Love
by The Cult

Love by The Cult
Year: 1985
Release date: 1985-10-18
Overall rank: 1,412th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 266 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1985 (19th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (222nd)
Award Best albums of all time (1,412th)

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Love, The Cult, Very Good , audioCD
Condition: Very Good


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The Cult Love Records & LPs New
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The Cult - LOVE - 1985 US 1st Press Album (NM) Ultrasonic Clean
Condition: Used


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The Cult bestography

Love is ranked as the best album by The Cult.

The Cult album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (1,412th)
Love
Lower ranked (3,223rd) »
Sonic Temple

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Apr
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October London, Leela James & J. Brown
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Love rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,412th | 1980s rank: 222nd | 1985 rank: 19th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026SiromynianTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s39/10012
2026wizardalienTop 68 Music Albums of the 1980s19/6815
2026 jeremy9Top 51 Music Albums of 198516/514
2026 videoheadcleanervideoheadcleaner's 101-20037/100 -
2026LittleM1971Top 86 Music Albums of 198527/863
2026culwinTop 61 Music Albums of 198512/614
2026 RomanelliMy Overall Chart: 2501-260025/100 -
2026JohnnyoTop 100 greatest music albums (alternative list)73/100 -
2026mrmcrookTop 22 Music Albums of 19852/225
2026Juneof44Top 50 Music Albums of 198545/501
2026matterhornriderTop 101-200 Greatest Music Albums99/100 -
2026JohnnyoTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s13/10018
2026LittleM1971Greatest Music Albums: 1001-11001/100 -
2026mrmcrookTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s47/10011
2026 RasmVTop 35 Music Albums of 198520/352
2026TastyandTemptinTop 100 Greatest Music Albums35/10066
2026wizardalienTop 100 Greatest Albums of the 20th Century80/100 -
2026UntitledTop 25 Music Albums of 198525/250
2026JohnnyoTop 100 Greatest Music Albums73/10028
2026svk4everTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s55/1009
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 235
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 1,204
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Love collection

Love ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 266 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 266 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
5 days ago TastyandTemptin  Ratings distribution  3,04172/100
 
80/100
 
02/28/2026 17:16 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
95/100
 
02/20/2026 16:26 Leonard  Ratings distribution  6,51170/100
 
100/100
 
02/09/2026 20:46 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  88696/100
 
80/100
 
01/06/2026 06:51 Sumbody  Ratings distribution  1,79876/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.6/100, a mean average of 75.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.8.

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Love comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 21 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
From 07/04/2025 09:07 | #309892
a fantastic record, shimmering, dark and brooding... Rain and She Sells Sanctuary easy 5*
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/07/2025 23:08 | #307467
The sound of when they were transitioning from their goth beginnings to the more rock heavy band they were to become. There's some fantastic pumping tunes on this along with some tracks with haunting melodies and rhythms. A nice mix. This is good. One of my favorite from The Cult
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 10/17/2024 21:16 | #305694
Amazing guitar sound and some killer riffs and solos, coupled with Ian Astbury's great singing voice which complements the music perfectly for me. She Sells Sanctuary is magical, but Nirvana is also an incredible opener and not that far behind. A couple of weak tracks (Love and Brother Wolf Sister Moon) stop it from being a great album for me but it's a good album and has made me want to explore more of the band's discography.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 08/11/2024 07:31 | #304705
JUst fine
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 06/02/2024 22:10 | #303815
With trademark “Yeah Yeahs” and “You know what I means” this is nice reminder that once upon a time The Cult released music that was actually pretty good and mattered before Ian and Billy disappeared up their own ego
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/23/2022 15:36 | #291514
Great piece of alternative 80s music with a bit of goth rock and new wave. Nirvana and Rain are the best tracks here in my opinion.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 04/12/2022 00:00 | #284042
This feels like a very generic group of songs that lack character and edge in my opinion. Other than Rain and She Sells Sanctuary the rest are pretty skippable and none really grab me or draw me into the music. It feels a bit lifeless at times and like it is lacking quite a bit of energy. The choruses can be quite cringey and sound really dated especially on Revolution and Nirvana. The record feels very drawn out as well with some songs going on for 2 or 3 minutes too long making me just wait for them to end. The atmosphere is pretty consistent but isn't created as effectively as it could be. Overall, a few good singles but this record is pretty weak in my opinion.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 09/16/2020 22:45 | #258301
The Cult was one of my favorite rock bands of the eighties, with Ian Astbury's Jim Morrison-like persona and Billy Duffy's scorching work on the guitar leading the charge. The Cult managed to weave together New Wave eighties vocal stylings, the loudness and grittiness of metal, and the New Age mysticism of post-punk, producing on their second full-length album one of the most undeniably great albums of the eighties. The high point here is the mysterious and hard-rocking "She Sells Sanctuary," one of the best, if not also one of the most lyrically impenetrable, songs of its generation. Unfortunately, The Cult never came close to making another album anywhere near this great, and they've gradually settled back into obscurity. But for the brief time that they shined, they sure did shine brightly.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 01/27/2018 04:37 | #206605
Atmospheric. The album has a consistent tone, and despite all the singles, this is the peak of gothic-version Cult. It is almost a concept album, lots of elemental / weather references, missing people, returning, spirituality. Whereas by the time of the Ceremony album the same lyrics came out as "the same schtick all over again". Astbury doesn't over-sing, whereas in later albums he seems to feel the need to fill every gap.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/25/2017 16:06 | #202063
A good album, psychedelic oriented hard melodic rock.Nice songs on this and a characteristic atmosphere and guitar sound all over the album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1985
1. Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush
2. Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
3. Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits
4. Meat Is Murder by The Smiths
5. Psychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain
6. Songs From The Big Chair by Tears For Fears
7. The Head On The Door by The Cure
8. Tim by The Replacements
9. Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout
10. Rum Sodomy & The Lash by The Pogues
11. Misplaced Childhood by Marillion
12. Low-Life by New Order
13. This Is The Sea by The Waterboys
14. New Day Rising by Hüsker Dü
15. This Nation's Saving Grace by The Fall
16. Fables Of The Reconstruction by R.E.M.
17. Little Creatures by Talking Heads
18. Around The World In A Day by Prince And The Revolution
19. Love by The Cult
20. The Dream Of The Blue Turtles by Sting
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