The Cult’s 1984 debut album, Dreamtime, is set to receive a 40th anniversary vinyl reissue, out February 23rd via Beggars Banquet.
It marks the first time the album has been issued on vinyl since 1991. While used copies of The Cult’s classic albums such as Love and Electric would turn up in record stores, Dreamtime was a scarcer find, especially in the US, where it was never issued as an LP. The new 40th anniversary edition touts a fresh remastering job and appears to be the first time the album is being distributed on vinyl in the States.
Still, Dreamtime did well overseas on the strength of singles “Spiritwalker” and “Go West.” At the time, The Cult’s sound was still heavily indebted to post-punk with hints of deathrock, an offshoot of goth rock that combined doomy atmospherics with the intensity of punk. The band would embrace a more pronounced radio-friendly hard rock sound on the aforementioned follow-up, Love, leading to commercial success in the US.
Founding members Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have been celebrating the anniversaries of their earliest work. The Dreamtime reissue follows the duo’s recent tour commemorating Death Cult, the early incarnation of The Cult.
You can pre-order the Dreamtime reissue on standard black vinyl here and on oxblood red wax via Beggars Arkive.