3. The Cult - Electric 1987
Riding high off the back of seminal second album, 'Love', which has
that song on it, The Cult could've carried on with the Goth-Rock direction they did so well but decided to strip all the textures and threw away the delay and chorus guitar pedals and pay homage to the likes of AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Led Zeppelin etc, with a balls out Rock and Roll record. This was Billy Duffy's baby and the guitar-slinger is the star of the show with his no-nonsense power chords and blues-influenced solo's. Ian Astbury's voice works so well over this style of material and allows the self-styled, "Wolf Child", to put on his best faux-American accent. The rhythm section of Stewart and Warner do their best Rudd/Williams impression, keeping it solid and tight for the two showmen to flaunt their wares. Aesthetically the band overhauled themselves too, in came cut off denim jackets, Led Zep tees and cowboy boots. The black was toned down and any velvet and lace, done away with.
Choose any track, they're all as great as each other, perhaps marginally overshadowed by 'Wild Flower', 'Lil' Devil' and 'Love Removal Machine'. There is a cover of 'Born to be Wild' too, as if to further cement their new direction. It is the weakest track here, by some way, with Astbury particularly sounding unconvincing when singing someone else's song. Nevertheless the rest of the album is excellent and America was broken. The band, are later this year, playing the whole of 'Electric' on their 2013 tour, like they did previously with 'Love'.