Electric

Just basic and stuff I’ve already heard before

Another album the English are begging the rest of the world to take seriously. Unfortunately for them, in the USA, we are up to our tits in generic rock bands. Coming out in '86, I can't even say these guys were ahead of the curve.

This is a great album! I remember hearing this when it was released Love Removal Machine is a terrific song. Good to listen to it again!

It was kind of fun but it also kind of sucks too

Better than average dumb 80s rock, bit it's still dumb 80s rock.

When this album was first released, I remember thinking, “What the fuck happened to The Cult?” Listening to it today, I feel similarly. It did make me go back and listen to their earlier albums just to convince myself I wasn’t crazy, so I did technically get something out of it. The Cult are great musicians and their earlier work was compelling post punk and gothic mashups. This album was their first foray into a more mainstream hard rock or metal sound. It isn’t bad, but it sure isn’t great either. To save anyone who feels similarly, it only gets worse from here. This is actually a tough one for me to rate. There so pretty damn good guitar playing and again most songs are not bad there are just much better examples of what The Cult is trying to do here, maybe 2.5*.

Unexpectedly enjoyed this.

1985's Love is a foundational text in the Kyle Ryan Alternative Awakening, but for whatever reason, I never really heard Electric. I was super psyched when Sonic Temple came out, even though it sounded so different. Electric would've eased the transition between Love and Sonic Temple for me. I prefer the gothier Love vs. the RAWK of Electric, Sonic Temple, and what followed, but I still like this. Ian Astbury has a great voice, though he's never had much to say lyrically, and Billy Duffy is one of the guitar greats. I would deduct a star for the inessential cover of "Born to Be Wild," but I'm not that petty.

I was excited to see this as the selection - I recall liking The Cult in their quasi hair metal days of Fire Woman and Sweet Soul Sister only to find out later they were proto-alternative mainstays on the local alternative rock station. Unfortunately this album sucked.

Well this was a 4 then it somehow dragged on too long and an odd choice to cover Magic Carpet Ride happened. 3

7/10 Favourite: Wild Flower Least Favourite: King Contrary Man

Shit hot cock rock from England, better than almost anything I heard coming from that Sunset Strip scene of hair metal poodles in the 80s. Hard, fast, loud, kinda lame but pure 100% rockin! Big dumb fun, and sometimes that's all you need. Fun fact: the guitarrist used to be in a band with Morrissey. Small world! Best song: ¨Outlaw¨

I think these guys like to fuck. If you put “80s Rock” into a really good AI generator, it’d spit out a reasonable facsimile of this album. Nothing particularly original but it’s a lot of fun. Most of the songs are built off of great little riffs, they would’ve been a blast to see live in a smallish venue in the 80s.

3.4 yeahh-aha-ahs out of 5. I dont think the cult really gets their due now-a-days (for the first three albums at least). For this rock offering, I thinks its pretty solid. Duffy's guitar work is really great and there are a ton of good riffs throughout. Ian Astbury seems like a pretty cool frontman. The few singles stand out and the rest is fine besides born to be wild which sure drags

This was pretty easy to listen to. Not a single track stood out, though. Favourite Track(s): King Contrary Man, Memphis Hip Snake Least Favourite Track(s): Outlaw

I could not tell you why I liked this so much compared to other hard rock from this list, but I did. I dunno, it had heart.

Very good.

It's passable hard rock but honestly not nearly as memorable as their contemporaries. The Apple bio even states they were AC/DC emulators, hard to carve out your own niche when that's your identity. I did like a couple songs, like Bad Fun with its rumbling guitars does sound like the train in the song, and Wild Flower is enjoyable. But this hardly seemed necessary.

The Cult's career trajectory has always struck me as an oddity. They started as a gothic, post-punk act that saw commercial success with their second album, Love, buoyed by the single "She Sells Sanctuary". As they were writing and recording the follow-up, tentatively titled Peace, they grew tired of the reverb and wall of noise sound they were known for at the time. They opted to switch their style and image towards the hard rock of their influences, like the Doors, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC, and sought out producer Rick Rubin to remix at least the lead single for their next record, "Love Removal Machine." Instead, Rick criticized the use of guitar effects the band employed, and gave them a bold ultimatum: "Do you guys wanna make English pussy music, or do you want to rock?" Thus, the album was re-recorded with Rubin as their new producer, and this new direction resulted in the third record, Electric. As someone who enjoys gothic rock, I could recognize some hard rock tendencies that The Cult utilized in their early records, so I can somewhat understand the progression they went toward. I also enjoy some cheesy hard rock, and this album is no exception. The aforementioned "Love Removal Machine", "Wild Flower", "Bad Fun", "King Contrary Man", "Outlaw", and "Memphis Hip Shake" all fit that penchant, as Ian Astbury belted out alongside Billy Duffy's flash-in-the-pan guitar soloing, and the tight rhythm section from Jamie Stewart and Les Warner. If the band and Rubin's goal was to emulate AC/DC as closely as possible, I say they got there for the most part. The only problem is that even my love for cheesy hard rock has its limits. I didn't care much for the word salad that was "Aphrodisiac Jacket", and "Peace Dog" saw the band ham-fistedly rip at their previous 1960s counterculture-influenced image. But easily the worst of this record comes in their cover of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild", where the slower tempo and Ian's warbly delivery did not mesh well at all for this song. It's not like you couldn't accomplish a heavier cover of this song. When Slade, Riot, Blue Öyster Cult, and even Link Wray got their covers right, you have no excuse. Still, Electric was a fun record overall. The Cult would continue to employ the hard rock style in their career, and even return to their gothic roots for more recent records. But at this point, they certainly struck a formula.

I know everyone loves this band and I’m trying to give this a fair listen, but it’s never done much for me. Ok, this cover of born to wild does nothing for me.

Wild flower

Couple good guitar solos - nothing I will choose to listen to again

A very good album but I need to pull back on the number of starts so I can reserve the 4 and 5 stars for true standouts. These guys absolutely have a very recognizable sound and catchy tunes but nothing that ever made them a favorite... Unlike my friend Kiok who is a big fan. Still sort of shocking The Stones never called them out on copying Start Me Up for the opening riff of Love Removal Machine. A fun listen for sure but nothing about it blows me away musically or vocally.

I can't listen to The Cult without thinking of Beavis and Butthead talking about tattoos (I wish I had been born with one). I wanted to be dismissive of this album but ended up listening to it four times. Minus the unnecessary Born to Be Wild cover, it really grew on me.

I did not appreciate The Cult enough when I was younger. They weren’t as heavy as the other metal bands that I was listening to at the time. As I’ve gotten older, I realized what a great band they are. 3.5 stars

Kaks ekaa biisi

It's fine, it's just not my thing.

It's somewhat generic and that Steppenwolf cover is really bad, but this is the kind of no bullshit hard rock that scratches the dumb caveman part of my brain. I'll take this over techno any day.

C’était génial comme écoute

The album was refreshing to hear as it is not the genre I would usually listen to.

i’ve never really like this dude’s voice, and this really hit that point home for me

didn't love it didn't hate it but didn't like it either 6.95/10 2/5 holy mid

I'll never complain about hearing these songs but, equally, I wouldn't seek them out.

This band is great. A blend of of AC/DC and van Halen, but i might like it s little better than either of those bands? The singer’s voice is memorable. The instrumentation is well-executed and muscular. Not quite a 4, but a strong 3.

good album all

Back in 2019, I attended a metal/metal adjacent music festival, and one of the bigger ticket acts was set to be electronic and big beat group The Prodigy. However, The Prodigy's vocalist, Keith flint tragically died a couple of months prior, so the band understandably called out. Who did the promoters and organizers settle on to replace this punky, hard-edged electronic act in the middle of a metal skewed festival? None other than The Cult. While The Cult is, in fact a hard rock, or even heavy metal band, the vibe of the festival skewed a little more modern and a little heavier. Basically, The Cult's vibe was way off. And, long story short, they played a perfectly decent ~50 minute set to a crowd that was just not into it. And ever since watching them fight for their lives up there, I've kind of rooted for The Cult as underdogs, even if I don't really listen to them much at all. But, even with my predisposition of sympathy towards The Cult, this album just doesn't do it. And it hurts even more because The Cult were actually kind of interesting before this. Their first couple albums were still, I'd say, around the hard rock pocket, but with a distinct goth rock slant that resulted in some pretty cool music. This style got them some mainstream success on Love in 1985, and it's been a while since I've checked that album out, but just after a quick refresher, it's pretty good stuff. Unfortunately, after this, The Cult pretty much threw everything unique about their sound out the window, and gave the world Electric. Which is about as boilerplate a hard rock album as I can imagine. I honestly expected to like this a little more than I did, but I just wasn't feeling it at all. I get the sense that a lot of these songs would be fine on their own, even if I'm still not convinced that they'd be great. But sequenced together, they just run into each other and create homogeneous hard rock mash. Even Love Removal Machine, a song I remember liking, was not really that exciting or interesting to me in the contest of the album, even if it *is* pretty catchy. And the Born To Be Wild cover just didn't need to happen at all. I will say, the one song I did actually like was Memphis Hip Shake, which has a really interesting, snaky, start-stop riff, punctuated by a great drum stomp. It's some great, groovy hard rock. But as the last song here, it's also too little, too late. And it can't save this album. I almost feel bad for this, but I really felt like I was waiting most of this album out, and that's never a good sign.

Boring

Dunno what the deal with this album is. The singer sometimes sounds like Danzig, which is kinda cool, but otherwise it sounds like also-ran cock rock. Which can be fun, but this kind of sucks. Wait, that's not fair: it's perfectly competent, but it doesn't rise to the level of Real Fun that I'd expect from this kind of thing. Back of the pack fodder, but can understand why it made an impact on the youth who heard it at the right time. You know what really sucks ass, though? That "Born To Be Wild" cover. Practically art in its deficiency.

Really fun! :)

This absolutely rocks. Never heard it before. Going on high rotation for sure.

I think I was in a bad mood when I started listening to this, it maybe just not on the right mood? Or maybe this list has thrown one too many classic rock/metal albums in quick succession and I'm a bit bored of the genre. I might come back at another time to go over this again, but for now it's a non starter for me.

By their third album, The Cult had become a caricature of themselves. This is tired, generic rock. Their second album, Love ,would have been a better inclusion if only for She Sells Sanctuary.

It’s weird hearing Ian Astbury sing on an AC/DC record. Still not a bad record, though. Has a few gems.

Not much to say here really. Drummer, bassist, guitarist, singer. GO! And they do, and it is great, and The Cult remains one of my all time favorite "rock-n-roll" bands of all time. Clearly they are highly professional, the lyrics are often deep, they have the distinction of "one of my all time favorite songs" and yeah... Like I said, kinda not much to say in how more or less simple they really are. But I mean ... damn!

This sucks, sell outs - stylistic change from previous records

Hair metal is not usually my thing, although Born to Be Wild is an all-time classic, and it's nigh impossible not to nod to it. Nice work, guys.

imagine a rock album. yeah this is it

This was pretty boring. I'm not familiar with this band or if they had a significant impact on anything, but I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the sound. It's in the same vein as other hard-rock from the era (AC/DC seems to be a relevant reference), not super imaginative. Everything felt very obvious, maybe a good time at a bar, but not so much an attentive listen.

I'm not a big fan of The Cult. I've never really understood why they're so beloved, even though I really like some of their albums. I discovered this band through "She Sells Sanctuary" (featured on the GTA Vice City soundtrack), and from then on I started listening to their albums more deeply, and undeniably, they're all very good. On this album in particular, I loved the cover of "Born To Be Wild," but the entire structure of the album is very consistent and fun to listen to. 4 stars is fair.

Great album, classic

The most generic 80s rock album imaginable.

What even is Hard Rock? This doesn't seem very hard to me. Anyway, it's pretty annoying. All the songs sound the same and not great. I don't think any are bad other than Born To Be Wild, but still. None are very good.

This is an okay album. Rick Rubin keeps the sound consistent throughout, but not my cup of tea sound-wise. I do like Wild Flower as an opener, but most everything else sounds like its just a vehicle for the musicians rather than anything about the music itself. Add to that a bad cover of Born To Be Wild,

Hardrock Enthält "Born to be Wild", das gefällt mir aber besser von Steppenwolf.

solid album

Boring 80s rock by numbers. Why not a proper Cult album?

No me ha gustado no me gusta este genero en los 80.

boringg

5 from me

My formative years. Should have been a hair metal biker.

Dad rock. As energetic and yelly as you’d expect. I enjoyed how the singer let himself be taken away in “Electric Ocean,” really gave the song the electricity they were looking for I bet. All solid songs, no complaints.

I'm on-board with these guys and I like their style. If you want nice grooves and tap-along beats, then this is for you. It's fun, upbeat, nicely put together, and with assured energy and personality in the vocals. A real nice, upbeat, uncomplicated time. 3.5 rounded up.

Barely two songs into this album and I already know everything I need to know about it. This is without a doubt the most unnecessary add to the list that I've gotten so far (250ish albums in). It wasn't a really big practice back when this came out, but this reminds me of the stuff Nickelback would do. Basically workshop an album until it is the most boringly middle of the road slop that "anyone" could enjoy. The difference is, at least Nickelback had How You Remind Me. To be fair, apparently The Cult started outside a goth rock/post punk band? I'd much rather listen to that then this lowest common denominator hard rock music that doesn't have a single unique idea in it. Overall, it's not bad, per-se, which is why it's not getting a 1. It's just beyond derivative and boring. This thing was made in 1987? Only two years away from Nirvana? Way to fuckin date yourself immediately. And they're aping the 70's, not even trying to cash in on hair/glam metal. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Aerosmith was doing this stuff better back in the seventies. If I were to re-do this list, this honestly would be the first album I'd drop from the list, and it isn't even close. At least every other album I'd drop has *something* unique about it. There is no originality to be found here. If there's ever an album that feels like it got on purely because the band is British, it's this one. Why there needs to be a 70's throwback album from 1987 on the list confuses me.

Fairly by the numbers hard rock from 1987, but not unpleasant. I think they should have included their previous album, Love, as opposed to this one, but I understand the logic. This is the one that propelled the Cult to stardom.

I was disappointed. Thought I’d like this

Boring, I was bored.

Solid,high energy. Reminded me a bit of Aerosmith in places. Like the singers voice. 3*

The fact that anyone considers this badass is hilarious to me. 2/5

Not sure why this album was on this list. It was meh, and I had to downgrade it by a star due to the band's rendition of Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf and thousands of cover bands did it better!

It is serious Rock, but it isn't exactly 'Love' ('85). They probably come closest on "Love Removal Machine." It's not an unlistenable record; it embodies the driving sound of the genre, but, really, so much so that this one doesn't really stand out amongst the crowd.

Classic rock meh Don't mind it but wouldn't listen again in a hurry

Not bad but l preferred their previous album

Pub Rock at best. Nothing outstanding on this album.

Didn't do too much for me, but maybe if I'd grown up listening to it it would have been different

Not much uniqueness here

Not a patch on its predecessor, fun nonetheless. More commercial and rock oriented, The Cult discovered ACDC’s chords laying around and used them to good effect.

pretty nice 80s rock but doesn't stand out to me.

Shoutout rick, shoutout reinhard, shoutout me. Bornnnn to be wiiiiilllllddd. FOUR!

Good dirty blues rock. Similar to Aerosmith and Guns N Roses with some New York Dolls swagger thrown in.

Solid rock. Butt rock even, but solid stuff.

Solid rock-album with nothing remarkable on. Just because of "Love Removal Machine" I give it weak three stars. 2,5

Good power rock album. Really like the lead singer's voice. 4/5

A raw, stripped-down hard rock sound full of swagger and muscle, driven by blues-based riffs, pounding rhythms, and snarling, soaring vocals.

Love is their essential album. This is good though…

As a big fan of 70s classic rock this one was kind of underwhelming. Plenty of significantly better albums from that decade

Cool rock album although I wouldn't listen to it on a regular basis.

I was not previously familiar with this album. This is some good guitar rock. Nothing here is remarkable, but it's good for what it is. I would listen again because I enjoy rock.

Not the best Cult album, but

Perhaps it’s a generational thing, but every song on this record sounds, to me, like “She Sells Sanctuary”, just with different tempos. Ian Astbury… great singer, but he’s found a style and stuck with it. Great pipes, not much depth.

Rock and/or roll!

Run of the mill hard rock, kinda like budget AC/DC. Not bad, but not super memorable either.

Not bad, but very generic hard rock at a time when everything had already been done

This was pretty good for what it is. 3.6

Never heard of this band. It sounded a bit generic at times but overall great vocals

Great 80s hair rock

Meh

not bad

Not bad, but unremarkable

Mid. Perfectly fine, but nothing really stands out here.

One the best rock n roll albums of all time that nobody knows about. In my top 5.

Liked the energy level , the rifts are fun and the blue influence is up my alley … fun stufff

Me gustó, muy notorio y bien aplicado el rock de época, me gustó la tapa que también denota la época del lanzamiento del album

What a great surprise. It does so much with so little. Rocks so hard. "Oh yeahhhhhhhh."

Didn’t hate it but did get bored, this whole album is like one long song

Not sure how I've never listened to an entire album of theirs, but I'm sure glad I finally have. This is pure vocal and guitar arena rock !

This was cool. I listened while hungover so that almost killed me but worth running back

Around the end 2013 or so, EDM crossed over from a novel/trendy sound, to something over saturated and tired. Anyone trying to get in on a club banger or progressive house festival anthem was sniffed out for their authenticity. I’d imagine that hair metal had the same timeline of events towards the end of the 80’s. This album felt like it was trying to cash in on the hair metal sound/aesthetic. A bad cover of “Born To Be Wild” was shoehorned near the end was a practical admission that The Cult couldn’t hold a pop song on their own. Rick Rubin even back then, you were better than this. A waste of a spot imo 2/5.

Enjoyed it, but almost certainly won’t go back to it either.

I think I watched these at a school battle of the bands once. Of all the albums i've ever heard this is definitely one of them.

gothic rock, post-punk, 80s alt rock. all very cool styles. styles this band dabbled in on their last album. all that got scrapped in favor of meatheaded hard rock with the involvement of Rick Rubin. i should be mad that i have to listen to hard rock instead of all that fun stuff on their sophomore album, but i'm not. i think deliberately hitting yourself in the head with a rock can be a fun time! i'm not above stupid crap. it's kinda funny to imagine a world where Swans just said "HaHaHa fuck you" in 2001 and made I Get Wet instead of Andrew WK. but this does fuck! it's pretty much what i want in 80s hard rock sleaze! not an original bone in its body, but the depth of sellout is compelling enough to bring me back around. this is backhanded as fuck but i kinda love this for its sheer trashiness and antagonism towards taste and originality. deserves to be one of the 1001? i mean Love certainly looks a hellofa lot more interesting.. and the fans of the band like it a lot more too. so yeah idk why this was the pick lmao

Very good.

Really old school rock

I never listened to anything before Sonic Temple but I really enjoyed this.

Siento que si bien suena genial y poderoso, no es nada nuevo? Siento que no logra destacar. Nota: 2.9

Good hard rock that I never knew existed (or never bothered listening to because I thought the were the Cure). My bad.

Favorites: Wild Flower, Aphrodisiac Jacket, Love Removal Machine I kinda hated this one. This album feels like they tried to make Spinal Tap a real band but forgot to make it funny, which prompts the question, what day did God create Electric, and couldn't he have rested on that day too? 3.5/10

I remember this coming out and The Cult reinventing themselves with it. Didn’t make a massive impact on me at the time but the rock press creamed over it, and obviously the singles were played everywhere. It’s a solid enough, rock and roll-by-numbers album. The no frills Rick Rubin production is good. A lot of the songs fall short though. The Born To Be Wild cover is completely unnecessary too. When this came up I initially thought 3/5. Now I’m listening to it again, it has to be a 2 for me.

really classic-rock vibe..., not a huge fan of this specific genre but i enjoyed it nonetheless

This chugs along nicely. Nods to the likes of AC/DC, Skynyrd, ZZ Top.

Du hard rock à cheveux long extrêmement générique. Tout y est fadasse et déjà entendu, plat et sans aucune inventivité. C’est plutôt bien exécuté, mais parfaitement dispensable.

I like the Cult. I Enjoyed Aphrodisiac Jacket off this one.

This is a face-melting, rock-anthem-filled treasure; it is dirty, loud, and built for the stage. “Love Removal Machine,” “Wild Flower,” and “Lil’ Devil” deliver the swagger, while their cover of “Born to Be Wild” (which absolutely brought the house down when I saw them in 1988ish - with Guns N’ Roses opening, no less!) sealed the deal. It’s raw, it’s loud, and it’s still one of the purest hard rock statements of the 1980s.

Generic blunt dad rock. The cult has better albums that this one

Not a bad album, but definitely lacks in quality. At least it was easy to get through. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again

Can't get any more white bread rock than this album. This is god-awful.

Snoozefest

Feels like a 40 minute AC/DC song, but it's good

Its certainly rock 'n' roll. It is perfectly fine, but I have no clue why its on this list

The same boring dad rock pastiche that Ac/dc did years before this band, so zero profit there. Unlike Ac/dc, The Cult actually has a decent vocalist.

Great to fall asleep to.

I used to have a neighbor who spent nearly everyday working on his car in his driveway. His garage was filled with other random stuff. This was a middle aged man with kids, and he had a Scarface poster in his garage. If he listened to music while he was working on his car, I imagine it would be this album

It was enjoyable for me. Even if I won't remember any song from it except of born to be wild

4/5

There's a stripped down rawness while also being slick at the same time that just emanates from this album. Pure guitar riff driven rock at its best. It's a shame we only have one of their albums on this list ("Sonic Temple" should probably also be on here, but I guess they need to make room for Spacemen 3, or some other bullshit). Fast forward almost 40 years and this album has aged incredibly well compared to most of their American glam rock counterparts from the 1980s.

This is straight up, no frills rock and roll. Ian Astbury's voice was made for this style of music. Good stuff through and through.

Most of the lyrics to the songs on Electric seem like a word jumble, while some are kind of elementary. I think that’s what the Cult wanted to do. After being more of an alt-goth rock band, they went to Rick Rubin & asked him to make them sound more like hair metal that was popular at the time. Instead, Rubin asked, “Do you guys like AC/DC?” & they were off to the races. Electric is about the riffs, while the charisma of lead singer Ian Astbury helps sell the sometimes goofy lyrics. Pair Astbury with the riff machine Billy Duffy & you have a recipe for rock success. There isn't a bad song on the album, except for maybe their cover Born To Be Wild, which is not the Cult’s fault; I just hate that song. Wild Flower rules. Peace Dog is an anti-war song, I think. Love Removal Machine is a great title for a great song. This album just rocks hard. If you’ve never heard the Cult, this album is a good place to start. Then you’ll be converted.

Nothing memorable, but enjoyed it 3/5

In paper, The Cult should be one of my favorite bands. They are a hard rock group with a gothic sensitivity. However, I haven't really clicked with them apart from their most iconic singles. This is a fun album to listen to, but I can't actually recognize most of the songs.

That was certainly an album

review en español cause idgaf Buen álbum, no el mejor de su estilo en la historia pero si alguien lo pone no me quejaría

Standard guitar rock

Kinda dull 80s metal. A couple good songs, but the rest is disposable. 2/5

Before this album, I only knew She Sells Sanctuary, which is a fascinating mix of punk and gothic, with some pop production. This, though, is not that. This is polished metal, shiny and smooth. It's consumer grade. This was cast, then buffed to remove any character. I know I criticize thrash a lot, and I'm not a metal guy, but that's because I find the sound inherently unsettling. I still respect the artistry. This has that weird, flavorless smoothness that only comes from focus groups. And yet, I'm still going to rate it above all that thrash, because that means it's hard to really hate. I would never notice this "metal" if it was mall music. And I think that's more insulting than anything I've said about thrash metal.

Why is this on here? What a stupid waste of time

Not a terribly bad album, I found it reasonnably pleasant to listen, but it's so unoriginal that I’ll have forgotten everything I just heard by the end of the day. Sounds like a generic imitation of every single rock and hard-rock band you’ve ever heard between the late 70s and the late 80s. What’s it doing on this list exactly ?

nothing terrible but just overall fine rock music. high 2

Meh I’ve never loved maximalist electric guitar

i’m disappointed in myself for hearing born to be wild and thinking “it’s the og pamper’s commercial song!”

Fucking heat

Vibes asl but I lowk got distracted

i certainly wasnt in the right headspace to listen to this today. i think i only either like metal or soft rock. pick a side bro.

Къртачка

Boring. I can’t even remember if I finished listening. One song sounded exactly like an AC/DC song

I’ve always been a fan of The Cult. Great rock n roll with a phenomenal lead singer. Great album.

Just a bit generic. Wasn't really interested. Could probably be 3 stars instead of I was in a better mood.

2/5

Very generic but listenable.

It was good! Not something I'd listen to again necessarily but I enjoyed it.

zz top but bad

Don't know why I didn't get into these at the time, think I could have done. But listening to them now, well, they seem a bit tame. It's not bad. I would probably buy it, but mainly because I feel I should have something in my collection. It was a pleasant listen, but I still don't understand the lizard in a bottle.

Far from original or groundbreaking but executed brilliantly. What a vocalist. It’s just a happy goth/rock good time record, and that’s just fine with me.

The follow up to Love, one of the best albums ever made. After aborted sessions, the band chose to go down a harder rock sound. I bought this album in the week it was released. I loved Love Removal Machine, the first single to be released, followed by Lil' Devil, both top tunes. Thw album as a whole was a solid follow up, but the inclusion of the cover of Born To Be Wild was unnecessary. It still gets the odd play now and then. Compared to the Manor Sessions versions of these songs, they have a much harder edge which was in vogue at the time. Which did help their career, but alienate their original fans to a degree. But I still like it.

next up is honestly a pretty straightforward 1980s metal rock album. I can only describe it as metal at its true foundations, distorted guitars and bass, hard hitting drums and loud vocals. what else would you need realistically? in the past these guys started off leaning towards more new wave and alternative endeavors; this entry switches it off for something more simple. the songs are objectively good but it doesn't really stick out to me. that's the only thing preventing me from rating it high, really. it's incredibly earnest, but unremarkable. i've heard at least a few bands that sound exactly like these guys.

Some good riffs amongst a very average rock record

i like :)

Otro de tantos discos mediocres de hard rock de los 80... ¿A quién se le ocurre versionar Born to be Wild?

Tiåret over alle tiår

Good hard rock album. I see no reason to go any further with my review

Good

The first album on this list to actually make me angry I had to listen to it. Absolute dreck

🐣🤷‍♂️

"We have AC/DC in England," they said.

Excellent 80's rock with outstanding vocals. Hard to describe but the singer is really going for it on every line of every song, putting everything he has behind it. It's not something that I would listen to all the time but great for a party mix or when a higher energy mood hits. This is probably what my older sister was listening to when I was a kid, causing my dad to yell at her to turn it down.

1. Wild Flower - 9 Vocals are alright on this track. It has a solid intro and a great guitar solo on the bridge. It's very very of it's era. The late 80s kind of hard yet still pop rock style that appeared out of Britain, also found in artists like Billy Idol. Overall, an enjoyable track. 2. Peace Dog - 6 Instrumentally it's good but lyrically it's a bit lost. It's hard to follow and even harder to understand. 3. Lil' Devil - 7 Bit repetitive but much better and easier to follow than the last track. Lyrically you'll find yourself singing along to the chorus quite a bit. Guitar rounds great on this track. 4. Aphrodisiac Jacket - 9 Song starts well enough. Lyrically it's a bit all over the place but the pausing in the middle of the song feels very unnecessary. Guitar solo is great though as are the drums and the supporting guitar. Really instrumentally a very enjoyable listen. 5. Electric Ocean - 3 Lyrically and instrumentally this song is uninspiring. It's a pass over track. The words have no meaning. Pair this with the fact that the sound isn't as good as the rest on the album and you get a kind of very boring song. 6. Bad Fun - 7 It's a fun song. Lyrically it's a bit simple in it's messaging, which is a theme for the album but the drum line is really fun on this track and the guitar compliments that stutter in between lines brilliantly. Chorus is a lot of fun. Overall a solid track. 7. King Contrary Man - 5 Chorus is boring. Guitar solo is enjoyable. The way the bass guitar is on this reminds me almost of Highway Star by Deep Purple but without a lot of the fun that made that track a classic. The bridge on this track is dull. 8. Love Removal Machine - 4 Elevator music kind of song. Boring, nonsensical, absolutely a pass over track. Guitar solo is the only enjoyable part of the track. 9. Born To Be Wild - 10 An all time classic. Great guitar, brilliant lyrics, awesome track. Not much more needs to be said about it. 10. Outlaw - 10 Another awesome track and the best on the album. Guitar sounds so great with the tempo it leads the track with. Also has a great ending. 11. Memphis Hip Shake - 3 Annoying song. The first half of it very average in both sound and song. Then you get to the ending and it's monotonously repetitive to the point where you're ready for the track to just end. Average Rating: 6.64 Adjusted to a 5-Point Scale: 3.32 Rounded Down: 3

Doesn't raise any bar but still a fun 80s rock romp

= The Beatles

zwei bis drei

I don't really get the hate for this album. Yeah it may not be the best from The Cult but it's a solid rocker. The cover of Born To Be Wild is kind of bad and unnecessary. This may not be a life changing album for anyone but I liked it. Peace Dog and Aphrodisiac Jacket are the two that stand out to me. I think their more gothic-centered stuff is better for sure. This album is pretty straightforward and simple but has some great elements. The guitars are great. Drums sound huge. Good vocals. 80s rock isn't everyone's favorite, myself included, but I liked this album well enough. 3.5/5 but rounding down because it's not good enough to round up.

It’s cool, I like the sound Rick Rubin finds. But this dudes voice might as well be AI generated. He’s boring.

It bamboozles me that someone was thinking of a list of 1001 MUST LISTEN albums and this was what came to mind. It truly sounds like an AI genererated 80s rock album. Wall to wall paint by the numbers rock. Nothing unique, nothing special, no distinct personality, weak instrumentals, and an opening and closing track that are utterly unremarkable. Honestly the 38 mins felt much much longer. Love Removal Machine is not enough to salvage this generic nothing of an album. 1/5

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!

This album is good. The rhythm guitar has more than a passing similarity to AC/DC. Ian Astbury is a powerful singer, but I think these songs are meant to be experienced live. The singles are catchy, the rest rocks, but is a bit forgettable.

metal guapo la vd

man i love the 80s

Groovy and captivating

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

very solid

Yawn...

a 2nd tier hair band has a Billy Idol tribute singer as frontman. Mixing favors the sharp and repetitive snare at a cost of any enjoyment to be squeezed from this generic production

nur weil Rick Rubin produzierte muss es mir nicht gefallen. selbst Born To Be Wild tönt schrottig.

Hard Rock wie aus der AI, aber echt weil damals voll in. Gefällt mir, aber halt etwas verstaubt.

This album was a lesson in the shifting sands of 80s youth tribalism in the UK for me. At the start of the decade all the cool kids were mods, New Romantics and casuals while I was a preteen metal kid provoking ridicule by insisting on headbanging to AC/DC at the swimming club disco. By the time this came out I had moved on and thought it was seriously naff and backwards looking but all the cool kids thought it was the greatest. *Insert 'baffled' meme of choice* Listening now I still think it is a more than slightly ridiculous 3rd generation photocopy of AC/DC, etc. It's fine for about three tracks but it really only has one idea. I also think Love or their first, Dreamtime, and/or an earlier AC/DC album should be in the book rather than this.

Plutôt correct rock

That album listed a whole lot of ass, but I feel like they've got better ones out there.

Wrong album again, Dimery. Either The Cult's previous album, "Love", or the next one, "Sonic Temple", are the "must listen" discs. On "Love", the band was darker and more authentic-sounding. "Sonic Temple" had the smash hits, thanks to the Midas touch of super-producer Bob Rock. "Electric", under the Zen tutelage of Rick Rubin, is a transitional album, streamlining The Cult's sound to something closer to AC/DC than Joy Division. None of it really mattered, though. The whole thing was about to be left in the dust by Guns 'n' Roses.

I feel like I should like The Cult more than I do

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

A big dumb pure classic - love it!

Okay so a pretty short one this album. Its i guess hard rock frim the 80s and after this album i also gave a listen to the “Love” album and that one is imo better. Electric was definitely also good, surprisingly i never heard of them maybe because im not really in the hard rock genre but still great, especially the electric guitar plays holyyy.

I've heard a lot about this band. They have been overhyped. This was passable hair rock, but the singing is strained and the instrumentation somewhat boring.

first listen some good tones but too forgettable

c'est vraiment pas exceptionnel 2/10

2.5/5: Bland and boring - there are much better albums out there from this era and genre. Extra 0.5 stars because they are from Bradford. At this point in the 80s, the riffs and solos had to be better than THIS. Why did we need a cover of Born to be Wild??? I'm off to listen to far better album released in 1987 by another Yorkshire band (Hysteria by Def Leppard). Standout track: - Outlaw: 3/5 - this one had some energy to it.

Okay, didn’t have any stand out tracks for me, felt like just another 80s hair metal band.

nah

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.

If you were a pretentious teenager in the 80s listening to bands like R.E.M., The Cult were the band where you went to get your metal fix. Sufficiently outside the mainstream, but also a straight up loud and aggressive. Love should’ve gotten the spot, but this still hits almost as hard.

Estupendo. Me ha encantado 🤩🤩

yeah it was nothing

The Cult, while influential, has always felt like a tryhard band to me.

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

It's incredible how middle-of-the-road this album is. Like, so generally bland that I think I experienced no emotion throughout the whole album.

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.

Almost a parody of itself

All time fave!

It didn’t blow my mind. It was a nice album to listen to but it didn’t evoke anything from within me

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.

Pure Butt Rock. If this album was a person, it would try to spike your drink while you are in the bathroom.

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

Bad. Not good. Bad. I'm fairly acquainted with their '89 "Sonic Temple" and of course the '85 "She Smells Sanctuary" and I'm not sure I would have recognized this album - from in between those years - as The Cult. Not that "Sonic Temple" was much better, I suspect, outside of my nostalgia, but it had *a sound*. A sleaze. This here has nothing.

My uncle might listen to this while fixing up his car or something, and I wouldn't mind it being on in the background. But I don't really know how to work on cars.

This was a pretty good album. I had a vague recollection from youth that The Cult were not for me, but if the rest of their discography is like this album then I was completely wrong. I could hear the comparisons with AC/DC that others had already made.

Very classic rock

Meh, they are just a mis mash of 80's hair metal rock. Its not bad, but I feel like they don't really stand out as anything special in this genre.

This is some balls out butt rock. At first I liked it... okay yeah this is pretty cool... I guess... meh... it doesn't play well for repeat listens. It's all too samesy for me and I was pretty sick of it by the end. They just have one level of rock awesomeness and that's just what they do. 4 songs in the middle of the album were "not bad": Aprhodisiac Jacket, Electric Ocean, Bad Fun, & King Contrary Man. That cover of Born to Be Wild was awful. It felt like they were trying to bend the song in ways that it really shouldn't.

This kinda felt like British butt rock. Nothing particularly wrong with it, they cranked out some nice guitar riffs and drumbeats, but there was something kind of generic feeling about it to me.

This is hard rock for people who like hard rock. Also, GenXers like myself. 😂

Lidt for generisk rock, britisk 80’er, nede fra pubben

Tis is the 80s MF

3,5, hay cosas acdc, está bueno

The most egregious faux-American accent since John Osbourne started talking about dangerous pigs. This is fine - I never liked the Cult at the time, seeing them as music for poseurs and girls, but this is ok. Solid heavy rock, although it is all a bit samey. Not quite a 4, but a very high 3.

fuckin hard to listen to. guitar is thin and metallic

This is what I imagine when I think of classic hard rock. And I’m not a fan. It’s not something that grabs my interest or attention but feels more like a solid wall of sound. It sounds nice enough but it’s not something I’ll be putting in my playlist.

very standard pub rock

I had no idea these were the She Sells Sanctuary guys, it seemed more like they were aping AC/DC and Van Halen more than putting their own work out there. Its better than a good chunk of the British rock this list has put forth, but maybe because its a departure from those hallmarks. I didnt hate this, but it didnt really stick with me either (that guitar solo in Love Removal Machine is pretty cool though) a lot of the songs just seem familiar due to sounding like more well-known tracks by other bands. I can picture this being played in a pool hall back when they still allowed smoking indoors.

A rare Rick Rubin miss. Just generic hard rock. Bland bland bland. And no She Sells Sanctuary or whatever it’s called?!? Why put a Cult album on here that doesn’t contain their only good song? This strikes me as the authors British upbringing rearing its ugly boring head again

Only knew The Cult from their early 80's goth-leaning singles, so I was utterly unprepared for this incredibly generic, lame hard rock album. Really disappointing bland stuff.

Ok. A bit tedious

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

It was fun, but I think I might be hitting a little bit of classic rock fatigue. Lets get some variety!

King Contrary Man had a really enjoyable breakdown; that was probably my favorite song. Rick Rubin’s fingerprints are everywhere (clean sound mixing and crisp instrumentation), but “Born to Be Wild” is a huge swing and miss. Terrible cover. Edit, one week later: it wasn't that good, now that I think back on it. Knocking a star off.

Born to be Wild should have been left off. It wasn’t a better version for sure. Liked this musically (like they planned). The lyrics flipped between simplistic in a good way and making me feel like they were written by an entry level high school band. The guitar solos were fun but didn’t feel unique to them. It was produced to have a metal sound not because that’s where their art took them but because it was the style of the day and I’m not totally sure how I feel about that… fairly generic if I’m being honest. AI made it

Not for me, didn’t grab my attention.

This one didn’t do it for me. Sounded like Tony Hawk background music. AC/DC knockoff. I liked the Cult’s earlier albums when they were more punk/goth. This album sounded like they were trying too hard to appeal to mainstream American audiences. Boring

Solid, but profoundly unremarkable. I'm sure it sounded dangerous at the time.

While I appreciate the rocking nature especially for late 80s I can't help to think all the songs sound the same. Mostly great on their own but not an Album of diversified themes. Love Ian's voice and their popular hits.

First Price-AC DC

3/5

Not my favorite genre but musicians are obviously skilled.

Favorite Track: Love Removal Machine

Yeah, it was fine. Wouldn't choose to listen to it again but it was fine while it lasted

3/5 just for that cover

Another decent entry

4.5/10 Didn’t like this very much. Initially I thought the route-one hard rock/metal was ok, but it was mid and relentless. Fairly melodic, singing wasn’t annoying. It’s just dumb and not amazing. Best: Lil’ Devil

Nice

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.

On the surface, great stuff. But after a bit Ashburys voice gets old to me. Can’t really explain it

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

Completely generic Hard Rock

A lot of the same type songs. Decent guitar rock but it wears

I read the Wikipedia article and I was expecting like a Sisters of Mercy album, so I guess that’s kinda on me. Listened to some of their other songs after finishing this album, and the earlier stuff is definitely better.

This was disappointing and samey, but a 1 feels too harsh...

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

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.

As someone who knew Buzz Burrows of Southern Death Cult, I have never got over him being discarded by Astbury

Decidedly mid. I strongly prefer the previous record "Love" which has a lot more energy. Kind of shocked that this is on the 1001 and "Love" is not.

Excellent album. All around great not really a bad song there and very consistent. Vocal range is amazing although reminded me of Glenn Danzing's style although this came before Danzing solo career. I never really had given this bamd a chance maybe because of their glam rock look and the band name which is super cheesy. Still I learned they actually kicked ass rocked hard for the time period. It was more glam than rock but some songs go the hard rock road and they work. Very balanced album with above average musicians. Their looked was really bad

Not bad. A little homogenous sounding. I'd enjoy listening to this again.

I liked the sound and the rock. Vocally, was weak. Felt like they couldn’t keep up with the rock

Overall a decent album but can't understand why it's on the list (especially when their prior album Love is better). Best song: Love Removal Machine. 2.5⭐️

"The album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band's sound from gothic rock to more traditional hard rock." :(

"Electric" is the third studio album by British rock band the Cult. The album was a "deliberate stylistic change from gothic rock to more traditional hard rock." I might say from alternative rock than gothic but OK. The band recorded an album named "Peace" but were unsatisfied with the results. They flew to New York to meet with the eventual producer Rick Rubin who asked "Do you wanna make English pussy music or do you want to rock?'" Lead singer Ian Astbury answered "we want to rip the speakers out." And then, they re-recorded "Peace." The other Cult members were Billy Duffy (guitars), Jamie Stewart (bass) and Les Warner (drums). The album was critically well-received even though one critic called it "cornball retro-moronic." Hey, I'm a fan of that genre. It did well commercially reaching #4 in the UK and #30 in the US. A hard rock guitar riff opens up "Wild Flower" and sets the tone. Pounding drums and powerful vocals by Astbury. Yeah, his vocals are perfect for this style. That repetitive guitar riff and then the obligatory guitar solo but, damn, Duffy is very good. He's a moon child and she's a wild flower. Oh, I see where this may be going. "Lil' Devil" starts with another AC/DC-ish guitar riff. More bass in the forefront. Duffy on lead and rhythm guitars. "Come on little devil be my angel." This is simple and falling into a pattern but it's working. Even though this album could be labeled a guilty pleasure, Duffy really shines on "Bad Fun." A swirling guitar and a searing solo. The band ramps up the speed too. It's titled properly. The first single "Love Removal Machine" has one of my favorite Duffy guitar riffs: catchy and rockin.' Great timing when the bass comes in. A fantastic ending as the pace picks up and Duffy absolutely shreds it. Maybe their only mis-step is their cover of "Born To Be Wild." This does nothing for me and the album already had enough momentum going. Why ruin it? But, anyway. I bought this album when it came out. I liked "Love Removal Machine." Since I was/am a fan of their previous, more goth (OK I'll use it) album "Love," I really didn't know what to think of the rest. I eventually came around for what it was: Led Zeppelin and AC/DC lead guitar with an AC/DC rhythm section and Astbury's howling vocals. Besides Astbury, the star really is Billy Duffy's guitars both lead and rhythm: great tone, hypnotic, searing and shredding. Rubin gave them a very clean sound and mix and accomplished the mission. Sure this is formulaic, but the formula work so just enjoy it. This is firmly in the hard rock category and if you like that, you will like this. They'd take this style to their next album, even more successful, "Sonic Temple" which is also worth your time.

80s rock. If you're into it, you'll love it. Some classics that are always on the radio.

Save for some solid playing, particularly the guitar work, this is really just a caricature. Rick Rubin's weird power fantasy. Interesting detail on the mix but it's about as dry as burnt toast. Gonna lose an entire star, too for the awful Steppenwolf cover. I'm left thinking I don't understand this band at all.

some nice solid hard rock

Felt a little corny southern rock - but on closer listen it's a really fun rock'n'roll album - band in a room kind of thing - every instrument sounds like it's being played right in front of you, and the songs make you want to air guitar in the most inappropriate situations. Was pleasantly surprised by this one - even if it at first I was reticent to like it.

This one surprised me. I'm not really into this genre but I kind of liked it. I wouldn't seek it out but I wouldn't object to hearing it again.

Pretty average catchy rock with too many yeaahhhhs for my taste. Rating: 3

I somehow missed this album when I go down cult rabbit holes and this one went harder and resonated more with me than I anticipated. It’s a sleeper album that I’ll def come back to again.

Thought I would enjoy this but by the time I got to track three I was choking on hairspray and howling vocals. Will not come back to this.

Solid rock for sure, but think I’d rather just listen to AC/DC.

Cult at their best

Great band

Excellent. Need on vinyl

Flat out did not enjoy this. Painfully generic and dull. Why listen to this when there are millions of others just like it?? No.

Good album but sounds fairly generic these days

Horrendously boring, 40 minutes of the same two sonic textures. It’s like if you asked ChatGPT to make an 80s hard rock album

funny but boring

Moderately serviceable hard rock music, but is this really a necessary pre-mortem listen when there's (ob/sub)jectively better music out there? Also, that Born To Be Wild cover is straight up ass.

From Wikipedia: “The album marked a deliberate stylistic change in the band's sound from gothic rock to more traditional hard rock . . . in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of hard rock, glam metal and heavy metal in the 1980s.” While I applaud and encourage any and all bands to abandon goth rock for whatever reason, I feel like the Cult should have gone even farther in their quest to sell out. I still hear some of their original sound in this, and it sucks. This album was certainly a step in the right direction though, because any step away from goth rock is always in the right direction. Goth rock is the South Pole of sucking. Any direction you move is always going to be North, i.e. less sucky. You know when the lame dad in Kiss make up screams “Rock & Roll!!!” while making devil horns and you get a whole body cringe? This is that moment in album form. If you’re in the mood for completely generic hard rock, then this is a good choice (except for the abysmal “Born to Be Wild” cover) but that’s not a mood I find myself in very often. For what it is - a late-80’s copy of AC/DC, late 70’s/early 80’s Stones and Zeppelin but with more annoying vocals - this is fine. But why would you want what this is?

Great album, but total sellout. The Cult plays AC/DC.

I haven’t asked him yet but I think my dad is going to say this rocks (he did, but it’s not his favorite). Great guitar shred music but the songs are bad. Also how many times does dude have to go “uuOWWW”. Fits the same niche as the AC/DC album from last week for me. A little upset that there’s probably going to be at least two more of these on the list.

Not my favorite, not the worst. This kinda falls into the "butt rock lite" category for me. I do like a lot of the guitar composition, but not a huge fan of the vocals. There were moments throughout the album that I liked, but probably won't listen to this frequently.

We’re chugging through a bunch of albums today to catch up, so nothing too in-depth. Good thing this album is superficial cock rock. Better than AC/DC, worse than Billy Idol. Another signature fat sausage mix by Rick Rubin, Jesus Christ

If bands were Pokemon then The Cult is one of those Pokemon with split evolutions, like Wurmple. It's up to you, it evolved from Steppenwolf at level 1983 and at level 2000 it evolves either into The Strokes or The Darkness, depending whether your Indie or Glam stat is higher. You know what I mean by this? You don't? Awww nuts. Anyway, it's a fine album, I've heard it before in different albums though 3/5.