The Cult's earliest songs dated from their incarnation as Gothic rockers Death Cult, and
though they'd served their purpose of making a splash in the press, the band were already moving on towards a
harder, psychedelic and bluesier rock by the time they recorded 'Dreamtime'.
With the first single, 'Spiritwalker', lodged at the top of the indie charts, the band had set their sights on
mainstream success. Yet there were still worries that, as Goth's first "supergroup", the weight of expectation on
The Cult's shoulders might yet crush them. But determined not to tread water, the band became less guarded
about their aspirations to play straight rock.
The reckless energy of the early live shows had been harnessed and the initial 30,000 copies of the record
included an additional album recorded live at the Lyceum ballroom in London, The release gave them chart
success and revealed a band with a musical depth and maturity quite refreshing for a bunch of 22 year olds.
Dreamtime was a two fingered salute to anyone who ever doubted the potential of Astbury and Duffy's
songwriting partnership.
'Dreamtime' was one of Beggars Banquet's earliest releases on compact disc and consequently suffered from
a "thin" sound but has now been remastered for this re-issue, revitalising the depth and energy in the recording
and restoring the album to the original vinyl ten track running order.
And at long last the CD has a decent front cover! The 16 page booklet also includes an illustrated, colour
discography, and sleeve notes by Pat Gilbert of Record Collector
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