THE CULT: Bring Me The Head Of DAVE GROHL

February 18, 2006

THE CULT frontman Ian Astbury was recently asked by a fan on the band's official message board if it's true that while recording their last studio album, 2001's "Beyond Good and Evil", they titled one of the demos "Bring Me the Head of Dave Grohl". "Yes, [it's] true," Astbury replied. "It all started with comments that [Dave] Grohl [ex-NIRVANA drummer and current FOO FIGHTERS frontman] had made about coming to see THE CULT on a dare that appeared in Alternative Press. He went on to say that 'overproduced' music like that made him want to shoot himself."

Astbury added, "I have no problem with David or the FOOs... What ev's..."

Astbury also addressed the label problems THE CULT encountered while recording — and shortly after the release of — "Beyond Good and Evil" that eventually led to the band's lengthy hiatus (THE CULT were signed at the time to Lava/Atlantic, led by Jason Flom).

"The Atlantic demise is simple: greed and confusion," Astbury explained. "They wanted the new AEROSMITH (confusion) ... Greed: While 'Beyond Good and Evil' was being released, people were negotiating their share of the AOL takeover of Time Warner. When general staff recieved this information, they realized their days were over, hence why work a CULT/Lava album?!... We had little or NO tour support [and] vitually NO media support. [It had] nothing to do with 'Beyond Good and Evil' not being a potential platinum album. I spent two weeks discussing an AMAZING video treatment with the director Wiz [MARILYN MANSON, CRADLE OF FILTH, SMASHING PUMPKINS], [only] to be told it was not commercially acceptable to the Lava video department. We ended up making a terrible video clip forced by time (also by this point I was less than enamored with anyone involved). During the making of 'Beyond Good and Evil', I was asked by A&R reps to change lyrics and Bob Rock [producer] was asked to present a certain production value that would be commercially viable... Needless to say, I did not comply and fought all the way to the hiatus."

THE CULT's upcoming tour, tagged "A Return To Wild", will cover 19 cities launching at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco on March 1 and winding up at Nokia Live in New York City. Joining principals Astbury and Billy Duffy (guitar) on the trek will be Chris Wyse (who performed on "Beyond Good and Evil", and has worked with Ozzy Osbourne and Jerry Cantrell since) and drummer John Tempesta (EXODUS, TESTAMENT, HELMET, WHITE ZOMBIE, ROB ZOMBIE). The new lineup will make its debut this Friday (Feb. 24) when they perform on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" on the CBS-TV network.

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