The Cult

[mrlee]

lol that article confirms ownage on some noobs thet claim gnr wernt associated with that scene.

Funny coming from you. 


Despite what Ian says, I never considered GN'R part of the hair metal scene.

Poison, Warrant, Winger. I just don't see GN'R part of that any more than The Cult.






/jarmo

people always pick the same bands. I Really dont need to say anymore lol, i know what i think.

[jarmo]

You calling other fans who disagree with your glam/hair metal view of GN'R "noobs". That's priceless.




/jarmo

[mrlee]

You calling other fans who disagree with your glam/hair metal view of GN'R "noobs". That's priceless.




/jarmo

No, im not saying that at all, im saying people who deny they were ever associated with the scene are noobs. When its blantantely obvious they did start out with that image in mind, the clothes, the hair. Slash even tried to join poison.

People dont like to admit GNR were associated with that scene because they consider it damaging to the reputation, i dont, i think its cool GNR have had many different images over there years and kept things fresh and original.  If it wasnt for the Glam Metal scene being huge, GNR would never have been as big as they were, nor would Def Leppard or Skid Row. PERIOD.

[jarmo]

No, im not saying that at all, im saying people who deny they were ever associated with the scene are noobs. When its blantantely obvious they did start out with that image in mind, the clothes, the hair. Slash even tried to join poison.

People dont like to admit GNR were associated with that scene because they consider it damaging to the reputation, i dont, i think its cool GNR have had many different images over there years and kept things fresh and original.  If it wasnt for the Glam Metal scene being huge, GNR would never have been as big as they were, nor would Def Leppard or Skid Row. PERIOD.

Then you're calling me one.

 



Most bands in the 80s looked somewhat like that. It doesn't mean they were all hair metal pop bands like Winger.

Even people and bands who'd been around before that whole style became popular started looking like it. David Coverdale, Ozzy Osbourne etc etc.


Slash trying out for Poison says more about his craving to become popular than about GN'R.



/jarmo

[mrlee]

No, im not saying that at all, im saying people who deny they were ever associated with the scene are noobs. When its blantantely obvious they did start out with that image in mind, the clothes, the hair. Slash even tried to join poison.

People dont like to admit GNR were associated with that scene because they consider it damaging to the reputation, i dont, i think its cool GNR have had many different images over there years and kept things fresh and original.  If it wasnt for the Glam Metal scene being huge, GNR would never have been as big as they were, nor would Def Leppard or Skid Row. PERIOD.

Then you're calling me one.

 



Most bands in the 80s looked somewhat like that. It doesn't mean they were all hair metal pop bands like Winger.

Even people and bands who'd been around before that whole style became popular started looking like it. David Coverdale, Ozzy Osbourne etc etc.


Slash trying out for Poison says more about his craving to become popular than about GN'R.



/jarmo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m090pH2yiow&feature=related

Take a look, axls hair is bigger than what vince neils hair was that year....

Right. Youve read into what im saying wrongly. Im not saying GNR sound anything like Winger, infact i hate Winger. Im saying they were associated with the Glam Metal scene, they tried to use that image and it helped them ride the wave and then take off. Dude i love 1980s music...i know most musicians looked like that then, but this is my entire point on why that label is crap, most bands judged by there image rather than the music.

LA Guns, Faster Pussycat had a similar sound to GNR back then, they came from the same scene and had similar images yet they still get classed as hair metal yet GNR somehow escape this label. Do you understand what im trying to say yet?

Ian said people forget they were associated with the scene, that is the point i was going off, people do forget GNR did that image, and had some of its characteristics in there sound (anthemic songs like paradise city etc).

Calling people noobs is to the people that deny the band were ever apart of the scene. Do i need to repeat the same things 6000 different ways for you to get it Jarmo? Just im very hungry and i gotta go for my tea. thanks.

[jarmo]

I'm glad you enjoy bands like Faster Pussycat. I guess somebody has to.


Just like most scenes, there's always one band or a few that stand above the rest.


Not all bands from Seattle were as popular as Nirvana. Not all punk bands from London were creating headlines like the Sex Pistols.


In their own words, GN'R didn't feel like they were part of that scene you so fondly try to attach them to. Sure, they were from the same city and played the same clubs.

Even Pantera had a phase where they looked like Poison. Were they a hair metal band too and part of the scene?


It's not just about the look. You think a guy playing blues who wears spandex is suddenly hair metal?

GN'R didn't sound like those wimpy bands. That's why many of us liked them in the first place. 




/jarmo

[mrlee]

I'm glad you enjoy bands like Faster Pussycat. I guess somebody has to.


Just like most scenes, there's always one band or a few that stand above the rest.


Not all bands from Seattle were as popular as Nirvana. Not all punk bands from London were creating headlines like the Sex Pistols.


In their own words, GN'R didn't feel like they were part of that scene you so fondly try to attach them to. Sure, they were from the same city and played the same clubs.

Even Pantera had a phase where they looked like Poison. Were they a hair metal band too and part of the scene?


It's not just about the look. You think a guy playing blues who wears spandex is suddenly hair metal?

GN'R didn't sound like those wimpy bands. That's why many of us liked them in the first place. 




/jarmo

How can you tell me Motley Crue, Faster Pussycat or LA Guns are Wimpy? When GNR write songs like "So Fine" and "Sweet Child 'O Mine" which are wimpier than anything those bands ever did, all bands have there melodic tracks Jarmo including GNR.  Frankly i think your talking bullshit Jarmo. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITwtMEc_FwI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i35nNdTwzDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYHr1Y_U7E0

Yeah real wimpy those bands are.

I know you, ive seen threads where you are argueing a point and i know you will continue to do so. Im sure you also know i will continue to do so also. However this thread is a thread on The Cult, i still firmly believe ive made valid points when all youve done is bring up your own assumptions and no fact. You can reply, and im sure it will be a reply that will make me, very badly want to reply. But im not going to reply because i feel you are being ignorant and biased (due to your involvements with the gnr camp) and im never going to agree with you, nor are you going to agree with me. Good day.

[jarmo]

Oh please.

Hair metal stands for bands who are more concerned about their image than their music and the songs were often centered around girls and/or partying. If you think GN'R was all about that, you need to take a closer look.



That's why I disagree with you.

I don't see them having anything to do with Girls, Girls, Girls or Bathroom Wall.



Sorry if it offends you that I think most of your favorite bands are like bad clones of GN'R.

Or crap aimed at teenage girls. 




/jarmo

[ppbebe]

And Motley crue, bon jovi,  It seems to me that the 80s American rock scene wasn't all great.
Axl said he couldn't stand poodles.

To be blatantly honest, I can hear a shade of glammetal influence on the production of afd.
Guess that's the main reason I prefer the versions played live in this century.

[Falcon]

Despite what Ian says, I never considered GN'R part of the hair metal scene.

/jarmo

I think it has to do more with the scene they emerged from and the perception that goes along with the Sunset Strip at that time, nothing more.

For the record, Ian has great respect for GNR of that era - as noted here:

http://fuse.tv/videos/popup3.php?playerid=219252199&lineupid=lineup158&titleid=title6943

[mrlee]

Despite what Ian says, I never considered GN'R part of the hair metal scene.

/jarmo

I think it has to do more with the scene they emerged from and the perception that goes along with the Sunset Strip at that time, nothing more.

For the record, Ian has great respect for GNR of that era - as noted here:

http://fuse.tv/videos/popup3.php?playerid=219252199&lineupid=lineup158&titleid=title6943

That was great. Id have loved to have seen a duet of Axl and Ian, or Ian and Billy work with gnr or vice versa.

I mean, i think The Cult were one of the best bands of the 1980s, extremely under-rated for all of there works, they always changed sounds and the majority of times all albums were strong, it wasnt until the 90s really that they flaked with me. The new album is pretty great, just a lack of guitar solos spoils it i think.

[Falcon]

That was great. Id have loved to have seen a duet of Axl and Ian, or Ian and Billy work with gnr or vice versa.

Legend has it there's audio of Axl, Izzy and Slash jamming with Ian and Billy at Electric Lady Studios
in NYC circa 1987...

The new album is pretty great, just a lack of guitar solos spoils it i think.

Hmm...

Probably ought to listen again - the title track has a stellar outtro solo.  Good solos can also be heard On I Assassin, Illuminated, Savages, and my personal favorite - Sound Of Destruction.

Billy's never really been a guy to do anything "extended" solo wise.  He's always played by the rule
that "if you can't whistle or hum it, ain't nobody gonna remember it".  Not alot of aimless guitar wankering to speak of besides a couple of self indulgences on Sonic Temple and Ceremony.

That said, Mr. Duffy will occasionally rip a short solo live before "The Phoenix",  a song that's basically one long solo in and of itself...

mrlee - enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EarvhpuorXA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq_mXQpA3Y8&NR=1

[gnr2k6]

im off 2 see the cult 2nite in birmingham(thanks mr duffy!) should have some pics soon!

[mrlee]

thanks for those videos falcon, i love how he holds the note using the feedback, just so trashed out its awesome.

[gnr2k6]

fuck me were the guys on fire in birmingham.....awesome setlist which was all mixed up opening with spiritwalker straight into rain and added sun king and horse nation!!!!
the after party was great and got some great pics with duffy and wysey!

[Falcon]

Another great interview with Ian Astbury, very interesting.

http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/rock-pop-music-birmingham/2008/02/27/astbury-reborn-into-a-powerful-new-phase-65233-20521626/


Birmingham Post
02/27/2008

Astbury reborn into a powerful new phase

Feb 27 2008 By Sarah Jane Downing

Ian Astbury of The Cult tells Sarah Jane Downing about his new spirtual awareness and stepping into the shoes of Jim Morrison.

For a few glorious summers as the self-enthused optimism of 80s cock rock gave way to 90s grunge navel-gazing, The Cult were the biggest band in the world.

Guns & Roses supported them on the US leg of a gargantuan world tour and even the most suburban men donned cowboy boots and added Conchos to their leather jackets in an attempt to capture something of their wild, wolf-child mystique.

Ironic then that these glory years were some of the most difficult personally for the band. As tensions rose from a gruelling schedule on the road and opinions clashed as powerfully as their most sensational songs.

Astbury says: "I was working through a lot of stuff from a difficult turbulent childhood and I was just being torn apart by my demons."

Growing up in the grim industrial north during the 1970s had not been easy for the sensitive young man who loved Jim Morrison and David Bowie and was roundly condemned for it by his peers.

Punk brought an overt expressionism that Astbury could use. Although never entirely embraced or understood even by the punk scene, the powerful post-punk sound with Gothic styling that he created (first with Southern Death Cult, then joined by Billy Duffy for Death Cult), finally allowed him to pull free.

Ian Astbury is a man true to himself - he always was, but backed with a renewed spiritual awareness and a strong loving relationship he is almost reborn. As the latest Cult album title proclaims he's Born Into This and a powerful new phase in his life.

Made in just 36 days, Astbury says: "It has real spontaneity, a freshness that comes from being expressive and that bottom line of having something to say."

With songs taking in the war in Iraq, the appalling tragedy of Darfur and the hollow charade of the cult of celebrity it certainly does.

He says: "The media love to crucify young idols and only the strong survive. Everything's at critical mass. There is so much drug and alcohol abuse, but instead of focusing on why so many young people are condemning themselves they are ignoring the problem in favour of focusing on the celebrities that sell their publications."

He adds: "It's like with Oprah and Bono promoting The Gap's Product (Red). It's meant to be about raising awareness of Aids and HIV in Africa but instead of reaching the real issues it is treated as another celebrity spectacle."

Astbury has his own initiative, Darfur Purple. "I just want to inject something into people's consciousness. I mean, they are using rape and disfiguring women as tools of war. Why isn't that front page news?"

Harking back to punk rock DIY ethics, he says: "It's not about consumerism and buying the 'right' T-shirt, I want people to associate Darfur with the colour purple and think about what's going on. If we're in a global society we're all responsible."

He blames the lack of a spiritual foundation as a base point, saying: "You have to find self-awareness and the honesty in really knowing who you are."

It was this that allowed him to appreciate the value of great relationships, including that with friend and long-term writing partner Billy Duffy, and the recognition that "you have to be able to admit to yourself that we are all fallible".

During the last few years he has spent time in Nepal, met with the Dalai Lama and made a profound connection with Buddhism.

"Death is the only certainty for everyone, yet the time of death is uncertain, so what do you do with your life?"

He continues: "You need to realise that there is only now. There is only this chance. Once you get that you can't waste it."

Born Into This is his most self-revelatory work so far, the seminal Holy Mountain that sees Astbury's stylish tones tempered but enhanced with the raw emotion of his love song to his girlfriend, the woman whose love has changed his life and helped him find something deep within himself.

"I've always told my truth," he says, "It has reflected where I was at at the time."

At times that was a very dark place, as he dealt with losing both parents at an early age to cancer. As hinted at by the extensive use of hats, bandanas and veiling hair he "didn't always feel safe enough to express my innermost feelings openly so things were often draped in symbolism".

Working with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors in Riders Of The Storm has given Astbury new focus and perspective. "Those guys are amazing! They waited 30 years to find someone to sing Jim's role, and at first I was shocked when they asked me, but they said that I had a sort of Celtic shamanic quality that they liked. It took a little while to sink in."

Of Jim Morrison, he says: "He was a legend. An almost messianic figure. Part of his persona is in the music and it makes you move and feel in a certain way.

"It was incredible to be able to present his lyrics, I had always had a personal relationship with that music and it was a matter of finding my own emotional space within it.

"It really has been a master class; I've had to raise my standards and my awareness to play with them. I didn't want to leave, but I was anxious to try it out on my own."

Astbury has also become interested in other branches of performance, studying acting.

"It has been really useful to go inwards and face the blockages, to release the energies to free up the utensil of the body."

He is also investigating new forms of performance: "I'm really interested in finding new ways of presenting songs and finding a fresh new model beyond the gig format."

More to be announced in the summer, for now you can expect this show to be vibrant and beautiful with lush new songs as well as well-worn touchstones from over 17 years of The Cult because as Astbury says "each performance is of its time, of its moment, drawing from the emotions of that moment and that crowd, and in that it is a unique experience.

"It is acknowledging that, and approaching each performance as a specific moment, that keeps it fresh and exciting." [/i]

[Falcon]

The live debut of The Cult's new single from "Born Into This" - "Illuminated" from Melkweg on March 9 can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYXBawzRbnw

Thanks to fucktheworldnow @youtube

[Falcon]

Some really good footage from the CD101 Big Room, Ian sounds great..

The Cult with "Dirty Little Rockstar" from November 18, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mvwg9jp7Gg

The Cult with "Rain" from November 18, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSFe8-YhXIM

[Falcon]

Throughout the '80s, into the '90s, and even today, THE CULT's guitarist Billy Duffy, has made an impact on alternative rock with his use of memorable melodic lines, swirling effects and howling feedback. Prior to taking the stage to a raucous crowd in Phoenix, Billy took time out to talk to Gretsch about his affections for White Falcon guitars, his future with THE CULT, and the importance of matching a great-looking Gretsch guitar with an equally good-looking haircut.

Watch the eight-minute clip:


Very cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_f-VJdAzwA

[Falcon]

It's official -

Gibson is in the process of producing the "Billy Duffy Signature Les Paul Custom".

There goes part of my 401k....