The Cult – Choice Of Weapon

One of the things that helped The Cult becoming one of my favourite rock bands ever is that in every incarnation of their sound and even when their commercial heyday was long gone, they managed to stay credible, unique and relevant.

I need to acknowledge though that after "Born Into This" (possibly my least favourite album by the band) and the format experiment they carried out through the "Capsules", I thought the guys were in need of a little focus, so I wasn't sure of what to expect from "Choice Of Weapon" when it was announced as the band's return to the classic album format.

As it turned out, it was nothing short of a complete triumphant return to form.

"Choice Of Weapon" is packed with great songs that managed to connect with me in a way that hadn't happened since the days of the mighty "Beyond Good And Evil".

The album kick-starts with the cool and thuggish, urban spirit that floods both the opener "Honey From A Knife" and "For The Animals", leaking later into the swaggering "Lucifer", finding a contrast in the more elevated "Elemental Light" with some truly inspired vocal performance by Astbury and crowned by a particularly elegant and epic main riff by Duffy, that will echo in the moving "Life > Death" and later into the somehow solemn "Wilderness Now".
"The Wolf" is a honest rocker, with to-die-for breaks, like the ones in "A Pale Horse", crushing our sweet skulls as Astbury himself put it, and "Amnesia" is a kind reminder of why Duffy's instinct for killer riffs is unmatched.

The special edition came with a compilation of the above mentioned "capsules" the band had released prior to this new album.
This was a lucky strike, as these are great songs by their own right and always wanted to get them in physical format, specially "Embers", a mesmerising composition with an inspired crescendo driven by one of Billy's finest riffs.

The Cult were back firing all cylinders, showing why they deserve the respect they get from all the rock community, and how they keep moving forward while writing compelling songs.

One of the things that helped The Cult becoming one of my favourite rock bands ever is that in every incarnation of their sound and even when their commercial heyday was long gone, they managed to stay credible, unique and relevant.

I need to acknowledge though that after "Born Into This" (possibly my least favourite album by the band) and the format experiment they carried out through the "Capsules", I thought the guys were in need of a little focus, so I wasn't sure of what to expect from "Choice Of Weapon" when it was announced as the band's return to the classic album format.

As it turned out, it was nothing short of a complete triumphant return to form.

"Choice Of Weapon" is packed with great songs that managed to connect with me in a way that hadn't happened since the days of the mighty "Beyond Good And Evil".

The album kick-starts with the cool and thuggish, urban spirit that floods both the opener "Honey From A Knife" and "For The Animals", leaking later into the swaggering "Lucifer", finding a contrast in the more elevated "Elemental Light" with some truly inspired vocal performance by Astbury and crowned by a particularly elegant and epic main riff by Duffy, that will echo in the moving "Life > Death" and later into the somehow solemn "Wilderness Now".
"The Wolf" is a honest rocker, with to-die-for breaks, like the ones in "A Pale Horse", crushing our sweet skulls as Astbury himself put it, and "Amnesia" is a kind reminder of why Duffy's instinct for killer riffs is unmatched.

The special edition came with a compilation of the above mentioned "capsules" the band had released prior to this new album.
This was a lucky strike, as these are great songs by their own right and always wanted to get them in physical format, specially "Embers", a mesmerising composition with an inspired crescendo driven by one of Billy's finest riffs.

The Cult were back firing all cylinders, showing why they deserve the respect they get from all the rock community, and how they keep moving forward while writing compelling songs.

I have this version with a black vinyl main album, and the accompanying ep on white vinyl. This is not a good recording, at least on my system, with a particularly grainy and gritty sound that is not enticing. For me, the music is also quite blah. The next album "Hidden City" is all round a better effort from The Cult, and is certainly a significantly better sounding vinyl.

Thanx for Siberia, a fantastic goth song.

Does the US 2xLP version have black and white vinyl discs?