Love is the second studio album by the English rock band the Cult, following Dreamtime in 1984. It came out on 18 October 1985 and became the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching number four in the UK and spending 22 weeks on the chart. It was recorded at Jacob's Studios in Farnham, Surrey, across July and August 1985.

The record sits where post-punk and alternative rock meet harder guitar-driven rock, and it gave the band three UK Top 40 singles: "She Sells Sanctuary", "Rain" and "Revolution". It was released in nearly 30 countries and has sold an estimated 2.5 million copies. Two years later came Electric, but Love is where the Cult first reached a wide audience, and the singles are a good place to start.

Love: tracklist, credits and charts

10 tracks · 52:02

Tracklist

  1. 1NirvanaIan Astbury and Billy Duffy5:29
  2. 2Big Neon GlitterIan Astbury and Billy Duffy4:56
  3. 3LoveIan Astbury and Billy Duffy5:33
  4. 4Brother Wolf, Sister MoonIan Astbury and Billy Duffy6:50
  5. 5RainIan Astbury and Billy Duffy3:59
  6. 6PhoenixIan Astbury and Billy Duffy5:08
  7. 7Hollow ManIan Astbury and Billy Duffy4:48
  8. 8RevolutionIan Astbury and Billy Duffy5:29
  9. 9She Sells SanctuaryIan Astbury and Billy Duffy4:25
  10. 10Black AngelIan Astbury and Billy Duffy5:26
Produced by
Steve Brown
Recorded at
Jacobs Studios, Olympic Studios, Jacobs (Farnham, England), Olympic (London, England)
Recorded
July–August 1985
Mixed at
Dean St. Studios
Engineered by
Steve Brown, Mark “Spike” Stent, Steve Williams
Labels
Sire Records, Beggars Banquet, Sire
Length
52:02

Line-up

  • Mark Brzezicki · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Billy Duffy · guitar, background vocals
  • Jamie Stewart · bass guitar, keyboard, strings, background vocals
  • Ian Astbury · vocals
  • The Soultana's · background vocals · guest
  • Nigel Preston · drums (drum set) · guest

Singles

  • “She Sells Sanctuary” · 17 May 1985
  • “Rain” · 27 September 1985
  • “Revolution” · 22 November 1985

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
UK Albums Chart · 1985–874
US Billboard 200 · 1985–8787
UK Rock & Metal Albums · 20231
Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1985–875
UK Independent Albums · 20235
Scottish Albums · 202312
Dutch Albums · 1985–8720
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1985–8733
New Zealand Albums · 1985–8737

Certifications

RegionCertification
Canada · 19892× Platinum
United Kingdom · 1985Gold
United States · 1989Gold

From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.

79.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
5.9k
ListenBrainz listeners
71k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
19k
Deezer fans (all editions)

Released the same week

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz18 October 1985
Wikipedia infobox18 October 1985
Wikidata1985
US release1985earliest US date
UK / Europe release1985earliest UK or European date
19 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
—USSire Records075992535922other
—USSire Recordsother
1985USSire Records075992535922other
1985GBBeggars Banquet5012093006529other
1985CABeggars Banquet04228386582297other
1985GBBeggars Banquet5012093006512other
1985USSire Records075992535915other
August 1985GBBeggars Banquet5012093006529original
August 1985USSire Records075992535946original
18 October 1985DEVirginother
1986DEVirginother
21 October 1987JPBeggars Banquet4988002137237other
1992BRBeggars Banquetother
1 October 1999GBBeggars Banquet607618006525other
7 March 2000USBeggars Banquet607618006525remaster
2009—Beggars Banquetdeluxe
18 August 2009USBeggars Banquetother
21 September 2009GBBeggars Banquet607618206420other
——Beggars Banquetother
Cover art sources

deezer · native: native 1800x1800

SourceSizeVerdict
deezer ✓1800×1800native: native 1800x1800
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled
coverartarchive700×700upscaled