Love (Omnibus Edition)

Product Description

Designed to cater for the more committed fan, the Omnibus Edition is presented as a limited edition 4 disc box set with the CD’s housed in Japanese-style paper sleeves, reproducing the original vinyl cover art. Along with the James Brown liner notes, the 48 page book features unseen contact sheets from the album photo session and a chronology of contemporaneous quotes by Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy that illuminate the status of the band at that point in their career.

DISC 1 – LOVE:
Re-mastered from the original studio analogue tapes.

DISC 2 – SINGLES:
Featuring all the tracks from the album’s three 12″ singles which included extended versions of album cuts, remixes and non-album `B’ sides. This is the first time all these tracks have been presented together outside of the limited, Rare Cult box set released in 2000.

DISC 3 – DEMOS:
Ten tracks were recorded in early 1985 as demos to play to potential producers. Mostly performed live in the studio, these raw versions are an insight into the genesis of the album and have never been released before. Additionally there is a bonus of a rough monitor mix from Olympic Studios of `She Sells Sanctuary’ before new vocals and a remix were completed at another studio.

DISC 4 – 1985 LIVE:
Recorded on the Love UK tour by the BBC on 31 October at Hammersmith Odeon, London, this thirteen song set featured songs from the newly released Love album alongside established favourites from their debut release Dreamtime and earlier Death Cult days.

Review

Despite the heady heights of success scaled by The Cult during the arena rock years from 1987 until their break-up in 1995, their second album Love is by far their best. Originally released in 1985, there simply isn’t a bad song on here, and evergreen rock anthems such as Rain and the iconic She Sells Sanctuary are probably their best known and best loved tracks.

Love could arguably be called a transitional album. The band’s first effort, 1984’s Dreamtime, was rooted in the emerging post-punk and goth-rock underground scene. Love represented a quantum leap forward, but their sound had yet to be distilled into the pure hard rock of 1987’s Electric. Ian Astbury’s soaring vocals remained much the same, but Love introduced some Led Zeppelin-sized ambition and sonic scope.

Big Neon Glitter and Hollow Man are typical of the album’s outright gothic moments, and the band’s core audience accepted The Cult’s new-found rockist tendencies with good grace – there was still plenty of reassuringly brooding atmosphere to keep them happy. Although the title track and the psychedelia-drenched Phoenix were a heavy hint at things to come, overall Love straddles the rock/goth divide with peerless skill.

Black Angel and the exquisite Brother Wolf, Sister Moon show the band to be equally adept at ballads. The sheer variety on display also highlights just how mature their writing was. After all, Astbury and Duffy had yet to hit 25 when Love was released. To the public at large, Love may be all about the big hit singles Rain and She Sells Sanctuary, but write off the rest at your peril.

Re-mastered from the original studio analogue tapes, this four-disc box set is a feast for fans. Aside from the original album, there’s a disc of remixes and non-album B sides, a disc of previously unreleased early demos and a disc recorded live in 1985 on the Love tour. Add a 48-page book with unseen contact sheets from the album photo session and a mass of other material assembled by Astbury and Duffy and you have the ultimate version of one of the greatest British rock records of the 80s. —Greg Moffitt

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