Ever since 1987's
Rick Rubin-produced
Electric,
the Cult have never shied away from reveling in the trashiest aspects of rock & roll culture. No doubt,
Ian Astbury's sojourn replacing
Jim Morrison in
the Doors -- or, as they were litigated into calling themselves,
Riders on the Storm -- must have caused the '60s to resonate with him much more than singing a tribute to
Edie Sedgwick, as he did on
the Cult's
Sonic Temple. So in 2007, an age when pure hard rock was nothing to be ashamed of,
the Cult roared back with the back-to-basics record
Born into This. (As in the past,
Ian Astbury and
Billy Duffy are
the Cult; bassist
Chris Wyse and drummer
John Tempesta are nothing more than hired guns here.) From the beginning of the first track, it's clear that
Born into This is going to rock as hard as
Electric or 1989's
Sonic Temple.
The Cult have obviously quit the experimentalism and art rock asides of the '90s and 2000s, in favor of something that fits in well with both
Astbury's time fronting
the Doors and
Duffy's unapologetic metal side project,
Circus Diablo. Aside from the occasional flourish of their post-punk gothic past, most of the record is the dirtiest and heaviest hard rock they've recorded since the '80s, like the trailer single
"Dirty Little Rockstar" or the similarly trashy
"Diamonds." Astbury's vocals are as muscular as they've ever been, although his quavering vibrato on the ballad
"Holy Mountain" marks it as a latter-day
Cult song.
Duffy's songwriting edge may have dulled slightly, but his lead guitar and the production of longtime British associate
Youth make up for any inadequacy. ~ John Bush
![Born Into This [Savage Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5013929925625_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg)
![Born Into This [Savage Edition]](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.9.4)
![Born Into This [Savage Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5013929925625_p0_v1_s600x595.jpg)
![Up [Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0099923526728_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Up [Deluxe Edition]")
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![Dazzle Ships [40th Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602448995476_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Dazzle Ships [40th Anniversary Edition]")
![Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables [2022 Mix]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0767004293424_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables [2022 Mix]")
