The Cure | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late 70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became well-known for its slow, gloomy dirges and Smiths ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the diversity of the Cures music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged, edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the 80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable record-seller throughout the 90s, and their influence could be heard clearly on scores of new bands during the new millennium, including many that had little to do with goth. Originally called the Easy Cure, the band was formed in 1976 by schoolmates Smith (vocals, guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums). Initially, the group specialized in dark, nervy guitar pop with pseudo-literary lyrics, as evidenced by the Albert Camus-inspired "Killing an Arab." A demo tape featuring "Killing an Arab" arrived in the hands of Chris Parry, an A&R; representative at Polydor Records; by the time he received the tape, the bands name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry was impressed with the song and arranged for its release on the independent label Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry left Polydor to form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one of the first bands to sign with the upstart label. "Killing an Arab" was then re-released in February of 1979, and the Cure embarked on its first tour of England. The Cures debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979 to positive reviews in the British music press. Later that year, the group released the non-LP singles "Boys Dont Cry" and "Jumping Someone Elses Train." That same year, the Cure embarked on a major tour with Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the tour, the Banshees guitarist, John McKay, left the group and Smith stepped in for the missing musician. For the next decade or so, Smith would frequently collaborate with members of the Banshees. At the end of 1979, the Cure released a single, "Im a Cult Hero," under the name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single, Dempsey left the band to join the Associates; he was replaced by Simon Gallup at the beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added a keyboardist, Mathieu Hartley, and wrapped up production on the bands second album, Seventeen Seconds, which was issued during the spring of 1980. The addition of a keyboardist expanded the groups sound, was which now more experimental and often embraced slow, gloomy dirges. Nevertheless, the band still wrote pop hooks, as demonstrated by the groups first U.K. hit single, "A Forest," which peaked at number 31. After the release of Seventeen Seconds, the Cure launched its first world tour. Following the Australian leg of the tour, Hartley exited the lineup and his former bandmates chose to continue without him, releasing their third album in 1981 (Faith) and watching it peak at number 14 in the charts. Faith also spawned the minor hit single "Primary." The Cures fourth album, the doom-laden, introspective Pornography, was released soon after in 1982. Pornography expanded their cult audience even further and cracked the U.K. Top Ten. After the Pornography tour was completed, Gallup quit the band and Tolhurst moved from drums to keyboards. At the end of 1982, the Cure released a new single, the dance-tinged "Lets Go to Bed." Smith devoted most of the beginning of 1983 to Siouxsie and the Banshees, recording the Hyaena album with the group and appearing as the bands guitarist on the albums accompanying tour. That same year, Smith also formed a band with Banshees bassist Steve Severin; after adopting the name The Glove, the group released its only album, Blue Sunshine. By the late summer of 1983, a new version of the Cure -- featuring Smith, Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley -- had assembled and recorded a new single, a jaunty tune named "The Lovecats." The song was released in the fall of 1983 and became the groups biggest hit to date, peaking at number seven on the U.K. charts. The new lineup of the Cure released The Top in 1984. Despite the pop leanings the number 14 hit "The Caterpillar," The Top was a return to the bleak soundscapes of Pornography. During the world tour supporting The Top, Anderson was fired from the band. In early 1985, following the completion of the tour, Thornalley left the band. The Cure revamped their lineup after his departure, adding drummer Boris Williams and guitarist Porl Thompson; Gallup returned on bass. Later in 1985, the Cure released their sixth album, The Head on the Door. The album was the most concise and pop-oriented record the group had ever released, which helped send it into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59 in the U.S., the first time the band had broken the American Hot 100. "In Between Days" and "Close to Me" -- both pulled from The Head on the Door -- became sizable U.K. hits, as well as popular underground and college radio hits in the U.S. The Cure followed the breakthrough success of The Head on the Door in 1986 with the compilation Standing on a Beach: The Singles. Standing on a Beach reached number four in the U.K., but more importantly, it established the band as a major cult act in the U.S.; the album peaked at number 48 and went gold within a year. In short, Standing on a Beach set the stage for 1987s double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The album was eclectic but it was a hit, spawning four hit singles in the U.K. ("Why Cant I Be You," "Catch," "Just Like Heaven," "Hot Hot Hot!!!") and the groups first American Top 40 hit, "Just Like Heaven." Following the supporting tour for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the Cures activity slowed to a halt. Before the Cure began working on their new album in early 1988, the band fired Tolhurst, claiming that relations between him and the rest of the band had been irrevocably damaged. Tolhurst would soon file a lawsuit, claiming that his role in the band was greater than stated in his contract and, consequently, he deserved more money. In the meantime, the Cure replaced Tolhurst with former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger ODonnell and recorded their eighth album, Disintegration. Released in the spring of 1989, the album was more melancholy than its predecessor, but it was an immediate hit, reaching number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S., and spawning a series of hit singles. "Lullaby" became the groups biggest British hit in the spring of 1989, peaking at number five. In the late summer, the band had its biggest American hit with "Love Song," which climbed to number two. On the Disintegration tour, the Cure began playing stadiums across the U.S. and the U.K. In the fall of 1990, the Cure released Mixed Up, a collection of remixes featuring a new single, "Never Enough." Following the Disintegration tour, ODonnell left the band and the Cure replaced him with their roadie, Perry Bamonte. In the spring of 1992, the band released Wish. Like Disintegration, Wish was an immediate hit, entering the British charts at number one and the American charts at number two, as well as launching the hit singles "High" and "Friday Im in Love." The Cure embarked on another international tour after the release of Wish. One concert, performed in Detroit, was documented on a film called Show and on two albums, Show and Paris. The movie and the albums were released in 1993. Thompson left the band in 1993 to join Jimmy Page and Robert Plants band. After his departure, ODonnell rejoined the lineup as a keyboardist, and Bamonte switched from synthesizer duties to guitar. During most of 1993 and early 1994, the Cure were sidelined by an ongoing lawsuit from Tolhurst, who claimed joint ownership of the bands name and also sought to restructure his royalty payments. A settlement (ruling in the bands favor) eventually arrived during the fall of 1994, and the Cure shifted their focus to the task at hand: recording a follow-up album to Wish. However, drummer Boris Williams quit just as the band prepared to begin the recording process. The group recruited a new percussionist through advertisements in the British music papers; by the spring of 1995, Jason Cooper had replaced Williams. Throughout 1995, the Cure recorded their tenth proper studio album, pausing to perform a handful of European musical festivals in the summer. The album, titled Wild Mood Swings, was finally released in the spring of 1996, preceded by the single "The 13th." A combination of pop tunes and darker moments that lived up to its title, Wild Mood Swings received a mixed reception critically and commercially, slowing but not halting the momentum gained by Wish. Galore, the Cures second singles collection focusing on the bands hits since Standing on a Beach, appeared in 1997 and featured the new song "Wrong Number." The Cure spent the next few years quietly -- giving a song to the X-Files soundtrack, Robert Smith appearing in a memorable episode of South Park -- re-emerging in 2000 with Bloodflowers, their last album of original material, for Fiction. Designed as the final installment in a heavy goth trilogy that stretched all the way back to Pornography and included Disintegration, Bloodflowers was well-received and a respectable success, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. The next year, the Cure closed out their contract with Fiction with the career-spanning Greatest Hits, which was also accompanied by a DVD release of their most popular videos. During 2002, they spent some time on the road, capping off their tour with a three-night stand in Berlin, where they played each album of their "goth trilogy" on a different night; the event was documented on the home video release Trilogy. The Cure signed an international deal with Geffen Records in 2003 and then launched an extensive reissue campaign in 2004 with the rarities box set Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years); double-disc expanded editions of their earliest albums soon followed. Also in 2004, the band released its first album for Geffen, an eponymous effort recorded live in the studio. Heavier but not necessarily harder -- and certainly not gloomier than Bloodflowers -- The Cure was partially designed to appeal to a younger audience familiar with the Cure through their influence on a new generation of bands, many of which were showcased as opening acts on the bands supporting tour for the album. The Cure underwent another lineup change in 2005, as Bamonte and ODonnell left the group and Porl Thompson came back for his third stint. This new, keyboard-less lineup debuted in 2005 as the headlining act at the benefit concert Live 8 Paris, then headed out on the summer festival circuit, highlights of which were captured on the 2006 DVD release Festival 2005. The Cure popped up on various festivals over the next two years, playing a more extensive European tour in early 2008, as they completed their 13th album. Originally conceived as a double album, the record was split in two prior to its release, with the lighter, poppier material released first as 4:13 Dream in October 2008. After a three-year break, the group returned to the live circuit with their "Reflections" tour -- kicking off in Australia and seeing the return of original drummer and keyboardist Lol Tolhurst after some 22 years -- which saw the band play their first three albums, Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith, in their entirety. A career-spanning 150-minute headline slot at 2011s Bestival on the Isle of Wight was recorded and released that same year and the band continued to tour throughout 2012 and 2013 with festival shows in Europe and North America and headline shows in Latin America. In early 2014, Smith announced that they would release the follow-up to 4:13 Dream later in 2014, and would also follow up their "Reflections" tour with another series of full album shows, this time performing The Top, The Head on the Door, and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me in their entirety. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 24 Title: Three Imaginary Boys Released: 1979-05-08 Tracks: 12 Duration: 35:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 10:15 Saturday Night (03:41) 2 Accuracy (02:17) 3 Grinding Halt (02:49) 4 Another Day (03:43) 5 Object (03:03) 6 Subway Song (02:00) 7 Foxy Lady (02:29) 8 Meathook (02:17) 9 So What (02:37) 10 Fire in Cairo (03:22) 11 It’s Not You (02:51) 12 Three Imaginary Boys / The Weedy Burton (04:21) |
| Three Imaginary Boys : Allmusic album Review : Maybe it was youthful exuberance or perhaps it was the fact that the band itself was not pulling all the strings, Three Imaginary Boys is not only a very strong debut, but a near oddity (its an admittedly "catchy" record) in the Cure catalog. More poppy and representative of the times than any other album during their long career, Three Imaginary Boys is a semi-detached bit of late-70s English pop-punk. Angular and lyrically abstract, its strong points are in its utter simplicity. There are no dirges here, no long suites, just short bursts of energy and a rather strange cover of Hendrixs "Foxy Lady." For some, this is the last good Cure record, many fans of this album being in no way prepared for the sparse emptiness and gloom that would be the cornerstone of future releases. For the most die-hard Cure-head, however, its an interesting sidenote, hard to place in the general flow of the bands discography. Cure leader Robert Smith has voiced many times over his mixed feelings about the record, most notably the cover art (the three "representative" appliances on the cover, the lack of a real track listing -- all the songs are represented with arty type pictures -- and in no real order) and the production, which at times is admittedly a little muddy, but even that lends it a certain youthful charm. What the Cure would do next wasnt entirely obvious to the listener of this album, but there are some definite hints. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 24 Title: Boys Don’t Cry Released: 1980-02 Tracks: 12 Duration: 33:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Boys Don’t Cry (02:35) 2 Plastic Passion (02:14) 3 10:15 Saturday Night (03:41) 4 Accuracy (02:17) 5 So What (02:37) 6 Jumping Someone Elses Train (02:56) 7 Subway Song (01:55) 8 Killing an Arab (02:23) 9 Fire in Cairo (03:22) 10 Another Day (03:43) 11 Grinding Halt (02:49) 12 Three Imaginary Boys (03:11) |
| Boys Don’t Cry : Allmusic album Review : Falling somewhere between official release and compilation, Boys Dont Cry was released in February 1980 in hopes of increasing the bands exposure outside of the U.K. It captures the first phase of the band well, showcasing the angular new wave that had garnered them acclaim in England. The major difference separating this from the debut full-length (and thus qualifying it as an "official" release) is that unlike Three Imaginary Boys, the first three singles ("Killing an Arab," "Boys Dont Cry," and "Jumping Someone Elses Train") are included. A good starting point for getting up to speed on this era of the band, it works best when paired up with Three Imaginary Boys; then youll get the complete picture. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 24 Title: Seventeen Seconds Released: 1980-04-22 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 A Reflection (02:10) 2 Play for Today (03:40) 3 Secrets (03:20) 4 In Your House (04:07) 5 Three (02:35) 6 The Final Sound (00:52) 7 A Forest (05:55) 8 M (03:04) 9 At Night (05:54) 10 Seventeen Seconds (03:59) |
| Seventeen Seconds : Allmusic album Review : Its hard to believe that the Cure could release an album even more sparse than Three Imaginary Boys, but heres the proof. The lineup change that saw funkstery bassist Michael Dempsey squeezed out in favor of the more specific playing of (eventually the longest serving member outside Robert Smith) Simon Gallup, and the addition of keyboardist Mathieu Hartley resulted in the band becoming more rigid in sound, and more disciplined in attitude. While it is not the study in loss that Faith would become, or the descent into madness of Pornography, it is a perfect precursor to those collections. In a sense, Seventeen Seconds is the beginning of a trilogy of sorts, the emptiness that leads to the questioning and eventual madness of the subsequent work. Mostly forgotten outside of the unforgettable single "A Forest," Seventeen Seconds is an even, subtle work that grows on the listener over time. Sure, the Cure did better work, but for a new lineup and a newfound sense of independence, Robert Smith already shows that he knows what hes doing. From short instrumental pieces to robotic pop, Seventeen Seconds is where the Cure shed all the outside input and became their own band. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 24 Title: Happily Ever After Released: 1981 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:12:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 A Reflection (02:10) 2 Play for Today (03:40) 3 Secrets (03:20) 4 In Your House (04:07) 5 Three (02:35) 6 The Final Sound (00:52) 7 A Forest (05:55) 8 M (03:04) 9 At Night (05:54) 10 Seventeen Seconds (04:07) 11 The Holy Hour (04:26) 12 Primary (03:37) 13 Other Voices (04:28) 14 All Cats Are Grey (05:27) 15 The Funeral Party (04:15) 16 Doubt (03:11) 17 The Drowning Man (04:49) 18 Faith (06:43) |
| Happily Ever After : Allmusic album Review : For American ears only, in the years before a new deal with Elektra finally granted the Cure the access to the airwaves that theyd all but given up dreaming of, ...Happily Ever After is nothing less than a two-for-one repackaging of the bands second and third European albums, the brooding gloom of Seventeen Seconds and the affirmative darkness of Faith. It makes for discomforting listening, both for newcomers to the sound of the early group and for fans more accustomed to experiencing the two records in separate sittings. Together with the bands fourth album, Pornography, the two LPs here were the sound of the Cure racing to distance themselves not simply from their early reputation as a moody power pop band, but also from any of the other comparisons, compadres, and contemporaries that the post-punk scene could throw at them. Seventeen Seconds, one U.K. review famously remarked, was the sound of the band sitting in a dark room, staring at clocks. Faith was what happened when those clocks stopped. Both are beautiful records, but they are unrelenting ones, their evocation of the hopelessness that lies on the far side of all emotion palpable enough to begin unraveling the Cure altogether -- a process that Pornography, of course, would complete, but which commenced long before that. Seventeen Seconds was grim enough to prompt keyboard player Mathieu Hartley to quit rather than be party to further such exercises, while Robert Smith himself later described the bands decision to embark on a year-long tour to promote Faith as one of the worst ideas they ever had -- 12 months of "sackcloth and ashes." From a marketing point of view, placing the two albums together was doubtless a genius scheme, one that would introduce new listeners to the band with a double bang for their buck. What that bang would do to those listeners, however, is another matter entirely. And, while ...Happily Ever After itself is best viewed today as just a discographical quirk for collectors interests only (both albums have long been available separately), that is still a question worth pondering. With the lights turned down low, of course. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 24 Title: Faith Released: 1981-04-11 Tracks: 8 Duration: 36:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Holy Hour (04:26) 2 Primary (03:37) 3 Other Voices (04:28) 4 All Cats Are Grey (05:27) 5 The Funeral Party (04:14) 6 Doubt (03:11) 7 The Drowning Man (04:49) 8 Faith (06:43) |
| Faith : Allmusic album Review : Certainly not the "darkest" the Cure would eventually get, Faith is, as represented by the cover art, one of the most "gray" records out there. Melancholy and despondent (the feel of funerals and old churches just oozes from this record) without the anger that would over take Pornography, Faith comes off as not just a collection of songs, but as a full piece. "The Holy Hour," "All Cats Are Grey," and the spectacular "Faith" are slow atmospheric pieces that take the softer elements from Seventeen Seconds, and -- when sidled up next to faster tracks like the single "Primary" and "Doubt" -- paint an overall picture of the ups and downs contained within a greater depressive period. But its not all gloomy keyboards and minimalist percussion, Faith is also a milestone for Robert Smith lyrically, branching out into questions of faith and spirituality he never quite touched on so well ever again. A depressing record, certainly, but also one of the most underrated and beautiful albums the Cure put together. They would not touch on this sort of lush sadness so well again until 1989s Disintegration. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 24 Title: Pornography Released: 1982-05-03 Tracks: 8 Duration: 43:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 One Hundred Years (06:41) 2 A Short Term Effect (04:22) 3 The Hanging Garden (04:34) 4 Siamese Twins (05:28) 5 The Figurehead (06:15) 6 A Strange Day (05:03) 7 Cold (04:26) 8 Pornography (06:27) |
| Pornography : Allmusic album Review : Later hailed as one of the key goth rock albums of the 80s and considered by many hardcore Cure fans to be the bands best album, Pornography was largely dismissed upon its 1982 release, witheringly reviewed as a leaden slab of whining and moping. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between: Pornography is much better than most mainstream critics of the time thought, but in retrospect, its not the masterpiece some fans have claimed it to be. The overall sound is thick and murky, but too muddy to be effectively atmospheric in the way that the more dynamic Disintegration managed a few years later. For every powerful track like the doomy opener "One Hundred Years" and the clattering, desolate single "The Hanging Garden," theres a sound-over-substance piece of filler like "The Figurehead," which sounds suitably bleak but doesnt have the musical or emotional heft this sort of music requires. Pornography is an often intriguing listen, but its just a bit too uneven to be considered a classic. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 24 Title: Japanese Whispers Released: 1983-12-06 Tracks: 8 Duration: 28:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 2 The Dream (03:12) 3 Just One Kiss (04:09) 4 The Upstairs Room (03:30) 5 The Walk (03:30) 6 Speak My Language (02:40) 7 Lament (04:20) 8 The Lovecats (03:40) |
| Japanese Whispers : Allmusic album Review : After the fallout both psychologically and physically of Pornography, it looked unlikely that anyone would hear from the Cure ever again. Surprisingly, from 1982-1983 Robert Smith and (now keyboardist) Lol Tolhurst put out some of the catchiest singles of their career. "Lets Go to Bed," "The Walk," and "The Lovecats" were not only singles that got the Cure radio play and made them a household name, but more importantly marked the next phase in the music of the Cure, which would reach its peak with albums like Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Dropping the stripped-down darkness of Faith and Pornography, the songs on Japanese Whispers (the aforementioned singles from that era, including all the B-sides) are light, dancy, and at times jazzy. Adding new keyboard sounds, old-timey percussion, standup bass, and some damn silly lyrics rejuvenated Robert Smith and sent him on a course that would cement his role as one of the most interesting musicians to emerge from the 80s underground. Japanese Whispers is one of those rare releases when a singles collection works just as well as a standard-issue album. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 24 Title: The Top Released: 1984-05-22 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Shake Dog Shake (04:55) 2 Birdmad Girl (04:05) 3 Wailing Wall (05:17) 4 Give Me It (03:42) 5 Dressing Up (02:51) 6 The Caterpillar (03:40) 7 Piggy in the Mirror (03:40) 8 The Empty World (02:36) 9 Bananafishbones (03:12) 10 The Top (06:50) |
| The Top : Allmusic album Review : Recorded in the midst of Robert Smiths tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced. Essentially Smith and Lol Tolhurst working with studio musicians (this being the period when the Cures lineup was never assured), its an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs. More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cures pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, its still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the 80s, the melodies ("The Caterpillar," "Shake Dog Shake") are unmistakably Robert Smith. The big change this time around is his ability to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work (Pornography) with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences (i.e., world travels, sounds, instruments) to moderate success ("Wailing Wall," "Piggy in the Mirror"). A more psychedelic descent than Pornography, The Top is a transition, never really feeling like a full-length release, but it does meld all former phases of Rob and company, which would fully gel on The Head on the Door. At best an imperfect record, The Top is a necessary step in the evolution of the band. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 24 Title: The Head on the Door Released: 1985-08-13 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 In Between Days (02:58) 2 Kyoto Song (04:18) 3 The Blood (03:45) 4 Six Different Ways (03:20) 5 Push (04:35) 6 The Baby Screams (03:46) 7 Close to Me (03:26) 8 A Night Like This (04:17) 9 Screw (02:40) 10 Sinking (04:53) |
| The Head on the Door : Allmusic album Review : After recording one of their darkest albums, 1984s The Top, the Cure regrouped and shuffled their lineup, which changed their musical direction rather radically. While the band always had a pop element in their sound and even recorded one of the lightest songs of the 80s, "The Lovecats," The Head on the Door is where they become a hitmaking machine. The shiny, sleek production and laser-sharp melodies of "Inbetween Days" and "Close to Me" helped them become modern rock radio staples and the inspired videos had them in heavy rotation on MTV. The rest of the record didnt suffer for hooks and inventive arrangements either, making even the gloomiest songs like "Screw" and "Kyoto Song" sound radio-ready, and the inventive arrangements (the flamenco guitars and castanets of "The Blood," the lengthy and majestic intro to "Push," the swirling vocals on "The Baby Screams") give the album a musical depth previous efforts lacked. All without sacrificing an ounce of the emotion of the past, which songs as quietly desperate as "A Night Like This" and "Sinking" illustrate. With The Head on the Door, Robert Smith figured out how to make gloom and doom danceable and popular to both alternative and mainstream rock audiences. It was a feat the band managed to pull off for many years afterward, but never as concisely or as impressively as they did here. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 24 Title: Standing on a Beach: The Singles Released: 1986-05-01 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:02:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Killing an Arab (02:23) 2 10:15 Saturday Night (03:38) 3 Boys Don’t Cry (02:41) 4 Jumping Someone Else’s Train (02:55) 5 A Forest (04:55) 6 Play for Today (03:40) 7 Primary (03:37) 8 Other Voices (04:28) 9 Charlotte Sometimes (04:14) 10 The Hanging Garden (04:22) 11 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 12 The Walk (03:30) 13 The Lovecats (03:40) 14 The Caterpillar (03:40) 15 In Between Days (02:58) 16 Close to Me (03:41) 17 A Night Like This (04:11) |
| Standing on a Beach: The Singles : Allmusic album Review : Staring at the Sea: The Singles collects all of the Cures biggest U.K. hits and best-known songs from the late 70s and early 80s. Spanning from "Killing an Arab" and "Boys Dont Cry," to "The Lovecats," "In Between Days," and "Close to Me," Staring at the Sea captures some of the finest -- and most influential -- post-punk music. At their best, the Cure were nervy, intellectual, catchy, and foreboding, all at once. No matter how carefully crafted the Cures individual albums were, their finest moments occurred on singles like these, when they distilled their essence into surprisingly catchy, but decidedly left-of-center, pop singles. Staring at the Sea not only selects highlights from their uneven early albums, it collects many of the groups terrific non-LP singles. Its a definitive retrospective of the Cure and is one of the finest albums of the 80s. [The cassette version of Staring at the Sea was titled Standing on a Beach and included several B-sides.] | ||
 | Album: 11 of 24 Title: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me Released: 1987-05-05 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:11:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Kiss (06:15) 2 Catch (02:44) 3 Torture (04:16) 4 If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (04:53) 5 Why Can’t I Be You? (03:14) 6 How Beautiful You Are… (05:13) 7 The Snakepit (06:59) 8 Just Like Heaven (03:32) 9 All I Want (05:21) 10 Hot Hot Hot!!! (03:34) 11 One More Time (04:31) 12 Like Cockatoos (03:39) 13 Icing Sugar (03:49) 14 The Perfect Girl (02:33) 15 A Thousand Hours (03:23) 16 Shiver and Shake (03:28) 17 Fight (04:27) |
| Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me : Allmusic album Review : Simultaneously more accessible and ambitious than any of the Cures previous albums, the double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me finds Robert Smith expanding his pop vocabulary by tentatively adding bigger guitars, the occasional horn section, lite-funk rhythms, and string sections. Its eclectic, to be sure, but its also a mess, bouncing from idea to idea and refusing to develop some of the most intriguing detours. Even if Kiss Me doesnt quite gel, its best moments -- including the deceptively bouncy "Why Cant I Be You?" and the stately "Just Like Heaven" -- are remarkable and help make the album one of the groups very best. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 24 Title: Disintegration Released: 1989-05-01 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:00:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Plainsong (05:15) 2 Pictures of You (07:28) 3 Closedown (04:20) 4 Lovesong (03:29) 5 Lullaby (04:10) 6 Fascination Street (05:15) 7 Prayers for Rain (06:09) 8 The Same Deep Water as You (09:21) 9 Disintegration (08:23) 10 Untitled (06:26) |
| Disintegration : Allmusic album Review : Expanding the latent arena rock sensibilities that peppered Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by slowing them down and stretching them to the breaking point, the Cure reached the peak of their popularity with the crawling, darkly seductive Disintegration. Its a hypnotic, mesmerizing record, comprised almost entirely of epics like the soaring, icy "Pictures of You." The handful of pop songs, like the concise and utterly charming "Love Song," dont alleviate the doom-laden atmosphere. The Cures gloomy soundscapes have rarely sounded so alluring, however, and the songs -- from the pulsating, ominous "Fascination Street" to the eerie, string-laced "Lullaby" -- have rarely been so well-constructed and memorable. Its fitting that Disintegration was their commercial breakthrough, since, in many ways, the album is the culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the 80s. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 24 Title: Integration Released: 1990 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:33:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fascination Street (remix) (04:21) 2 Babble (04:23) 3 Out of Mind (03:53) 4 Fascination Street (extended remix) (08:46) 1 Lovesong (remix) (03:28) 2 Lovesong (extended remix) (06:20) 3 2 Late (02:40) 4 Fear of Ghosts (06:49) 1 Lullaby (remix) (04:10) 2 Lullaby (extended remix) (07:41) 3 Homesick (live) (06:56) 4 Untitled (live) (06:31) 1 Pictures of You (remix) (04:47) 2 Last Dance (live) (04:45) 3 Fascination Street (live) (05:17) 4 Prayers for Rain (live) (04:49) 5 Disintegration (live) (08:00) |
 | Album: 14 of 24 Title: Assemblage Released: 1991-08-19 Tracks: 135 Duration: 8:59:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 10:15 Saturday Night (03:42) 2 Accuracy (02:18) 3 Grinding Halt (02:50) 4 Another Day (03:42) 5 Object (03:00) 6 Subway Song (01:59) 7 Foxy Lady (02:29) 8 Meathook (02:18) 9 So What (02:35) 10 Fire in Cairo (03:21) 11 It’s Not You (02:52) 12 Three Imaginary Boys (03:13) 13 The Weedy Burton (01:05) 1 Boys Don’t Cry (02:35) 2 Plastic Passion (02:14) 3 10:15 Saturday Night (03:38) 4 Accuracy (02:16) 5 So What (03:01) 6 Jumping Someone Else’s Train (02:56) 7 Subway Song (01:59) 8 Killing an Arab (02:22) 9 Fire in Cairo (03:21) 10 Another Day (03:43) 11 Grinding Halt (02:49) 12 Three Imaginary Boys (03:14) 1 A Reflection (02:08) 2 Play for Today (03:38) 3 Secrets (03:19) 4 In Your House (04:06) 5 Three (02:35) 6 The Final Sound (00:52) 7 A Forest (05:54) 8 M (03:03) 9 At Night (05:54) 10 Seventeen Seconds (04:01) 1 The Holy Hour (04:25) 2 Primary (03:35) 3 Other Voices (04:28) 4 All Cats Are Grey (05:28) 5 The Funeral Party (04:14) 6 Doubt (03:11) 7 The Drowning Man (04:50) 8 Faith (06:43) 1 One Hundred Years (06:42) 2 A Short Term Effect (04:25) 3 The Hanging Garden (04:32) 4 Siamese Twins (05:35) 5 The Figurehead (06:15) 6 A Strange Day (05:06) 7 Cold (04:26) 8 Pornography (06:28) 1 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 2 The Dream (03:14) 3 Just One Kiss (04:10) 4 The Upstairs Room (03:34) 5 The Walk (03:31) 6 Speak My Language (02:41) 7 Lament (04:22) 8 The Lovecats (03:39) 1 Shake Dog Shake (04:55) 2 Bird Mad Girl (04:05) 3 Wailing Wall (05:17) 4 Give Me It (03:42) 5 Dressing Up (02:51) 6 The Caterpillar (03:40) 7 Piggy in the Mirror (03:40) 8 The Empty World (02:36) 9 Bananafishbones (03:12) 10 The Top (06:50) 1 Shake Dog Shake (04:14) 2 Primary (03:29) 3 Charlotte Sometimes (04:06) 4 The Hanging Garden (04:04) 5 Give Me It (02:46) 6 The Walk (03:31) 7 One Hundred Years (06:48) 8 A Forest (06:45) 9 10:15 Saturday Night (03:44) 10 Killing an Arab (02:51) 1 In Between Days (02:55) 2 Kyoto Song (04:00) 3 The Blood (03:42) 4 Six Different Ways (03:16) 5 Push (04:28) 6 The Baby Screams (03:43) 7 Close to Me (03:23) 8 A Night Like This (04:12) 9 Screw (02:35) 10 Sinking (04:50) 1 Killing an Arab (02:22) 2 10:15 Saturday Night (03:38) 3 Boys Don’t Cry (02:34) 4 Jumping Someone Else’s Train (02:56) 5 A Forest (04:55) 6 Play for Today (03:39) 7 Primary (03:36) 8 Other Voices (04:28) 9 Charlotte Sometimes (04:13) 10 The Hanging Garden (04:22) 11 Let’s Go to Bed (03:33) 12 The Walk (03:29) 13 The Love Cats (03:39) 14 The Caterpillar (03:40) 15 In Between Days (02:56) 16 Close to Me (03:40) 17 A Night Like This (04:10) 1 The Kiss (06:17) 2 Catch (02:42) 3 Torture (04:13) 4 If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (04:50) 5 Why Can’t I Be You (03:11) 6 How Beautiful You Are (05:09) 7 Snakepit (06:56) 8 Just Like Heaven (03:30) 9 All I Want (05:18) 10 Hot Hot Hot (03:32) 11 One More Time (04:29) 12 Like Cockatoes (03:38) 13 Icing Sugar (03:48) 14 The Perfect Girl (02:33) 15 A Thousand Hours (03:21) 16 Shiver and Shake (03:26) 17 Fight (04:26) 1 Plainsong (05:15) 2 Pictures of You (07:28) 3 Closedown (04:21) 4 Love Song (03:30) 5 Last Dance (04:47) 6 Lullaby (04:12) 7 Fascination Street (05:16) 8 Prayers for Rain (06:07) 9 The Same Deep Water as You (09:22) 10 Disintegration (08:23) 11 Homesick (07:09) 12 Untitled (06:30) |
 | Album: 15 of 24 Title: Wish Released: 1992-04-17 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:06:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Open (06:51) 2 High (03:35) 3 Apart (06:38) 4 From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (07:44) 5 Wendy Time (05:13) 6 Doing the Unstuck (04:24) 1 Friday I’m in Love (03:35) 2 Trust (05:32) 3 A Letter to Elise (05:14) 4 Cut (05:55) 5 To Wish Impossible Things (04:43) 6 End (06:45) |
| Wish : Allmusic album Review : On the surface, Wish sounds happier than Disintegration, and the sunny British Invasion hooks of the hit single "Friday Im in Love" certainly seem to indicate that the record is a brighter affair than its predecessor. Dig a little deeper and the album reveals itself to be just as tortured, and perhaps more despairing. Granted, the sound of the record, with its jangling guitars and simple arrangements, is more immediately accessible than the epic gloom of Disintegration, but nearly every song finds Robert Smith wracked with depression. Unfortunately, the even-handed production makes the record sound very similar, so it is less compelling than it might have been, but there are a handful of gems ("High," "A Letter to Elise," "Wendy Time," "Friday Im in Love") that make the record worthwhile. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 24 Title: Wild Mood Swings Released: 1996-05-07 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:01:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Want (05:06) 2 Club America (05:01) 3 This Is a Lie (04:29) 4 The 13th (04:08) 5 Strange Attraction (04:21) 6 Mint Car (03:30) 7 Jupiter Crash (04:15) 1 Round & Round & Round… (02:38) 2 Gone! (04:31) 3 Numb (04:49) 4 Return (03:28) 5 Trap (03:37) 6 Treasure (03:45) 7 Bare (07:56) |
| Wild Mood Swings : Allmusic album Review : After the relatively straightforward pop of Wish, the Cure moved back toward stranger, edgier territory with Wild Mood Swings. Actually, thats only part of the truth. As the title suggests, theres a vast array of textures and emotions on Wild Mood Swings, from the woozy mariachi lounge horns of "The 13th" to the perfect pop of "Mint Car" and the monolithic dirge of "Want." In between the extremes, Robert Smith and the Cure -- which now feature a radically reworked lineup, with several key players from Wish now missing -- explore some simpler territory, from contemplative acoustic numbers tinged with strings to swooning neo-psychedelia. But what ties it all together is conviction -- Smith sounds more content than he ever has, but he sings with more passion than he has for a number of years. Of course, the Cure havent significantly changed their sound -- tinny synthesizers and guitar effects that havent appeared on an album since 1988 are in abundance throughout the record -- but the variety of sounds and strength of performance offers enough surprises to make Wild Mood Swings more than just another Cure record. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 24 Title: Galore: The Singles 1987–1997 Released: 1997-10-28 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:13:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Why Can’t I Be You? (03:14) 2 Catch (02:44) 3 Just Like Heaven (03:32) 4 Hot Hot Hot!!! (03:34) 5 Lullaby (04:10) 6 Fascination Street (04:20) 7 Lovesong (03:29) 8 Pictures of You (04:48) 9 Never Enough (04:30) 1 Close to Me (Closest mix) (04:23) 2 High (03:35) 3 Friday I’m in Love (03:35) 4 A Letter to Elise (04:21) 5 The 13th (swing radio mix) (04:19) 6 Mint Car (radio mix) (03:33) 7 Strange Attraction (04:21) 8 Gone! (radio mix) (04:28) 9 Wrong Number (06:01) |
| Galore: The Singles 1987–1997 : Allmusic album Review : Its ironic that the Cure, a band whose albums have always seemed like definitive artistic statements, were at their best as a singles band. On the groups singles, Robert Smiths ideas reached their full potential, since they captured not only the groups off-kilter pop sense, but also the haunting melancholy and wacky humor that interlaced Smiths songs. Galore rounds up the singles from the second part of the Cures career, beginning with "Why Cant I Be You?" from 1987s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and ending with "Gone!" from 1996s Wild Mood Swings. Between those two are 15 more songs, nearly every one of which is a gem. The Cure were never a repetitive singles band, and theres a dizzying array of styles here, from infectious jangle pop ("Friday Im in Love," "Mint Car") and monolithic, chilly goth rock ("Fascination Street," "Pictures of You," "Just Like Heaven") to jaunty, clever dance-club pop (the remix of "Close to Me"), eerie crawls ("Lullaby"), neo-mariachi madness ("The 13th"), and even love songs ("Catch," "Lovesong"). There are a couple of missteps along the way -- the pounding dance and pseudo-rap of "Hot Hot Hot!!!" sounds dated, as does the ill-conceived Madchester diversion "Never Enough" -- but Galore emphatically confirms the Cures status as one of the best and most adventurous alternative bands of the 80s. And the new song, "Wrong Number," is pretty good, too. | ||
 | Album: 18 of 24 Title: Bloodflowers Released: 2000-02-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:04:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Out of This World (06:43) 2 Watching Me Fall (11:13) 3 Where the Birds Always Sing (05:44) 4 Maybe Someday (05:04) 5 Coming Up (06:26) 1 The Last Day of Summer (05:36) 2 There Is No If… (03:43) 3 The Loudest Sound (05:10) 4 39 (07:19) 5 Bloodflowers (07:31) |
| Bloodflowers : Allmusic album Review : The Cure edged into new territory with Wild Mood Swings, but nevertheless drew scorn from certain quarters because it eschewed goth rock for pop, both pure and twisted. For 2000s Bloodflowers, Robert Smith decided to give the people what they wanted: a classic Cure album, billed as the third part of a trilogy begun with Pornography and continued with Disintegration. That turns out to be more or less true, since Bloodflowers boasts all of the Cures signatures: stately tempos, languid melodies, spacious arrangements, cavernous echoes, morose lyrics, keening vocals, long running times. If thats all youre looking for, Bloodflowers delivers in spades. If you want something transcendent, youre out of luck, since the album falls short of the mark, largely because it sounds too self-conscious. As one song segues into the next, it feels like Smith is striving to make a classic Cure record, putting all the sounds in place before he constructs the actual songs. That makes for a good listening experience, especially for fans of Disintegration, but it never catches hold the way that record did, for two simple reasons: there isnt enough variation between the songs for them to distinguish themselves, nor are there are enough sonic details to give individual tracks character. While Disintegration had goth monoliths, it also had pristine pop gems and elegant neo-psychedelia; with a couple of exceptions, the songs on Bloodflowers all feel like cousins of "Pictures of You." The album is certainly well made, and even enjoyable; however, its achievement is a bit hollow, since it never seems like Smith is pushing himself or the band. Nobody else can come close to capturing the Cures graceful gloom, but its hard to shake the suspicion that Bloodflowers could have been something grand if he had shaken up the formula slightly. | ||
 | Album: 19 of 24 Title: Greatest Hits Released: 2001-11-13 Tracks: 36 Duration: 2:17:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Boys Don’t Cry (02:41) 2 A Forest (04:44) 3 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 4 The Walk (03:30) 5 The Lovecats (03:40) 6 In Between Days (02:58) 7 Close to Me (03:41) 8 Why Can’t I Be You? (03:14) 9 Just Like Heaven (03:32) 10 Lullaby (04:10) 11 Lovesong (03:29) 12 Never Enough (04:28) 13 High (03:35) 14 Friday I’m in Love (03:35) 15 Mint Car (03:30) 16 Wrong Number (06:01) 17 Cut Here (04:10) 18 Just Say Yes (03:29) 1 Boys Don’t Cry (03:02) 2 A Forest (04:50) 3 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 4 The Walk (03:26) 5 The Lovecats (03:48) 6 In Between Days (03:01) 7 Close to Me (03:43) 8 Why Can’t I Be You? (03:29) 9 Just Like Heaven (03:35) 10 Lullaby (04:12) 11 Lovesong (03:28) 12 Never Enough (04:45) 13 High (03:41) 14 Friday I’m in Love (03:30) 15 Mint Car (03:26) 16 Wrong Number (05:53) 17 Cut Here (04:11) 18 Just Say Yes (03:30) |
| Greatest Hits : Allmusic album Review : The Cure were never afraid of artistically defining themselves. They had their own sound, an eerie glamour surrounding a dark whimsicality, yet fans flocked to them throughout the 80s and 90s. Commercial or cult favorites, theyre impressive as being one of the 80s seminal bands who culled more than 30 critical singles. Compilations like 1986s Staring at the Sea: The Singles and 1997s Galore showcased the Cures accessibility; therefore, having a solid greatest-hits collection might be a bit nonessential. Then again, releasing an album like this at the tip of the new millennium calls for a celebration, and thats what the Cure did. They collected 16 amazing cuts which spanned 23 years and recall what once was. From the saucy synth strut of "The Walk" and the cabaret stylings of "The Lovecats" to the lilting swan songs of "Lovesong" and "Just Like Heaven," the Cures ever-changing moods were switched up for something desirable and blissful. They are selectively classic, leaving this package to be its own storybook of sorts. The Cure did treat the fans with two new songs: "Cut Here" rises with early sounds of Madchester, but the glitzy swirls of "Just Say Yes" mark the Cures return to form. Republicas Saffron joins Robert Smith for something campy and carefree. Greatest Hits is basically for the fans who have to have everything, but also a decent collection for those who never fully enraptured themselves with the Cure. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 24 Title: Join the Dots: B‐Sides and Rarities Released: 2004-01-26 Tracks: 70 Duration: 4:55:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 10:15 Saturday Night (03:41) 2 Plastic Passion (02:14) 3 Pillbox Tales (02:56) 4 Do the Hansa (02:40) 5 I’m Cold (02:49) 6 Another Journey by Train (03:05) 7 Descent (03:09) 8 Splintered in Her Head (05:17) 9 Lament (Flexipop version) (04:36) 10 Just One Kiss (04:10) 11 The Dream (03:12) 12 The Upstairs Room (03:31) 13 Lament (04:25) 14 Speak My Language (02:43) 15 Mr Pink Eyes (02:45) 16 Happy the Man (02:46) 17 Throw Your Foot (03:33) 18 New Day (04:10) 19 The Exploding Boy (02:54) 20 A Few Hours After This… (02:26) 21 A Man Inside My Mouth (03:05) 22 Stop Dead (04:02) 1 A Japanese Dream (03:29) 2 Breathe (04:48) 3 A Chain of Flowers (04:55) 4 Snow in Summer (03:27) 5 Sugar Girl (03:15) 6 Icing Sugar (new mix) (03:23) 7 Hey You!!! (extended remix) (04:06) 8 How Beautiful You Are (04:25) 9 To the Sky (05:15) 10 Babble (04:18) 11 Out of Mind (03:53) 12 2 Late (02:40) 13 Fear of Ghosts (06:51) 14 Hello I Love You (psychedelic version) (06:04) 15 Hello I Love You (03:28) 16 Hello I Love You (slight return) (00:11) 17 Harold and Joe (05:10) 18 Just Like Heaven (Dizzy mix) (03:42) 1 This Twilight Garden (04:45) 2 Play (04:36) 3 Halo (03:47) 4 Scared as You (04:12) 5 The Big Hand (04:56) 6 A Foolish Arrangement (03:50) 7 Doing the Unstuck (unreleased 12″ version) (05:55) 8 Purple Haze (Virgin Radio version) (03:18) 9 Purple Haze (05:22) 10 Burn (06:37) 11 Young Americans (06:23) 12 Dredd Song (04:25) 13 It Used to Be Me (06:50) 14 Ocean (03:29) 15 Adonais (04:11) 1 Home (03:24) 2 Waiting (03:33) 3 A Pink Dream (03:45) 4 This Is a Lie (ambient mix) (04:32) 5 Wrong Number (P2P mix) (08:14) 6 More Than This (05:11) 7 World in My Eyes (04:52) 8 Possession (05:17) 9 Out of This World (Oakenfold mix) (07:01) 10 Maybe Someday (acoustic mix) (04:59) 11 Coming Up (06:26) 12 Signal to Noise (acoustic version) (03:36) 13 Signal to Noise (04:06) 14 Just Say Yes (Curve mix) (03:18) 15 A Forest (Mark Plati mix) (06:42) |
| Join the Dots: B‐Sides and Rarities : Allmusic album Review : Wisely, the Cure decided to start fresh upon signing with their new label in 2004 by cleaning house, remastering the old albums, and bringing their fans Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001. Not only is it the ultimate companion to the official releases, but it is, in a way, the new-super-deluxe-updated version of that cassette release of Staring at the Sea. Every B-side is included, in order, with cleaned-up sound, liner notes, and explanations by the man who made it all happen. All tracks, from "10.15 Saturday Night" (the B-side to the debut single "Killing an Arab") to covers of "Hello, I Love You," "Purple Haze," and "World in My Eyes," to entries from the Bloodflowers singles, are an indication that while the Cure made both strong albums and singles, they were not afraid to experiment along the way, and more importantly, they didnt let pride keep them from not making them available to those who were willing to look for them. Their growth as a band can be fully tracked in the songs here. The wild development on disc one (which includes the B-sides from the Staring at the Sea cassette, the B-sides from the Boys Dont Cry re-release from 1986, and the Japanese Whispers B-sides, as well as the extremely rare "Lament" [flexi-disc version]) is easily their strongest and most diverse era, with Smith growing artistically and musically in leaps and bounds from track to track. The rampant growth eventually gives way to the dark and heavy pop of the B-sides of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Disintegration, and Mixed Up on disc two. While the songs are strong on this second disc, they manage to have less of the wild, experimental abandon that disc one has. The Cure began to find a real niche by this point, and by disc three, the dream pop of the late 80s had developed into the stadium-sized gloom and doom that characterized 1992s Wish, their critical and commercial peak. Eventually the bands output would become more sporadic, and the level of consistency would be more of a trademark of the band than the experimentalism of old. Disc four, which covers the time from Wild Mood Swings to Bloodflowers, is the "weakest" of the collection, but there are still great moments to be found, with many remixes that give the original tracks a new interpretation. There are those who would argue that the band grew, and others would argue that it fell apart, yet there is no denying that the majority of work on Join the Dots is extraordinarily strong. It admittedly may be a bit too much for someone who isnt quite a big devotee of the band, but its a veritable godsend for those whove been waiting for this for years. No jumbled, out-of-order track listings, no glaring omissions (its safe to say that the reissues of the albums will take care of any extra tracks, mixes, and miscellanea lying around) -- its exactly what a rarities/B-sides collection should be. Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001 is proof that, while the band may falter from time to time -- as most do -- the Cure have, unlike most, really been paying attention to their fans needs over the years. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 24 Title: The Cure Released: 2004-06-25 Tracks: 12 Duration: 54:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Lost (04:07) 2 Labyrinth (05:14) 3 Before Three (04:40) 4 The End of the World (03:43) 5 Anniversary (04:22) 6 Us or Them (04:09) 7 alt.end (04:30) 8 (I Don’t Know What’s Going) On (02:57) 9 Taking Off (03:19) 10 Never (04:04) 11 The Promise (10:21) 12 Going Nowhere (03:27) |
| The Cure : Allmusic album Review : For a long time, maybe 15 years or so, Robert Smith rumbled about the Cures imminent retirement whenever the band had a new album ready for release. Invariably, Smith said the particular album served as a fitting epitaph, and it was now time for him to bring the Cure to an end and pursue something else, maybe a solo career, maybe a new band, maybe nothing else. This claim carried some weight when it was supporting a monumental exercise in dread, like Disintegration or Bloodflowers, but when applied to Wild Mood Swings, it seemed like no more than an empty threat, so fans played along with the game until Smith grew tired of it, abandoning it upon the 2004 release of his bands eponymous 13th album. Instead of being a minor shift in marketing, scrapping his promise to disband the Cure is a fairly significant development since it signals that Smith is comfortable being in the band, perhaps for the first time in his life. This sense of peace carries over into the modest and modestly titled The Cure, which contains the most comfortable music in the bands canon -- which is hardly the same thing as happy music, even if this glistens in contrast to the deliberate goth classicism of Bloodflowers. Where that record played as a self-conscious effort to recreate the bands gloomy heyday, this album is the sound of a band relaxing, relying on instinct to make music. The Cure was recorded and released quickly -- the liner notes state it was recorded in the spring of 2004, and it was released weeks later, at the end of June -- and while it never sounds hurried, it never seems carefully considered either, since it lacks either a thematic or musical unity that usually distinguish the bands records. It falls somewhere between these two extremes, offering both towering minor-key epics like the closing "The Promise" and light pop like "The End of the World." Its considerably more colorful than its monochromatic predecessor, and the rapid recording gives the album a warmth thats pleasing, even if it inadvertently emphasizes the familiarity of the material. Which is ultimately the records Achilles heel: the Cure have become journeymen, for better and worse, turning out well-crafted music thats easy to enjoy yet not all that compelling either. Its not a fatal flaw, since the album is a satisfying listen and theres also a certain charm in hearing a Cure thats so comfortable in its own skin, but its the kind of record that sits on the shelves of die-hard fans, only occasionally making its way to the stereo. | ||
 | Album: 22 of 24 Title: 4:13 Dream Released: 2008-10-24 Tracks: 13 Duration: 52:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Underneath the Stars (06:17) 2 The Only One (03:57) 3 The Reasons Why (04:35) 4 Freakshow (02:30) 5 Sirensong (02:22) 6 The Real Snow White (04:43) 7 The Hungry Ghost (04:29) 1 Switch (03:44) 2 The Perfect Boy (03:21) 3 This. Here and Now. With You (04:06) 4 Sleep When I’m Dead (03:51) 5 The Scream (04:36) 6 It’s Over (04:16) |
| 4:13 Dream : Allmusic album Review : 4:13 Dream may open with the doomed romanticism of "Underneath the Stars," but that slow-crawling mini-epic is a feint, momentarily disguising how this is the Cures poppiest album since 1992s Wish. Poppy doesnt necessarily mean that 4:13 Dream spills over with fully formed pop songs along the lines of "High" and "Friday Im in Love," as the 13 songs here lack the tight construction of those two minor classics, along with their beguiling light touch. Despite the preponderance of sprightly tempos and singsong hooks, nothing about 4:13 Dream feels especially light, perhaps because Robert Smith chooses to pair these purported pop songs with a heavy dose of affected angst. On the "The Reasons Why," the catchiest tune here, Smith sings about suicide with no trace of irony, or even that much interest, either; its hard to escape the notion that he sings about darkness because that is what is expected from the king of goth. The pristine production emphasizes Smiths stylized mannerisms -- nowhere more so than on "The Only One," where his caterwauls feel too clearly articulated -- which in turn highlights that for all the purported pop of 4:13 Dream, only "The Perfect Boy" and "This. Here and Now. With You" have hooks that dig underneath the skin. These two songs are buried in the back of 4:13 Dream, surrounded by too many half-baked tunes and formless, colorless sound surges on either side, music that perfectly fits the definition of the pop side of the Cure without ever truly embodying the spirit. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 24 Title: Classic Album Collection (1979–1984) Released: 2011-12-05 Tracks: 49 Duration: 3:12:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 10:15 Saturday Night (03:41) 2 Accuracy (02:17) 3 Grinding Halt (02:49) 4 Another Day (03:43) 5 Object (03:03) 6 Subway Song (02:00) 7 Foxy Lady (02:29) 8 Meathook (02:17) 9 So What (02:37) 10 Fire in Cairo (03:22) 11 It’s Not You (02:51) 12 Three Imaginary Boys (03:32) 13 The Weedy Burton (00:53) 1 A Reflection (02:10) 2 Play for Today (03:40) 3 Secrets (03:20) 4 In Your House (04:07) 5 Three (02:35) 6 The Final Sound (00:52) 7 A Forest (05:55) 8 M (03:04) 9 At Night (05:54) 10 Seventeen Seconds (03:59) 1 The Holy Hour (04:26) 2 Primary (03:37) 3 Other Voices (04:28) 4 All Cats Are Grey (05:27) 5 The Funeral Party (04:14) 6 Doubt (03:11) 7 The Drowning Man (04:49) 8 Faith (06:43) 1 One Hundred Years (06:41) 2 A Short Term Effect (04:22) 3 The Hanging Garden (04:34) 4 Siamese Twins (05:28) 5 The Figurehead (06:15) 6 A Strange Day (05:03) 7 Cold (04:26) 8 Pornography (06:27) 1 Shake Dog Shake (04:55) 2 Birdmad Girl (04:05) 3 Wailing Wall (05:17) 4 Give Me It (03:42) 5 Dressing Up (02:51) 6 The Caterpillar (03:40) 7 Piggy in the Mirror (03:40) 8 The Empty World (02:36) 9 Bananafishbones (03:12) 10 The Top (06:50) |
 | Album: 24 of 24 Title: Acoustic Hits Released: 2017-04-22 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:09:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Boys Don’t Cry (03:02) 2 A Forest (04:50) 3 Let’s Go to Bed (03:34) 4 The Walk (03:26) 5 The Lovecats (03:48) 6 In Between Days (03:01) 7 Close to Me (03:43) 8 Why Can’t I Be You? (03:29) 9 Just Like Heaven (03:35) 10 Lullaby (04:12) 1 Lovesong (03:28) 2 Never Enough (04:45) 3 High (03:41) 4 Friday I’m in Love (03:30) 5 Mint Car (03:26) 6 Wrong Number (05:53) 7 Cut Here (04:11) 8 Just Say Yes (03:30) |