Love (The Cult album)

Love
Studio album by
The Cult
Released18 October 1985 (1985-10-18)
RecordedJuly – August 1985
StudioJacobs Studios (Farnham, England) and Olympic Studios (London, England)
Genre
Length51:31
Label
ProducerSteve Brown
The Cult chronology
Dreamtime
(1984) 		Love
(1985) 		Electric
(1987)
Singles from Love
  1. "She Sells Sanctuary"
    Released: 17 May 1985
  2. "Rain"
    Released: 27 September 1985
  3. "Revolution"
    Released: 22 November 1985

Love is the second studio album by the English rock band The Cult, released on 18 October 1985 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album was the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number four in the UK and staying on the chart for 22 weeks. It produced three Top 40 singles in the UK, "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain", and "Revolution".[5] It has been released in nearly 30 countries and sold an estimated 2.5 million copies. Love was recorded at Jacob's Studios in Farnham, Surrey, in July and August 1985.

Background

Many European CD pressings, as well as Canadian and Australian pressings, include two bonus tracks: "Little Face" as track four, and "Judith" as track eleven. Various other foreign pressings have several other bonus tracks. For unknown reasons, the Korean vinyl and cassette tape editions omitted the songs "Big Neon Glitter" and "Revolution". Also inexplicably, in the Philippines a considerably shorter version of the song "Brother Wolf; Sister Moon" was used; it lasts only 5:18, omitting most of the guitar solos in the second half of the song.

In 2000, the album was remastered and reissued on CD, with only the ten original songs and different artwork. "Big Neon Glitter" and "Hollow Man" are alternately listed with and without the article "The" in their title, respectively.

In 2003, the record was issued on CD in Russia, Belarus and Lithuania, formerly being available only as a bootleg LP in the Soviet Union. These 2003 Eastern European releases came with the bonus tracks "Faith Healer" and "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (acoustic) as tracks 13 and 14, and the word acoustic is misspelled as "accoustic"; the pressings also use a different font for the lettering. There is also an Indonesian cassette tape version which rearranges the track listing, and includes "Dreamtime" and "Bad Medicine Waltz", from the previous Cult studio album, Dreamtime (1984).

To coincide with the band's Love Live Tour in August 2009, the band released two different editions of the album:

  1. Version one is the "Expanded Edition", a 2-CD set consisting of the album on one disc as well as extended versions of album cuts, remixes and b-sides on the second disc. This set was released on 8 August 2009 in Varada and the US, and 21 September in Europe.
  2. Version two is called the "Omnibus Edition" which features the first two discs from the "Expanded Edition" plus two more discs. Disc three features demos from the Love album presented for the first time, and disc four features a live concert recorded by the BBC at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 31 October 1985.[6]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
BBC(very favourable)[8]
Kerrang![10]
Metal Hammer[9]

Track listing

Original 1985 release

All tracks are written by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy

No.TitleLength
1."Nirvana"5:24
2."Big Neon Glitter"4:45
3."Love"5:35
4."Brother Wolf, Sister Moon"6:49
5."Rain"3:57
6."Phoenix"5:06
7."Hollow Man"4:45
8."Revolution"5:20
9."She Sells Sanctuary"4:23
10."Black Angel"5:22
Total length:51:31

2009 "Expanded edition" CD 2 track listing

  1. "She Sells Sanctuary" (Long version) – 6:59
  2. "No. 13" – 4:40
  3. "The Snake" – 8:09
  4. "(Here Comes the) Rain" – 6:19
  5. "Little Face" – 4:54
  6. "Revolution" (Full length remix) – 5:29
  7. "Judith" – 5:29
  8. "Sunrise" – 5:11
  9. "All Souls Avenue" – 4:45
  10. "She Sells Sanctuary" (Howling mix) – 8:26
  11. "Assault on Sanctuary" – 7:31

Omnibus edition CD 3 and 4 track listings

CD 3: "The Demos"

  1. "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon" – 7:54
  2. "Hollow Man" – 5:48
  3. "She Sells Sanctuary" – 5:21
  4. "All Souls Avenue" – 4:56
  5. "Little Face" – 5:45
  6. "No. 13" – 6:23
  7. "Big Neon Glitter" – 6:34
  8. "Waltz" (Instrumental) – 4:36
  9. "Nirvana" (Instrumental) – 6:04
  10. "Revolution" (Instrumental) – 6:50
  11. "She Sells Sanctuary" (Olympic mix) – 7:04

CD 4: Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, 31 October 1985

  1. "Love" – 5:54
  2. "Nirvana" – 5:05
  3. "Christians" – 4:33
  4. "Hollow Man" – 5:01
  5. "Big Neon Glitter" – 4:46
  6. "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon" – 7:01
  7. "Rain" – 5:12
  8. "Dreamtime" – 3:10
  9. "She Sells Sanctuary" – 5:35
  10. "Go West" – 5:02
  11. "Spiritwalker" – 4:35
  12. "Horse Nation" – 3:17
  13. "Phoenix" – 5:19

Bonus tracks/international releases

  • "Little Face" (bonus track, track four in some territories)
  • "Judith" (bonus track, track eleven in some territories)
  • "Faith Healer" (bonus track, track thirteen in Eastern Europe and Asia)
  • "Edie (Ciao Baby)" (acoustic version) (bonus track, track fourteen in Eastern Europe and Asia)
  • Indonesian cassette tape versions:
  1. Side A: "Love", "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain", "Nirvana", "Revolution", "Black Angel"
  2. Side B: "Phoenix", "The Hollow Man", "Big Neon Glitter", "Brother Wolf Sister Moon", "Dreamtime"*, "Bad Medicine Waltz"*. *From the studio album Dreamtime.

On these Indonesian pressings, the song "Brother Wolf Sister Moon" is incorrectly listed as "Brother Walf Sister Moon", and drummer Nigel Preston is listed as Nigel Reston.

  • Saudi Arabian cassette tape versions includes "Spiritwalker", "Dreamtime", "Rider in the Snow" and "A Flower in the Desert" as bonus tracks, but it does not include "Judith" or "Little Face". An alternate Saudi Arabian version includes only nine of the original ten songs, omitting "Revolution" and comes with a different sleeve.[citation needed]

2009–2010 Love Live Tour

In 2009 and 2010, the Cult played the Love album in its entirety during an extended tour. The setlist typically was formatted as follows.[11]

  1. "Nirvana"
  2. "Big Neon Glitter"
  3. "Love"
  4. "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon"
  5. "Rain"
  6. "Phoenix"
  7. "Hollow Man"
  8. "Revolution"
  9. "She Sells Sanctuary"
  10. "Black Angel"

Encore:

  1. "Electric Ocean"
  2. "Wild Flower"
  3. "Illuminated" (later replaced with "Sun King")
  4. "Rise"
  5. "Fire Woman"
  6. "Dirty Little Rockstar"
  7. "Love Removal Machine"

On 10 October 2009, Jamie Stewart and Mark Brzezicki joined the band on stage, performing "The Phoenix" and "She Sells Sanctuary".[12]

Personnel

The Cult[13]

Additional personnel[13]

  • Mark Brzezicki – drums on all tracks except "She Sells Sanctuary", "No. 13" and "The Snake"
  • Simon Kliney – Fairlight
  • The Soultanas (Mae McKenna, Lorenza Johnson, Jackie Challenor) – backing vocals on "Rain", "Revolution" and "Phoenix".

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[14] 2× Platinum 200,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Christopher, Michael (11 December 2019). "Interview: The Cult's Ian Astbury on 30 years of 'Sonic Temple', making nice with Dave Grohl, and all things sonic". Vanyaland. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  2. ^ Diehl, Matt (19 September 2013). "Rick Rubin, Ian Astbury Recall 1987 Sessions: 'New York Was on Fire'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  3. ^ Gerard, Chris (7 April 2021). "The 100 Best Alternative Singles of the 1980s: 60 - 41". PopMatters. p. 4. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Cult Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. ^ David Roberts, ed. (2006). British Hit Singles and Albums. Guinness World Records Limited. p. 129. ISBN 978-1904994107.
  6. ^ "THE CULT • Love (Omnibus Edition)". Beggars Archive. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009.
  7. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "The Cult Love review". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  8. ^ Moffitt, Greg (24 September 2009). "The Cult Love (Omnibus Edition) Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  9. ^ "The Cult Love Review". Metal Hammer (198). November 2009.
  10. ^ Dickson, Dave (17 October 1985). "The Cult 'Love'". Kerrang!. Vol. 105. London, UK: Morgan Grampian. p. 18.
  11. ^ Love Live Tour Setlist
  12. ^ "The Cult - Royal Albert Hall, Oct 10/2009". www.cultcentral.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  13. ^ a b Love (liner notes). The Cult. Beggars Banquet Records. 1985. BEGA 65.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Cult – Love". Music Canada. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  15. ^ "British album certifications – Cult – Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  16. ^ "American album certifications – The Cult – Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 22 November 2022.