In "For The Animals", global economic conquest threatens to quell any movement that rises against the system, as a flash of brilliant guitar plays rebel to Astbury's devil's advocate: "Dark cities you crawling in/Dark prisons you're living in/You losing millions of cells/Spit your mantra go to hell".
"Lucifer" is a powerful hard rocker that is perfectly ripe for modern rock radio, and "Wilderness Now" is dreamy and poignant with a touch of "Dream On" Aerosmith velvety smoothness. It boasts a memorable lyric ("Death walks right beside me/The light shines bright behind me") that files itself permanently into your memory under "lingering refrain".
Given the politically heady themes so pertinent to the current "take-over" movement, the album refuses to abandon its hard rock likability for the sake of indulgence. It crawls with idealistic philosophy on the verge of intolerance, yet foremost it remains an engaging listen with a driving beat and blistering guitar work.
The four CD bonus tracks are songs from previous Cult projects and are a fitting bookend to this collection of music. The CD packaging is impressive, if not environmentally sound, with a glossy book-like hard cover bounding a 24-page booklet of lyrics, artwork, and credits.
Choice of Weapon is scheduled for release on May 22.
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