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, as well as 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.
The band is also happy to announce more ‘A Sonic Temple Tour’ dates. After a run of hugely successful and completely sold out US shows, they will play 10 shows in the UK in October. Tickets on sale Friday, July 5th at 10.00am – www.myticket.co.uk – full dates below:
October
Tue 15th Nottingham, UK – Rock City
Thu 17th Birmingham, UK – O2 Academy
Fri 18th Cardiff, Wales – Cardiff University
Sun 20th Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
Mon 21st Aberdeen, Scotland – The Music Hall
Tue 22nd Glasgow, Scotland – O2 Academy
Thu 24th Manchester, UK – Apollo
Sun 27th London, UK – Eventim Apollo
Mon 28th Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
Tue 29th Portsmouth, UK – Guildhall
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 set list for the ‘A Sonic Temple’ tour draws from The Cult’s 10 studio albums with the centerpiece being a super set that’s focused on the core songs from ‘Sonic Temple’; some of these songs have not been performed since the album was originally released. Each show will be a gathering and celebration for Cult fans–an opportunity to come together for one night–an event that will be memorable for all who attend. As Billy Duffy stated about the tour in a recent interview,
“I’d like fans to not only allow themselves a little indulgence into maybe simpler happier times of the late 80s for a few hours at a ST19 show, but also be happy that the music is now really their possession, not ours, and to do with it what they will.”
The BOX SET contains three pieces of vinyl and a cassette plus tour memorabilia and ephemera (replica of original laminate, backstage pass, original press releases, label copy and more). It’s numbered and limited to 3000 pieces worldwide and contains 40 tracks, four of which are previously unreleased. LP1+2 contain the album as originally released. LP3 contains ‘Live At Wembley’ recorded by the BBC, and the included cassette contains limited-release demos. Four of the live tracks are previously unreleased.
The FIVE-CD SET contains 53 tracks (including 6 previously unreleased) with the original album on disc 1, alternate edits, mixes, extended versions and acoustic versions on disc 2, limited-release demos on discs 3 & 4 and ‘Live at Wembley’ recorded by the BBC on disc 5. Six of the live tracks are previously unreleased. It is beautifully packaged in book form with rare photographs and interviews with the band by esteemed UK journalist James Brown.
