Ceremony (The Cult album)

Ceremony
Studio album by
The Cult
Released23 September 1991 (1991-09-23)
Recorded1991
Genre
Length63:38
LabelBeggars Banquet, Sire
ProducerRichie Zito
The Cult chronology
Sonic Temple
(1989) 		Ceremony
(1991) 		Pure Cult
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Q[3]
Rock Hard9/10[4]

Ceremony is the fifth studio album by British rock band The Cult, first released on 23 September 1991. The most popular songs on the album are “Wild Hearted Son” and “Heart of Soul”.

Album information

Ceremony represented a period of great turmoil within the band. Longtime bassist Jamie Stewart had departed prior to recording, and the working relationship between vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy was at an all-time low. The pair reportedly rarely agreed to appear at the studio together, opting to record their parts separately at different times.

The album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1987 album Electric and its 1989 follow-up Sonic Temple. It was heavily inspired by Native American culture.

The band was sued for $61,000,000 by the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the album cover.[5][6]

In New York, the case against Warner Bros. Records was dismissed in February 1997 for lack of personal jurisdiction.[7] A separate case was filed in the District Court of South Dakota on April 10, 1995, but was terminated on May 16, 1995.[8][9]

The album reached #25 in the U.S. and reached #9 in Canada, and achieved platinum status, but sales suffered with the arrival of grunge rock and time spent dealing with the lawsuit. Some countries, including South Korea and Thailand, did not see the record's release until 1992 and it was unreleased in Turkey until the Cult played several shows in Istanbul in June 1993. It reached #16 on the US Cashbox charts.[10]

Track listing

All tracks written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy.

  1. "Ceremony" – 6:27
  2. "Wild Hearted Son" – 5:41
  3. "Earth Mofo" – 4:42
  4. "White" – 7:56
  5. "If" – 5:25
  6. "Full Tilt" – 4:51
  7. "Heart of Soul" – 5:55
  8. "Bangkok Rain" – 5:47
  9. "Indian" – 4:53
  10. "Sweet Salvation" – 5:25
  11. "Wonderland" – 6:10

Track information

Both "Ceremony" and "Wild Hearted Son" begin with Native American Indian dances. "White" includes an excerpt from Lawrence Lipton's 1959 book 'The Holy Barbarians', which was later the name of Astbury's band, formed in 1996. "Heart of Soul" begins with the lyric "Down and out in London, Los Angeles, and Paris too", which is a reference to George Orwell's 'Down and Out in Paris and London', with Los Angeles being where the band were based at that time.

"Wild Hearted Son" (UK#40, Canada #41) was the first officially released single, followed by "Heart of Soul" (UK#51). "Sweet Salvation" and "Heart of Soul" were both released as promotional only singles in Argentina in 1992, and "Ceremony" was released as a promotional single in Spain.

Personnel

The Cult[11]
Additional personnel[11]
  • Mickey Curry – drums (all tracks)
  • Charley Drayton – bass (all tracks)
  • Richie Zito – additional keyboards (tracks: 1, 4), keyboards (tracks: 2, 11), harmonium (track 10)
  • Benmont Tench – organ (tracks 1, 7, 10), piano (track 5), mellotron (track 4)
  • Tommy Funderburk – backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5 to 11)
  • Scott Thurston – synthesizer and additional piano (track 5)
  • Suzie Katayama – cello (track 9)
  • Alex Acuña – percussion (tracks 9, 11)
  • Donny Gerrard, Mona Lisa, Yvonne St. James – backing vocals (track 10)
Technical

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Platinum 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Rivadavia, Eduardo (24 September 2016). "25 Years Ago: The Cult lose their way with 'Ceremony'". Diffuser. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  2. ^ AllMusic review
  3. ^ Kane, Peter (November 1991). "Q magazine". Q.
  4. ^ "THE CULT - Ceremony". ROCK HARD Heavy-Metal-Magazin. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  5. ^ Isaak, Sharon (19 June 1992). "Wrong Rite?". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  6. ^ "The Cult faces legal battle with the Sioux". EW.com. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  7. ^ "DuBray v. Warner Bros. Records". FindLaw. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  8. ^ "DuBray v. Warner Bros. Records (5:95-cv-05028)". CourtListener. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  9. ^ "AMENDED SUMMONS Case No. 94-44". Rapid City Journal. 5 April 1995. p. 23. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  10. ^ "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b Ceremony (liner notes). The Cult. Beggars Banquet Records. 1991. BEGA 122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ "Canadian single certifications – The Cult – Ceremony". Music Canada. Retrieved 22 November 2022.