Cult, The

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The Cult Hair Metal Band

The roots of the British band The Cult dates back to 1981, when future members of the band formed a punk group called Southern Death Cult.  By 1983, the band had dissolved and a new band, Death Cult, was formed.  By 1984, the band changed shortened the name of the band to The Cult.  By the time the band had made it to the USA in the late 1980's, they had changed their sound from punk rock to hard edged rock, which is why we include them in the hair metal section (it also explains their look in the image above; in later years, they began looking more like Metallica).

Because the dichotomy between The Cult's punk rock days and metal days, we focus primarily here on their metal days.  Although fans of The Cult should still consider checking out some of the band's earlier work, as much of it is still harder edged.  Songs from these punk rock days that some of you may recognize, especially our British fans, are "Spiritwalker", "Resurrection Joe", "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain", and "Revolution".

By 1987, the band's heavier edged Electric album had caught the ear of still unknown Guns 'n' Roses in the USA, but problems in the UK were causing the band to fall apart.  After reforming with some new members, they moved to Los Angeles and produced Sonic Temple (1989), which featured the songs "Fire Woman" and "Sweet Soul Sister".  The Cult toured with Aerosmith and Metallica in support.  This was clearly the heyday for the band.

To make  along story short, The Cult continued producing throughout the 1990's, although the band lineup often changed and tension was prevalent.  After a handful of breakups and reformations, The Cult has continued touring and producing (and was still active at the time of this writing in 2012).

The Cult Discography is as follows:

Listen for free or download any The Cult track for just 12 cents per song!

  • 1983: Death Cult (Death Cult)
  • 1984: Dreamtime
  • 1985: Love
  • 1987: Electric
  • 1989: Sonic Temple
  • 1990: Single's Collection
  • 1991: Ceremony
  • 1991: Pure Cult: for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers, and Sinners
  • 1994: The Cult
  • 2000: Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995
  • 2001: Beyond Good and Evil
  • 2007: Born Into This
  • 2012: Choice of Weapons