Man, I do love The Cult! I was psyched to score this vinyl copy of Pure Cult: The Singles1984-1995 a few months back as getting The Cults stuff on vinyl is kinda tricky, but here it is!
19 song’s spread out over double vinyl this is an excellent representation of all the Cults material from the debut Love album to the self-titled 1994 release.
The main characters in The Cult that being Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have been on all 19 tracks whereas check out the pic posted below of the various members that have come and gone with Wolfchild and Duffy throughout the years!
In some of my previous Cult reviews, I have always stated that The Cult has never made the same record twice or it seems that way.
1984’s Dreamtime sounded gothy yet had a rock vibe to it as did 1985’s LOVE release that mixed more of that goth that streamlined there sound a little more on the singles side.
By 1987 the gloves were off for Electric which was basically the Cult delivering us a rough n tumble album of classic tunes that just ripped through from track to track like a locomotive with no brakes! (Electric is one of my all time favs) Electric could have been easily called the ‘No Fuckin Around” album
1989 The Cult once again shift gears and take us to the Sonic Temple which is a foot in the door of Big Arena Rock with more bombastic riffs of brilliance from the guitar of Billy Duffy while Ian writes the lyrics to Billys music, and they slam out yet another masterpiece!
The Ceremony album from 1991 is probably as close to a repeat in the production angle of Sonic Temple if anything. I’m sure the suits were pushing Ian and Billy for a Sonic Temple sequel, but of course, they quashed that quicker than Ladano clicking the order button at CD Japan’s Online Store!
3 years later The Cult gets off the polished Arena Rock Highway and put out the very crafty self-titled Cult album in 1994. Over time this album has become one of my fav’s in the catalog of great Cult Rock! A totally different sound by a band not playing it safe!
As you all know, I’m not big on Greatest Hits comps, and when this came out on CD I passed as I have them on CD already but not on vinyl so, Score one for Deke!
I like the running order of this as it’s like one big smorgasbord of Cult Rock as all the songs are mixed up which is what I like.
The inside is a gatefold sleeve which has a little bit history of each album as well as the songs listed give you all the dates these tracks were issued as singles which is nice little throwback!
The Cult could mix some straight-ahead rock singles like Fire Woman/Wild Hearted Son/Love Removal Machine/Sun King yet they could pull back the reigns with tracks like Edie/Heart and Soul/Revolution.
Like I mentioned earlier, I’m thrilled to see that 94 album with Star/Coming Down and In The Clouds being represented.
See that what makes The Cult great. If the album didn’t sell millions, Ian and Billy still have the balls to acknowledge it and not bury it! Totally respect these guys for doing it the right way!
LONG LIVE WOLFCHILD & MR DUFFY
deKe's Vinyl Reviews & More... 
Sweet! Is this a re-issue as I am surprised it is on vinyl. Score!! I know a lot of those former band member names. Cool to see all of them listed.
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For a Greatest Hits set its quite slick looking
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Love the list of musicians.. might as well have called the band AD .. anyway I’m pretty sure I have this on CD, so I’ll be digging it out
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It’s a great cross section for sure. Long Live The Cult!
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I have a fantastic boxer of this on vinyl with a double live at the marquee album in the box too. These guys are on of my ultimate bands
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That Live Marquee show is fantastic and I love that they kept the part in the when Duffy’s amp crapped out and Astbury takes exception to it…
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This is great set. Astbury and Duffy have wrote so many great songs (with some great supporting players) over the years. Looking at this I’m realising that they are not just a great album band, but great singles band too!
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Good call J! They are a great singles band. I view them as an album band but they know how to write with a ‘Hook’
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Terrific Japan CD line – and to modify your closing sentence, I totally respect this Deke for doing posts the right way!
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Thanks, Geoff!
This is a fantastic overview of Cult-Rock!
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“Hook” is the word deKe.
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It is indeed Sir along with respect of the catalog as these guys don’t leave anything to spare and are not embarrassed by the past! Some bands are like that..
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I have their first few but lost track over the years. Always worth a listen
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Sarah and I found this on CD for $1 not too long ago. It’s a solid collection, for sure. The vinyl would be even better!
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Best buck ever spent I would add!
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