Cult following

A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a work of culture. A film, book, musical artist, television series or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fanbase. A common component of cult followings is the emotional attachment the fans have to the object of the cult following, often identifying themselves and other fans as members of a community. Cult followings are also commonly associated with niche markets. Cult media are often associated with underground culture, and are considered too eccentric, bizarre, controversial or anti-establishment to be appreciated by the general public or to be a commercial success.

Many cult fans express a certain irony about their devotion. Sometimes, these cult followings cross the border to camp followings. Fans may become involved in a subculture of fandom, either via conventions, online communities or through activities such as writing series-related fiction, costume creation, replica prop and model building, or creating their own audio or video productions from the formats and characters.

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in the UK in the mid-1980s as a post-punk/gothic rock band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the US in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman". The band fuse a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of the Doors [and] the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band have had various line-ups; the longest-serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London, the band released the album Love in 1985, which charted at No. 4 in the UK, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". In the late 1980s, the band supplemented their post-punk sound with hard rock in their third album, Electric; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by Rick Rubin, who produced the record. Their fourth album, Sonic Temple, proceeded in a similar vein, and these two LPs enabled them to break into the North American market.

The Cult (TV series)

The Cult is a New Zealand serial drama television series in which a group of people try to rescue their loved ones from a mysterious cult called Two Gardens.

The Cult held the 8:30-9:30 spot on TV2 in New Zealand. The series debuted in New Zealand on September 24, 2009 and finished with a 2-hour season finale on December 10. It was airing on Polish and Portuguese television in 2011, and commenced screening on Australian television from December 2012.

Plot

A few years prior to the starting of the series, a number of people started disappearing, later turning up in a mysterious compound, known as "Two Gardens". Amongst these people were Ryan Lewis, Andy Wills and Jenni Seger. Years later, another group of people, the relatives of Ryan, Andy and Jenni, receive pictures of their loved ones in "Two Gardens". They each learn of the fellow liberators seeking to find their loved ones and decide to band together to rescue the trio and the great mystery surrounding their disappearance...

The Cult (novel)

The Cult is a fiction book by Max Simon Ehrlich published in 1979 by Mayflower and was the tenth book by the author.

Plot

Jeff was a loving son to Mr and Mrs Reed. But when he went to Ashtaroth, they lost him. He took a new name. He cursed his parents and spurned their love. Forever. for Jeff is now a member of The Cult. The Souls for Jesus, the brainchild of the Master, Buford Hodges, a tax-deductible, multi-million dollar industry feeding on the minds and bodies of the young and vulnerable. Only one man can redeem these lost souls. Only one man dares to take on the sinister forces of the Master. Only one man can help the Reeds. The man they call The Devil..

Characters

Jeff Reed - The main character of the book, Renamed Simeon by the SFJ

Frank Reed - Father of Jeff

Kate Reed - Mother of Jeff

Ken Reed - Brother of Jeff

Cindy Hyland - Girlfriend of Jeff, renamed Athaliah by the SFJ

Joe - Surf Buddy of Jeff

John Morse - The Devil, Enemy of the SFJ

Buford Hodges - The Master of the SFJ

The Cult (album)

The Cult is the self-titled sixth studio album from English rock band, The Cult. It was released in October, 1994 on Beggars Banquet Records and it is also the band's last album on Sire Records in the USA. . It is also commonly referred to as the "Black Sheep" record, due to the image of a Manx Loaghtan black sheep on the front cover. The record also features one of the very rare times when Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have shared songwriting credit with anyone: bassist Craig Adams is credited as co-author of "Universal You".

Musical style

The style of music on the album is more reminiscent of the grunge and alternative rock music popular at the time, and of noise rock, with its use of distortion and feedback.

Album information

Vocalist Ian Astbury referred to the record as "very personal, and very revealing" songs about his life, with the subject matter ranging from sexual abuse at the age of 15, to the death of Nigel Preston (friend and former drummer for The Cult), to his directionless years spent in Glasgow in the late 1970s. But the record was barely noticed, only reaching US#69, and UK#21, and then quickly dropping out of sight. Reportedly it reached number one on the charts in Portugal, but quickly dropped out of sight as well. The single "Coming Down (Drug Tongue)" (UK#51) was released with the band going on tour in support of the new album. Only one more single, "Star" (UK#65), was officially released. That song began life in 1986 as "Tom Petty" before being dropped by the band during rehearsals. In 1993 the song was resurrected once again as "Starchild", and was finally completed for the record in 1994 as, just simply, "Star".