Cult Classic

[John A Swartz]

Some of the major complains of "Cult Classic" are (as I remeber them):

1. WHY? (like, release new material instead!)
2. Poor use of digital technology - the recordings sound somewhat "sterile"
3. Some of the performances (in particular Eric's vocals on ETI) seem
"uninspired"
4. "TV Mixes" - again, why?
5. No Bouchards (as Theo mentioned)
6. This is the album we all ended up getting after about 2 years of the
band promising us an album with new material.
7. Not the greatest of mixing (other than "Flaming Telepaths", keyboards
seem almost non-existent)
8. Song selection - this of course is debatable as to what you should put
on or leave off, but something like "Stairway to the Stars" could easily
have replaced one of the "TV Mixes"

Overall, there's sort of a feeling of the band "mailing it in", so to speak,
on this album.  Personally, I like this album for what it is, and the studio
Buck's Boogie makes it worth the price alone.  But - other than being
somewhat interesting for the slightly different versions of songs, it's
an album that most people feel they don't need.  Want a compilation? Well,
then WOTT is the superior choice (of course WOTT didn't exist when CC came
out).  Already have the other albums?  Then you may not care to hear more
of the same songs (unless you're one of those crazy fanatical die-hards
that has to have everything -- I say this with my hand raised in the air).

John