Essential Songs Of The Cult

The Cult is a classic rock band that falls under a category coined by one of my radio station coworkers, a "SNORE." SNORE is not a boring song that causes the listener to be lulled into slumber; instead it stands for "Songs Not On Radio Enough."

10. "Breathe" (Sonic Temple)
After a 5 year break-up, The Cult returned in 2000 with a brand new album, Beyond Good and Evil. Even though it was their return, this album was my introduction to the band. This particular song was co-written by Marti Frederiksen, who also co-wrote many songs in the 90's with Aerosmith, along with Foreigner's Mick Jones. It actually sounds a little like 90's Aerosmith mixed with Stone Temple Pilots, especially when the song launches into it's guitar solo section around the three-minute mark.

9. "The Saint" (Beyond Good And Evil)
Another song taken from the album Beyond Good and Evil. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think this album was produced by Bob Marlette rather than Bob Rock. Someone more knowledgeable could probably explain it better, but all those albums produced around 2000 have the same "tinny" sound and distorted guitar tone. Alice Cooper's Brutal Planet is another that comes to mind, along with an endless stream of nu metal bands. Despite that, this song just sounds cool and would probably be even cooler with different production.

8. "She Sells Sanctuary" (Love)
Likely the most well known song from The Cult, and the first time I recall hearing it was on a car commercial.

7. "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (Sonic Temple)
The bulk of this week's Top Ten list seem to be from two albums- Sonic Temple and Beyond Good And Evil. As much as I love these songs from the band, I just can't seem to get into much else and I'm not sure why that is. I've heard the singer Ian Astbury perform guest vocals on tracks from artists like Slash, Tony Iommi, and UNKLE, and have enjoyed all of those solo songs. The songs from The Cult seem to fall in two categories, which are "freaking awesome" and "just okay."

6. "Rise" (Beyond Good And Evil)
Another track taken from Beyond Good And Evil which is just an "in your face" rock song. I mentioned liking Ian's vocals and I feel like this is another strong performance from him. Billy Duffy seems like an underrated guitarist as well. But maybe I'm right and too many mediocre songs from the duo of Duffy and Astbury is what's kept from them that upper tier of classic rock bands.

5. "Love Removal Machine" (Electric)
I first came across this song in 2003 when I was adding songs into the station's library for a weekend of nothing but 80's and 90's music. I knew of "Rain" and "She Sells Sanctuary" prior to this but "Rain" was entirely new level of rock badassery, so I got off my ass and explored more of their songs when I came across their greatest hits collection. Billy Duffy's solo on "Love Removal Machine" is probably his best from any song by The Cult, which is all the more rocking because of Rick Rubin's stripped down production.

4. "Rain" (Love)
Much like with KISS and several other classic rock bands, I was first introduced to The Cult through a compilation in 1998 called Stone Cold Metal. It featured songs "hand-picked" by then WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin, with various songs by Scorpions, Ted Nugent, and Def Leppard as well. My first reaction was "this stuff isn't metal!" But I quickly ignored that notion and cranked up the CD. "Rain" has always been a favorite song, and one I like to "spike" on the radio during the wee hours of the morning. Just don't tell my radio superiors.

3. "Sweet Soul Sister" (Sonic Temple)
Typically I'd prefer a band's extended version of a particular song rather than an edit, however in the case of "Sweet Soul Sister", I prefer it in a shortened form.  This edited version was found on the High Octane Cult compilation, and maybe because I heard that version first it's the one I prefer, but I still don't believe that's the reason after comparing the two over multiple listens. Why I like the edit over the album version is because following the opening organ intro, it goes straight into the song and along with "nah nah nah" vocal part. The album version has an extended guitar section and I guess it just seems to take far to long to get going. I realized after playing these back to back multiple times that the edit simply moves the "nah nah nah" from the fade out of the song and brought it to the beginning. Long story short- it's just a tighter version.

2. "Painted On My Heart" (Gone In 60 Seconds soundtrack) 
I happened to come across this song by accident. I must've fallen asleep while watching a video tape, and whenever that happened the tape would play to the end, automatically rewind, then shut the VCR off when it was finished. That left my TV on channel 3, which for many years was MTV. I think fell asleep every night that same eay and always woke up every morning to some random video airing on MTV. The day I heard "Painted On My Heart" was one that changed me. I feel like that explains why I like so many ballads and songs with orchestration, possibly leading me to eventually enjoy bands like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.

1. "Fire Woman" (Sonic Temple)
Going back to my earlier statement that The Cult seem to vary between awesome songs and just okay songs, possibly they just set the bar far too high with "Fire Woman." It's not only my favorite song of theirs, but also my absolute favorite song period. I'm surprised I haven't been pulled over while listening to it because it's the perfect "drive fast" song. Forget Sammy Hagar.