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.

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

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

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.

Makes me want to wash my trans am

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.

“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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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).

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.

Overall a decent album but can't understand why it's 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.

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

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!

Rick Rubin produces a riff rock classic.

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.

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

Cool album

Classic

guitar based hard rock with riffs that have a kind of southern rock flair. ian astbury has a swagger and attitude that few frontmen have. this was a huge album for me back in the day and it was great to revisit it after all this time. highlights: “wildflower” “lil’ devil” “love removal machine”

Oh this was good. A classic gold ol rock album was exactly what I needed. Thank you.

A buddy of mine turned me on to the Cult. Actually saw them in a small club in Detroit. They were awesome. Loved this album.

This album is overall pretty jammin. I could have done without the shitty Born to be Wild cover. Still, a great rock album. 1001 album worthy: yes - 69/128

Even dacht ik dat ik naar de soundtrack van This is Spinal Tap zat te luisteren. Want dit is wel leuke bouwvakkermuziek, maar het slaat ook geen enkel onverwacht straatje in. Gewoon gillende gitaren, rammende drums en een beukende stem, best geinig hoor, maar het lijkt bijna een parodie op zichzelf. Maar misschien is de top-1001 er ook om schoolvoorbeelden van het genre voor het voetlicht te brengen. En dan toch maar liever dit genre dan vals punkgekrijs.

Een beetje over de top hardrock, licht aanstellerig. Een kruising tussen INXS en Billy Idol. Als ik zo de wiki lees, wilden ze gewoon keihard knaken verdienen, dus dit moest zo commercieel mogelijk zijn. Apart dat de snobs dat dan opnemen in hun lijstje, over het algemeen hebben die een enorme hekel aan te commerciele bandjes. Ik vind het op zich allemaal wel prima wegluisteren, al beklijft me ook een beetje het gevoel van een uit de kluiten gewassen dorpsbandje dat op feesten en partijen staat te spelen. Een soort Jovink en de Voederbietels, Mooi Wark. De muzikanten verstaan hun vak goed hoor, begrijp me niet verkeerd, maar deze muziek wordt tegenwoordig door AI gemaakt als je 'hardrock' opgeeft. Qua luisterplezier zit het dan wel weer tegen een 4 aan. Dus ik ben een beetje in dubio wat ik hier aan moet geven. Een bak babi pangang is ook niet bepaald culinair te noemen, maar ik eet dat wel met veel smaak op. Geef je een snobscore, dan zit het tussen een 1 en een 2 in. Geef je een plebscore, dan gaat het richting een 4. Al gooit de hemeltergende cover van Born to be Wild nog bijna roet in het eten.

Love some of the Cult’s tracks, but have never got around to listening to this album - loved it!

Actually liked this more than I expected to. Used to clown on these guys for being cheese metal, but this is really just a heavy rock/blues style. Apparently that has really grown on me as I get older. Vocalist is especially great, and is one of those voices you know instantly when you hear it.

Great 80s rock/metal album! Maybe I‘m biased because of GTA Vice City but I really enjoyed this!

Blind album artist. I thought this album was kinda cool. No clue why it is on the list but I enjoyed the listen. Kinda generic but I still liked it.

Fun, heavy riffs, Danzig vocals

4/5

Dudes Rock

This is great, don't get me wrong. But why this over their Love album? Whatever, it still rocks.

i’m terribly afraid i’m just gonna keep giving everything a 4 but who cares, it’s randomly generated so i’m bound to have a few 4s in a row. each song was different enough from the last and it was the perfect kind of loud. i must say though, im not sure how they managed to remove all the energy from born to be wild, while i was listening i was certain that couldn’t be the original and im glad it wasn’t. the audio engineering on the drums was incredible i could hear every little tap and crinkle i loved it. great to listen to while cleaning, pumps you up. i can sorta tell id get sick of this album pretty quick but none the less still enjoyable to listen to twice.

I like the steady build up on wild flower, its a good intro. Was the guitar riff for electric ocean used in that one spongebob song? I really like love removal machine, but I think Love would've been a better album choice. The born to be wild cover is pretty horrible. I like Ian Astbury's voice and commitment to the fur hat, but overall a pretty generic rock album, but I'm not complaining.

Un rock familiare. Bello.

Back in the late 80s it was a battle between what is known as Hair Metal and grungey (not grunge) rock like this. I listened to way more music like the Cult than I did Hair Metal, but after nearly 30 years its clear to see that Hair Metal won the battle by how recognizable it is vs an example like this Cult album. It's raw, loud and full of gasoline. 4/5

Great rock album, a "few fillers" but some great cuts

I love The Cult, but if you're going to include only one of their albums, Electric is an odd choice. Either of the releases that bookend this one, Love or Sonic Temple, would be more appropriate. This one represents their transition from an English post-punk style to a more commercial hard rock style, but it doesn't do either very well. Would be a 3 but for the strength of Love Removal Machine.

A lot of fun.

This is a really good album! I always thought that The Cult was underrated and it is kind of unfortunate that they get grouped in with 1980's New Wave because they could really rock out. I enjoyed the album all the way through. My only complaint is that is it too short.

Solid british Rock!

New to me and I like it. Not surprised to see Rick Rubin as producer. I like pretty much everything he produces.

Now this rocks! I hadn't heard of this band before, and after an initial listen I'm quite excited to listen more to it! It is very classic hard rock or maybe even sleezeish. Very melodic, with great riffs and the singer's screams of "Yeah" scratches my brain real good. Really liked this album and am going to a song from it to my playlists!

Not sure if it’s actually meant tongue in cheek but either way I Enjoyed this one. Bad fun, THPS 4 anyone?