The Cult
Hidden City
Cooking Vinyl
2016
The Cult has been pretty original, for most of their career, even changing and shifting between styles almost every album or so… with the only two constants being Billy and Ian. So “Hidden City” is the tenth album of the band (disregarding SDC and DC) and also the aborted “Peace” album that was gonna be coming out after “Electric”, whose unfinished sessions ended mostly up in a series of EPs, rereleased as an “Electric/Peace” compilation and also as a single entity ironically in a box set… “Rare Cult”.
With former bassist Chris Wyse gone the band has hired Grant Fitzpatrick as a replacement – they’ve gone through countless bass/drummers anyhow and used Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction, Camp Freddy, as a session bassist on album. John Tempesta is still behind the drum stool however as he’s been for a while now.
It’s probably the first time that the band has stayed relatively “stagnant”, which is not “entirely” true… but it’s the first time that an album doesn’t really have a pretty defined and pretty solid direction, be it gothic rock, hard rock, hard rock bordering on heavy metal, the same but with more acoustic experimentation, almost garage/grunge or what not they’ve been in the past… the first time I listened to the album, I thought I’d hate it to be honest but soon enough, it did creep up on me and endeared itself to me. Truth be spoken the band also switched back to Bob Rock for the fifth time, a man notorious for being able to create “polished” but also great productions that tend to also bring out the best in bands… he pushed Metallica into crafting their more successful album and on…
“Dark Energy” sure enough kicks up very much in typical The Cult fashion and is pretty identifiable… could have been on any of the “original” run’s albums or in the past couple of them, that “hidden city” is supposed to be the companion and “end” of an atypical trilogy started with 2007’s “Born into This” (dunno where to stick the capsules – really – they ended up as overpriced EPs from a company that had trouble manufacturing and selling them and as bonuses on the LTD editions of “Choice...”. The truth is that the sound has been a little “best of” on these past three releases with the band trying to really find a hybrid way to combine their gothic rock and alt/post as well as their old school convictions… also the fact that the band takes their time between album allows them still to this day, to return with “interesting” albums…not just fulfilling contractual obligations, the mark of a true artist…
“No Love Lost”… this is an interesting one, a more introspective tune, something that feels that could have happened on or “post” the S/T album. It’s more experimental with a primal idea kicked in the butt, by a nice occasional riff that really beefed up leads the charge on the chorus… with BD even finding time to stick a nice wee lead in there. Nice! Almost #insta-classic!
“Dance the Night” feels like “Ceremonial” “Bside” but could have been on the S/T or later too. It’s pretty swift and almost danceable with a nice riff and a typical Ian vocal troubadourish vocal.
“In Blood” is pretty much cut from the same cloth, albeit a bit more basic with a very minor sound, an almost acoustic, “tortured” performance – it almost feels like the softer better stuff on that “Holy Barbarians” album... that, let be honest, could have easily been passed off as a “Cult” album without anyone really complaining…
“Birds of Paradise” is beautiful and interesting. It’s allegoric, poetic and transcendental… probably one of the most experimental tracks on here, largely based on a piano idea and really minimal orchestration that almost sounds sampled, it’s hard to categorize, but all the more beautiful for it…
“Hinterland” begins with one of those massive bass riff/grooves that has become a bit of a trademark of the band (occasionally) but instead of breaking into an anthem it channels all its energies in a way more controlled built that feels like a not so chaotic, underflow. I think it has to do with the current state of affairs around the world and standing up to all the BS…
“G O A T” has a pretty “Bacchanalian” title and I guess musically is pretty punky and Dionysian, a little fucked up jam based track that really must have found its way into the album, pretty much close to its really original form…
“Deeply Ordered Chaos” starkly changes the mood. It’s deep and it’s dark and as it must have been the last song to be completed as it even refers to the “Paris (terror) Attacks”… it still ponders the subject of “how twisted” the “European Dream” is becoming with some politicians turning a blind eye to their world issues, only caring about their own “countries” and not the hurt and death they’re causing abroad, only acting in the same despotic ways of some “civilized nations, a hundred years ago with the recent events only “validating” the song’s sentiment that we’ll weep for you, as you fall from our “perfumed” lands… ouch. This “flower” has many thorns dripping both political hate but also hope and beauty that humanity “might” just prevail, even if the sentiment sounds quite resigned on this one…
“Avalanche of Light” is the complete contrast of DOC, an almost triumphant, joyous little quasi-rocker, both signing with spirituality and love…
“Lilies” actually is a bit obvious as a photo of some “blood dripping” Lilies acts as a cover for the album. It’s another experimental and minimalist tune that works beautifully with its soft melody led by Astbury’s vocals… again the allegory of the lyrics allows for a multitude of interpretations, but manages to hit too close to home, echoing sentiments reloadable to a lot of us, lost in this “multitude”. It’s almost a hymn to the “magic” of the moment and the “fragile” miracle of life…
“Heathens” is a bit of an ironic (maybe even intended) title that really doesn’t hold its tongue back, and while it might be simple enough musically, Astbury easily “sells” being both a seasoned, magnetic, shamanic, talismanic, (insert whatever epithet you want here) Mr. Mojo jr, has got it back and in spades…
Last but not least, “Sound and Fury” is a bit of a trolling, as it’s quite the metaphor, actually a very soft and sorrow bowed track that really takes the title from a fragment of the lyrics… this is probably the sad “cousin” of “Lilies”…
I must say that I had my fair share of doubts about The Cult. I always liked them, more than a little and pretty much almost all eras, but since their reunion they never quite managed to really capture my fancy in a really solid way. Sure they had some really strong singles and no album was disappointing, but “Hidden City” is the first album in a long time that, while unassuming and without a bona fide “distinctive” rock single, is “deeper” and almost “classic” in the way it feels. I didn’t have to force myself to like it and that’s something that hasn’t happened to me since oh, who knows, the “Ceremony” days… (not that it took a lot of effort to like the albums in between) but this is probably a slight step up. With a “big single” this would have been an instant classic/charting success… as it is one artistic, amazing album and I can’t wait to get lost into it.
With former bassist Chris Wyse gone the band has hired Grant Fitzpatrick as a replacement – they’ve gone through countless bass/drummers anyhow and used Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction, Camp Freddy, as a session bassist on album. John Tempesta is still behind the drum stool however as he’s been for a while now.
It’s probably the first time that the band has stayed relatively “stagnant”, which is not “entirely” true… but it’s the first time that an album doesn’t really have a pretty defined and pretty solid direction, be it gothic rock, hard rock, hard rock bordering on heavy metal, the same but with more acoustic experimentation, almost garage/grunge or what not they’ve been in the past… the first time I listened to the album, I thought I’d hate it to be honest but soon enough, it did creep up on me and endeared itself to me. Truth be spoken the band also switched back to Bob Rock for the fifth time, a man notorious for being able to create “polished” but also great productions that tend to also bring out the best in bands… he pushed Metallica into crafting their more successful album and on…
“Dark Energy” sure enough kicks up very much in typical The Cult fashion and is pretty identifiable… could have been on any of the “original” run’s albums or in the past couple of them, that “hidden city” is supposed to be the companion and “end” of an atypical trilogy started with 2007’s “Born into This” (dunno where to stick the capsules – really – they ended up as overpriced EPs from a company that had trouble manufacturing and selling them and as bonuses on the LTD editions of “Choice...”. The truth is that the sound has been a little “best of” on these past three releases with the band trying to really find a hybrid way to combine their gothic rock and alt/post as well as their old school convictions… also the fact that the band takes their time between album allows them still to this day, to return with “interesting” albums…not just fulfilling contractual obligations, the mark of a true artist…
“No Love Lost”… this is an interesting one, a more introspective tune, something that feels that could have happened on or “post” the S/T album. It’s more experimental with a primal idea kicked in the butt, by a nice occasional riff that really beefed up leads the charge on the chorus… with BD even finding time to stick a nice wee lead in there. Nice! Almost #insta-classic!
“Dance the Night” feels like “Ceremonial” “Bside” but could have been on the S/T or later too. It’s pretty swift and almost danceable with a nice riff and a typical Ian vocal troubadourish vocal.
“In Blood” is pretty much cut from the same cloth, albeit a bit more basic with a very minor sound, an almost acoustic, “tortured” performance – it almost feels like the softer better stuff on that “Holy Barbarians” album... that, let be honest, could have easily been passed off as a “Cult” album without anyone really complaining…
“Birds of Paradise” is beautiful and interesting. It’s allegoric, poetic and transcendental… probably one of the most experimental tracks on here, largely based on a piano idea and really minimal orchestration that almost sounds sampled, it’s hard to categorize, but all the more beautiful for it…
“Hinterland” begins with one of those massive bass riff/grooves that has become a bit of a trademark of the band (occasionally) but instead of breaking into an anthem it channels all its energies in a way more controlled built that feels like a not so chaotic, underflow. I think it has to do with the current state of affairs around the world and standing up to all the BS…
“G O A T” has a pretty “Bacchanalian” title and I guess musically is pretty punky and Dionysian, a little fucked up jam based track that really must have found its way into the album, pretty much close to its really original form…
“Deeply Ordered Chaos” starkly changes the mood. It’s deep and it’s dark and as it must have been the last song to be completed as it even refers to the “Paris (terror) Attacks”… it still ponders the subject of “how twisted” the “European Dream” is becoming with some politicians turning a blind eye to their world issues, only caring about their own “countries” and not the hurt and death they’re causing abroad, only acting in the same despotic ways of some “civilized nations, a hundred years ago with the recent events only “validating” the song’s sentiment that we’ll weep for you, as you fall from our “perfumed” lands… ouch. This “flower” has many thorns dripping both political hate but also hope and beauty that humanity “might” just prevail, even if the sentiment sounds quite resigned on this one…
“Avalanche of Light” is the complete contrast of DOC, an almost triumphant, joyous little quasi-rocker, both signing with spirituality and love…
“Lilies” actually is a bit obvious as a photo of some “blood dripping” Lilies acts as a cover for the album. It’s another experimental and minimalist tune that works beautifully with its soft melody led by Astbury’s vocals… again the allegory of the lyrics allows for a multitude of interpretations, but manages to hit too close to home, echoing sentiments reloadable to a lot of us, lost in this “multitude”. It’s almost a hymn to the “magic” of the moment and the “fragile” miracle of life…
“Heathens” is a bit of an ironic (maybe even intended) title that really doesn’t hold its tongue back, and while it might be simple enough musically, Astbury easily “sells” being both a seasoned, magnetic, shamanic, talismanic, (insert whatever epithet you want here) Mr. Mojo jr, has got it back and in spades…
Last but not least, “Sound and Fury” is a bit of a trolling, as it’s quite the metaphor, actually a very soft and sorrow bowed track that really takes the title from a fragment of the lyrics… this is probably the sad “cousin” of “Lilies”…
I must say that I had my fair share of doubts about The Cult. I always liked them, more than a little and pretty much almost all eras, but since their reunion they never quite managed to really capture my fancy in a really solid way. Sure they had some really strong singles and no album was disappointing, but “Hidden City” is the first album in a long time that, while unassuming and without a bona fide “distinctive” rock single, is “deeper” and almost “classic” in the way it feels. I didn’t have to force myself to like it and that’s something that hasn’t happened to me since oh, who knows, the “Ceremony” days… (not that it took a lot of effort to like the albums in between) but this is probably a slight step up. With a “big single” this would have been an instant classic/charting success… as it is one artistic, amazing album and I can’t wait to get lost into it.