Release Date: May 22, 2012
Genre(s): Alternative Pop/Rock, Hard Rock, British Trad Rock
Record label: Cooking Vinyl Records
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
It's been five years since the Cult released the Youth-produced Born into This. While it was plain that Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy -- with the newly hired rhythm section of bassist Chris Wyse and drummer John Tempesta -- were attempting to reach back to the hard rock attack of Electric and Sonic Temple, the impact of Duffy's guitar sound was blunted by their producer. By contrast, Choice of Weapon, co-produced by Chris Goss and Bob Rock, is urgent, militant, and pissed off.
There are three kinds of Cult fans.The first kind followed them through their post-punk/goth beginnings as Southern Death Cult and through their breakthrough album, Love (1985). These fans felt betrayed or lost interest when the Cult turned toward the hard rock mainstream with the Rick Rubin-produced Electric (1987). Most of these folks have probably long since stopped listening to music altogether.