Pure Essence of RRRAAWWWWWWWKKK!!!!!!! ! (Electric - The Cult)

Member Name: tim_russell

Product:	Electric - The Cult
Date:	01/06/01 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loud guitars, "PEACE DOG!", "OWWW!!! YEAHH!!"

Disadvantages: The speakers have not yet been designed which will do it justice

The Cult's career has frequently veered from the ridiculous to the...slightly less ridiculous. From their pompous Goth beginnings, through their hippie phase, even a Red Indian period, they've always inspired devotion and laughter in equal measure.

In 1987 however, they hit the motherlode. Teaming up with then producer-of-the-moment Rick Rubin, the Def Jam head honcho who had scored huge hits with Run DMC's groundbreaking "Walk This Way" and the Beastie Boys' unreconstructed debut "License To Ill", they stripped all superfluous ornamentation from their sound and transformed themselves into a lean, mean, ahem, rockin' machine. Or, if you're particularly cynical, AC/DC.

It was a simple recipe - heavy 4/4 beats, Billy Duffy's unadorned Keith Richards-esque riffs, and Ian Astbury yelping the most ludicrous rock cliches ever heard all over the top. But the results were fantastically enjoyable, in a turn-your-brain-off & leap around the room-type way. You know the hits -"Lil' Devil", "Wildflower", "Love Removal Machine" - and you love 'em. You may not know the rest, but they're simply more of the same and all the better for it.

For younger readers, "Electric" was the "Definitely Maybe" of its day - heavy, loud, riff-based rock, with dumb, anthemic lyrics, it was perfect for cranking up to 11 before heading off to the pub on a Friday night. Until you've jumped around your living room singing "B52 baybeehhh, way up in the sky, come drop ya lovin' on me chile OOWWWWWWWWWWWW", you really haven't lived.

"Electric" turned them into stars, at which point Astbury went a bit mad (OK, madder) and it all went pear-shaped. But as long as young men like to drink beer, listen to loud guitar riffs and jump around like loons, "Electric" will remain essential.

Summary: