THE CULT — Love (review)

THE CULT — Love album cover Album · 1985 · Non-Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Love" is the second full-length studio album by UK hard rock act The Cult. The album was released through Beggars Banquet Records in October 1985. "Love" was a big breakthrough for the band and has today reached multi-platinum status, selling around 2,5 million copies worldwide. This was helped along by the two charting singles "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain".

Compared to the band´s debut album "Dreamtime (1984)", "Love" features more memorable songwriting, more convincing musicianship and a better quality sound production. The latter is courtesy of no other than Wham producer Steve Brown. Something the band initually didn´t feel comfortable with. As it turned out Steve Brown had been looking to get rid of his pop producer image and after a meeting with the band, The Cult found his production ideas intriguing and decided to work with him.

There´s been a lineup change since the debut album as the wild partying and unreliable drummer Nigel Preston (who died of a heroine overdose in 1992) has been replaced by Mark Brzezicki. Preston however plays the drums on "She Sells Sanctuary".

The music on "Love" makes The Cult quite a unique sounding act on the UK pop/rock scene of the early- to mid eighties. Most successful artists from that era were synth based pop/rock acts, but The Cult insisted on a guitar driven rock sound. They had guitar driven peers in The Smiths, The Sisters of Mercy and a couple of other acts, but guitar driven pop/rock was not in the high seat in those days on the UK scene. Ian Astbury´s warm and powerful Jim Morrison type voice and vocal delivery also set The Cult apart from most other acts coming from the UK in those years.

The quality of the tracks are generally high and most are memorable, but the music on "Love" is generally still a far cry from the more commercially and anthemic sounding music they would produce on their next three albums. I guess you can call this slightly more artsy and tasteful, but personally I prefer their later more hard rocking albums. "Love" is still a great albums though, deserving a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed