Sonic Temple

During 1988, The Cult recorded the first 14-track demo version of this album with Eric Singer (later of Kiss) on drums. Later on, they tracked a new demo version of the record fifteen songs with Chris Taylor, drummer for the Bob Rock band.

Duffy's approach to the guitar changed significantly, with the guitarist stating, "I'd come full circle with the Les Paul. (...) I started taking the front off the Les Paul and went back to the natural finish while also playing the wah pedal half-closed like [Mick Ronson]. It was back to guys like Mick Ronson, Mick Ralphs, Thin Lizzy and Jimmy Page."

The album cover features Duffy with his Les Paul, partially obscuring a picture of vocalist Ian Astbury, chosen because the band wanted "to capture the essence of what a powerchord felt like."

Sonic Temple marked the first time the band worked with Bob Rock, who would later produce The Cult, Beyond Good and Evil, Choice of Weapon and Hidden City. The album reached the Cult's highest chart position in the US, peaking at #10 on the Billboard 200 charts, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 1990.

On 4 October 2019, Sonic Temple was re-released as a 5-CD box set and as a 2 LP/1 cassette box set, with a different cover, the original album digitally remastered, numerous rarities, a live album recorded at London Wembley Arena and a comprehensive booklet featuring rare photos and background info on the album and the band. The LP/cassette edition has a limited release of 3500 copies worldwide.{{Cite web |last=Group |first=Beggars |title=The Arkive |url=http://archive.beggars.com/}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sonic-temple-mw0000653082|title=Sonic Temple – The Cult|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=3 March 2021}}

| rev2 = Classic Rock

| rev2score = 8/10{{cite magazine|last=Hughes|first=Rob|title=The Cult: Sonic Temple|magazine=Classic Rock|issue=267|date=October 2019|page=94}}

| rev3 = Los Angeles Times

| rev3score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite news|last=Willman|first=Chris|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-21-ca-818-story.html|title=The Cult 'Sonic Temple.' Sire|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=21 May 1989|access-date=22 June 2020}}

| rev4 = Mojo

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Cameron|first=Keith|title=Divine comedy|magazine=Mojo|issue=311|date=October 2019|page=96}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = 7/10{{cite magazine|last=Mead|first=Helen|authorlink=|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/51471543112/in/album-72157719774744001/|title=The Cult — Sonic Temple (Beggars Banquet)|magazine=New Musical Express|date=8 April 1989|page=32|location=London|publisher=IPC Limited|issn=0028-6362|access-date=4 November 2022|via=Flickr}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Perry|first=Andrew|title=The Cult: Sonic Temple 30|magazine=Q|issue=403|date=October 2019|page=117}}

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Neely|first=Kim|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thecult/albums/album/200624/review/6068120/sonic_temple|title=The Cult: Sonic Temple|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=1 June 1989|access-date=18 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104065635/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thecult/albums/album/200624/review/6068120/sonic_temple|archive-date=4 November 2007|url-status=dead}}

| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book|last1=Considine|first1=J. D.|author1-link=J. D. Considine|last2=Skanse|first2=Richard|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|chapter=The Cult|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA203|access-date=22 June 2020|via=Google Books|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/203 203–204]}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9score = 7/10{{cite magazine|last=O'Connell|first=Sharon|title=The Cult: Sonic Temple|magazine=Uncut|issue=269|date=October 2019|page=45}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10score = B−{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv789-89.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|date=25 July 1989|access-date=18 May 2022}}

}}

The album received mixed reviews, with some interpreting the change in sound positively and some negatively. John Leland of The New York Times deemed Sonic Temple "both [the Cult's] most conventional album and its most convincing", continuing: "Using a few simple riffs and images, the Cult creates an entire environment, one more exciting and stimulating than our own. Bob Rock, the album's producer, washes blunt, powerful sound over the broadness of most of the band's strokes. Sonic Temple makes a virtue of its lack of subtlety."{{cite news |last=Leland |first=John |author-link=John Leland (journalist) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/02/arts/reocrdings-the-cult-dons-the-armor-of-heavy-metal.html |title=The Cult Dons the Armor of Heavy Metal |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 July 1989 |access-date=22 June 2020}}

In a less enthusiastic review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote: "Having risen from cultdom as a joke metal band metal fans were too dumb to get, they transmute into a dumb metal band. Dumb was the easy part. Ha ha." Los Angeles Times critic Chris Willman lambasted the album as "stupid". In his book Perfect from Now On, writer John Sellers criticised the Cult for "emulating a hair-metal band" on Sonic Temple, commenting that "the Cult had moved from the hearts of alternative-music fans to the Walkmans of Warrant disciples—completely unacceptable."{{Cite book|last=Sellers|first=John|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/175285134|title=Perfect from now on : how indie rock saved my life.|date=2008|publisher=Simon And Schuster Trade|isbn=978-0-7432-7709-9|location=[Place of publication not identified]|oclc=175285134}}

Karen Douthwaite of Hi-Fi News & Record Review noticed that the band "recycling the same riffs for the last few albums" and "guitar sound intensified and metallized to AC/DC proportions.".{{cite news|last=Douthwaite|first=Karen|authorlink=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Hi-Fi-News/80s/Hi-Fi-News-1989-06.pdf|title=Review: The Cult — Sonic Temple|work=Hi-Fi News & Record Review|type=magazine|date=June 1989|volume=34|issue=6|access-date=2 September 2021|page=101|location=Croydon|publisher=Link House Magazines Ltd|via=World Radio History|issn=0142-6230|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902070605/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Hi-Fi-News/80s/Hi-Fi-News-1989-06.pdf|archive-date=2 September 2021}} Parke Puterbaugh of Stereo Review considered that the band "borrows its inspiration" from Led Zeppelin, Queen and other AOR heroes from the hard rock Seventies, but "there's something perversely addictive about this music, with its upfront aggression and its slow-motion orgasms of drums and guitars building to a raunchy climax."{{cite magazine|last=Puterbaugh|first=Parke|authorlink=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/80s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1989-08.pdf|title=Review: The Cult — Sonic Temple|magazine=Stereo Review|date=August 1989|volume=54|issue=8|access-date=26 October 2021|page=75|location=New York|publisher=Diamandis Communications Inc.|via=World Radio History|issn=0142-6230|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903215428/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Hi-Fi-News/80s/Hi-Fi-News-1989-12.pdf|archive-date=3 September 2021}}

{{Tracklist

| total_length = 52:23

| all_writing = Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy

| title1 = Sun King

| length1 = 6:09

| title2 = Fire Woman

| length2 = 5:11

| title3 = American Horse

| length3 = 5:19

| title4 = Edie (Ciao Baby)

| length4 = 4:46

| title5 = Sweet Soul Sister

| length5 = 5:08

| title6 = Soul Asylum

| length6 = 7:26

| title7 = New York City

| length7 = 4:41

| title8 = Automatic Blues

| length8 = 3:51

| title9 = Soldier Blue

| length9 = 4:36

| title10 = Wake Up Time for Freedom

| length10 = 5:17

}}

• "Medicine Train" – 4:42 (On CD, in some countries, cassette release, and 30th Anniversary LP)
• "The River" (Only on Russian, Eastern European, and 30th Anniversary LP pressings)
• “Bleeding Heart Graffiti” (On 30th Anniversary LP)
• “Messin’ Up The Blues” (On 30th Anniversary LP)
• “Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix)” (On 30th Anniversary LP)
• “Edie (Ciao Baby) (Acoustic)” (On 30th Anniversary LP)
• "Lay Down Your Gun" (Version 2) (Only on Russian and Eastern European pressings)

There was a Saudi Arabian version released, with the track listing expanded (although "Soul Asylum" had been removed) and slightly rearranged:

1. "Sun King"
2. "Fire Woman"
3. "American Horse"
4. "Edie (Ciao Baby)"
5. "Sweet Soul Sister"
6. "NYC"
7. "Automatic Blues"
8. "Soldier Blue"
9. "Wake Up Time for Freedom"
10. "Medicine Train"
11. "Electric Ocean"
12. "King Contrary Man"
13. "Born to Be Wild"
14. "Outlaw"

;The Cult{{Cite AV media notes |id=BEGA 98 |publisher=Beggars Banquet Records |title=Sonic Temple |others=The Cult |year=1989 |type=liner notes}}

• Ian Astbury – vocals, percussion
• Billy Duffy – guitar
• Jamie Stewart – bass, keyboards

;Additional personnel

• Eric Singer – drums during first demo version of Sonic Temple 1988 (credited with "special thanks")
• Chris Taylor – drums during second demo version of Sonic Temple 1988
• Mickey Curry – drums
• Iggy Pop – backing vocals on "New York City"
• John Webster – keyboards
• Bob Buckley – string arrangement on "Edie (Ciao Baby)"

;Technical

• Engineered and mixed by Mike Fraser

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Australia|artist=The Cult|title=Sonic Temple|award=Gold|relyear=1989|certyear=1990|access-date=April 27, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|artist=The Cult|title=Sonic Temple|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|accessdate=April 27, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Cult|title=Sonic Temple|award=Gold|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|id=6128-1655-2|accessdate=April 27, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=The Cult|title=Sonic Temple|award=Platinum|relyear=1989|certyear=1990|accessdate=April 27, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{The Cult}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1989 albums

Category:Albums produced by Bob Rock

Category:Albums recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios

Category:Beggars Banquet Records albums

Category:The Cult albums

Category:Glam metal albums

Category:Hard rock albums by British artists

Category:Sire Records albums