 1001 musical experience of all time.

Great Album.

Dudes rock

Foda

Love it. Rockin'. Will be listening to them more

Yes!!@

Si en las escuelas hubiera una asignatura sobre el Hard Rock no tengo ninguna duda de que \"Electric\" sería el disco de texto, la Biblia. Simplemente perfecto.

Very fun listen!

I fucking love this album! I'd really only know She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult and never got deeper into the catalogue. But damn, this was a real tour de force! It gives you non-stop rock and a snarling badass delivery of it to boot. Killer record, man. The Cult rules! I'll be listening to this one again and again, added to my regular rotation.

Hard rock

Ooh this went down a treat! Really suited a long and surprisingly smooth motorway drive, up to Yorkshire funnily enough. Seems a lot of people don't like this one, but I thought it was just a good, fun, heavy, glam metal rush. Favourite: Bad Fun

Solid

On way home in the car after first day back at work. Quite enjoyed this one and definitely put it in the 'not what I expected' category. Ranged between standard 80s rawk (including a pretty good cover of Born to be Wild) and some really good southern bluesy rock which I love with the Black Crows. The lead singers constant growl was really interesting to listen to. Really enjoyed!

metal guapo la vd

man i love the 80s

Groovy and captivating

very solid

Hardrock, toen ik dat las terwijl ik s ochtends mijn auto in stapte twijfelde ik wel even of ik deze niet beter iets later op de dag kon starten. Maar dit album was echt heel leuk! De zang is prima, instrumentaal is het top. Enige reden waarom ik dit geen 5 sterren zou geven, is omdat ik de variatie wel een beetje mis. Zeker de eerste 3 nummers had ik bv niet door dat het eerste nummer al geeindigd was. Maar al met al, een band waar ik meer van wil weten! Daarbij, een toffe cover van Born to be Wild! 4 reten FAV: Electric Ocean, King Contrary Man, Born to be Wild

Estupendo. Me ha encantado 🤩🤩

It's only rock n roll but I fucking love it

I don’t think I’d rate this so highly if I hadn’t listened to it so much in high school. So nostalgia’s doing a lot of work here, but I still love Ian Astbury’s unique voice and sometimes ridiculous vocal stylings. The Born to Be Wild cover is really awful, though.

Stripped down and full of energy classic hard rock sound and a thousand variations of ‘yeah’. Fun and punchy, but felt a bit generic overall.

What an awesome, underrated band The Cult is. This album is pretty great, as so many of theirs are.

Nice

Entertaining on first listen but would it start to grate after a while?

Great rock album. Unnecessary cover song, but otherwise loved it. There’s just something about the cult that I enjoy

Solid rock album. the Cult’s 2nd best album

Solid rock album. Sounds good in any era