The Cult - Electric

Well we have arrived at Number 12

The Cult - Electric
Electric saw The Cult move further away from their goth roots by enhancing their more hard rock influences. By bringing in Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys/Slayer) to the controls
this made the album more abrasive sounding. Billy Duffy's guitar was put at the forefront due to Ricks unfussy approach to production.
Opening track 'Wildflower' certainly starts things with ablomb. This was possibly the best AC/DC song that they (AC/DC) never wrote. The rhythm section of Jamie Stewart (Bass) and newcomer Les Warner throughout 'Electric' was effective and simple.
Video Of Wildflower
Many of the songs on the album were very boogie orientated like 'Peace Dog','Bad Fun' and 'Electric Ocean'. The latter is very hard not to play air-drums along with (I have tried not to, but to no avail).
'Lil Devil' is the strongest track on the album a crunching main riff with a secondary lead underneath. All The Cult wanted to be at that time is typified in this song which is probably Ian Astbury's best vocal as well.
The first single from the album was the groovy 'Love Removal Machine', another strong track with Ian going all Jim Morrison on it. It served as a good preview for Electric. At the time it shocked fans and the Press who were expecting 'Love mk 2' but to me it was the time I fell in love with The Cult.
Listen to around 3.31 on the track and just bang your head.
'Aphodisaic Jacket' was the only composition on here that would not have been out of place on their previous effort 'Love'.
'Memphis Hipshake' closed the disc, an undiscovered gem that was often overlooked but should have been a classic, Very blues led and well paced.
Electric did however have a stinker on it, a cover of Steppenwolfs classic 'Born To Be Wild, a pointless track to record, but I can see why it's here as The Cult were trying to break the US market at the time. It was quite usual for bands to include a cover on their albums in an attempt to sell more. However this version is truly awful.
I think The Cult achieved what they needed to do with this album and it was also a great audition piece for Rick Rubin to produce AC/DC (Which he finally did in 1995 with the tepid Ballbreaker).
Before meeting Rick, The Cult had completed the follow up to 'Love' already. It was to be called 'Peace' and had many of the same tracks on it as Electric. It  was scrapped as the band wanted a more rockier sound. The album did see the light of day in the early 90's as the 'Manor Sessions EP'.
It does sound a little strange to hear 'Wild Flower' et al as if they were a continuation of the 'Love' sound. Well worth a listen.
Manor Session Version Of Wildflower

Why I ♥ This Album

Being aged 16 in 1987/88 I was unfortunate in that I looked young for my age, so going to pubs was a no go for me as well as some of my friends. So it was mainly parties at people's houses that gave me the opportunity to drink, smoke and generally misbehave. One such party was at Liz and Katherine Howe's house on the Weyhill Road in Andover. I had gone with my best friend Des as he was courting Liz at the time.
We had stopped off at Little's newsagent next door to get some supplies.

Little's Newsagents as it is now!

The party was quite kicking, I put on some class tunes on the stereo, I had taken a cassette with Electric on one side and a new release by
a new LA band called Guns'N'Roses on the other (What ever happened to them?). People politely asked me to take the GNR off and turn the cassette over.
The Cult went down so much better. The party was memorable for me as it was the only time in my life where I ever been punched in the face!
The story goes in a scene reminiscent of Kevin & Perry having a party - "bigger boys came" (bigger as in they were in their 20's) and began to take the partying to another level. Anyway one of the 'bigger boys' had an almighty row with someone on the landing. I poked my head around the corner to see what was occurring. In his frustration he was hitting the walls and bannisters and then of course he saw another target appear from around a door.
He connected really well with my right eye, the pain wasn't that bad but the swelling came up really quickly. He left the party quite sharpish.
I learned a valuable lesson that night, that girls liked to ply people, who are hurt, with sympathy and attention. I loved it.
Here endeth the lesson!