Rating:  -
The music on this disk has been destroyed by lousy mastering. it is way too loud. There is so much compression and clipping that that drums have zero punch and rest sound like a wall: totally flat and without dynamics. Sure it will sound ok in car driving on the highway, or a pair of portable headphones next to a road. But listen to this thing in a quiet environment with half decent equipment and your skin will crawl. I am not surprised that this record tanked, it was mastered that badly. Although, if you haven't heard a horridely mastered cd sounds like (if, for example you listen to classical music/Jazz), then this is a good example of crap. Or you could try the '97 reissue of Raw Power or Californication by the Chilis.
And its not surprising. The band wanted to sound the loudest they could. Well today that means wrecking your music, because every rock album is already way too loud to begin with. So to go even farther, well it's sure loud but crappy.
Oh and if you don't know what I'm talking about, google loudness war or race. There is a good vid on youtube about it. Then vist the Steve Hoffman forums.
you have been warned.
Rating:  -
Great album, heavy riffs, great enchanting lyrics and amazing vocals. GO CULT!
Rating: -
Hey folks, what can I say? What a moron i've been for passing this one by....mostly just because I was in the middle of raising my family, but thats enough about me. I am stunned by the sheer brillance of this album! I've been a fan since forever, and honestly I think Sonic Temple had been my fav up until last night. I finally listened to this CD in full (for the first time if you can believe it!). What put me in the mood to do that? Well I have the DVD they put out in 2001 (Music without fear) and as many of you may know that is one bad-a@@ DVD (except for Ian's vocal problems on a few songs). What makes that DVD so amazing? The sheer heaviness, that's what. I noticed a Sabbath like grind almost immediately on that DVD, and I was stunned that the cult could just sit in that heavy groove for almost an hour and a half. Of course, I wondered what Cult CD the heaviest grooves were from...To make a long story short, I'm stunned at the impact this album has had on me. Not since the first time I heard Sabbath Vol. IV, have I reacted in such a way to pure Dark Metal like this:) WOW!!!!These guys have a brilliant album here, this album puts them right up with the best of Rock and Roll and Dark Metal at its absolute best. Great work Ian, Billy and the rest of the gang:) Keep on putting this kind of Rock out, please, please, please:)
Rating:  -
This is probably one of the best raunchy rock and roll cd's in a long time. The Cult went out with style. There are few weak songs but it is all hard for the most part. I like the style of darkness that is here
Rating: -
I've always had a picture of what I think reunion albums should be-- old bandmates, having not been together for years find inspiration in each other and, while providing a nod to the past, move forward, seeing where they've been since the last time they got together and where the rest of the world has been.
Sadly, this is rarely the case-- instead, reunion albums tend to feel more like going through the motions then anything new. And while when it first comes out, yeah, it seems fantastic, years later when you pull the record out, you're stunned by just how overwhelmingly mediocre it is and how it feels like an imitation of the band you loved.
Thankfully, The Cult's "Beyond Good and Evil" is none of that-- in fact, it's about everything I could hope it would be. A quick note-- for anyone hoping the Cult would produce "Electric Part II" or whatever your favorite album is, look elsewhere, this is not it.
The album brings together the core and songwriting team of the band-- vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, whose last studio date together was seven years prior to this-- as well as former drummer Matt Sorum, who left the band in 1989, with either Chris Wyse or Martyn LeNoble (Porno for Pyros) contributing on bass. The band hasn't missed what's been going on since they left, "Beyond Good and Evil" owes as much to Tool as it does to "Sonic Temple"-- pounding rhythms, fierce attacks, and atmosphere are all critical to the record, but the goth undertones and sense of melodrama all remain.
The album opens with an explosion, "War (The Process)" is driven by a distorted bass line with as strong a vocal as Astbury has ever put forth before it rips into the chorus. This is pretty much the recipe for the album, whether it be rhythmically driven ("Take the Power"), a stunningly intense ballad ("Nico") or black and mysterious ("American Gothic"). Precious few of the tracks lack intensity, energy and sincerity, and the band sounds totally engaged. Admittedly, a couple of the tracks towards the end are a bit dull ("Shape the Sky"), but as a whole, the record works a lot more than it doesn't.
Bottom line-- it's a shame all reunions can't be like this-- "Beyond Good and Evil" stands up among the best of the Cult's catalog. Recommended.
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