CD Reviews

The Cult

Born into This | Roadrunner

By JAMES PARKER | October 1, 2007

2.0 Stars

Let’s be viral. Let’s mount a campaign of targeted prank purchasing and turn Born into This into a monster hit, the hard-rock success story of 2007. No one, I suspect, would be more surprised by such an eventuality than the Cult themselves, who despite always titanic levels of rock-star delusion must at some level be aware that this time they have turned in a truly half-assed piece of work. The first couplet of the title track is “Yeah, NYC!/The place to be!” The riff of “Dirty Little Rockstar” is a slavish reprise of the Rolling Stones’ “Undercover.” No amount of bacon-throated huff-and-puff from Ian Astbury can make these songs whole. Here’s what the people want from the Cult: bonehead riffs, post-goth flicker-and-gleam, and a bit of sub-shamanic stomp from Astbury. Is that so hard? It would seem it is.

Topics: CD Reviews , The Rolling Stones, Ian Astbury, THE CULT

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