''Ceremony'' is the fifth studio album by British
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
The Cult, first released on 23 September 1991. The most popular songs on the album are “Wild Hearted Son” and “Heart of Soul”.
Album information
''Ceremony'' represented a period of great turmoil within the band. Longtime bassist
Jamie Stewart had departed prior to recording, and the working relationship between vocalist
Ian Astbury and guitarist
Billy Duffy was at an all-time low. The pair reportedly rarely agreed to appear at the studio together, opting to record their parts separately at different times.
The album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1987 album ''
Electric'' and its 1989 follow-up ''
Sonic Temple''. It was heavily inspired by
Native American culture. The band was sued for $61,000,000 by the parents of the
Native American boy pictured on the album cover.
[
]
The album reached #25 in the
U.S. and reached #9 in Canada, and achieved platinum status, but sales suffered with the arrival of
grunge rock and time spent dealing with the
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
. Some countries, including
South Korea and
Thailand, did not see the record's release until 1992 and it was unreleased in
Turkey until the Cult played several shows in
Istanbul in June 1993. It reached #16 on the US
Cashbox charts.
Track listing
All tracks written by
Ian Astbury and
Billy Duffy.
# "Ceremony" – 6:27
# "Wild Hearted Son" – 5:41
# "Earth Mofo" – 4:42
# "White" – 7:56
# "If" – 5:25
# "Full Tilt" – 4:51
# "Heart of Soul" – 5:55
# "Bangkok Rain" – 5:47
# "Indian" – 4:53
# "Sweet Salvation" – 5:25
# "Wonderland" – 6:10
Track information
Both "Ceremony" and "Wild Hearted Son" begin with
Native American Indian
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and #Terminology differences, other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peopl ...
dances. "White" includes an excerpt from
Lawrence Lipton
Lawrence Lipton (October 10, 1898 – July 9, 1975) was a Polish-born Jewish American journalist, writer, and Beat poet, as well as the father of James Lipton.
Early life
Lipton was born in Łódź, Poland, the son of Rose and Abraham Lipschitz ...
's 1959 book 'The Holy Barbarians', which was later the name of
Astbury's band, formed in 1996. "Heart of Soul" begins with the lyric "Down and out in London, Los Angeles, and Paris too", which is a reference to
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
's 'Down and Out in Paris and London', with
LA being where the band were based at that time.
"Wild Hearted Son" (UK#40, Canada #41) was the first officially released single, followed by "Heart of Soul" (UK#51). "Sweet Salvation" and "Heart of Soul" were both released as promotional only singles in Argentina in 1992, and "Ceremony" was released as a promotional single in Spain.
Personnel
;The Cult
*
Ian Astbury - vocals, backing vocals
*
Billy Duffy - guitar
;Additional personnel
*
Alex Acuña - percussion
*
Mickey Curry
Michael Timothy Curry (born June 10, 1956) is an American musician. He has collaborated with singer-songwriter Bryan Adams since the early 1980s, but has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, ...
- drums
*
Charley Drayton - bass
* Tommy Funderburk - backing vocals
* Donny Gerrard - backing vocals
* Suzie Katayama - cello
* Mona Lisa - backing vocals
* Yvonne St. James - backing vocals
*
Benmont Tench - organ
*
Scott Thurston - synthesizer, piano
*
Richie Zito - keyboards
;Technical
* Mixed by
Mike Fraser
References
{{Authority control
The Cult albums
1991 albums
Beggars Banquet Records albums
Albums produced by Richie Zito