I Used to Love Her...

Instructions: I start with a letter of the alphabet, then name a band whose name starts with that letter. If the band is a person's name, they're assigned according to surname, unless they don't use one. I explain why they used to be awesome, and why they suck now. Then I pass the torch to someone else, and they repeat for the next letter. However, if they disagree with the entry that nominated them, they can replace it with their own, and foist the next letter off on someone else. We start with "A" and end at "Z". It's definitely okay to pass back and forth to the same people.

Aaron passed C off to me. He bashed The Cult in his contribution, and I'm uncertain if I get to be next in line because:
1. he knows I loveLoveLOVE The Cult and would want to do right by my boys by rewriting the insulting tripe with which he saddled their legacy;
2. he wants to see me rip apart Danzig, Depeche Mode, Def Leppard, or The Distillers, or
3. he just knew I'd be up for this meme.

I'm going for broke and not only re-doing The Cult's entry, but I'll also tear up Danzig as a bonus. Only problem is, I DON'T think The Cult sucks now, so I'm going to have to get creative. At this time, I ask that everyone put on their protective eyewear and helmets.

Here's the thing about The Cult: it befuddles me when I hear them categorized them as a goth band. That's not who they are to me; my perception of them is straight-ahead rock. I think this differs from someone who's followed them from the very start, which I'm assuming Aaron has. It's like when someone changes their name, right? If you knew them back when they were Sally, they'll always be Sally to you- regardless of how long they actually answered to that name. But to anyone who's met them after they became Howard, the idea of them ever having been Sally is hard to grasp. Similarly, I met The Cult in their Sonic Temple incarnation, so to me, that album is the absolute embodiment of them. This was several years after it was released, mind you, but as I was growing into my rocking self, 2 things happened:

1. I kept hearing "Star" from the eponymous album on the tv commercial for "The Basketball Diaries," so I bought that soundtrack and listened to the song endlessly.

2. I took note of "Edie" and "Firewoman" when they were on the radio and tracked them back to this lovely new band I'd just discovered by way of Hollywood. What are the odds that all these great songs would be by the same artist? How fortuitous I was, and what a budding little Cult fanatic.

So we're talking early '95 here. Yes, I was pathetically behind...by about 6 years. I've always thought I was born a decade or so too late; that's just further proof. And here's a fun fact that won't help you win at Trivial Pursuit or anything, but I'm going to throw it in anyway: a huge bonding point for Jay and I, when we first started dating, was that we were the only ones we were aware of who even knew who The Cult WERE, let alone liked them as much as we did. Granted, we were just a couple of highschoolers in the suburbs, and not exactly in touch with the rest of the world, but it still seemed like a big deal to us. As far as we knew, this band was really obscure and no one cared about them anymore- if they ever had.

Okay, so I loved Sonic Temple. We've established that. But why, right? It sounded different to me than any other band out there; they really stood out to me. I loved the songwriting, I loved the guitar tone, I loved the vocals and the lyrics. I loved that the basslines were simple enough that I could play along. I loved Ian's hair. I loved the rich production given to what were basically simple, 3-chord rock songs. I loved that they were standing in front of a '57 Chevy in their promo shots, as pretentious, misplaced, and unnecessary as it was.

After being exposed in full to the pure, unadulterated rocking that was their Bob Rock-fueled masterpiece, I snapped up everything else I could find that they had released. And I have to say, if anything, I think they've only gotten better as time goes by.

Southern Death Cult: Borrrring. They're only shells of songs, and the band is still having trouble pinning down their own musical style.

Ghost Dance (Death Cult): only marginally better than Southern Death Cult; the songs are still lacking in structure and complexity. I mean, I can appreciate simplicity, but this is a bit much. I do like this version of "Flower in the Forest/Desert/random arid climate" better than the one on Dreamtime, though.

Dreamtime: This is largely considered a great "post-punk" or "psychedelic punk" album, but it's too dreamy and meandering for my taste. The whole goddamn thing is so reverb-heavy, and the blatant attempt at 'culture' in Native American influences grate on me. Billy's work takes a backseat to Ian's pompous sprituality; they hadn't yet learned to play off one another yet. It does have some strong points, particularly the peppy little bassline in "Resurrection Joe." It's the one place on this and the successive 2 albums that the bass will stand out at all. Overall, though, that one hardly ever finds its way to my CD player, and when it does, I invariably skip "Dreamtime" and "Spiritwalker." It's telling that I didn't even bother putting it on my massive music share at work.

Love: Still retaining some of that Native American stuff that Ian can't get enough of (his grandfather was and Indian, you know, so he's just going back to his roots and letting EVERYONE FUCKING KNOW IT), this one's hit and miss for me. I cannot stand "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon" or "Revolution" (that one gets my vote for their worst song ever) but I love "Big Neon Glitter," "Rain," and "Hollow Man." I think this is the album where they started to discover their strength lied in upbeat songs with less of a dreamy feel. Billy's signature Gretsch guitar tone was solidified by this point, ever to be immortalized in "She Sells Sanctuary"- the singular Cult song that ever non-Cult fan will still recognize. It's a decent song, but not their best. It's a little TOO poppy, says me. Incidentally, I worked that into the music we used for a drill routine in highschool once. So the poppiness worked in my favor there.

Electric: Oh, THERE we go. Billy moves to a Les Paul, Ian starts really screaming out those nonsense lyrics about lobster telephones and peace frogs, and we have the blues-based version of The Cult that I so admire. The production is crisp and clear, and the songs are straight up hip-shakin', swaggerin' rock. It's just simple enough to be called punk(ish), but still has blazing solos ("Li'l Devil" being my favorite) and metal sensibility. Ian sounds fantastically in need of a lozenge- see the end of "Love Removal Machine" for evidence- and it's that vocal quality that I like so much. I would even say that he sings with- wait for it...gusto. Yeah, I said it. Gusto singing, that's what it's about. He also apparently started making up words on this album, because the way "check this one" is pronounced comes across as "shocktissahn!" Crazy limeys. Songs on this album are not skipped. They are played multiple times. They are rock and roll perfection.

Sonic Temple: We've been over this, but I'd just like to add that Ian brought more passionate lyrics to the table with this one, enabling the band to try out the "power ballad" thing that was so popular back in the day. I think "Edie" far outshines any "Love Hurts" of the era, thanks in part to Billy refining his playing and backing off a little on the solos. It wasn't about playing at top speed on every song anymore. Is adding a string section too much? Personally, I think it fleshes out the song nicely, but I can see how it may have not gone over so well with people expecting more of a guitar-driven song. Yeah, and? It's a song of majestic proportions on its own terms, regardless of how weird it was that Ian felt compelled to write a song about a dead actress who looked suspiciously like his girlfriend. That is a POWERFUL song, mang. To be fair, I think the second half of the album- from "New York City" on- isn't as strong as the first, but I still argue that this is their best effort to date. There were also organs thrown into the mix (intro to "Sweet Soul Sister"), and the bass started coming out as an instrument unto itself again, rather than just following the guitar. There is so much going on with this album that I feel like 10 years later, I'm still hearing new things. And even if I didn't think this was one of the best albums ever produced, I'd still love it for the way it takes me back to riding around in my cute little new boyfriend's shitty-ass Datsun during the summer I was 16 (thankfully, I've since weaned him off of foreign cars and onto Chevies). So it's got a strong nostalgia factor as well. Enough jacking off to ST, though, and on to...

Ceremony: Um. I hardly ever listen to this one. I like "Earth Mofo" and "Full Tilt," but something's missing from this album. It's like these were all the songs that didn't make it onto Sonic Temple. I think they just put this out too soon after ST, and didn't have enough time to really develop the songs. Really, I don't have anything else to say about it...there are no really high or really low points; it's just kind of level and quite honestly, bland. I forget this one even exists from time to time.

The Cult: I felt like they were starting to work beyond their means on this one. Too much keyboard...you can hear Ian pushing to take the band in a more electonic direction, a desire which he sated on his solo album. There's an odd mix of keys and tambourine here, and Billy's style is all over the map. The tone isn't consistent and is even grating at times, like the main riff in "Joy." I'm not particularly fond of "Universal You" or "Sacred Life" (except I liked the Andy Wood name-checking), but beyond that I think the songwriting itself is great. The only thing I have a problem with is the way they conceptualized the songs. I can respect how they were branching out and getting a little funkier, but other than "Star," "Coming Down" (which had a HIDEOUS video), and "Real Grrl," they weren't working at their full potential. There's enough here that I enjoy to keep coming back to it- I wouldn't call it a throw-away album by any means- but they took their evolution a little too far for this one, instead of sticking to what they were good at and further refining it.

Beyond Good and Evil: This album brought back the rock. It's right up there with ST, far's I'm concerned. The only thing about it I don't like is Nico- another ballad about one of Warhol's proteges, but not nearly as compelling as its predecessor. The songs are driven and passionate, not to mention meaningful. Ian somehow overcame the pretentiousness that was apparent on past albums (not to mention in old interviews where he'd say things like "I'm better than Axl Rose," which *may* be true, but is awfully bombastic for one to say of themselves) and sounds more comfortable with himself. These songs really showcase how his voice can soar, and Billy's Les Paul sound came back to replace the weird, experimental note they'd ended on about 6 years prior. This is a strong comeback album if ever there was one; the songs are fully realized (by my standards, anyhow) and they've got interesting drum parts in there to boot- whereas they may as well have just had a drum machine before, for all the creativity on the part of their other drummers. This whole damn album (except "Nico") is so lovely that the CD has taken quite a beating from its many, many listenings. If it takes half a decade to come up with something as epic and moving as this, I'll gladly wait another few years for the next. As though I have a choice.

Okay, so now I've defended my favorite band and proved beyond a doubt that they haven't gotten any less awesome over time. No- don't argue. I'm right and you know it. Just submit to my correctness. I won't hold your previous transgressions against you. There's no shame in admitting you've made a mistake.

The next step would be for me to come up with my own argument for why the entity that is The Cult has declined in recent years.

Here's what I've got: Sometime around Ceremony, Ian cut off all that gorgeous hair.

That's it. That's the only complaint I have. Ceremony was so-so and they were starting to falter on the self-titled album, but they fully redeemed themselves on Beyond Good and Evil. Plus Ian started growing his hair out again, and then did an awesome job touring as a modern-day Jim Morrison, soooo...yeah, nothing else. This isn't because I'm somehow so blinded by the good aspects of The Cult that I'm unable to admit there's any bad- but there's a reason they're my favorite band, you know? Of COURSE I'm going to say I like most of their stuff. Maybe I didn't follow the rules exactly, but that's why I'm going to follow this up with my own critical assessment in the "D" section- which I'll get to soon, but not now, because I've eaten up the bulk of my workday on LJ now and I want to go home.