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49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An 80s landmark, December 4, 2001
While U2 often gets credit for creating some of the rare meaningful musical moments of the 80s (and rightfully so), Love by the Cult is perhaps the most overlooked album of greatness from that decade. But let's not be time-constricted. When this 1985 opus was produced, it was lightyears ahead of its time and still stands true to any test in the new century. The fact of the matter is, just about every rock interest has tried to lay claim to this album and this band. Alt rockers claim it, metal heads claim it, goths claim it. It's all testiment to the fact that no one has ever been able to pin down the Cult to any label and Love demonstrates that better than anything. She Sells Sanctuary and Rain obviously lean toward the alternative flair. Big Neon Glitter may have some Goth although I always thought the goths were out of line for claiming this album. Then there's The Phoenix... WOW! a molten deluge of psychadelia laced with incantations and mysticism. The title track of the album is clearly the defining moment. Enigmatic, hypnotic, powerful, Love, the song, cannot be dismissed by any true rock fan. Is it metal or alternative? Sabbath or Smitherines? The lyrics to the song Love are equally elusive, "Gonna drive away in a big fast car, gonna drive away won't get too far, gonna drive away don't know how far, gonna drive away in a big fast car... don't you love those sweet times..."
What the hell is lead singer Ian Astburry talking about? I don't know, but it sounds damn good. This album also launches and hallmarks the talents of guitar journeyman Billy Duffy. While Duffy has made strides and vaunted efforts since Love, he has yet to repeat the tight-wired sound and pin-point accuracy as has been captured on this work. Duffy is a guitar virtuoso who has been woefully overlooked in the random and subjective discussions among rock fans and critics alike.
Love, the album, also demonstrates the will to advance and evolve. The previous effort in album by the Cult, Dreamtime, is infantile in comparison. It's hard to believe this is the same band that spat out Dreamtime in some makeshift Duran Duran poser mistake only one year prior to the production of Love. Love lifts this band to levels few others have even thought about. It's a lofty level that even The Cult has not repeated. As Ian Astburry says in the title track, "I believe in love, I believe in my visions. I'll travel far." To not have this album in your collection is akin to having a missing link in the armour of any rock warrior.
Your most humble and loyal servant,
Dixonator
Adventurer/patriot extraordinaire
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grunge before Seattle, November 27, 2000
This album was grunge when the word still meant the sticky stuff you can't get off the bottom of your shoe. When alternative music was still mired in heavy keyboards and weird hair, this album by the Cult came out of nowhere and still ranks as one of the most powerful guitar-rock albums of all time. This is the album I had been waiting to hear all through my high school years in the early to mid-eighties. I had forgotten about it until I saw Ian Astbury singing lead for the Doors on VH-1 yesterday. "Love" was so good that even the Cult could never match up to it. There isn't a misstep on here musically. "Revolution," "Nirvana," and "She Sells Sanctuary" still send chills through me. Unlike the other ham-handed hair band rock of the 80s, Billy Duffy's guitar work is just from another planet. Nothing moved me as much as this album until I heard the first notes of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" six years later. The Cult's next album, "Electric," was a major disappointment after this, what with Rick Rubin's overly clean arrangements. "Sonic Temple" was better, but by then they had taken on more of the heavy metal element and less of the alternative. Nevertheless, "Love" is a shining moment.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Greatest post-70's Rock album EVER...period. FIRE!!!!, June 16, 2004
This is the best recording of rock I've ever heard. I got this CD in '87, a few years after it was released. Actually, I bought it and "Electric" at the same time, as the latter was just released. I was lucky enough to pick up the original "BEGA 65 CD" (Beggar's Banquet) version, with the gold lettering on the front cover. It had two extra songs on it ("Little Face" and "Judith") as well as liner notes--lyrics to all the songs on the CD, inscribed in that odd, neo-egyptian script that you see on the front and back covers of the CD. In 1990, I saw this same CD on a website of RARE recordings going for $60, so if you see it anywhere and its affordable, pick it up. The songs contained within are incredible. Unfortunately, there are a few mellow tunes ("Brother Wolf..." and "Black Angel") that will really make you want to cry or sleep, depending on your mood. They are good, and the lyrics are well crafted, but they are too long. There are a couple of Euro-Pop tunes ("Nirvana," "Rain" and "Revolution") which sound kinda 'blah' now, but they are listenable. The true treasures on this Cd alone make it a 5-Star purchase: "Big Neon Glitter," "Love," (so good, they used the same riff later for the ELECTRIC version of "Wild Flower"), "The Phoenix," (no 80's song rocks this hard or well--not one...it still gives me goose bumps), "Hollow Man," (I heard a band cover this a few years ago...a buddy at the show asked me, 'is that a Foo Fighters song?') and "She Sells Sanctuary." Though I mentioned it as a negative, "Brother Wolf..." is a great song, too. It's 7 minutes long, though. There will never be another rock CD like "Love." Ian and Billy saw to that--they scrapped the follow up album (to be titled, "Peace") and rerecorded all of the songs with a new sound ("Electric"). In a strange, dysfunctional way, this CD reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age's "Rated R," (not the way it sounds) in that it's innovative, it's a little ahead of it's time despite borrowing from earlier genres, and it rocks in so many different ways, and on so many different levels. You wanna now how this CD rocks?!?! Ask Ian: "Like a kiss from the lips of Ra that burns on....rising ever higher....a Phoenix from a pyre...my eternal desire....FIRE!!!"
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