Reviews (page 6 of 7)
Middle of the road. Peak british rock, nothing to write home about. Favorite track: Wild Flower
It was fine, but a bit too derivative imo
me gustó, me pareció escuchable, disfrutable. El sonido está bueno, si bien no soy mucho del heavy rock o de este género un poco más ruidoso, aún así lo aprecie. la batería y las guitarras suenan muy bien. el problema que tengo es q el álbum de principio a fin parece ser una sola canción. No hay diversidad de temas, no se exploran otros sonidos, y lo entiendo. sin embargo eso hace q no me parezca un álbum buenísimo ni original. Es escuchable? si, pero no es nada wow. no suma ni resta 5/10
Not my type of music
Fun to listen to a Cult album for the first time but I wasn't that moved. Makes sense why I only like their one hit but think the rest of their music is just okay.
the most generic hard cock rock i've ever heard in my life. it's perfectly tolerable enough to listen and tap my foot a bit, but it's not *good*. nothing about this is particularly interesting or notable or even slightly original. it's meeting the bar of "i like when i am listening to music" for enjoyment and by the time i finished it i could not remember a single song. radio friendly paint by numbers album.
...I hope the drummer is just wearing that iron cross because they're really into Prussian History. If not for the weirdly discount Billy Idol singing here this would sound like the musical equivalent of those compositions of everyones faces in a country. It's almost impressively generic. You know its bad when I'm 4 sentences into a review and I'm scowering wikipedia for something ntoeworthy to talk about here. Apparantly they cite a wide range of influences from "the doors to Led Zeppelin" and I wish they were more influenced by the doors because maybe then they'd be interesting. One of their songs is in GTA: Vice City so that's something I suppose. Fuck, I dunno, these guys give me bad vibes 2 stars I guess.
boring and irritating
2.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-cult/electric/ Entertaining in its simple, straightforward hard rock, but nothing more than that. Really not my thing. Born to be Wild cover is completely unnecessary.
I have never heard a more generic rock album in my life. It left zero impression on me.
Something doesn't sit completely right with me on this. Read on Wiki that they aimed for a very Led Zeppelin raw sound, and while I can see that, it lacks originality and identity to me. None of the songs are particularly interesting, and it all feels quite generic and soulless to me. As I always say, this would work well as background noise in a rock bar, but not particularly interesting when standing on its two legs. 1987 also feels quite late for an album like this to be released, when AC/DC and Zeppelin did it way better ten years earlier. Strong 2. Not because it sounded bad, but just because it felt boring and unimpressive.
I enjoyed the Cult stuff I heard on MTV and the radio but never really got into them. Reading their Wikipedia page was interesting - I didn't know how tumultuous the '80s were for them. I had always known that when Matt Sorum joined GnR he came from the Cult, but I didn't know that he had basically just joined the Cult. This is alright. I liked Sonic Temple more. Covering "Born to be Wild" seems unnecessary.
It could be 500 hundred band from that time, and no one understands why you would pick that one
I don't guess I'd ever heard The Cult before. It sounds like pretty standard 80's hard rock.
Good for the genre but not my favorite kind of music
álbum bem mediano, mas love removal machine é ótima!!!! 2/5.
The songs start blending together pretty quickly and then it becomes quite tedious. Especially since the singer's voice is aggressively 80s. Very Billy Idol.
Album Review 087 Electric by The Cult (1987) Rating 1.5/5 The Cult take a new direction for this album and that direction is signposted “meat and potato pub-rock”. Whilst most of it isn’t truly awful, their cover of Born To Be Wild sets the benchmark for how bad a song can be.
Standard stuff. Quite like the genre, don’t think they did anything particularly interesting with it but solidly played and fairly well enjoyed. Hated the born to be wild cover.
unfortunately my feelings abt this album are very influenced by the question of why it was included on this list in the first place. i did not need to hear this album before i died. did the compilers get to like number 950 and run out of albums? nothing original or pioneering or interesting abt this record - by the late 80s this style of music was already trite and overcommercial, and unlike the bon jovi album (which is also trite and overcommercial and on this list) electric does not have any staying power or relevance. im just listening as a goth band actively sells out and is manhandled by rick rubin into becoming poundland ac/dc it was a tolerable listen but with nothing remarkable & barely anything to distinguish the songs from each other. awful born to be wild cover. album gets a lot more entertaining when u realise 1. it was recorded in a gorgeous 1700s manor in oxfordshire 2. the vocalist's yea-yuhs throughout the record sound distinctly lil-jon-esque
hørte ikke færdigt, er lidt træt af rock-genren nu
This is my first time listening to an album by The Cult start-to-finish. Right from the start, this just feels generic, but not good enough to be considered classic or iconic. And there's just something off-putting about Ian Astbury's vocals. It sounds like he's just always flat of the note he should be hitting. And "Born to be Wild" was just a bad idea. _Someone_ should have stopped them.
Really? How in the hell did this make the grade? Horrid...I am only 4 songs in and I can't believe I've made it this far. Banal "hard" rock, if I'm being generous. This is a travesty...make it stop, please. And then reading the lyrics...I am laughing. At least as (rock) comedy, this works! 2 generous stars because I'm a nice guy...and admit that at least they can play their instruments.
Didn't like this album. The production isn't good, drums are very forward and boring in my opinion and the bass guitar is too low and hard to hear at times. There are some decent guitar riffs throughout. The band mostly seems confused on the sound they want to create, the singer sounds like Danzig and the music sounds like Poison. There are maybe 2 songs I would add to a playlist, other than that this is repetitive and not interesting.
Not exactly AC/DC or Iron Maiden.
What an uninteresting album. The hard rock sound is fine, but it is basically a variation on a theme the whole way through. It sounds like something you’d hear on in the background of a Hard Rock Cafe and not really think about twice.
Not really my thing
Meh. The Cult walked so Nickleback could run. Dude-rock / butt-rock / whatnot-rock or whatever this is certainly has its place on this list, but there are other examples of the genre far more deserving than this album that deserve to be on this list. This might be the worst cover of Born To Be Wild I’ve heard. I’d rather hear The Wiggles or Kidz Bop perform that song. For some reason I thought this band was cooler than they came across as. Or was that their reputation from their earlier work I was aware of?
I didn’t like it.
I don't like this. Not very interesting, sorry.
Generic cock rock. No idea how this made the 1001 albums list in 1987 given people like AC/DC had already been doing it for a decade by then. Sounded it like it could have been the soundtrack to This Is Spinal Tap if the lyrics had been funny and the band had been in on the joke.
Bruh. I got better things to do rn.
When I first saw the album cover of this I thought I was finally getting a metal album. But no, this is the most generic hard rock I've ever heard. It's by no means bad since I love this type of music (Led Zeppelin is one of my favourite bands) but there's nothing new or special here
Well constructed songs. Just a bit samey and dated. Of its time.
just seems like a random hair metal band? like it's fine but doesn't stand out to me. 2 stars for me
Meh. Love is a better record, top to bottom, so I don't get why this one got the nod.
2,1 Highlights: Wild Flower, Born to Be Wild
Really not good... 2 stars.
Gear: Hifiman HE6se v2 SE Artwork: ༺🦝༻ Production: 👊😊👍 Music: 🤖🧠🎸 Rating: 🔌🔌(🔌)/5
This is entirely without anything unique. This sounds like the dude who sings that Billy passed the 3rd grade in Billy Madison
I’ll start with positives, I actually really like the cover. I normally find “pictures of the band” type of covers to be boring and underwhelming but the masterful work with the font on this album is really sharp and eye catching. I also think The Cult is an underrated band amongst hair metal bands, and I think apart of that is they don’t come across quite as cringey as other glam metal bands because they don’t dress as ridiculous as their contemporaries like Dokken and Poison, and they don’t have as much of a cringey sex obsessed pest vibe as bands like WASP and Crüe do. But the biggest problem this album does have is the same as all other hair metal bands, the whole album is held up by the radio singles and everything else is either forgettable or just filler. You can take the vast majority of their contemporaries’ albums to prove that. So for their genre they are above average, which is NOT saying much.
Dumb fun
Meh, a bit generic hair metal sounding to me.
This is sounds like a cover band of 80s bar rock. Bleh
Not saying this is dull, generic, 80s British dad rock, but I accidentally had my player on repeat and it took me 3 songs to realise it had started back over...
Meat and potatoes hard rock. Great drums and vocals throughout, but didn't move me.
Meh
It rocks, but not really in a way that is memorable or would make me want to listen again.
2 - some extremely generic hard rock
Not bad but not my thing. It’s funny that this really just sounds like “rock”
A perfectly cromulent hard rock 80's album. I'm curious about their earlier albums, since there's talk about them being darker and more brooding. Ah well.
All of the songs blurred into one and it was just like a wall of sound which I did not like
I really thought - based on the one Cult song that I and 90% of the human race know - that this would be much better than this. For the vast majority it just brought to mind three middle-aged men in AC/DC t-shirts playing bad pub rock, stomping their feet and pointing their guitars in time. And that's not an image I've ever thought I wanted. Also, one of the all time disgusting covers on here - I don't think it's possible to ruin Born To Be Wild (a hippy anthem you idiots!) more than The Cult have here. Similar to the Black Crowes, this isn't horrible per se, but it's not something I need in my life.
I'm as mad as that other guy about not being sold any sanctuary
They were better at goth. The singer is good, everything else is very generic hard rock. Motley Crue's Girls Girls Girls is from the same year and not on the list...
Sonically, it’s generally a mixture of AC/DC and Van Halen. Tom drum tones are a bit odd. Vocals are a bit repetitive and “yeah yeah yeaaaah!” Seems like a pretty solid album for ‘87, but hasn’t aged well. 2.2/5.0
“Mi no like dat.”- Bumba Clause
ik dacht een gothic plaatje te horen, bleek het een glam-hair metal plaatje van 13 in een dozijn te zijn... jammer
heard before: No Fav tracks: Wild flower Would I listen again: unlikely Decent rock n roll album. nothing super stand out but a fun listen. Rating: 3
They sound like second rate Led Zeppelin, Doors and AC/DC. Listen to the real thing and ignore this group.
Generic rock, with the vocals being a bit annoying. I didn't really care much for it.
The top comments on this album have pretty much nailed it. Generic and I dont see why this is on the list. 2/5.
Ça a été pour une grande part une épreuve. Alice était d'accord que c'était irritant. Born to be wild était aussi une version très mauvaise.
Very classic stadium rock, again, hard to listen to it seriously but I can't knock it
Some people say this is a one star album but it's bread and butter rock and does it in a way that feels honest. It's not great but it's not the worst thing.
It’s fine, if trying too hard. No need to come back to anything on here, as it all sounds the same - just stripped down hard rock, no harm, no foul … except for that Born to be Wild shitburger… ooof.
Just sounds like fairly bog standard generic eighties rock. Lacks the fun of something like AC/DC or the electricity of prime GNR. lil Devil at least injects a level of catchiness not provided elsewhere but still feels very paint by numbers. Love Removal Machine manages to sound like a rip up of AC/DC and the Rolling Stones in one song. Astbury’s vocals on Born to be Wild sound as if youve stumbled into a bar where the local drunk is belting it out on karaoke for the hundredth time
This wasn’t super memorable. It was like AC/DC but less interesting
Eh some hard rock dad rock whateverness. Good production at least.
Predictable 80s straightforward rock, with a couple of decent tracks.
pretty repetitive and generic, no standouts. 2/5
Nothing special so 2/5
Boring, by the book 80s metal. Some decent riffs but nothing memorable. A totally mediocre Born To Be Wild cover is one of the best songs on here by default.
Not for me.
The first few songs are by far and away the standouts on this album. Its not bad per se but nothing stands out.
Average Generic
Every song is just a mid-paced rocker à la AC/DC. Very boring.
Always thought the Cult were a goth band, I might never have actually heard them. Turns out they are just another dull rock band. 2.5 rounded down Heard before? No Owned: No: 29/108 (26%) Will I get? No
Det står 1987 men det låter inte särskilt mycket 1987, fet är pá pluskontot. The Cult är ett märkligt band som börjar som nån slags svartrock (så du va inte helt fel ute Fredrik) för att bli det här för att senare transformera igen till yttetligare nåt annat med nån slags påklistrad indian och vilda västern image. Här slungas stelopererade köttbensriff ut som vore det konfetti, helt distanslöst och osvängigt. Några gånger höjs tempot (t.ex. "Bad fun") då blir det aningen mer aptitligt. Annars är det här en trist historia med mycket manér, men det är aldrig genomuselt. Svag tvåa
Blir positivt överraskad. Hade förväntat mig renodlad pudelrock utifrån omslaget. Lite roligare än så är det. Funkar att lyssna igenom, men sätter inget bestående avtryck. Tydligen Rick Rubin som producerat.
Not terrible but felt like a waste of time
Just basic and stuff I’ve already heard before
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.
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.
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.
Kaks ekaa biisi
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
Boring
This sucks, sell outs - stylistic change from previous records
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,
Boring 80s rock by numbers. Why not a proper Cult album?
boringg
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.
I was disappointed. Thought I’d like this
The fact that anyone considers this badass is hilarious to me. 2/5
Classic rock meh Don't mind it but wouldn't listen again in a hurry
Pub Rock at best. Nothing outstanding on this album.
As a big fan of 70s classic rock this one was kind of underwhelming. Plenty of significantly better albums from that decade
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.
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.
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.
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.
Feels like a 40 minute AC/DC song, but it's good
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.
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
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.
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 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.
Boring. I can’t even remember if I finished listening. One song sounded exactly like an AC/DC song
Just a bit generic. Wasn't really interested. Could probably be 3 stars instead of I was in a better mood.
2/5
zz top but bad
"We have AC/DC in England," they said.
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.
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.
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.
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.
yeah it was nothing
The Cult, while influential, has always felt like a tryhard band to me.
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.
It didn’t blow my mind. It was a nice album to listen to but it didn’t evoke anything from within me
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.
Lidt for generisk rock, britisk 80’er, nede fra pubben
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
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.
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
Not my favorite genre but musicians are obviously skilled.
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
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...
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⭐️
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.
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.
Flat out did not enjoy this. Painfully generic and dull. Why listen to this when there are millions of others just like it?? No.
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.
Interesting to see that this came out the week I was born. Things have changed in the music industry! Aside from some interesting guitar moments, this was pretty forgettable and stereotypical classic rock.
It feels like such a sell out sound. They were in LA once and tried to make the most dull "1987" style music they could based on that memory. Guns n Roses came on after then and I could instantly tell the difference even before Axl's voice came on. Just dull.
Sounds like someone described the cult to AI and it spat this out
Mediocre bar band rock.
I mean, it eas definitely what I expected from late 80s hard rock. But it reallt didn't stand out, and they absolutely massacred "Born to be wild" minus one star just for that travesty.
Not Bad. Very Rock and roll. The production was awesome I gotta say like every was so clean. Songs were aight
I feel bad but I’m not into it and gotta get thru these more quickly so I can catch up…
Aphrodisiac Jacket sounds like a Citizen Dick song title.
“OH YEAH BABY! MAKE ME CRAZY! AHH BABY! BABY BABY BABY!” There you go. I’ve just summed up the whole album. There’s also a cover of “Born to Be Wild” that only makes me feel guilty for having listened to such a poor rendition. Instrumentation includes pounding drums, lifeless bass, and a very lively guitar that will float around the minor pentatonic scale if it wants to do a solo, which it will at least once a song. Production isn’t great, which is surprising considering it’s Rick Rubin, but all of their albums sound like this so I wonder if it’s intentional? Vocals are unique, but after forty minutes, annoying. Lyrics are nothing special. I enjoy this band, but not for a whole album. Maybe my enjoyment doesn’t even endure three of their songs. Oh well, baby. 2/5
too 80s
Aggressively banal. At least for me. It’s probably one of those things you just had to be there for. 2/5
This is default rock music. If you told me it was AI generated I would believe you.
This feels like classic 80s hair metal. It's fine, but there isn't a ton to digest here. The guitarist is by far the best musician of the group. Best Songs: Aphrodisiac Jacket, Love Removal Machine Worst Songs: Outlaw
Disappointing
Groupe inconnu. Du rock basique et mou, avec quelques chorus de guitare qui vont le sauver de la note minimale =>2/5. Et dire que la même année Voivod sortait "Killing Technology", un album vraiment original et créatif ... et pas dans la liste. Le choix des albums dans cette liste est vraiment bizarre !
Love Removal Machine
This would have been the type of music I listened to in the mid-late 80s, but I have never heard of this band, or any of their songs. I understand why. It's not bad (except the Born to be Wild cover) but nothing stands out or grabs my attention
I don't know the pretty much Rip off the Stones, Zeppelin, ACDC and whatever else. Nothing much new here at least this was before everything had to be drenched in reverb.
Det er vel helt greit men dette har jeg personlig veldig lite bruk for
Started well but the voice grated on me and it was a lot of unecessary solos and yeahhhhs
Wow this is derivative, even for the late 80s. Yea, the Born To Be Wild cover is real shit.
Fav: Love Removal Machine Least Fav: Born To Be Wild This level of sell-out is pathetic, the change away from gothic rock definitely seems wrong if this album came from it
All songs are the same and some of the instruments sound like they were recorded with a cheap VST. But it 1987 huh?
tutto ok
Very generic 80s rock.
If this was on at the bar I was at, I would leave
Kinda dumb album. It's not that bad but it doesn't really do anything.
Huh, seems that I really can't stand The Cult? The best part of the album is the run from 'Love Removal Machine' (a ripoff of 'Start Me Up'), 'Born To Be Wild' (still worse than the original), and the NWBHM-ish 'Outlaw'.
If it wasn’t for the horrendous cover of “Born To Be Wild”, this would have been a 3 / 5. I prefer The Cult and Ian Astbury over a lot of hard rock acts, but as with the rest of the genre it’s too much of the same and not enough truly memorable songs to really stick out.
2 out of 5. Bland rock.
Every songs sounds familiar because they all sound like every other glam metal/hard rock song ever. 3/10
Nah. Two stars ✌
Glam rock ahhh
Rick Rubin can’t save bad lyrics.
My vague recollection (perhaps completely wrong) of this band is that the lead singer was a hunk, and they were known for being a good live act. This is not my jam. Even the Born to Be Wild cover is pretty lame.
The Cult: the kind of band that is well known but I did not listen to. First riff: Allright AC/DC rip off, but the sound is clear, fresh punchy....then Wikipedia...produced by Rick Rubin and mixed by Andy Wallace: Okay ! The legends are in command. One critic said that they did one of the worst born to be wild cover : I can only concur with that. The MV is very spinal tap. In short, it sounds good but it may be these kind of album that came out not at the right time...
Not my cup of tea. Seems dull often. I liked the first track though, reminds me of teh very 80's Billy Idol.
Rather flat rock album. For me every song has almost the same type of vibe. Not that entertaining as I expected.
« Drop peace, baby baby, yeah, Yeah! Baby!!» ! Haaaa!! Born to be wild… No!!! Come on guys…you just lost a point because of that. I don’t know The Cult at all, only by name. Not the only band to have lost its guts in this decades. But this album is less glam rock than expected (which is good), and I kind of like the voice - lyrics are useless though and 70s rock bands influence is too obvious in the music - this is absolutely unoriginal. Nevertheless, after reading about them and listening to this album, I feel kind of motivated to dig in their previous Goth work which is supposed to be more ambitious.
I liked Love Removal Machine and none of it was bad. But this just sounded like generic rock.
One of the public reviews says “If you asked an AI audio model to generate a hard rock album from 1987 this is what it would give you” and I feel like this couldn’t be more true. It sounded like a pretty average hair metal rock album, not bad but not really mind-blowing. I liked love removal machine and I hated their born to be wild cover. Just wasn’t really in the mood to listen to this genre in the morning on the way to work so it gets a 2.5/5
Really mid classic rock IMO, seemed to take elements from a lot of the great rock groups at the time but didn’t do anything spectacular w it. Fav son: Wildflower
Way more boring than I was expecting for a band and album named like that
2,5
Not my jam.
Hard Rock de los 80 que, honestamente, mostró sus años casi inmediatamente. "Había que estar ahí" es lo que dirán quienes disfrutan de esta colección de canciones que siguen casi todos los clichés del género y de esa década.
Didn't know cover band music could make this list Best Song: Peace Dog Rating: 4.0/10 2 Stars
2.5
This is a pretty weak cult album. They had stronger stuff later, this is ultimately forgettable and not the cult album I would put on this list. Then again, maybe it will turn out to be like other british bands and it will turn out that literally everything they have ever done is on this list. 2/5
Not that I despise The Cult. It's s just, they're so meh. Occasional great songs, relatively bland arrangements, a very one- dimensional singer and dull production make this record a very dubious choice for the list. Intentionally powerful music that misses most of its intention.
I'm not really a fan of this genre - there's only one song of theirs I like and it's not even on the album! It's like this is full of songs that kinda sound like them but never quite get that hook into you. Decidedly average.
Sounds like an Acca Dacca tribute band has to write their own songs. They thought they'd steal a few "Baby"s from Robert Plant and that would be all good. How did this boring shit sell?
Didn’t really know much about this going in. I remembered it’s some classic hard rock band. Indeed that’s what it is. Cool power chord riffs and great heavy metal singing. Overall it’s pretty good but nothing earth shattering. Bad Fun is a cool song. Outlaw has a cool riff. It’s not a bad album but I can’t see how it belongs in this list, so two stars. I have to say I gave a listen to their previous album, Love, and I feel it’s much stronger than this one.
I've never listened to this whole album and yet I feel like I have. Because, if you've heard one or two Cult songs you've pretty much heard them all. I do own their album Love and have listened to it more than a few times. Other than She Sells Sanctuary, I don't think I could name another song on it. After listening to this entire album, except that some of the song names are kind of unique, Aphrodisiac Jacket?, I can't really tell them apart. Honestly, these guys are good in small doses, but they are repetitive, but they are repetitive. One last thing, this album's cover is great for the "Guess the Lead Singer" game. Who could it possibly be?
maybe this is just not the genre im most comfortable interfacing with but besides how fascinating it is to hear that this band was previously making music that sounded nothing like this (and for my lack of enthusiasm, it seems harsh to call this unformed or unconfident), this absolutely refused to take root in my ears for the most part. feels lacking in standout riffs or vocal parts, or really most any distinguishing traits at all...except maybe the lead vocals by ian astbury, a nice combination of gritty and soaring
This album makes me want to smoke dope and grow out my hair, maybe then I’d enjoy it
2.7. I think I prefer gothic rock The Cult over hard rock The Cult.
Fav song: Peace Dogs It's ok. I think the most interesting thing about this album is hearing the late 80's production transitioning into what would be the iconic 90's rock sound. I also like Wild Flower, that one was pretty good!
Ian Astbury sings like he’s yelling for the kids to come to the dinner table. That Born to Be Wild cover….*involuntary shudder* This is a very odd album to be in Rick Rubin’s portfolio. Imagine producing Licensed to Ill and then this. Weird.
I expected this to be earlier than 87, mustve sounded a bit generic even then. Didn't do much for me at all
So generic. Not sure what this is about.
generic hard rock
Less talented and less energetic guns and roses.
A hard rock album that evokes the sounds of the genre throughout multiple decades, from the new wave influences of Billy Idol to the metal-esque sound of AC/DC. We even have an iconic cover (maybe a couple?) of classic rock songs to wrap it all together. However, this love letter to the genre rarely comes off as creative, or even charismatic. Instead, you just get a lot of lesser versions of iconic bands' sounds, and it can be a bore at best. Sure, everything is technically sound, but it isn't important or even that high quality for a genre shift for a band. It really is like if U2 got a heavier sound, but if you don't like U2 or that heavier sound, what are you left with?
it was ok. default rock
It's not shit, but does absolutely nothing for me.
Straight ahead good time rock and roll. Fine, fun even, but unexceptional and I am no more at peace with my eventual demise for having heard it. I was going to give it three stars but I'm lowering that out of respect to Steppenwolf.
It's laughable that an album like this would be on this list because this is the most generic rock I've ever heard. Rick Rubin produced this? I know not all his albums are bangers, but he generally has good taste and what makes an album and sound hit. This is...not bad? Decent guitar playing, vocals aren't my thing but I can tell he's a good singer. They are just creating the equivalent of YouTube copyright free background music in the style of 80s rock.
OK at best.
I listened to this during a very traffic-filled commute home. So this might be quite biased due to the circumstances this was listened to. I was already one foot out on this one and then the "Born To Be Wild" cover came on and I jumped right out completely. Nothing about this resonated with me. It wasn't pop enough to be catchy and it wasn't musically varied enough to keep me interested. This should have been left in the 80s. I won't be listening to this one again.
Most 2/5 ever.
"Wild Flower" is great. The rest is of this sub-meh. The Steppenwolf cover is in the conversation for the GOAT of ill-advised covers.
2 Stars (5/15)
This isn't for me
I wouldn't exactly call this terrible but it certainly isn't good. Not really a sound for my ears. I didn't like it very much but I've encountered far worse. Definitely not an essential listen. I wonder if people who like this type of rock would even consider this an essential album?
The late 80's really sucked. This is better than a lot of the sleazy rock that was going around but it still lacks any merit.
Yeah, it’s fine, but the tunes aren’t nearly good enough for me to turn a blind eye to the fact that, even in 1987, this surely would’ve sounded like a tired rehashing of every classic rock cliche in the book.
Svakalega fínt fyrir það sem það er, en það sem það er er bara alls ekki nógu skemmtilegt. Lögin renna saman í eitt og ekkert virkar catchy. Þetta er þétt og gott sound, en mér finnst þetta frekar boring.
When I saw The Cult on the list, I expected the brooding gothic rock and post-punk flair that made 'She Sells Sanctuary' iconic. Instead, 'Electric' hit me with a barrage of power chords and bluesy riffs. It’s not that the songs are bad—tracks like 'Wild Flower,' 'Lil’ Devil,' and 'Love Removal Machine' are undeniably fun—but this feels like a band abandoning their signature sound for something safer. What makes 'Electric’s' inclusion on this list even more puzzling is that just months later, Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith would unleash 'Appetite for Destruction' and 'Permanent Vacation,' respectively. Even the filler tracks and throwaway moments on those albums outshine the best offerings of 'Electric.' And it’s not just GNR and Aerosmith—the likes of Motörhead, Whitesnake, Kiss, and AC/DC all released albums in the same year that captured this hard rock vibe effortlessly. The Cult's attempt feels forced, like a cat trying to play fetch, awkwardly inserting itself into a game that’s simply not in its nature. Nothing illustrates the album's confused identity more than the regrettable cover of Steppenwolf’s 'Born to Be Wild.' The Cult drains all the energy and danger from the original, leaving a lifeless, by-the-numbers version that feels more like a box-ticking exercise than a tribute. As for Rick Rubin, he’s known for his minimalist production style that allows an artist's raw energy to shine. Around this period, he produced iconic albums like 'Licensed to Ill' by the Beastie Boys (1986) and 'Raising Hell' by Run-D.M.C. (1986), capturing their live essence. His work on 'Reign in Blood' by Slayer (1986), 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991), and Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut (1992) showcases his knack for capturing a band's raw energy. However, Rubin’s approach falls flat with' Electric', stripping away the atmospheric elements that defined The Cult’s earlier work. The material may not have been strong enough to begin with, but the result is a hollow sound that lacks the visceral impact of their past. Instead of forging a clear identity, Rubin's production leaves the band sounding disoriented. Did/Do I own this release? No Does this release belong on the list? No Would this release make my personal list? No Will I be listening to it again? It’s fun in parts, but there are better albums and more authentic bands from this era.
don’t….. looooove
Not bad, not good, not memorable.
I was hoping to like this album as I like older stuff by The Cult, but this album was kind of a mess. Seemed like they were trying to go all-in on the hard rock sound, but did not pull it off well at all. Peace Dog sounded like they learned to play the same day as the recording, and Born to be Wild was just a trainwreck. Sometimes they got into a decent groove, but it doesn't sound anything like the Cult from previous albums, and it's really not anything I'd want to listen to again.
Super generic rock album, it's hard to believe Rick Rubin was involved with this. It annoyed me how much Ian said "Yeah" throughout this record. I also thought the cover of Born to be Wild was notably worse than the original.
okay sound, pretty samey from that era. Sounded like Billy Idol, but also trying to capture 70's hard rock sound. Probably won't go back. Probably 2.5
Just generic classic rock it seems derivative and like a parody at times. Unfortunately uninteresting
Not a fan. I was like oh this got better and actually it was just the album ended and Spotify was on autoplay. Not offensively bad just not very great either
4/10 - Generic rock album. I thought I would know born to be wild because its the name of a song that I had on this fake guitar that I used to play way to often when i was like 6. But I do not think that its the same song. A bit of a let down.
Just not my cup of tea. The singer fluctuates between out-of-tune screams and what seem to be bad Louis Armstrong impressions. Nothing particularly memorable here, it's pretty cheesy.
Sounds better to me than it did 20 years ago, but doesn’t necessarily sound good.
ikinci sarki basimi agritti agggg album fena deildi ama dunyanin en generic seyi literal
Eh not bad but definitely the type of music my dad would have on his playlists and ask "you ever heard of this band?" Love removal machine Born to be wild (lost points bc its a cover of the original and the original is better, but its still a *good* cover)
Just an 80s hard rock album where all the songs sound so same. Sounds just like it's awful album cover.Boomer rock. No standouts. Tired of listening to all these boomer music.
A bit generic to be fair
Inoffensive and rather boring hard rock. The "Born to Be Wild" cover seemed rather pointless.
Holy generic rock and roll Batman. Listen I won't deny the musicianship. They seem really good at what they do. It's just what they do does not interest me in the slightest. Much of this just sounds like royalty free rock music.
Not very good.
It doesn't even have 'She sells sandwiches' on it. I managed 5 tracks, basic straight ahead rock, nothing to complain about apart from Astubury's nasal vocals. Nothing to be excited about either. 1980s replacement for Bad Company, or The Darkness without the humour, screeching and swearing.
ZZZZZZzzzzzz
Ummm. Part AC/DC part Stones. It's done well but so derivative.
The cover of Born to Be Wild felt like low hanging but unripe fruit - gorge, puke. I think Tom Hibbert, of blessed memory, would have had lots of fun with Rick Rubin. There’s less to him than meets the eye, I sometimes think.
Hard rock bem produzido, mas repetitivo.
Heavily indebted to AC/DC, and with a pointless cover of "Born To Be Wild", this record has delusions of grandeur. All rock. No roll.
Wow, this is super generic hard rock with nearly every hard rock cliche present and accounted for. Love Removal Machine sounds like a ripoff of Start Me Up. And how did they manage to make a boring version of Born to be Wild? A few tracks had moments I liked but then also had moments of pure cheese, so take my "favorite tracks" with a grain of salt. Favorite tracks: Peace Dog, King Contrary Man, Memphis Hip Shake.
queen ripoff, not bad tho
Generic hard rock. the sound of everything that was wrong in the 80S. This album is not for me. Favourite song: Lil devil is ok I suppose. Least favourite: Peace dog, awful rock! Album artwork: Not the kind of cover I like
Generic 2-star rock.
I didn't care for this very much to be honest. Past me by. Poorer version of Born to be Wild, I don't know if this was the original or not.
I guess it was okay but really nothing special, just big rock rock stuff and sounded like loads of other bands but more bland.
Fede riffs og usædvanlige vokaler for den her generation af 80er rock (?) Sangene er ikke noget særligt, baffling cover af Born to Be Wild som er åbenlyst værre end originalen
Fed guitar og alt sådan noget.. giver en lyst til at køre på en (goth) motorcykel.. lidt kedelig i længden
The weak spot between "Love" and "Sonic Temple." Rubin dried out their sound to the point of total dehydration. The cover of "Born to Be Wild" is the least inspired and flat-out worst cover of any song by anyone, ever. "Wild Flower" and "Li'l Devil" are bangers.
grating voice
Allie - “Instant one star. This album sux.” I didn’t think it was bad, but overall I would consider it average to below average, which puts it at 2 stars.
Ultimately it’s unremarkable and sounds like most 80s rock. The best song on the album is a cover, and after reviewing 100 albums that’s a pretty strong indicator of a low rating. I wasn’t bored listening to it and I didn’t dislike it, I just probably won’t listen to it again.
In some countries they'd hang you for making that cover of Born to Be Wild
Vapid generic and soulless, like much of its genre from its time
This was the first one where “need to hear before I die” felt like a stretch. It was perfectly fine, but generic. I felt like I’ve heard plenty of other versions of this album in my life that were very similar. All in all good, but not really special
Meh, boring trans am rock. AC/DC like riffs but more boring with a Soundgarden type vocalist. Not a fan at all.
No more merit than being produced by Rick Rubin.
Peace Dog wasn't so peaceful!
This album made me realize how much I don't like hair bands, that being said it wasn't totally unbearable and I think that if I was into this kind of music then it wouldn't have been so bad.
(Sigh) I don't know. It's fine I guess. The fact that "Born to be Wild" is on here tells you all you need to know. I sort of expected The Cult to be more goth but it's ROCK with a capital "R". And also a capital "OCK". "Love Removal Machine" is, according to the Spotify listening figures, the most listened to (and therefore best?) song on here and it sounds EXACTLY like "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones. They sort of remind me of a bad Guns N Roses. The lead singers voice is distinctive, and I sort of appreciate that, but also don't like it? I wonder if the 1001 list is again being a bit obtuse by not picking Sonic Temple. At least I recognise the cover of that one. There can't be TWO The Cult albums on this list, surely? Yeah. Fine. Whatever.
The cult is fun. The cult is hideously derivative. I remember syncing up a cult song and an ac dc song. Same riff. Same key. Same tempo. I’m not sure they belong here, and it’s the she sells sanctuary album if they did. Dimery, do your job.
Honnêtement je n'étais pas super excité de voir cet album ici et l'écouter ne m'a pas plus convaincu qu'il devrait l'être. Ce n'est pas terriblement mauvais, mais c'est très générique comme rock et à part les singles, le reste de la musique est très drabe. La reprise de Born To Be Wild est vraiment mauvaise par contre... Si j'avais un album de The Cult à mettre ici ça aurait été Sonic Temple, mais c'est le genre d'artiste qui n'en mérite aucun en réalité. 4.5/10
I wish I could like this, but I really can't stand the guy's voice. Like nails on a chalkboard.
Every song sounds the same: generic. 2 stars instead of 1 because the production is alright and there are a couple decent guitar solos. Otherwise, quite boring stuff that I'd expect to hear at a cheap, sleezy rock bar.
Nada, rollo, lo siento.
Never has a band from Bradford sounded more like they're from California. While it's fun, I'm not sure it has a place on this list.
2.5/5
Nada, rollo, lo siento.
Fine, but voting. Each song sounded almost exactly the same as the last.
Pretty standard rip roaring classic rock. Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Billy Idol, it’s all on there. Nothing there to grab me necessarily. Playlist pick: Memphis Hip Shake
Pretty boring and forgettable, not sure why it’s on the list but one point for technically being music I guess
Idc about this kind of rock music.
the isnt it man. This album was real bad. The only saving grace was the guitar tone during the solos. Can't believe Rick Ruben produced it.
How many English albums are we going to listen to.
Peace Dog has maybe the worst lyrics I’ve ever heard in a rock song. In fact if the singer, who has a great voice, just sang nonsense, the whole album would go up a star. This album is produced better than most modern albums I’ve heard. Everything is clear and the instruments have a very distinct tracking. After reading about it, it’s because Rick Rubin produced it. Remember when Jay-Z said “you crazy for this one Rick!” In 99 Problems? Same guy. He has a very particular skill and he’s probably the best at it. Anyway the songs on here are very much butt rock. The last two tracks are the best of them, in my opinion. It’s 80s hard rock, and it’s great at that but I just can’t take it seriously. I’d have to be on a particular mood to put this on again, and that mood involves shit beer and cigarettes. Honestly I can’t believe these are the same people that wrote “She Sells Sanctuary” which is such a good song.
Fun but silly.
A decent romp through the post-Zeppelin era. The Born to be Wild side step though is almost unforgivable.
Average rock. 2 stars.
Not really my thing. Both too hard and too silly for my tastes.
sucks monkey butt
It's not that it's bad, it's that I just don't care... Not sure why it's on this list.
That brought me back to my youth on Long Island and the great Bar Bands of the Clubs, only those bar bands were much better than these AC/DC wannabes. The low light of these 39 sad minutes is when they slaughter Born to Be Wild with a lifeless rendering of this classic.
Oh boy, another generic white rock band!
Not their best. Not my favorite.
# 204 : Hard Rock, is that what you'd call it? So many other bands did it better. Nothing special here to draw me in. I can listen to it, it's ok, I wouldn't go back to these guys. I liked Electric Ocean the best.