Sonic Temple
by The Cult
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The Cult bestography
Sonic Temple is ranked 2nd best out of 18 albums by The Cult on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by The Cult is Love which is ranked number 1250 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,392.
(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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Sonic Temple track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Sonic Temple rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 88/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | stevengnz | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 1/100 | 5 |
| 2026 | joathome | Top 43 Music Albums of 1989 | 35/43 | 1 |
| 2026 | Ranger | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 45/100 | 55 |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | Top 37 Music Albums of 1989 | 22/37 | 2 |
| 2026 |  videoheadcleaner | Top 90 Music Albums of 1989 | 59/90 | 2 |
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 50 Music Albums of 1989 | 20/50 | 3 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1989 Pt 2 | 1/35 | - |
| 2026 |  paladisiac | 1989 year, 101-200* | 1/12 | - |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 50 Music Albums of 1989 | 29/50 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 129 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 529 | |||
Sonic Temple collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 76 members
Sonic Temple ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 160 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/03/2026 18:28 | Siromynian | 1,786 | 74/100 |
| ! | 09/13/2026 20:40 |  Tamthebam | 23,323 | 69/100 |
| ! | 09/06/2026 12:50 |  LedZep | 5,158 | 79/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.6/100, a mean average of 75.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 11.5.
Sonic Temple favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 13 members
Sonic Temple forum mentions
pedro1976 02/16/2026 07:27 in What album are you listening to? (cont.) pedro1976 04/12/2023 16:30 in What album are you listening to right now?
dihansse 10/24/2018 20:27 in My discoveries per yearSonic Temple comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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The album where the Cult reached the big time, but with some sacrifice to the originality of the sound they had created. The first side is much better than the second and contains the four hits.
The Cult has fully transformed from a Gothic rock outfit to a fully fledged hair metal band. Perfect timing as thanks to Guns 'n' Roses, keyboards had been ditched as an instrument. Great production, great songs and vastly improved guitar work. Classics for me are: Fire Woman, Edie, Sweet Soul Sister, Soul Asylum, Soldier Blue and Wake Up Time For Freedom.
Eastwood 11/25/2014 16:11 | #127963 | TOP COMMENT
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Good album. Best 10 songs average is 82,5/100 and the album can get good 85/100. Best songs are "Edie (ciao baby)" and "Sweet soul sister" both 90/100, followed by "Fire woman" 85/100.
Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Decurso TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/14/2014 13:31 | #126957 | TOP COMMENT
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A bit more melancholy than their last two efforts and not quite as memorable, but a album that manages to be accessible hard rock without being full blown metal. It definitely peaks in the middle.
Fischman TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/28/2016 17:06 | #177662 | TOP COMMENT
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Outstanding album! Lots of great hard rockin' cuts with a little ballad thrown in for variety. The as yet unmentioned but positively outstanding deep cut is "American Horse."
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