The Cult – ‘Love Omnibus Edition’ (Beggars Banquet)
CD Reviews
Written by Johnny H
Friday, 02 October 2009 10:13
Hands up here, it’s confession time brothers and sisters, The Cult were the band who inspired me to grow my mullet back in the day, and it was this very album with Jamie Stewart’s reckless short on the sides/long at the back ensemble that started my tales of a thousand hair gel nightmares.
Released way back in 1985, ‘Love’ and the singles from this glorious journey into psychedelic guitar rock formed the soundtrack to my teenage years of discovery, which evoke floods of memories and tears (of embarrassment). The great thing about this is that ‘She Sells Sanctuary’, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Rain’ all retain a timeless charm and sound that defines truly great song writing, and when you intersperse that with album cuts like ‘Big Neon Glitter’, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Love’ you know you have more than just a normal album, you have a bona fide classic.
This four CD Omnibus edition is something of a collector’s dream (especially if like me you collect all things Astbury and Duffy), lavishly packaged, with the original album, in a mini LP replica sleeve all gatefold and inner sleeve. You also get a disc of the aforementioned singles complete with their B Sides, an eleven track demos disc from the ‘Love’ sessions and an awesome sounding live set from an October 1985 Hammersmith Odeon show captured for posterity by our good friends at the BBC. Granted some of these discs have tracks available on other previous releases like ‘Rare Cult’ and the ‘1984-90 Singles Collection’ but when this set retails for a measly £15 and comes in such a full on presentation package (I almost forgot to mention the fantastic book covering the history of the album) you’d have to be foolish or a prude not to invest in it.
So, with the upcoming ‘Love Live’ worldwide tour over the coming months I was half expecting to revisit this set with a sense of maudlin insincerity, wrapped in fake sentimentality, but rediscovering this album and the joys it holds within was in fact something of a breathe of fresh air and not unlike how I felt opening that classic gatefold fold sleeve for the very first time.
There really isn’t a bad track on this album, and one day I hope to see this ranked for what it is, namely one of the best British rock albums of all time.
Check out the link below for more details of how to get this set with a bonus set of songs exclusive to Beggars Banquet customers.
Me, I’m off to grow a mullet ready for Wolverhampton Civic on 8th October. Yeah right!!!!!!!
http://archive.beggars.com/releases/4/the-cult-love-omnibus-edition