The Cult - Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions (5xCD, Boxset, Limited Edition) [2002]

Album Review

If the extensive six-CD box set Rare Cult wasn't enough, Beggars Banquet followed it up with this obsessive item to end all obsessive items for Cult fans: a five-CD collection detailing all available demo sessions done by the band between 1986 and 1991. Clearly this was aimed only at those completely dedicated enough to want absolutely everything; being no fools, Beggars released it in a limited edition of 3000, sold by mail order only through its website. Packaged to resemble the earlier set, Rare Cult: The Demo Sessions makes for well over six hours of Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy, and various drummers and bassists working through songs and fragmentary jams. There's a number of songs on the earlier set that reappear here in their original context, but not so many as to make this a duplicated rip-off, thankfully. Perhaps the most enjoyable thing about the various sessions is hearing how the normally heavily and precisely produced band – even in its Electric days with Rick Rubin – sounds in a truly raw context, unadorned and exploratory. The Astbury/Duffy partnership has a charge even then – if Astbury's singing is clearly rough and mostly there just to fill out the corners at points, he's usually hurling himself with gusto into the proceedings, while Duffy riffs, cranks, and roars just as one would expect him to do. On a fan level, the most interesting recordings might be the "jam" demos from 1989, eight songs' worth that feature the last efforts of original bassist Jamie Stewart in tandem, along with the only studio drum work of Matt Sorum with the Cult until the band's revival in the new millennium. The most flat-out exhaustive are for the Sonic Temple sessions, however – two and an half hours' worth of takes and tentative efforts.

Seventy-seven tracks on 5 CDs, 51 of which are previously unreleased, all of which are broken down into three parts: The E.Zee Demos, The Sonic Temple Demos, and Demos 1986 ~ 1989 ~ 1991 (feat. Hot Night Demos, Jam Demos & Ceremony Sessions). Each part comes in a gatefold or tri-fold digipack case with a booklet containing extensive liner notes and artwork from the actual demo tapes. All digipacks fit into a larger cardboard slipcase. Most tracks are instrumental versions. Holy grail or overcomplete release; it's up to you to decide…


Album Details

Label: Beggars Banquet
Catalog#: RCBOX 2
Format: 5 × CD, Compilation
Box Set, Limited Edition, Numbered
Country: UK
Released: 12 Aug 2002
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock


Tracklist



Disc 1: THE E.ZEE DEMOS (RCDEMO 1 CD)

Having toured North America during March and April 1986 and played a handful of European dates in May, The Cult returned to the UK that June to play festivals and their own headline date at Brixton Academy in London on 28th June. They had premiered four new songs on a radio session the previous February and attempted to record a new single, Electric Ocean, in Montreal at the start of their North American tour.

Already booked to start recording the following month for their third album at the Manor studios in Oxfordshire, the band took advantage of their time off touring to record demos of songs and rough ideas at E.zee studios in North London.

Though nine of these tracks appeared on the Rare Cult box set, the entire session is included on this release in it’s proper context, with the unedited introductions and in the order that the songs were recorded.

Single CD in a digipak with an 8 page booklet.

The E.Zee Demos - June 1986

01. Love Removal Machine 4:44
02. Peace 4:15
03. Zap City 4:46
04. Love Trooper 3:56
05. Angel 5:17
06. Tom Petty 4:02
07. Brown's Gone To Ausy Land 5:58
08. Babywalker 4:13
09. Surf Nazi 3:09
10. Groove Co. (Backing Track) 3:39
11. Oink (Version One) 3:53
12. Oink (Version Two) 3:52
13. Waltz 3:50
14. Blues One 3:03
15. Untitled (1) 2:50
16. El Progresso 2:46
17. Untitled (2) 2:32
18. Groove Co. 3:38






Disc 2: THE SONIC TEMPLE DEMOS (RCDEMO 2 CD1)

In mid 1988 The Cult were at a career crossroads. The band was back down to the original core three members and ready to try out ideas for the new album. On 11th June they entered Track Record studios at 5102 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood to record fourteen tracks and on the following day they laid down a further seven.

The second session, recorded on 13th August at Track Record, was the serious pre-production for Sonic Temple, with both producer Bob Rock and engineer Mike Fraser in attendance. On all eight tracks the arrangements have been reworked and tightened up; from the a cappella introduction to Wake Up Time For Freedom to the acoustic guitars on Edie, the song structures are much closer to the versions found on Sonic Temple.

For the fans who found the finished album too layered and produced, these are the unadorned, raw demos.

Double CD in a digipak with an 8 page booklet.

The Track Record Demos - June 1988

01. Medicine Train (One) 4:20
02. New York City (One) 5:19
03. American Horse (One) 5:10
04. Sun King (One) 5:33
05. Automatic Blues 4:53
06. Yes Man 5:13
07. Zodiac 3:31
08. Fire (One) 6:03
09. Wake Up Time For Freedom (One) 4:58
10. Bite On The Bullet 5:11
11. Fred Divinyls 3:44
12. Citadel 4:19
13. The River 6:51
14. The Crystal Ocean 5:07




Disc 3: THE SONIC TEMPLE DEMOS (RCDEMO 2 CD2)

The Track Record Demos - June 1988

01 Cashmere 6:51
02 Edie (One) 5:41
03 Bleeding Heart Revival 5:17
04 Lay Down Your Gun (One) 6:58
05 My Love 3:59
06 Iron Star 4:29
07 Star Child 3:42

The Track Record Demos - August 1988

08. Wake Up Time For Freedom (Two) 5:20
09. Lay Down Your Gun (Two) 5:16
10. Medicine Train (Two) 4:34
11. New York City (Two) 5:01
12. Fire (Two) 5:13
13. American Horse (Two) 4:46
14. Sun King (Two) 4:49
15. Edie (Two) 4:32






Disc 4: THE CEREMONY DEMOS (RCDEMO 3 CD1)

The Red Zone tracks are the pre-production recordings for Ceremony, recorded on 23rd - 25th January 1991. Most of the songs from the finished album sessions are present here, though many would undergo lyrical revision and several have alternate, ‘working’ titles. Recorded live in one take with a scratch rhythm section and featuring rough guide vocals, the tracks provide a raw snapshot of the genesis of the album.

Double CD in a digipak with an 8 page booklet.

The Red Zone Demos - January 1991

01. Ceremony 6:12
02. Full Tilt 5:07
03. Earth Mother 4:11
04. Crazy Hearted Lover 4:23
05. Friend 6:21
06. Wonderland 7:01
07. Bangkok Rain 5:04
08. Red Eye 5:28
09. Spanish Gold (Take Two) 4:19
10. White 7:20
11. Host Of Angels 5:55
12. Black Cat 5:28
13. Pre-Take Jam 1:15
14. Northern Man 4:56
15. Auto 3:30




Disc 5: DEMOS AND OUT-TAKES (RCDEMO 3 CD2)

HOT NIGHTS DEMOS - October ‘86

The Hot Nights demos were discovered on a 7” reel of tape by Billy Duffy, too late to consider including in the original box set. Neither Billy, nor producer Steve Brown, could remember any details of the recording which took place in October 1986, presumably around the time of mixing the Peace album at the Townhouse in London. However Angel is a fully formed demo for Lil’ Devil, complete with lyrics, and Upbeat Track is the instrumental basics of Soldier Blue.

01. Angel (Lil' Devil) 3:14
02. Upbeat Track 3:58
03. Downbeat Track 4:07

JAM DEMOS - March ‘89

The Jam demos are the last studio recordings to feature Jamie Stewart and, for over a decade, the only ones with Matt Sorum on drums. Recorded and mixed between 25th and 27th March 1989 there are five tracks which would be modified for Ceremony, including Track Six which became Host Of Angels / Sweet Salvation. On the tape boxes the songs are simply titled Track One to Track Eight but the subsequent given titles have been used on the release.

04. Tight Lip (Full Tilt) 4:53
05. Spanish Gold ('89) 5:51
06. White ('89) 4:55
07. Track Four 5:55
08. Indian ('89) 3:41
09. Track Six 5:58
10. Track Seven 5:00
11. Track Eight 3:44

THE CEREMONY SESSIONS mixes / demo - spring 1991

The Ceremony out-takes were found on working DAT’s from the sessions. Host Of Angels was rough mixed on 19 March 1991 but, by the time new mixes were worked on between 16-19 April, the lyrics had been revised into Sweet Salvation, though the track still retained it’s former title. The second version included here is a very different mix to the final version released on Ceremony.

Similarly Northern Man first appeared on the 17th April mixes, was rough mixed 14 May and again on 31 May. The song structure of these later mixes bears more of a resemblance to The Witch but lacks the power of either the earlier mix or the finished recording. Still lyrically incomplete, the track was understandably dropped before the final overdubbing and mixing in June.

12. Spanish Gold (Take One) (extra take from demos) 4:08
13. Northern Man (The Witch) (Session Mix) 5:15
14. Host Of Angels (Session Mix) 6:19
15. Sweet Salvation (Session Mix) 6:13













Credits

Bass – Jamie Stewart (tracks: 1-01 to 3-15, 5-01 to 5-11), Todd Hoffman (tracks: 4-01 to 4-15, 5-12 to 5-15)
Co-producer – Billy Duffy (tracks: 5-13 to 5-15), Ian Astbury (tracks: 5-13 to 5-15)
Drums – Chris Taylor (tracks: 3-08 to 3-15), Eric Singer (tracks: 2-01 to 3-07), James Kotack* (tracks: 4-01 to 4-15, 5-12 to 5-15), Les Warner (tracks: 1-01 to 1-18, 5-01 to 5-03), Matt Sorum (tracks: 5-04 to 5-11)
Engineer – Andy Reilly (tracks: 5-04 to 5-11), Craig Thompson (2) (tracks: 5-04 to 5-11), John Carter (tracks: 2-01 to 3-07), Mike Clink (tracks: 4-01 to 4-15, 5-12 to 5-15), Mike Fraser (tracks: 3-08 to 3-15)
Guitar – Billy Duffy
Mastered By – John Dent
Producer – Billy Duffy (tracks: 4-01 to 4-15, 5-12), Bob Rock (tracks: 3-08 to 3-15), Cult, The (tracks: 2-01 to 3-07, 5-01 to 5-11), Ian Astbury (tracks: 4-01 to 4-15, 5-12), Richie Zito (tracks: 5-13 to 5-15), Steve Brown (tracks: 5-01 to 5-03)
Vocals – Ian Astbury
Written-By – Duffy*, Astbury*

Notes

Limited to 3000 numbered copies. Set was only available via mail-order from Beggars Banquet's online shop.

Seventy-seven tracks, 51 of which are previously unreleased, all of which are broken down into three parts: The E.Zee Demos, The Sonic Temple Demos, and Demos 1986 ~ 1989 ~ 1991. Each part comes in a gatefold or tri-fold digipack case with a booklet containing extensive liner notes and artwork from the actual demo tapes. All digipacks fit into a larger cardboard slipcase.

Disc 1: The E.Zee Demos (RCDEMO 1 CD)
Disc 2: The Sonic Temple Demos (RCDEMO 2 CD1)
Disc 3: The Sonic Temple Demos (RCDEMO 2 CD2)
Disc 4: Demos 1986 ~ 1989 ~ 1991 (RCDEMO 3 CD1)
Disc 5: Demos 1986 ~ 1989 ~ 1991 (RCDEMO 3 CD2)

Track 5-12 is part of the Red Zone Demos, but appears separately from those because of time constraints on Disc 4.


Original releaser comments:

- Using EAC these 5 CD's were all Accurately ripped to FLAC (highest level). CUE/LOG/M3U files included.
- 300 DPI scans of sleeves, discs, booklets and boxset are included.






Many thanks to original releaser DrAvalanche!