The Cult's fifth album Ceremony was hugely anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1987 album Electric and their follow up Sonic Temple. It was heavily inspired by Native American culture. The album reached #25 and achieved platinum status in the U.S., and reached #9 in Canada.
Ian Astbury told the AV Club "I think it was a very important record for us to make because I think it’s probably the only record I can dig out of our canon where there was an agenda."