The Cure

I have quite a bit of Cure and wouldn't be without it. They were (are?) a remarkably schizophrenic band and whilst I adore some of their lighter stuff (quite Ray Davies in its way) the dark gothic side turns me right off. However IMHO 'Mixed Up' is an absolute classic featuring intelligent, interesting remixes of some of their best work - sounds fantastic on my system (on both LP & CD).

Dunno what your problem is with 'our Robbie' Robbie - how could The Cure possibly sound like themselves without his vocals?

Caterpillar Jim.

Hi Jim,

No problem with his voice whatsoever. But he sure looks like a overeaten popstar nowadays doesn't he ?

Regards,
Rob.

Thanks chaps

That's made me dig out the singles compilation 'Staring At The Sea'

I particularly like:-

A Forest
Play For Today
Primary

which play in that sequence.

It also contains the wonderful

'Killing An Arab' and '10.15 On A Saturday Night'

The bass sounds OK to me.

Sybil,

Have a listen to Charlotte sometimes on The Cure Live album.

Rob.

Aah, The Cure!

I've followed them since '79. I always preferred 'The Dark Side' of the band, I found the 80's "pop group" phase distinctly surreal. Their best moments are the albums which hang together each with a distinctive sound that pervades all of the songs (see favourites, below). The bands best moments are the slow burners.

Get The Trilogy DVD, where the band is on top form playing Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers Live on stage in their entirety. Wish I had been there!

My favourite Cure albums...

Disintegration - The perfect Cure album. Dark, gloomy songs with flashes of humour in the lyrics, great atmospherics. If you only ever buy one Cure album, get this one.

Pornography - The darkest Cure album. It is a difficult one to listen to, yet beautiful in execution. For fans only, but if you like gloomy music with a hard edge...

Seventeen Seconds - The second album which bridges the gap between the punky pop of Three Imaginary Boys and what came afterwards. 'A Forest' set the blueprint for the band's best songs. A simple coda repeated and built on driven by Simon Gallup's bass line and Robert Smith's choppy guitar and, of course, his whiney, plaintive vocals which would get thrown out of Pop Idol at the audition stage but are perfect for his songs of lost love and despair.

Seagull,

What about Faith ,with moody songs like The drowning man, Faith, All cats are grey ?
I've seen The Cure a few times and they sure know how to create the right atmosphere for their music.

Rob.

Best of the rest

Faith is the most depressing Cure album. It lacks the vitality of Seventeen Seconds which preceded it and the brittle harshness of Pornography. It certain sits with the these two as a trilogy and probably helped forge The Cure's reputation.

Bloodflowers - the latest (not the last as widely predicted) and a return to doom and gloom form, a worthy update to Disintegration but not in the same class.

Three Imaginary Boys - the first album with some classic tunes (Fire in Cairo)

Head on the Door - any album with a song as good as "A Night Like This" (with an excellent saxophone break) on it has to have something going for it


The rest

Wish - a mixture of classic Cure (Apart, From the edge of the Deep Blue Sea, The End) and dross (Friday I'm in Love a dreadful song in pop group mode)

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me - The Cure in mid-eighties pop group mode

Mixed Up - remixes of previous classic Cure songs, some interesting treatments but I prefer the original in almost every case.

The Top - more mid-eighties pop


Worst Cure Album

Wild Mood Swings - apart from the opening song which would grace any Cure album this is one to avoid.

If laughter is infectious, is that why they're called The Cure?

Seagull,

A cure for a laughter..Sometimes they're too tongue in cheek to be just that. Ironic is the word what comes to mind.

Nice summary of their albums BTW.

Rob.

Mmmm

The Cure

Once an interesting pop band (first few singles, first album, a few classic singles sprinkled thereafter throught their career), now just a bunch of fat goths. Worse than that, they're mostly boring.

Surely "The Top" is one of the dullest records ever made?

And they've made a career out of ripping off New Order ("Inbetween Days", one of their better songs, is the most blatant example)

Kevin

Still no fags despite being very drunk last night

Anybody know whether the B-sides which came with the Cassette version of "Staring at the Sea" were released as a collection on either vinyl or CD?

I had the Cassette (Don't laugh, on a Nak the cassette didn't sound too bad) but it was nicked some years ago. Despite having the vinyl and CD of "Staring at the Sea" I miss some of the great tracks which were on the B side of the cassette.

Thanks,
Richard

Richard,

I'd be interested too, the b-sides of the singles were often better than the A-sides. I've got most on 12" ut with only a Valhalla and little inclination to fiddle with the 45rpm adaptor they remain unplayed but sorely missed.

Oh Seagull!

No Stars on 45?

I can't imagine life without 45 rpm, soooooo many classic bits of music only available on that rpm!

The Cure greatest Hits on DVD is my most played DVD (I don't have many), well that or Talking Heads.

I still really rate A Forest and Killing a Arab. I like the albums Seventeen Seconds and Phonography.

See other threads about the new version of A Forest by Slide, an appropriate reworking of it as a dance piece.

DS

ITC - Tuxedomoon - Time to Lose

David

What? There's a Talking Heads 'Best of' videos on DVD ?

Jeez why don't I pay more attention...

Tim

Tim,

Well, it is a sort of Greatest Hits?

Stop Making Sense - also available remastered etc. The sound quality is quite good for a DVD, and the soundtrack is available on vinyl as well.

DS

ITC - Tuxedomoon - Time to Lose

Oh right - I thought it might be something with the original videos to (eg) 'Once in a Lifetime' and 'Road to Nowhere' on.

Hopefully it's only a matter of time...