the arkive

  • The Cult - Sonic Temple
    • A1 Sun King
    A2 Fire Woman
    A3 American Horse
    A4 Edie (Ciao Baby)
    B1 Sweet Soul Sister
    B2 Soul Asylum
    B3 New York City
    B4 Automatic Blues
    C1 Soldier Blue
    C2 Wake Up Time For Freedom
    C3 Medicine Train (From the Edie (Ciao Baby) single)
    C4 The River (From the Sweet Soul Sister single)
    D1 Bleeding Heart Graffiti (from the Edie (Ciao Baby) CD EP)
    D2 Messin' Up The Blues (from the Fire Woman single) D3 Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix) (from the Fire Woman CD EP)
    D4 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Acoustic) (From The Heart Of Soul CD single)

The Cult

Sonic Temple

Beggars Banquet
Released 13 September 2019
BBQ-2151LP

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of The Cult’s seminal album SONIC TEMPLE. To celebrate the anniversary, Beggars Arkive will release THE CULT: SONIC TEMPLE 30 on September 13th. It will be released as a deluxe box set and a 5-CD set, and we are also reissuing Sonic Temple on Double LP, which has been out of print for over 20 years. The sets both contain limited-release demos in addition to previously unreleased tracks.

Originally released in 1989, Sonic Temple proved to be a pivotal moment for both band and the wider rock scene. Produced by the legendary Bob Rock, Sonic Temple had four chart-topping singles; “Fire Woman”, “Edie (Ciao Baby)”, “Sun King” and “Sweet Soul Sister”.

In a recent interview about the album, Ian Astbury explained how the band brought together hard rock and indie rock to create the unique, game-changing sounds on Sonic Temple. "We wanted to retain our core DNA as we went deeper into psych and hard rock influences. It was a complete immersion for me into art, film, music, poetry and literature, weaving those influences into what was to become Sonic Temple. The band was becoming more popular. We were in uncharted waters. Most of the bands we had come up with had split up or fallen off. We were accelerating. There was no real time to breathe. We were forming new allegiances and breaking the glass ceiling of ‘the indie outsider.’”

The album catapulted The Cult into superstar status and remains their most commercially successful release. It has sold over 1.5 million copies in the US alone, and was declared platinum in 1990. It made it to #10 on the Billboard charts, and the aforementioned songs all remain rock-radio staples to this day.

The DOUBLE LP is a re-vamped reissue of the original album. Now cut onto two pieces of black vinyl, the audio is improved and contains 16 tracks total, which comprise the original album plus 6 B-sides. It’s been out of print for over 20 years.