The Cult's Disastrous Reunion With Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy and Matt Sorum Beyond Good & Evil
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- Опубліковано 29 жов 2023
- The Cult's disastrous reunion with Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy and Matt Sorum for 2001's albums Beyond Good and Evil.
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The british Cult would burst onto the scene in the mid 80’s with a string of successful records including Love, Electric and Sonic Temple. The two constants in the band has always been frontman Ian Astbury & guitarist Billy Duffy who are also the principal songwriters. But as the 90’s rolled around the Cult were in for a rude awakening. Their first record of the decade 1991’s Ceremony would be released at possibly the worst time as it would be put out in September alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion records plus you had Pearl Jam’s Ten and Metallica’s Black album come out the month before. The album soon got lost in the shuffle and also represented a stylistic shift for the group as Astbury and Duffy were butting heads over the musical direction of the band, so Ceremony represented a compromise. The album ultimately peaked at number 24 on the album charts and sold half a million copies in the states, but it didn’t do as well commercially as the band’s past efforts. Also hampering the band at this time was a $61 Million lawsuit they were involved in over the cover art for the album. The family of the boy on the album cover sued the band claiming they never gave permission for the photo to be used, while the band claimed they went through the appropriate legal avenues.
The Cult would return in 1994 with their self titled album that was more influenced by alternative rock at the time. The album sold worse than Ceremony and it ultimately led to the band breaking up. The band would fall apart while on tour in South America with Billy Duffy telling Loudersound “we broke up in 1995.. That was a real break-up! We were in south america and ian just split. I think the problem was, that neither of us were really comfortable with success. We’re just not cut out for being popstars. The rest of the tour dates would be scrapped. Astbury would tell Newday “I left the band because I was exhausted after 12 years with Duffy. I had given everything i could in our relationship and made a lot of sacrifices in my life. Time with my family and time with yourself to be away from the pressures of being objectified as the singer in a rock n’ roll band. Also contributing to his decision to take a break was his struggles with substance abuse, his marriage falling apart and the changing musical scene and how the rock n’ roll frontman persona had changed from a decade prior. He would remark to an interviewer. Look how they dress. They don’t dress like peacocks. Their music didn’t celebrate sexuality.
During their time apart in the mid 90’s Astbury and Duffy would play in separate musical groups, but it would be former Cult and Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt sorum who instigated a reunion. Sorum had joined the cult during the sonic temple tour days and soon departed to join Guns N’ Roses to help them make their Use Your Illusion records and tour the album. He had been fired by frontman Axl Rose in 1997. It was one night in the late 90’s he was sitting on his couch watching TV when he saw Jay Leno’s Tonight show and saw buckcherry performing. He would call up Duffy and according to his autobiography double talkin jive he’d say ‘billy! I just saw a band on tv and they are a watered down poor man’s version of the cult. I think rock n’ roll could be coming back.” the musicians would talk about their longstanding issues and what they were now up to and Sorum proposed that they get the band back together, put out a press release and book a tour. Duffy was into the idea and they enlisted bassist Martin LeNoble and the Cult were now back and booked a sold out theater tour across America. The success of the band’s reunion tour resulted in record labels showing up to their gigs and making offers, one of the labels who pitched to the cult was atlantic who offered them a million dollar advan
The Cult is such an underrated band. Billy Duffy is such a great guitarist and unrecognized by history. One of the best.
Love his solos.
I saw The Cult on the Sonic Temple tour in 1989, it's one of the best concerts I have ever been to.
Saw them on Pinkpop that tour. They were crazy good and loud. They went over time and Jan Smeets Mr Pinkpop got angry and smashed a mic. They reconciled years later. It was pretty epic to see. We were in the front.
Beyond Good and Evil is the last true classic album from The Cult and is a phenomenal album. Every track is superb.
Personally enjoyed the last 3 albums, different but aren't bad albums.
Seriously, this might be their best album IMO. I saw them on this tour as well. 3/4 the arena was empty because it was right after 9/11 and they had 4 people checking everyone's bags. So infuriating (they were opening for Aerosmith).
I would say that, under the midnight sun, is their best album since the classic sonic temple. Check it out
@@stewelsby666my dad stopped listening to The Cult when they were reforming for Beyond Good And Evil and 15ish years later he got up and looked at new Cult which is amazing, they feel like Love, Electric, and Sonic Temple all put together with some Ceremony vibes on Choice Of Weapon and Hidden City while the new album reminds me of Love if it was made today
Yes. "Ashes and Ghosts" is fantastic. "American Gothic" is also a great song.
You didn't mention that Ian Astubruy did a stint with the Doors 2000. I saw 2 of those shows - they were truly epic and Ian was in fabulous form performing classic songs from the Doors.The first gig i saw was with Stewart Copeland on drums from the Police. It was unreal.
Wow didn’t know that. Fascinating thanks for sharing. I’ll have to hunt out videos now.
Ian did great fronting the doors..... ive always loved Jim and Ian always reminded me of Jim ... how could ya go wrong there...
The Cult will always be in my top 5 no matter what happens
It wasn't The Doors. It was a tribute band.
I saw this show. Ian Astbury and the Doors. I watched them perform in Honolulu, Hawaii in a really small Night club. I remember really wavy psychodelic lights shining on the walls during the performance of " The End". It was an epic and surreal performance. Legendary at best! Ian nailed every song
Ian Astbury has a killer voice. He’s like if Jim Morrison, Elvis, and Danzig merged together in hell
Had. He can't sing anymore. I saw them in 2010ish and he wasn't great.
@@toddgaak422 That's beside the point. Everyone ages (and for someone born in the early 60s he's still killing it)
@@toddgaak422yeah you just had to say that didn't you?
Feel better now?
Good on you.
What a top bloke lol😂
@AceCourageAICoversonya Ace - 10,000 Volts is awesome 👍
@@toddgaak422still has a great voice
Beyond Good and Evil is an excellent Cult record and it’s very underrated. Maybe one day it will be released on vinyl .
If you say so I better giving it a chanse ...
Beyond Good and Evil is amazing every song cranks and the Cult have been my FAVOURITE band now for nearly 40years , love Ian Astubruy's voice
Amazing album. I used to listen to it when I worked out. Every single day. On 11. I still do!
My first rock concert ever was the Sonic Temple Tour. I was eighteen and Bonham and Dangerous Toys were the openers. It was a phenomenal experience!
Excellent support!!
Yep I seen that come through st.louis!!!!!! Great line up
@@roberttaylor6374Im from St Louis! But saw Show in MIAMI dangerous Toys! Ian as usual this time period, berating the audience.
Holy shit, my first concert too. Saw them play arco arena in 1989. Same line up.
Dude, seeing that stack of cassettes brought back some memories. I had dozens of cassette holders in my car, when I was 16.....Back in '97.
Matt Sorum loves to be in bands with lead singers that are impossible to work with, doesn't he?
I know huh😅 He's a nice guy too, just bad luck.
Alot of singers at that level are hard to work with especially in that age bracket...
Just lead singers in general.
He thrives on it bro! 🤣
GnR, Cult, Velvet Revolver
Sounds like Ian Astbury was an absolute beast. This dude got chosen by THE DOORS themselves to replace Jim Morrison onstage, now THAT is a rock star.
Its all influences... Ian was emulating Jim long before any reunion... Akin to Coverdale AKA Coverversion posing like that Zep singer...
@@bakeNeat Well he and I have both lived longer than Morrison now innit. But the charisma and stage presence of the Lizard King is hard to duplicate
I saw them at the HFStival around the time Beyond Good & Evil came out, and they were mind-blowing. I'd never even heard of them, and they totally brought it. "Rise" is a truly killer song from that record, too.
Ceremony is a damn underrated album. Have you ever listened to it in he's entirely? Ceremony, Wild Hearted Son, If, Indian Woman, White... It's a masterpiece! It just launched in wrong time.
Totally agree! It's a damn good album., hot blooded rock!
I thought it was a bit formulaic but still a good album. Bit predictable maybe.
@@svenjansen2134 Its such a great album , BUT to me the songs seem to just drag on and on to much.
Despite all this, Beyond Good & Evil is one my favorite Cult albums! Ian & Billy, combined with Sorum's MASSIVE sound, plus another departure, were fantastic!
00:23 the thing is, The Cult was on alternative radio stations before "alternative Rock" (let's just call it Grunge, okay?) became popular. The kind of stations that played The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Pixies, Depeche Mode etc. all before they became popular. The kind of radio stations that played Red Hot Chili Peppers before Blood Sugar Sex Magic (I love that their first "greatest hits" album was called "Hits? What Hits?"
The Cult came out of Death Cult, which arguably came out of Southern Death Cult (but that was a different band really). Death Cult/The Cult's initial success was largely due to their Goth following. That changed when they recorded the follow up album to their most successful album "Love" but didn't like it, so they got in touch with Rick Rubin. Rubin told them to stop doing the 'pussy' English thing, stripped down the production to make it more appealing to US audiences and more mainstream rock. That album was "Electric". It did just as well as Love, but alienated a lot of the original followers and set The Cult on course to be more of a heavy rock band, and essentially no longer "alternative".
I saw The Cult in Santa Barbara in 1992. Was 4th row center and brought a tape recorder to record it. Unfortunately, I was way too close for the recording to sound good. It was such an incredible concert and experience!
I love that you brought a tape recorder! I gosh I miss the 90’s! 😊
I was at that show...Santa Barbara County Bowl... a great evening !
Beyond Good and Evil is an extremely underrated record
Indeed
maybe they should have put on some decent clothes and promoted the album instead of showing up on tv shows sweaty and disinterested, maybe then people would care about their album, you know, if they seemed to.
😂😂😂
Choice of weapon
Great album
Beyond good and evil is my favorite cult album, Nothing will top the heavier cult sound.
God dam right cffc
I was so excited to see the Cult when I unexpectedly got the chance. They were the opening band for Metallica on their "Justice" tour. Although I had "And Justice For All" the thought of seeing Metallica wasn't really as exciting a thought for me as getting to see The Cult. There was just something about them that really resonated with me. Well not sure what was wrong with Ian that night but I've never been more disappointed and let down. There were so many times in their show he wasn't even singing?? IDK if he was wacked out on something drunk, tired or all the above?
He just seemed so uninterested and distant not singing the words in parts of songs it was sadly my most disappointing concert experience ever. My reason for going to that show was the Cult.
All was not lost though Metallica was beyond amazing that night and probably played every song they'd ever written! There was nothing of there's I wanted to hear they didn't play!
I think at that time ian was going through a hard time with the death of his father the cult are a class act I’ve seen them many times although they are never perfect I’ve never been disappointed and I’m a big metal fan the thing I like about them is they are different every album a bit diverse my favourite album is sonic temple but if you want something a bit heavier good beyond evil is a stomper!! Long love the cult 🤘🤘🤘
Love da Cult! Painted on my heart always gets to me.
BG&E was a great album, "Rise" has become the standard opening number, just as Sanctuary closes, Record sales mean nothing to the Cult, a& as every band they had there ups n downs but the creativity relationship & works produced by Ian & Billy is immense, as all great artists they changed developed their styles, over come adversity & always put on great shows. Currently revisiting the Death Cult roots is testament to the Cults evolution as those songs still hold up
I saw The Cult during their Beyond Good and Evil tour, with opening acts Monster Magnet, Stabbing Westward, and Bird. Didn't care for Monster Magnet, but the other two acts were good, and The Cult put on a good show. While their album output in the 90s was sketchy, there are some hidden gems. The Cult's contribution to the Cool World soundtrack, The Witch, is a solid tune.
Witch is one of their best for sure.
Monster magnet is a dumpster full of shit on fire
Cris, thanks for recommending The Witch! It takes me back to the energy of Electric at its best.
@hackingmathclass you're welcome. One of the fun things about The Cult is the amount of songs they recorded that didn't make it onto their albums, and later turned up as B-sides.
Damn! I have been wondering for 20 years what the story with The Witch was, thanks !!!🤘👍
I saw The Cult in 89 playing with Metallica. Astbury was too drunk to sing, telling Calgary to f off for booing him off stage. Mrs Mojo Rising was a drag.
Wondering what city did you see them?
same year in Paris fronting for Aerosmith. Crap sound... Ian threw his mike stand into the crowd
See my above comment on the comments about my experience seeing them opening for Metallica.........
I think if the guys in the Cult were more open to doing media and were likeable in interviews Sonic Temple would be uo there with some of the highest selling albums. It was such a great album and the people that knew about it and the Cult just loved that album. Friend of mine bought it on cassette when it first came out and eventually bought it again because during that time he wore the cassette out. That Album was our life soundtrack during that period. It was just as good as the Black Album and Nevermind and all the rest that were released in that time.
Saw them during the Cult Rising tour in 99. It was fantastic.
How bout covering monster magnet!!! Good video.
Love the Cult. Sonic Temple and Ceremony are 2 of my favourite all time hard rock albums.
I laughed at them thinking that Buckcherry was the rebirth of rock they were waiting for
Beyond Good and Evil is a monster of a record. This album deserves so many more ears on it.
I saw them in 2016 on the Hidden City tour. Fantastic show!
Beyond Good And Evil is a DAMN good album!!
I really like the album "Beyond Good And Evil". I still play it a lot to this day.
INCREDIBLE album. It´s so good that you can´t imagine all the supposed turmoil behind.
When they recorded "electric' they came to the bars (where I lived then) and watched the local bands. They were very approachable and after talking to them for 2 seconds you forgot they were "rock stars"
Great video.
Astbury's always struck me as being an unpleasant individual, but The Cult are great and I loved 'Beyond Good & Evil'. Duffy is awesome (despite him being a City fan). 'Ceremony' was underrated, too.
This is a good take. The music is great, but Ian is a wreck wherever he goes. Picks a lot of fights.
Beyond Good and Evil is easily in their TOP 4, the heaviest of their Catalog for sure.
I've seen the cult live 3 times and every time was epic so good they are a live band fans don`t give two shits on sales there live shows were awesome ,true rockers
Beyond Good and Evil is a great album, just needs a proper remix & remastering
I like the Ceremony album, that riff from "Wild Hearted Son" is brilliant.
And the melody lines.
I seen the Cult 2X last year. Both shows were great, well worth it
I just saw them in Clearwater in Spring. They were great!
Saw them in 2013 in Nastyville. Great show!
THE CULT IS BADASS ROCK AND ROLL!!!! SEEN THEM IN NEWBEDFORD MA, AND THEY KICKED SOME ASS !!!
My favorite Rock&Roll band.🤘
I don’t even care that Ian didn’t like the album. It rocks from start to finish. Probably my favorite Cult album ever, and I had them all from the start. Underrated and deliciously heavy.
They were a great band in the day and well liked and respected,,,
Those first 2 Cult albums were brilliant .
Love The Cult. Love is in my top ten.
Love, Electric and Sonic Temple. Perfect 3 hit strike. All good from front to back maybe not the Born to be Wild cover lol that was unnecessary.
I love The Cult.
Love was their best album, with Sonic Temple a close second.
Electric was a great album as well.
I absolutely LOVED The Cult. They are still the best band I ever saw live and I've seen a lot of bands. I had really high hopes for Ceremony and I got it as soon as it came out. I wanted so much to like it, but I just couldn't get into it. After that, the band seemed to disappear, at least for me. Looking back, I think a lot changed in my life at that time and I just lost track of them (And a lot of other things).
Open song and title track is awesome. Always a great track.
Worst band I have ever seen live.
Astbury is a terrible vocalist.
Aaahhh The Cult were always Alternative Rock . YEARS before it was mainstream .
That’s a fact! When I first heard of them, they had released Love and they were completely different from the New Wave stuff that was going round at the time. Electric was a massive album too as was Sonic Temple. It’s too bad they were so volatile but maybe without that instability, they wouldn’t have written the music they wrote.
Spirit Walker in 1982 already sounded grungy.
Sad. I love the Beyond Good and Evil album but didn't even realize it existed until a few years after it was released. They just didn't push it at all.
Life on the road is tough being a singer is even tougher and you are going to get every vice thrown at you because you are the party. Everyone wants to drink and smoke with you and next thing you know you got issues. All I know is I love this band we still do a couple of their songs in our band and they are always my favorite to play and Thank You for the music 🙂
I saw the Cult BuckCherry show @ 9:30 club in DC, it was...🔥💯🔥
The real magic was behind the scenes. Bob Rock is a stellar producer and mixologist. Everything Bob Rock touched turned to gold.
Except St. Anger.
Listen to them live once..out of bound's epic!!..
I saw them in the Olympia in Dublin, awesome show, they rocked the paint flakes off the walls.
As a kid that bought everyone of those notorious albums, I also bought that cult album. Loved it actually and it was the only cult album I ever owned.
Well you are missing out. Sadly your favorite Cult album isn't anywhere near their best.
@@lordpaul0420 Love the others just don’t own them. She sales Sanctuary is one of my favorites. Ceremony just holds a special place in my life because of when it came out. Also Slayers (Decade of Aggression) and soon after Rage Against the Machines debut Album. All when I was in H.S. Good memories.🥹
Would have been nice if he would have mentioned their song contribution to the Gone In 60 Seconds Soundtrack, with Painted on my Heart. Before the release of Beyond Good and Evil
I must be one of the few that bought the self titled album. I reckon it’s a great album that still holds up well today.
I don’t care for the music from ANY of the bands mentioned, but!, this was a great story!! Thank you!! 🎯👍👏👏👏
Any chance we could see some episodes on some of Canada's gems? Some bands that come to mind are Alexisonfire, BillyTalent, broken social scene, metric, the tragically hip, sum 41, the new pornogrophers, the sheepdogs, arcade fire?
There's a new band called deadwoff from Canada that I think is going to be pretty big. Seen them interviewed they call their music just hard rock and roll while the media is trying to label them as heavy metal punk. Their young guys and they were saying they love cassette tapes and they want to release their music on cassette tapes. When asked what their favorite artist or band was and they said triumph. And they had a cassette tape of triumph and they showed it and put it into a boombox and started playing it. That was funny as hell
Ceremony is a criminally underrated album that holds up against all the "big name" albums you cite from that era.
I agree love that record wish they would play wild hearted son live
I saw the Doors reunion two shows one in the town of New Haven! He killed it and the last show was they just made it!
My all time favorite album, not one dud. This gem came out of nowhere. The Cult is my favorite band but by the time this album came out I had very low expectations, it blew me away. Love was my favorite.
They played a blinder in Dublin a couple of weeks ago.
Well today in 2023-2024 their tour is kicking ass!
I’m a big metal fan but I absolutely love the cult they are true legends of music eat them up while they are still around you won’t get many bands like them again CFFC 🤘
Maybe you missed the memo?
This video is literally about how they broke up like years ago bro.
The last time I saw the Cult at the Tabernacle in Atlanta he spent the time between diva mode whining about phones and burying his head under a towel doing lines in front of Matt Sorum like no one was there. I had seen them twice before and after that ego and drugfest I figured Pandora was the way to go.
“Because Ian’s English, he didn’t understand what a ramp was…” WHAAAAT???!!! 😂😂😂😂
I bought it. Loved the cult.
I saw The Cult at the Boathouse in Norfolk VA in 1999. The Boathouse was destroyed a year or two later by a hurricane
Great band. Ian's voice was incredible
say and think what you like, Ian and Billy created something wonderful.
unique and pivotal .
Billy's opening notes on track # 1 War on Beyond Good & Evil is soooooo bad-ass!!!
Awesome band.
Classics.
I saw them on the sonic temple anniversary tour a couple years ago they were fantastic
So did I, in San Francisco, and it was awesome!!! It was a small forum, and I was 15 feet from the stage!!! There were, maybe, 1,000 attendees. Everyone was on their feet for the entire concert. Ian had sunglasses on the entire show.😎 It was my first time seeing the band in concert. They were my favorite rock and roll band from the mid to late 1980's. And most everyone else's, too.
I had photos and partial video of the show, but, tragically, lost them, when I deleted the photos from my old phone I was giving to a friend, which were also automatically deleted from my new phone! To this day, I am still pissed off about that! Damn it, man!😡
It's my older brother's favorite band, and he was SO jealous, living currently in Tennessee, that I was going to see them in concert. He's never seen them live.
The reason why is because we both, for financial and logistical reasons, were unable to see them in concert in the late '80s. We lived together from 1987 to 1990, in Naples, Florida.
I had the Sonic Temple reunion sticker on the back of my scooter's bumper until I sold it earlier this year.
And, of course, I have a much cherised T-shirt from the tour.
@@davidoverstreet6900 I saw them in Boston. Small club also about 1000 or less. Great show.
The Cult will always be in my top 5 no matter what happens. Ah ah oh ya !
Good story. I’m a huge cult fan. I tried to get into their other records besides love,electric and sonic and I can’t.
Try the cult electric album electric manor sessions
It the electric album sounds like the love record style in song writing before rick rubin made the electric album ended up the way it sounds
Forgot weapon of choice record is amazing
I’ve seen them 3x in the last decade and Astbury is still one of the best frontmen in rock history. Opinions obviously vary but he’s been spot on each time I’ve seen them.
Thought I saw this before but this video says out 2 days ago? Why did you cut it off at Beyond Good & Evil? There are like 4 albums after that.
Because the video is called "Cult's disastrous 2001 reunion"
I still think that they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, despite their flaws. There's too many members that aren't even rock and rollers.
Ha, I remember Matt working for Yamaha's Ry30 drum machine in this era.
Wow, he really looks like Jim Morrison now lol
Didn't he play with The Doors at some point?
@@markcheetah4960 yeah
Dint he even dressed like him a little bit at one time
Astbury probably started cultivating that look in the early to mid 1980s. I actually remember after Electric was realised, way before Astbury was in The Doors of the 21st Century the magazine Metal Hammer (since The Cult were then aligned with Metal) showing a photo of Astbury on a motorcycle and commenting about him getting more Jim Morrison.
Reunion usually doesn’t have a word disastrous ! If it were it wouldn’t have been a reunion!
Saw The Cult during the sonic temple tour.
I liked Ceremony and played the heck out of it as I was a bit late to the grunge scene.
Beyond Good and Evil is killer. Their second best record.
I saw them in 1986 in San Francisco.... great show BUT.... I imagine Ian dancing around, singing Doors songs to himself in his bathroom mirror and has been for decade(s).
Saw them in the front row at the Felt Forum in New York in August 1987. 300 people, $20. Gay Bikers on Acid opened and were booed off the stage within 5 minutes.
I thought that was Will Ferrel in the screen cap, then thought it was Chad Smith, then realized I was wrong on both lol
Didn't you do this video already?
I've loved the Cult since the 1980's, a lot of their music was considered Alternative when I was a teen, how could you say they weren't, I agree they're not Grunge but they were hardly mainstream.
I remember around ‘94 Astbury had this obsession with trying to sound like U2. Should have done their own thing. The Witch was a great track.
Ceremony is a Great album!
Saw them here in Boise last October and they were Amazing
I love the dudes lyrics
They were "alternative" when they released Love.
Awesome band
They played Rocklahoma in 2018