The Cult - "Ceremony", 1991

In 1991, The Cult was a fractured band; guitarist Billy Duffy and singer Ian Astbury were barely on speaking terms by then, original bass player (and occasional rhythm guitarist) Jamie Stewart left after the "Sonic Temple" tour, and the rest of the lineup was now made up of a revolving cast of session players for both the studio recordings and the live shows. "Ceremony" was released at a time when Nirvana and the whole grunge movement were getting more and more exposure, while the 80s bands were progressively sidelined by the mainstream media, such as MTV, or by the more renowned music magazines. On top of that, the band got sued by the family of the Native American boy pictured on the cover of the album for alleged exploitation and for the unauthorized use of the child's image, and the lawsuit delayed the album's release in some territories, for instance, in South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey, where it was finally made available as late as 1992 and 1993, when that sort of hard rock style was pretty much being dismissed as a thing of the past. The band had a rough time, and even now, Duffy and Astbury don't like the record. I think the negativity surrounding the album's release left such bad memories among its creators that they find it virtually impossible to reconcile with it, even after many years. I'll go as far as stating that "Ceremony" is - in my humble opinion - one of the best Cult albums ever (well, besides "Love" and "Dreamtime", of course; those two are absolutely unfuckwithable); let's see why.

Largely cutting down on the bombastic arena rock production of "Sonic Temple" and its elaborate arrangements, at the same time the band seemed to try and recapture the more stripped-down feel of "Electric", at least to some extent; "Ceremony" ended up sounding like a mix between those two records, with some added spirituality to it. Astbury keeps on singing about Native Americans, a topic he covered since the early days of the band (and even prior to that, in the Southern Death Cult and Death Cult incarnations), and the music seems to accommodate his inspiration by providing a certain mystical atmosphere, featuring a prominent use of folk-ish acoustic guitars and some traditional instruments to round out the usual electric, hard rock attitude. From both the title track's and "Wild Hearted Son"'s intros, to songs such as "White" or "Indian", the Native American theme is very upfront, and it gives the album a slightly tribal flavor and character. Production-wise, it sounds powerful and not as minimalistic as "Electric" but not as refined and radio-friendly as "Sonic Temple" either, reaching a good compromise between the mainstream requirements and a more organic approach; Mickey Curry and Charley Drayton, on drums and bass respectively, offer a strong performance, and the Astbury/Duffy tandem is still on top of its game, despite the apparent lack of communication and ongoing friction (it was said the two were rarely seen together during the sessions).

The title track opens the album, and it's a slow-paced hard rock number that sounds like Led Zeppelin jamming with Aerosmith on an Indian reservation; it's a great starter, featuring some impressive lead guitar work by Duffy, but it's when "Wild Hearted Son" hits that things get serious. A mid-tempo, rocking anthem, it's a fantastic single that should have been an instant classic; it's beyond me why the band completely removed it from its live setlists right after the album's promotional tour in '91/'92, as it's clearly one of the best songs ever written by The Cult.

There's no shortage of rock 'n' roll corkers on the album, from the frantic "Earth Mofo" to the AC/DC-inspired "Full Tilt" - a song that would have fit seamlessly on "Electric" - and the bluesier "Bangkok Rain", another Zeppelin-esque number with heavy grooves and tasty guitar leads; I absolutely cannot grasp why it's been considered one of the worst Cult tracks by the fans for years. The ghost of Led Zeppelin also permeates the album's closer, "Wonderland", a six-minute opus moving at a relaxed pace and culminating in a long jam where all the musicians can show their talents off; despite not being among the best things on the record, it's the only track - together with "White" - that surprisingly reappeared in some of the band's live setlists during the '00s.

Speaking of "White", that's certainly one of the highlights of "Ceremony"; mostly based on acoustic verses paired with electric refrains, it features great storytelling by Astbury about Indian hunters, and it's infused with a spiritual atmosphere that feels dark yet ravishing. Similarly to the above-mentioned "Wonderland", the song spends the final portion of its seven minutes on a really cool instrumental jam that showcases the synergy between the players.

There are quite a few ballads on the album, but they all possess their own character. "If" starts off with a piano and vocals introduction that feels a tad cringe-worthy, especially due to the cheesy humanitarian lyrics, although it later develops into a more lively track with a pretty memorable chorus. "Heart of Soul" is as typical a rock ballad as can be, but under its commercial polish there's actually a nice track with great vocal melodies and semi-autobiographical lyrics by Astbury; it was also released as a single, paired with a really cool videoclip, although the song didn't go on to be particularly successful (as it would have been if it was released in the 80s instead). The melancholic "Indian", an acoustic guitar and vocals-based song supported by a cello arrangement, is a nice peek into what would have happened if The Cult went unplugged; also, considering it became a quite popular practice with the grunge bands in the 3 or 4 years that followed, it would have probably been cool to get a whole album like that from Astbury and Duffy. "Sweet Salvation" is another interesting cut, harking back to the love songs of the 50s and 60s in style, even featuring a gospel choir; it's probably one of those things that you either love or hate, although I must say that I find it at least intriguing, while not among my favorite tunes on the album.

In retrospect, "Ceremony" was a strong record, especially when it comes to the harder tracks; it probably could have cut down a little on the ballads, but the material is still very solid, and the way the album was quickly dismissed, especially by its own songwriters, feels unfair. When compared to what the band did afterwards, it's a record that belongs to the upper echelons of the band's discography, and it wraps up the classic era of Cult on a good note. That's not to say that what the band did in the years that followed was necessarily bad; 1994's self-titled record, 2001's "Beyond Good and Evil", or even the latest "Under the Midnight Sun", were captivating records, but none of the post-1991 material felt as convincing as "Ceremony" and - obviously - the albums that preceded it.