Electric is the third album by British rock band the Cult, released in 1987. It was the follow-up to their commercial breakthrough Love. The album equalled its predecessor's chart placing by peaking at number four 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). 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. 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).".
“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
Wow, was decent until Born to Be Wild. Oof.
possibly the worst album i’ve ever listened to its so bad, guns and roses dupe, awful, trash
genuinely the most uninteresting genre
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.
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.
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
Hard rock
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.
Very fun listen!
Genres: Hard rock, blues rock, gothic rock, R&B, glam metal Formed: Bradford, England in 1983 Run time: 11 songs, 38 min, 52 sec The third album by the British rock band. Combining the distinct vocals of lead singer Ian Astbury with the instrumentals makes the group's music identifiable within a few bars of starting a song. The album is essentially about love, lust and embracing life to the full. Spotify: Least popular song: >800k Most popular song: almost 22M plays. Track 1, “Wild Flower” is said to be about love. It is actually describing lust and its effects. Track 2, “Peace Dog” is critical about war and its glorification and how peace is sometimes portrayed as a dirty word. Track 3, “Lil’ Devil” is about being drawn to a bad girl and the excitement and danger she might bring to the protagonist's life. Track 4, “Aphrodisiac Jacket” uses abstract imagery to describe an energy driving life and pushing through obstacles. Track 5, “Electric Ocean” describes being drawn to something dangerous. Track 6, “Bad Fun” describes embracing life by being wild and reckless. Track 7, “King Contrary Man” discusses the desire for extraordinary experiences without considering the consequences. Track 8, “Love Removal Machine” the song begins by mentioning a “red room” and a “scarlet woman”, which suggests to me this is about an encounter with a professional lady. She provides sexual excitement but not the love the obsessed protagonist seeks . Track 9, “Born To Be Wild” is a great cover of the Steppen Wolf song. It is, however, very similar in style to the original. Track 10, “Outlaw” is about a man rebelling against authority and social norms. He takes out his anger on small towns, suggesting he’s not as tough as he makes out. Track 11, “Memphis Hip Smoke”. Memphis Hip is a dance move associated with Rock ‘n’ Roll. This is a great album with some fantastic songs. Definitely worth a listen. If you get to see the Cult live, they still know how to Rock and they sound exactly the same. Amazing. Listen Again?: Yes My Rating: ****
Gros rock pour le genre de band année 80 . Très bon, pas trop long, ac cogne et c'est parfait comme ca. 4.5
Rock n roll bb
I weirdly like this more than I probably should. Don't normally have any time for cock rock, but this doesn't put my hackles up. Maybe it's the splash of goth in the mix. That "Born to be Wild" cover isn't great though, eh? Fave tracks - "Wild Flower" is a fun opener, and "Love Removal Machine" was good too...
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.
Doubt i will ever give this one another spin, but as a one-off eighties-hard-rock amusement this one definitely rocks
I'm reaching the 700 albums listened to here and was missing this kind of Hardrock. Maybe it is my mood or the fact that I got too much country and electronic music and didn't get enough glam/hard rock yet, but the energy around this album is all I enjoyed when I discovered this kind of music. I'll surely listen to more of The cult, even knowing Wikipedia that this release is different from their previous albums. By the way, his producer's Wikipedia description of this album as a mix of AC/DC and Led Zepellin is quite accurate for reference. Nice job, mister Rick Rubin.
Normally I don't like it when every song on an album sounds the same, but this was awesome. Best song is "Love Removal Machine" but after hearing the whole album, I think that's because it was the first song of theirs I'd ever heard.
Great voice, great album
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.
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).
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.
Good alternative to the hair metal of the time
Hadn’t listened to much of the cult before, pleasantly surprised by this one, up their with the best hard rock albums I’ve heard.
Tof hardrock album. Niet erg speciaal of opvallend, maar heb er mij wel mee geamuseerd
Classic, if fairly mainstream, rock. No surprise to find out Rick Rubin was involved. A few great songs, and possibly the worst cover version I have ever heard, but on the whole really good. Not five stars, but way too good for three!
It's '80s rock in the same vein as Guns 'n' Roses, so if you're into that then you'll probably enjoy this. The sound reminded me a lot of Danzig, at times, which is odd as I haven't thought about them in many years. Something which I haven't seen other people talking about is the impressive production quality of the whole thing. The guitars sound massive and the drums are powerful, but that's perhaps not too surprising when you consider that Rick Rubin was at the helm.
punchy, sounded like a group of friends jamming out in the garage on a Saturday night! I liked this album a lot but could have left out the cover of Born to be Wild without missing anything in my opinion. 3.5*
Love Removal Machine and Born to Be Wild was a solid 1-2 punch. Good album overall! Songs like Peace Dog & Outlaw felt a little repetitive.
Had a couple of classics on there.
This was a fun album and it was easy to get into and enjoy. The singer has the typical 80’s rock and roll voice that compliments the music so well. I don’t think I would listen to this regularly, but I can appreciate some of the forefathers of hard rock and roll and their contributions to the genre.
Cheesy & predictable, but somehow more fun than I had any right to expect
pretty good, for hairmetal, though there's not a lot of variety to the music.
Hard rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
Not particularly innovative but it rocks
Definitely uncool and working in established tropes, but tbh flat out rocks hard
Some great 80s rock. TIL The Cult did a cover of Born to be Wild... Not huge on it. Good finish.
Rather enjoyed. Great 80s rock. 4/5
Sounds like a perfect Lost Boys soundtrack
I'm into the 80s glam rock sound, but that Born to Be Wild cover is the kind of mistake that casts a shadow over the whole project. I shudder just thinking about it. Best track: Wild Flower
Situat entre 'Love', on van sublimar i donar per acabada la seva etapa gótica, i 'Sonic Temple', que els va impulsar a la primera divisió de bandes de rock als 80, 'Electric' és més un meritori exercici de génere que una obra mestra del rock, com de vegades se l'ha volgut catalogar. Les seves virtuts són les pròpies de la banda: riffs potents, composicions originals i diferents, i la veu inigualable d'Astbury
This sounds like a generic 80's rock album, trying to be the next ACDC. Electric starts off strong then falls flat early in and turns to average riffs and samey-songs, although I cannot deny some songs are pretty perfect. Astbury's vocals are nothing special and sound rather generic, this is a mountain of consistency. Favorites: Wild Flower / Peace Dog / Lil' Devil / Outlaw
generic hard rock
Overall a decent album but can't understand why it's on the list
Parece divididos
+1 for "Love Removal Machine" -1 for "Born to Be Wild" 3/5
Buttrock with eyeliner!
Pure fun rock and roll. Fave tracks, Electric Ocean and Love Removal Machine.
Awesome guitar riffs. Great heavy metal, but nothing original.
That was unexpectedly good. I was expecting dumb hard rock from late 80s and that’s exactly what I got only it somehow sounded really good. I wonder what made the difference and I think that it was this characteristic vocal tone. I read that they were doing more gothic stuff before making this record so that makes sense. It made the album stand out among all of the bands that sounded almost exactly the same. A nice dose of refreshing fun. Only the Born to be wild cover is reaaaally bad. 3.5/5
Sött
Pretty decent hard rock with some cool moments
Quality 80s rock that thankfully doesn’t sound too 80s. I don’t think I need to return to this one but it was fun Great album cover. Great guitar work 3
Nice rock music that wasn’t too hard/heavy.
Rick Rubin worked his magic. This is a really good 80s hard rock album. Up until the last two tracks, I was ready to give it a 4. But those last two tracks made me reevaluate the album again…twice. And the more I listen, the more it sounds like AC/DC’s little brothers. It just sounds a bit derivative in the end.
I don't know what The Cult sounded like on their first two albums, but apparently their third album, "Electric," embraced a hard rock style that strayed from their gothic roots. It seems that producer Rick Rubin may be to thank for that. Rubin was incredibly influential in the evolution of hip hop in the early 80s before becoming a hard rock hitmaker, but "Electric" seems like a bit of a miss compared to his catalog. It has almost all of the hallmarks of 80s hard rock, but it's missing something that is hard to place. I think it lacks catchiness? Singer Ian Astbury has the vocal wails to fit the genre. The guitars and drums are fine, if unspectacular. But there are no bombastic choruses that get stuck in your head despite your best efforts. In fact, the catchiest song is "Born to be Wild," a cover of a Steppenwolf song written by Mars Bonfire that doesn't quite match the original. Steppenwolf gets no placement on the 1001, and I'm not sure The Cult needed to be either.
It's funny, I know one album quite well by The Cult, but only one. I've never heard any of these before. You have to say the guitar is slammin' and just a great rock sound throughout alongside the driving drums. This is a hard partying, hard working band. But, it lacked the emotion of songs like "She Sells Sanctuary" for me. Were the ones I love better or just attached to memories. I can't say for sure.
I honestly think that going from a post punk band to a hard rock band feels a bit like they’re getting worse as a band in my opinion. I’m honestly not a big fan of the band or anything so this might be better than the post punk stuff but this is generic as fuck 3/5.
Generic 80s hair band stuff that I enjoyed until I got to their cover of Born to Be Wild, which is so laughably bad that it made me realize that I could have spent today listening to a better 80s hair band
If you asked an AI audio model to generate a hard rock album from 1987 this is what it would give you
Rubin communes with the gloriously dumb, to a production certainty that covers many other uncertain sins.
THE cliche 80s rock. Time capsule record right here. This should he a soundtrack to a retro 80s movie.
I'd say an average hard rock album. At some point I couldn't even distinguish when one song ended and another started.
Not for me but not as headache inducing as expected
Makes me want to wash my trans am
Listened Before? N These guys are great hard rockers. Similar to AC/DC in the US with a better vocalist. I enjoyed this album, and I wasn't familiar with any of the songs other than the big hit "Love Removal Machine". I will say, I do like the vocalist but his voice gets a bit old IMO. Also, the cover of Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" is horrible. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Love Removal Machine
AC/DC style riff rock with Jim Morrison vocals. I like it. Electric Ocean reminds me of Alice in Chains and the Cult is likely an influence for them.
2 3
Wasn't very interested in this album, it has some good energy and the vocals are not bad, but it doesn't have anything to make it more than a generic British rock album. Final thoughts: Eh. Generic. Genre: Hard rock, 1987. Rating: 3.1/5
usually classic rock is offensively bland. This was just bland, so that is a plus. Shouldn't have read the review about the yeahs before listening, it was all i could hear!
Pretty standard popular 80s rock. You have the edgy band members with the I don’t care attitude jamming out. But in all that edginess, they still cover a song that’s a classic about being wild. That doesn’t seem wild to me. That’s why this album is good but nothing great. 6.4/10
very fun album! 3*
Seems like pretty standard 80's rock. Nothing really stood out to me.
Reminds me of Danzig. This is an above standard Hard-Rock album. However, it gets quite monotonous after about 3/4. 3.5/5
Regular stuff
This surprised me. My first thought was ok, let's get this over with.... But, surprisingly - I enjoyed it. I even liked their version of Born to be Wild. I do know the Cult, and I think I have heard one of their other albums, but I look forward to listening to this one again. Strong first listen. 3/5
3.4
Some songs sound like they have AC/DC style riffs. Pretty damn good. Had no clue I was going to like this! 3.5
Didnt have the one song i know but still enjoyable rock and big hats
Mid tempo riff-rock, with some nifty guitar solos and a gruff sounding vocalist. It's all a tad to mainstream sounding for a band that named themselves "The Cult". Also I couldn't really hear much of the words but I'm pretty sure I haven't missed anything that important.
3.5. I haven't listened to much of their stuff before, and this was good fun
Holy ACDC!! But while the guitar riffs are very similar, I prefer Ian Astbury's voice, and the lyrics aren't as dumber down. 100,000 more Canadians bought this than Brits!
All the songs sound the same but it's a good heavy beat.
3/5. I did enjoy this album, and it's glam and hard rock vibes. Definitely trying to be multiple different bands but hey, it was fun to listen to. The songwriting, pretty basic, but they rocked out and the production was amazing. Felt fresh and new despite the 80's release date.
Court, solide, efficace
Never had listened to the Cult. Pretty standard 80s hard rock. I really liked the vocalist, reminded me of Danzig.
3.5 would be a4 if I liked 80s Rick more
They are very competent, this is a good band, but they feel like if Danzig's voice was boring, or Led Zeppelin was less charismatic. Born to be Wild is a rock standard, but I don't see myself listening to the rest of the album again.
3,5
Ach, toto som nepocul roky a pritom to bol celkom smak
Very good. Doesn’t age that badly.
Perhaps the most generic hard rock I've ever heard. 6/10
6/10. I quite liked this one
I hear Guns n Roses, AC DC and Led Zepp tones in there. Was decent
A fun listen yet again. Might listen again, born to be wild is a banger.
First thought was it sounded rather generic. But it won me over, would have loved to hear this stuff live.
Tykkäsin! Muutaman 2000-luvun bändin selkeä esikuva.
After second o third song is kind of the same thing Bad Fun is very badass
Mix of classic and new age rock. Hint of inxs .