The Cult – Electric Peace

The Cult – Electric Peace – By Johnny Zapp

Summer 1987, Huntington Beach, California.  My brother’s high school friend, Jenny takes a then 10 year old me to Naugles in her VW Bug.  She reaches across me, grabs a cassette from the glove box and tosses it in her brand new Kraco stereo.  That cassette, that day, changed everything.  Electric by The Cult. God bless Rick Rubin…and Jenny.

On the heels of their successful sophomore record, Love, The Cult opted to work with producer Steve Brown again on the follow up.  The 1986 sessions took place at Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, resulting in an 11 track record dubbed Peace.  Unsatisfied with the vibe of the record, the band decided to search out a new producer, hiring the now legendary Rick Rubin.  Taking refuge in New York’s Electric Lady Studios with Rubin at the helm, they scrapped the entire Peace album and started from scratch.  For this recording, the producer insisted that guitarist Billy Duffy ditch all his guitar effects and his notorious Gretsch White Falcon, in lieu of a Les Paul and a Marshall JCM800; straight up.  Salvaging just the bones from seven of the Peace tracks, Astbury and Duffy wrote three more originals, and the band recorded all 10 plus a cover of Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild.  Taking the less-is-more approach, the sessions were extremely stripped down and organic.  It was basically a three piece band and a vocalist tracking live in the studio to 24 track 2” tape.  The results?  Phenomenal.

Released in conjunction with the Electric 13 World Tour underway now, Electric Peace is a 2-disc set that includes both Electric and the previously abandoned Peace album.  Disc one is 1987’s bombastic Electric as we know and love.  Electric is absolutely chocked full of British attitude and New York swagger.  38 and a half minutes of loud, raw, balls out 4-on-the-floor ROCK.  With three singles emerging from the album, (Wild Flower, Lil’ Devil and Love Removal Machine), album tracks like Peace Dog, King Contrary Man and Outlaw pack a serious punch with stellar guitar work by Duffy, and keep the record going at full throttle.  The riffs are straight forward and accessible with crisp, blistering solos and a tight, punchy rhythm section comprised of Les Warner on drums, and original bassist Jamie Stewart locking it down.  Along with simplifying the whole approach to this record, Rick Rubin conjured up a vocal performance from Ian Astbury that delivered in spades.  In songs like Peace Dog and Love Removal Machine, there are moments where you can literally hear the vibration of Ian’s vocal chords and feel the power drawn from his gut.  A highly influential record on all accounts.

Disc 2 is the entire Steve Brown produced album, Peace.  This record isn’t necessarily for the casual Cult fans, but essential for the die-hards and The Cult has plenty of those (guilty as charged).  Most of the tracks from Peace were kicked out as B-Sides to the Electric singles, and the record in its entirety was included with the 7-disc limited edition boxed set released in 2000*.  It’s an interesting listen comparing the Electric versions of songs like Electric Ocean, with the original Peace versions.  The Peace album sounded very much like an extension of its predecessor, Love.  The performances are there, but they’re drenched in reverb, chorus and overdubs making the songs sound very dated.  If you move past the original recordings of the Electric material, you can really dig into tracks like Zap City and Conquistador.  Those two are the stand out cuts from Peace and have long been favorites of mine from those sessions.

If you’re a fan of the Electric album, pick up a copy of Electric Peace.  It will give you an opportunity to hear what might have been had The Cult not followed their instinct.  The decision to work with Rick Rubin and re-record Peace set the bar and resulted in a timeless, genuine, no bull$hit record that all subsequent rock records should emulate.  No keyboards, no acoustic guitars and no ballads here.  Rock and roll, attitude and conviction; shaken, not stirred.

*The limited edition boxed set, Rare Cult is long out of print.

JOHNNY ZAPP | www.johnnyzapp.com | www.facebook.com/johnnyzapp76

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