The Cure: Classic or Dud?

why the hell would i want to show up to a Cure show and have Robert Smith with close cropped hair and a tasteful black t-shirt and dress pants combo like he's Sting or David Gilmour or some shit??

also, people say, "I dunno his whole look is starting to look a bit ridiculous at his age"...like WHAT AGE DID IT NOT LOOK RIDICULOUS TO BE THIS CRAZY ERASERHEAD LIPSTICK DEATH CLOWN?? 28? 34?

#staygoth

So how do you propose I harness this hair energy before it all gets lost?

i kinda stopped paying attention after Wish (probably like a lot of casual fans) but anyway Wild Mood Swings is a pretty cool album so far

Xpost The other side of the coin is this:
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/018/666/fellowkids.jpg

I never demanded he be "tasteful"

there's nothing he can do either way he's just a mirror of our own despair over our eventually aging and death, which is cure's job!

The guy looks and appears the way he does and is currently making bank on a cross-country tour that has received rapturous acclaim. I don't think he's worried about being concern trolled over his hairspray.

Slicing Up Eyeballs recently shared a photo a fan took of themselves with Robert and one of the other Cure guys whom they ran into on the street. Smith was 'incognito', which is to say sans makeup and hairspray, and I can't be the only one who was shocked that in such a state he looked like any normal middle-aged rocker dude.

Yeah, I saw that picture, and if it wasn't for the hair and outfit he'd just look like your average 57 year old guy. There's nothing wrong with his look - it works for him, it works for the fans, and I'd find it utterly surreal to see him perform tracks like 'Plainsong' or 'One Hundred Years' looking like yer regular middle-aged musician. Besides, it's Robert Smith! He's earned the right to look however he fucking wants to look!

I remember when he showed up in the Hot Hot Hot video in short hair and I was like rawrr

Looks like Slicing Up Eyeballs isn't posting on the blog anymore. Where did you see that photo?

I'd like to see him adopt a look more befitting his age, maybe something along the lines of Mike Love

also as the show draws closer i'm realizing something about myself: i like to think of myself as someone who wants the deep cuts but i really want the HITS gimme gimme gimme all those sweet hits fellas don't let me down with some oh this was a b-side from a single off The Top shit

you won't be disappointed. they play a bunch of the hits and maybe one b-side.

Here's the pic
http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m744gcJxs61qeetdyo1_1280.jpg

He look cool af

Pretty decent singles band

A touch dour, innit?

I wish RS would change his look.

― Duke, Tuesday, June 7, 2016 1:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He looks like someone's grandmother

― Duke, Tuesday, June 7, 2016 1:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I gather you go to The Cure for reinforcement of your fragile masculinity and to assuage your fear of death?

Looks like Slicing Up Eyeballs isn't posting on the blog anymore. Where did you see that photo?

I believe they're only doing updates on Facebook and Twitter (?) now.

He doesn't look that different in the photo.

What is with those boots?!

they are big ugly goth boots

he looks like he's slimmed down quite a bit from that pic

I hope that Robert Smith continues to look like someone's goth granny forever, and never ends up being one of these people:

a promo photo thread for '80s/'90s bands oozing sobriety and wisdom in the present day

Huh, I didn't know Robert Smith was Asian.

can't believe Robert Smith has long teased hair and large shoes, omg, so unexpected, he's destroying my childhood

literally unprecedented

I don't particularly care for any masculinity I may or may not have.

It's odd that suggesting that RS change his look results in a) defensive insults and b) the conclusion that this means he must dress like one of the Golden Girls.

Well...what would you suggest his look be? Especially given said casual airport shot?

I suggest he change his look be one of the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgc8GjaLgxw

TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT

;_;

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ah man, I was hoping you'd get to go, DJP!

Saw them in Montréal tuesday. We got the Bloodflowers setlist, which I was fine with since I like that album, but I think the crowd would have prefered a bit less from it. I think the one they got in Chicago the first night was perfect.
Nevertheless, they are amazing live and so generous and Robert's voice is incredibly great.

I assume this was awesome

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2016/agganis-arena-boston-ma-3fe7943.html

p dece

oh fucking hell, the encores ;_;

Man, the first night of that Chicago setlist. Wish I went, but couldn't go.

seeing these dudes tmrrow at the garden excited

Encore #3. A lil much imo.

"Sinking"! Lots of Wish!

I'm going to the Sunday show in Miami.

Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys
By Lol Tolhurst, out October 11th
Former Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst chronicles his 13-year stint with the band – and the struggles with alcohol that ended it.

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/CURED%20book%20cover.jpg

(Sorry, old news, although I hadn't heard about it before.)

can't wait for this - and glad to read promo interviews with Lol, where he seems to be in a really good place

Haha, his name is Lol

in preparation for the concernt, I decided to use my trial Tidal membership to listen to the Cure discography from beginning to end...

damn...following up Three Imaginary Boys with Seventeen Seconds is one of the great "step yo game up" moves in rock history jesus...

Had a chance to read Lol's book via an advance and his story of what went into this change is great.

And indeed, to expand out: Lol's book is VERY good. In fact I'd rate it alongside Bob Mehr's Trouble Boys as my unexpected pleasure of the year, and there's a certain parallel focus -- a suburban upbringing where some sort of 'care' for addiction is understood but not fully carried out or addressed, with horrible consequences. Obviously not as tragic as what happened with Bob Stinson but Tolhurst doesn't spare himself in terms of the track he was on, and what it took to fully get him out of it. And suburban/'new town' England isn't Minneapolis but there's a similar sense of aimlessness into punk as focus point as a driver, and what resulted.

I won't go completely on about the book so as not to spoil everything, but there's definitely a heartfelt vibe throughout, Tolhurst taking a lot of retrospective stock -- you can argue at a couple of points he goes past the point of natural reserve, but it's not constant. He definitely doesn't spare himself at numerous points along the way, and there's absolutely no sense of blame in terms of what went wrong with him and Robert and the band other than on his own head. He's now spent over two decades getting it back together and I think it shows; it's definitely a book of a long view, and a long rekindled friendship as well (I hadn't realized how far back now he and Robert buried the hatchet). And again without going into it too much there's some moments of distinct personal tragedy I was simply unaware of that are gut-wrenching -- he doesn't offer them as excuse, simply acknowledgment of what else he had to deal with. One moment in the closing chapters drew me up sharp quite terribly.

All the early band detail is really remarkable in particular, from when he and Robert met as kids through to around 1986 or so; stories galore, and Tolhurst makes mention of (and at the end lists) a wide variety of people he interviewed, probably to compare memories since everything is very much told through his eyes. The result is extremely rich; as much as Ten Imaginary Years was a good enough piece of work at the time, I think this will have to stand as the definitive accounting of that time now, until/unless Robert decides to go for it himself, since he was the only other one appearing in all the incarnations through that stretch. Lots of fascinating little details -- it's not fully song-by-song comprehensive, but it gives a distinct flavor all along the way.

As things get bad the Kiss Me/Disintegration years understandably more focus on him shutting down/shutting out everyone, so less information there and of course after that it's his own very good story. One extremely interesting point in retrospect -- he's always pretty careful about mentioning who appeared when in the band during his stint, or who returned and so forth, giving everyone their due. But it's very telling to realize that Roger O'Donnell wasn't mentioned *once* during the Kiss Me/Disintegration stretch, and only is mentioned a bit casually near the end. Given he was drafted during the KM release/tour phase to back up Tolhurst and was part of the Disintegration sessions and all that, I can't tell if it's an intentional downplaying by silence on Tolhurst's part or, as I kinda feel is more the case, a kind of admission he was so incredibly out of it that he almost didn't even notice. (O'Donnell for his part kinda confirmed this a few years back via his own memories of the sessions; look for the paragraph that starts: "I think it's pretty much common knowledge how Lol was treated in those days...")

Anyway, there's an extensive book tour coming up in the States -- think it's already started in the UK -- and Pearl Thompson's supposed to be at a few of the ones over here, so it might be worth going to if you're near one. But yeah, anyone who's even a little bit more than a casual fan really needs the book.

whoa stoked for this book now thanks, ned!

You're welcome! It's a book that really makes you happy that the story didn't end any number of truly unfortunate ways, and that he's in a good place.

i wonder what robert smith will think of the book or if he'll even read it

i remember reading 10 imaginary years when it was released and it seemed that him and tolhurst were constantly at odds with each other

robert bullied the hell outta lol for many years.

As I mentioned, they've long since reestablished their friendship, and near the end of the book Lol talks about calling Robert up a couple of years back and telling him he was working on the book. It's not said but it's implied Robert might have contributed to it just in terms of reconfirming some memories, and Robert's thanked near the start of the acknowledgements along with Michael Dempsey.

So basically, yes, I suspect he will read it. It's an extremely sympathetic portrayal of Robert throughout. If anything it's very notable that Lol draws contrasts throughout between Robert's very happy upbringing and his own emotionally fraught family situation; Lol's dad comes in for a LOT of criticism, though he tries to understand him from a distance as well.

Pearl Thompson

When your fandom of RPDR and The Cure collide :-)

Haha!

You know, the two Pearls should meet up and rock out, I'd pay money.

I can see it, given he's wearing even more make-up than she is these days!

was thinking i've never seen porl's name written that way so i googled it and i guess that's his real name

Yeah, he's changed his name again. Paul -> Porl -> Pearl.

It's honestly unclear to me whether Pearl's transitioned or just renamed. I had thought the former.

I thought it was only a stage-name change. Wikipedia still uses "he" and "him", but that doesn't mean it's accurate.

Now I want them all to change their names to Roxxxy Smith, Sharon Gallup, Raja O'Donnell, Latrice Williams, Jaidynn Cooper, Laila Tolhurst and Phi-Phi Bamonte.

"Good luck...and if you must fuck it up, do so with a weird arrangement circa The Top."

Yes gawd!!

Isn't he married to Robert Smith's sister?

IIRC Simon is married to Robert's sister.

i actually think Turrican is right. i remember reading that Porl is the one married to Robert's sister. that is why he always came back because he was around the family.

thanks for this Ned, some great stuff.

Would read. Thanks Ned.

Paul/Porl/Pearl was married to Robert's sister, making them brothers-in-law for many years. That changed a few years back when Porl became Pearl, got divorced and sold all of his music gear to pursue painting.

Yeah thats it. Not sure if divorce was ever announched but it seemed kind of implied that was the reason why Porl/Pearl left the band in 2008.

Hmm. Maybe he is transitioning, then!

https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2015/03/2015-02-03-pearl-thompson-the-cure.jpg

Boris's old house (the one in the pictures on Roger O'Donnell's page) is up for sale if anyone's got £1.5m to spare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQNTwS9aaWA

Robert must've paid him really well.

Well the split songwriting credits he shared during the band's biggest commercial moments that have also resulted in regular royalties didn't hurt. Tolhurst mentions a couple of times in the book that Smith's very practical with band finances -- he specifically credits him with setting it up so band advances were banked and turned into weekly wage money that would give them something to live on in the early days. Meanwhile, when the whole nineties court case was discussed -- Tolhurst pretty much confesses it was all down to his bad judgment to stretch it out into what it became, and that the resetting of the band contract in 1986 that removed him from full partnership was something he 1) did fully agree to and 2) was done because he was rapidly turning into a liability -- he tells a story, presumably one he got from Robert himself, that Robert's dad asked him, "Well have you been paying Laurence all this time?" and Smith went "Of course I have!" (Which is exactly what the court agreed.)

I wonder what Boris has been up to all this time - apart from that small band with his wife in the 90's it seems he's quit music altogether.

Man I don't blame the guy for relaxing. Nice work if you can get it.

Looks like he played with Shelleyan Orphan again a few years back:

http://curefans.com/curenews/boris-williams-update/

got to read about 3/4 of lol's book at work today. it's really good, a lot more put together, coherent and thoughtful than i was expecting for some reason. he really does seem to hold robert in v high regard artistically and personally and professionally. the 17 secs/pornography stuff is really good.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/18/lol-thomson-cure-small-towns-interview-cured-book

I'm curious how much he goes into their musical influences, something which has always seemed a bit obscured or hard to pin down

He definitely brings up a few points of early inspiration -- Bowie on TOTP, etc. He also specifically credits them seeing Wire around 1978 or so as a big influence on how to do one's own thing.

robert always talks about loving jimi hendrix lol

Yeah, they were definitely into Jimi Hendrix very early on (pre-first LP, although they later did 'Foxy Lady') although I remember hearing they liked stuff like Thin Lizzy too.

Oh yeah, Robert's on record as saying Piledriver by Status Quo was an early influence on him.

robert recently picked his top 30 of the 80s and he had some good commentary about why he picked what he did

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2009/05/30/the-cure-robert-smith-top-30-songs-80s-sirius-xm-1st-wave-countdown/

oh guess that was a long time ago but they just replayed it

this is great stuff, going to have to look into this book. Lol in Los Angeles is pretty cool, i knew he DJ's every once in awhile but didn't know he lived here.

I would prefer getting this on kindle but i'm curious about the photos - worth getting the print version?

Only about 7 or8 pages of photos iirc some of which you've probably seen before ie Robert's wedding photo. There is a picture of lol with John hurt where lol looks "soul zapped" and one of lol+ his son + Robert. Kindle version is the way to go I think.

You mean this photo?
http://oi8.tinypic.com/w6vy89.jpg

No, it's outside the chapel. Robert in a suit Mary in a wedding dress + 3 or 4 band members incl Lol.

[Malware link removed]

New interview

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1303-the-cures-lol-tolhurst-on-blackouts-breakups-and-escaping-the-80s-alive/

thanks for the link Ned.

Totally going to have to read this book.

Lol seems like a genuinely good guy these days.

the cure tickets for the concert in berlin on october 18th sell for 169 €. is that a normal price to see them live these days?

Not really. Vienna is €66.

Whatever I do its never enough..
Pfft tm tm tm tmmm

(Gt hits in the car right now. Alice insisted)

didn't know "Killing an Arab" had been pulled from streaming services

R.I.P. Arab

It might be called "I'm a stranger" now

L'Arab

The single "Killing an Arab" is on Deezer.

l'et's cut the conversation, and g'et out for a bit

Finished Lol's book - as a Cure fan, I didn't lean anything revelatory but as someone affected by alcoholism in the family, Lol's story was both insightful and heartwarming. And as others have said, he sounds like a genuine good guy. Well done

Indeed so.

I still haven't read it yet, but based on the incredible feedback it's been getting I'll be picking up a copy ASAP.

I just finished it as well and also really enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting how he refrained from writing anything which could paint others associated with the band in a bad light and instead glossed over some of those incidents with little detail.

surprised to see Roger O'Donell slagging Lol's book off. Then again, I always found something a bit smug about Roger

Maybe he's grouchy because for all those years he had to play Lol's single finger keyboard parts?

What did he actually say?

He had a Facebook post about a new book of Cure photos which was recently published and said something along the lines of "if you're looking for a non-fiction book about the Cure" and then "pictures don't lie."

Meh. Lol had been in the band for years before Roger was on the scene, and they were only in The Cure at the same time for a couple of years. Roger's recollections of the making of Disintegration were great, but I'm far more interested in Lol's side. He was there from the beginning up through the golden period. Roger wasn't.

yeah - i guess Roger post implied that the rest of the band thought the material was made up

Well I mentioned this earlier in my posts about Lol's book -- he doesn't mention Roger at ALL except towards the end, and thus leaves out why/how he was recruited in the first place and his participation in the Disintegration sessions. You can take this as either a sign of Lol's utterly self-obsessed disconnection with the real world at the height of his abuse or as a totally conscious erasure from the record. It is the one serious problem with the book as it stands.

I mean, I'm kinda surprised anyone's surprised Roger's nonplussed here! What was expected?

Well, Lol's book is a memoir of his time in the band (rather than a history of The Cure) and I think it says a lot how little he seems to remember about the latter years, so no surprise that he wouldn't have much to say about Roger. How is that an issue and how does that taint the book? It's pretty obvious from the book that after the 82-83 reboot of the band, Lol had very little involvement in the creative side of things, hence the focus on addiction in that section. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if the lawsuit and eventual redemption were a bit embellished in the story.

Well, Lol's book is a memoir of his time in the band (rather than a history of The Cure) and I think it says a lot how little he seems to remember about the latter years, so no surprise that he wouldn't have much to say about Roger. How is that an issue and how does that taint the book?

Hey, I'm not disagreeing -- my interpretation of choice is the first of the two, that he was that far gone and barely remembers 87 to 89. Again, I say as much well earlier in this thread; this is not a new point I'm trying to make:

But it's very telling to realize that Roger O'Donnell wasn't mentioned *once* during the Kiss Me/Disintegration stretch, and only is mentioned a bit casually near the end. Given he was drafted during the KM release/tour phase to back up Tolhurst and was part of the Disintegration sessions and all that, I can't tell if it's an intentional downplaying by silence on Tolhurst's part or, as I kinda feel is more the case, a kind of admission he was so incredibly out of it that he almost didn't even notice. (O'Donnell for his part kinda confirmed this a few years back via his own memories of the sessions; look for the paragraph that starts: "I think it's pretty much common knowledge how Lol was treated in those days...")

Where it becomes an issue -- and why I'm not surprised Roger's annoyed -- is that the book can be read as Lol saying Roger was not involved at all during those years. Which...is not true, especially when Roger was specifically added precisely so they could have a functional keyboard player. Honestly even a short paragraph in the relevant section saying "To give you an idea about how bad things were..." with the basic details would have been enough.

Listening to Wish for the first time in ages and 'From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea' is completely bowling me over all over again. Surely one of their best ever tracks.

Absolutely.

Yep.

It makes me wanna scream along to every lyric.

not only are the Cure my all-time favorite band, i also voted "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" as my number one song in our Cure poll: POLLography: The Cure poll results, ILM artist poll #23

i see it didn't do to well overall:

#67 - From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, 165 points, 8 votes, 1 #1 votes

Song's great, but especially those live versions from the era, wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et2D_SUbCAg

All of their finest songs are over 6 minutes long

Nope. Entirety of "Standing on a Beach" / "Staring at the Sea" and the highlights of the first six albums utterly refute that. In fact they were pretty much done once they were releasing six minute epics.

Well, actually they were pretty great at both... for every 'Play For Today', there was an equally excellent 'One Hundred Years' or 'Disintegration' ... they could also be not so great at both on occasion, like on 'Bananafishbones' and 'The Same Deep Water As You', to keep it in the limits of pre-1995 Cure.

xxpost Last Cure song I truly loved.

I think the last one I loved was 'The Scream' ...

Classic.

I feel like the last great Cure songs are all the b-sides from 'Wish'. All good shit: "Halo", "The Big Hand", "This Twilight Garden" and "Play".

I was really excited back in the day by the "Never Enough / Harold and Joe" 12". THAT record showed the Cure ready to take off to totally unexplored territory that would have made Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me look like a conservative dry run. I mean, go back and listen to those two - WTF is that?!?! "Never Enough" just has guitar solo wankery that actually kinda works that they never tried before or ever again.

Instead they were like hey, not hungry anymore, let's keep chasing 'Disintegration'. Boo.

I notice that "Scared of You" and "A Foolish Arrangement" are conspicuously absent from your Wish b-sides list.

Agree RE: 'Never Enough.' For a long time I had a sort of irrational resistance towards it, but the melting pot nature of the tune is really something to behold. And, obviously, it's one of Simon's shining moments.

I think in retrospect the Cure, like REM, were one of those bands not necessarily greater than the sum of its parts but, at least during the Boris years, exactly the sum of its parts.

TBH I attribute the post-Wish decline mainly to worse production, worse lyrics and worse vocals - ie all on Robert

When they put out Wild Mood Swings, their popularity was easily at its lowest here in the UK. I remember them being on all of the "right" TV shows, but there seemed to be this sense that the game was up.

They just seemed to be another in a line of bands that were popular in the '80s that seemed to be on their way out: U2 (with Pop), Pet Shop Boys (with Bilingual), OMD (with Universal) ... this didn't affect Depeche Mode so much because Gahan had had his smack overdose and the British music press at that point loved to write about "rock'n'roll" things like that.

What's really kind of funny about that (in a dark way) is that Wish contains a rather large number of references to heroin use.

I never saw PSB as part of that collection of 80's bands. Nor did they, really - if you read their book 'Literally' you'll discover that they were really surprised to be lumped in with "rad" bands like OMD and U2 when they came to States and instead considered themselves more in the lineage of club music and Madonna. Perhaps they faded out of the alternative music view over time but for the global gay community they remained urgent and they still managed to craft a great contemporary dance pop track ever few years or so.

In comparison, U2 and the Cure have basically been inert since the mid 90s, totally comfortable being touring businesses.

The era surrounding Bilingual was probably the first time I can really remember reading anything negative about the Pet Shop Boys. Of course, it wasn't the end: they've given us Fundamental and Electric and Bilingual itself is actually a great record. At the time, though, they'd been releasing records for over 10 years, so did feel like a veteran band.

The Cure's new single is called Lady Gaga? Wossthatallabout?

Haha!

http://thequietus.com/articles/22262-the-cure-kiss-me-kiss-me-kiss-me-review-anniversary

"Ned Raggett slips back 30 years in time to reassess the double album The Cure released when they were first making footholds in America."

Ah, I enjoyed reading that. Although, if I had to rank The Cure's '80s releases, I'd probably put Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me at the bottom, although I'd have to point out that their '80s run is ludicrously strong from top to bottom.

My favorite. It has everything I love about them. The long slow burning songs, the aggressive dark ones, the quirky pop hits, and the experimental weird stuff. Best b-sides era too.

I love that bright orange KIss Me b-sides 12" so much, more than the album really

Well I mean I forgot the album has Just Like Heaven, which is probably one of the ten best pop songs ever written by anyone

My favorite. It has everything I love about them. The long slow burning songs, the aggressive dark ones, the quirky pop hits, and the experimental weird stuff. Best b-sides era too.

My feelings exactly.

I think the first half of the album is mostly strong and full of highlights, but that stretch of songs from 'One More Time' up to 'Fight' is the least essential batch of '80s Curesongs. I reckon it would have been vastly improved by including some of the B-sides and trimming it down a bit.

One More Time, Like Cockatoos & The Perfect Girl are among my favs from this LP. We have wildly differing opinions on that stretch of songs.

I like 'The Perfect Girl' ... that'd definitely make the LP if I was doing some trim-it-down-to-a-single-LP exercise, the other two I'd probably relegate to B-sides. The problem I have with 'One More Time' is that I think that they did the same type of song better on 'The Funeral Party' ...

I'm more eager to ditch Torture, Fight, Shiver and Shake, The Kiss, and The Snakepit. I'm just not that angry and sad anymore. I used to enjoy wallowing in that misery, but I can't relate anymore.

My essential list from KM^3 would include The Kiss, Catch, How Beautiful You Are..., The Snakepit, Just Like Heaven, All I Want, One More Time, Like Cockatoos, The Perfect Girl, and Fight. As a unit, side 3 is my favorite part of the album.

aw cmon the guitar on the Snakepit is A+++ xp

all i can remember of Snakepit is 'writhing, writhing, writhing in the snakepit'. Maybe i'll actually listen to it again. It's been a very long time since i've actually heard it.

and my eyes feel like they're bursting and they're splitting like plums

^^^ that line alone makes the song indispensible

'Torture' has lyrics which come across as gloomy when read cold off paper, but the music basically ensures that I'll never be able to take 'em seriously. "It's torture/and I'm almost there" with those synth horn stabs etc. Also, "hanging like this/like a vampire bat" I think is a fucking hilarious lyric in the sense that it sounds like an Automated Random Goth Lyric Generator(tm) came up with it.

'The Snakepit' used to bore the shit out of me and I could never understand why, because there's many Curesongs that do what 'The Snakepit' does: a two chord groove that doesn't seem to go anywhere in a hurry. It grew on me eventually, but when I heard it for the first time it gave me the impression that the band weren't even trying.

1. The Kiss
2. Torture
3. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
4. Why Can't I Be You?
5. How Beautiful You Are
6. Just Like Heaven
7. All I Want
8. Hot Hot Hot!!!
9. The Perfect Girl
10. The Snakepit

^ My 10 track Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me right there.

10 track KMKMKM - in order they appear on the album

1. Catch
2. How Beautiful You Are
3. Just Like Heaven
4. All I Want
5. One More Time
6. Like Cockatoos
7. The Perfect Girl

Hmm, that's only 7, so toss in:

8. If Only Tonight We Can Sleep
9. Why Can't I Be You
10. Hot Hot Hot

I'm glad we are all agreeing that side 3 is fire

These days "Icing Sugar" is the song I'm most likely to put on from that album. So kickass

'Icing Sugar' is one of those tracks that I can remember the music for with the click of a finger, but I can never remember the top line on it. It's a great piece of rhythm section work, kinda their version of a Duran Duran middle 8 circa 1982 or something. It sounds unfinished, though, like there should be more to it.

Thanks for the kind words! Fun to write this.

Great article! It's probably my favorite album of theirs for nostalgic reasons, I think I was 14 when it came out and evidently needed "an album to drown in" as you say. Side 3 is great, Like Cockatoos punches all naysayers straight in the chops.

can never understand why How Beautiful.. wasn't a single. the Bob Clearmountain remix on the box set is a bloody marvel. supposedly Chris Parry wanted him to (re)mix the entire album? i'd like to have heard that.

I love Clearmountain's work on Roxy Music's Avalon. I think his remix of Free's 'All Right Now' is great. I loathe that 'How Beautiful You Are' mix, though.

'A Chain of Flowers' — quite possibly my overall favorite Cure song.

'Icing Sugar' is one of those tracks that I can remember the music for with the click of a finger, but I can never remember the top line on it. It's a great piece of rhythm section work, kinda their version of a Duran Duran middle 8 circa 1982 or something. It sounds unfinished, though, like there should be more to it.

I get what you're saying but I feel the opposite. I love the long instrumental and the short vocals in that song. I think it fits perfectly with the theme of the lyrics. It's an unusual melody that Robert sings incredibly, and he tells the whole story with just a few lines. Even the drum-less version from the orange vinyl was very cool.

a marvelous read, Ned. You had fun writing it.

Darn right!

If I could switch any album tracks with B-sides, I would replace "One More Time" with "Breathe" and "Shiver and Shake" with "A Japanese Dream". I'd also try to squeeze "To The Sky" somewhere on the album.

That Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is leagues ahead of Wild Mood Swings shouldn't even need to be said, but Wild Mood Swings is definitely another Cure album that would have benefited from having some of the lesser tracks swapped out and replaced with B-sides and trimmed down.

I latched onto the Cure with Standing On a Beach (note the indefinite article!) and played it along with the B-sides to death, then dove into the albums in pretty much reverse order. My first new release as a fan was KMKMKM and I remember feeling I had missed the peak and they would be diluted from here on, which I still feel really. Disintegration is excellent but feels a little calculated, and Wish snapped the thread of my fandom - I never bought it and have never regretted that; I did enjoy the Trilogy DVD though. The Cure are basically three modes for me - feral pop (3IB, THOtD, The Top etc.), focused angst (the early trilogy and Disintegration) and fan service (Wish onwards). I know, get off my lawn etc.

guys i found the best site ever http://cureforall.eklablog.com/audio-c24555404

That'll keep ya busy.

Neat.

still super-duper looking fwd to my contributor copy of that live compilation put together here!

Wait you NEVER got that?

Slicing Up Eyeballs is doing a Cure poll at the moment: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2017/04/24/vote-for-your-favorite-cure-songs/

It will be interesting to see how the results compare to the one done on this board a couple years ago.

The very first time I listened to "The Kiss," I shut it off after the first few seconds thinking the tape was warped. I went back to the record store, told them I had a defective cassette, and they exchanged it for another copy. I popped in my new copy of the album and realized it was supposed to sound that way.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is my go-to suggestion whenever anybody asks what they should listen to as an introduction to the Cure. I feel like out of all their albums, it's the only one which really tried to show off the full range of what they were capable of doing. Well, Wild Mood Swings tried it too (and I actually like WMS), but Kiss Me did it better.

Hmm. I'm not convinced it does show off the full range of what The Cure do, but then I'm not sure any Cure album does.

Just like Disintegration is Faith for stadiums, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me just builds on the template set by The Top and particularly The Head on the Door, but twice as long and with filler.

I designed the cover for that ILM live comp and also never got one!

me neither!

Huh. Okay you three (counting (sic)), contact me -- ned at kuci dot org -- and I'll arrange something.

Hi folks,

An Amazon mix up means I now have two copies of the Pornography and The Top deluxe editions.

I'm happy to send them to the first EU Ilxor who PMs me. This site allows private messages, right?

Sorry non-Europeans, but shipping elsewhere becomes difficult.

THE CURE will be celebrating 40 imaginary years on Saturday 7th July 2018 with a 120min headline show at BST Hyde Park, London. Tickets on sale 9am Friday 15th December 2017. Presale is 9am TODAY 12th December.https://t.co/gHw1NfahWr - the password is IMAGINARY.
SEE YOU THERE!!! pic.twitter.com/RbWJLeK4iY

— The Cure (@thecure) December 12, 2017

Nice to see the old logo dusted off

If there is any way I can go to that show I have to. What a fucking lineup. The Cure is turning 40 and so am I so it only seems fitting.

yeah this line-up tidily encapsulates my youth. Not a fan of open-air festivals and a two-hour Cure set might be greatest-hits only, so I don't regret missing this.

I'm kinda tempted tbh. I somehow have never seen the Cure live despite them being one of my favourite bands for 27 years.

Worth seeing at some point. That said, if I lived there, obv I'd go but yeah, a festival set is not how I want to see the Cure. (Much less with Interpol, honestly.)

love that old logo

line up looks rly good too

BTW, following up on Tim Pope's tweets the other week:

So, 50 boxes of ‘stuff’ has just arrived at mine. Just peeked and apart from dust they seem to be filled with what looks like films, photographs, memorabilia. They go by the year. Hm. Can’t wait to get cracking, though might take me a while. I can feel Christmas is nearly here.

— Tim Pope (@timpopedirector) December 10, 2017

And earlier today

Things are starting to happen and are afoot, right? I'll say more, too, shortly.

— Tim Pope (@timpopedirector) December 12, 2017

I'm really, really glad Tim Pope is involved, because I absolutely love his work. He is to The Cure what Anton Corbijn is to Depeche Mode, just a perfect fit.

One of my favourite stories is regarding the 'Hot Hot Hot!!!' video - the band apparently gave Tim Pope the brief to make them look like a "lowdown funk band", and Pope interpreted "lowdown" as "dwarf"

I'm kinda tempted tbh. I somehow have never seen the Cure live despite them being one of my favourite bands for 27 years.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, December 12, 2017 12:28 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They are amazing live. Still. Definitely go if you can.

Okay we have word

So, 2018 will see me collaborating with Robert on a feature-length, chronological documentary of The Cure’s history from the 1970s via present day to the future. Robert himself will tell the story and this will work alongside other events for the band’s 40-year celebration.

— Tim Pope (@timpopedirector) December 13, 2017

The film to which I will bring my own style of jiggery-pokery will use as well as 'old favourites' a cornucopia of material from Robert’s collection which has never been seen before: Super-8; interviews; bootlegs; rare performances; behind-the-scenes, blah. Updates ’as and when’.

— Tim Pope (@timpopedirector) December 13, 2017

i may well be in London that weekend but it's too early to say, so hopefully, if I am, I can snag some second market tix for this.

I hope this will be some kind of three hour extravaganza a la The Cure's gigs - no point doing a documentary if you're just gonna skim over everything.

Saw Mixed Up 2xLP on the leaked RSD list. Hope that's true and hope it has the original 12" mix of Primary on it this time.

That plus a sequel called Tied Up. That said, CD versions as well or GTFO.

I saw somethign else listed but assumed it was post 92, therefore totally pointless and forgettable, so I ignored it.

pretty interested to find out R.Smith's curatorial choices for Meltdown

look at these people hating on the fucking Cure of all bands, at the beginning of this thread.

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/blog/first-acts-confirmed-robert-smith-meltdown-festival

*yawn*

pretty dull all around but good on him for giving the Anchoress a slot. the Libertines?

Good on him for bringing The Church aboard. Their latest album is fantastic and I always saw them as somewhat kindred spirits with The Cure so this is cool.

Hi folks,

An Amazon mix up means I now have two copies of the Pornography and The Top deluxe editions.

I'm happy to send them to the first EU Ilxor who PMs me. This site allows private messages, right?

Sorry non-Europeans, but shipping elsewhere becomes difficult.

― Duke, Sunday, 18 June 2017 23:13 (eight months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is still the case. Do get in touch for free CDs

The CDs are now spoken for. Thanks.

'Torn Down'
Presented as a 2LP picture disc set in a die-cut gatefold sleeve with a download voucher.

A1: Three Imaginary Boys – Help Me Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:21 )
A2: M – Attack Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:07 )
A3: The Drowning Man – Bright Birds Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:29 )
A4: A Strange Day – Drowning Waves Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:05 )

B1: Just One Kiss – Remember Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:57 )
B2: Shake Dog Shake – New Blood Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:11 )
B3: A Night Like This – Hello Goodbye Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:24 )
B4: Like Cockatoos – Lonely In The Rain Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:49 )

C1: Plainsong – Edge Of The World Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:33 )
C2: Never Enough – Time To Kill Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:34 )
C3: From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea – Love In Vain Mix by Robert Smith ( 6:21 )
C4: Want – Time Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:44 )

D1: The Last Day of Summer – 31st August Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:44 )
D2: Cut Here – If Only Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:25 )
D3: Lost – Found Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:59 )
D4: It’s Over – Whisper Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:54 )

I'm not interested in the Mixed Up remaster, but this looks intriguing.

I like the titles of those mixes!

The Last Day of Summer – 31st August Mix by Robert Smith

^ Particularly this one!

Intrigued but apprehensive since I dont really trust Robert's taste anymore. I also suspect that some of these songs, the older ones, might be re-recordings with new (shouty) vocals.

Robert should re-mix everything from 1995 onwards by removing Jason Cooper's drum tracks and getting Boris Williams to replace 'em.

Robert's ears are so fucked now that this seems ominous. (And likely to sound even worse on picture disc.)

Still very keen to hear 'em, though.

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2018/04/10/robert-smith-meltdown-performance/

a two-hour performance by Smith at which he'll be "joined onstage by four of his curious friends to perform special interpretations based on a very particular selection of songs he has sung throughout the years"

so a greatest hits set by the Cure, then

Yes, but in Russian.

Mixed Up / Torn Down to be a triple-CD release, with a middle disc of 1980s and 1990 remixes:

DISC ONE : Mixed Up – Remastered

01: Lullaby – Extended Mix – 2018 remaster ( 7:43 )
02: Close To Me – Closer Mix – 2018 remaster ( 5:44 )
03: Fascination Street – Extended Mix – 2018 remaster ( 8:47 )
04: The Walk – Everything Mix – 2018 remaster ( 5:27 )
05: Lovesong – Extended Mix – 2018 remaster ( 6:19 )
06: A Forest – Tree Mix – 2018 remaster ( 6:55 )
07: Pictures of You – Extended Dub Mix – 2018 remaster ( 6:41 )
08: Hot Hot Hot!!! – Extended Mix – 2018 remaster ( 7:01 )
09: The Caterpillar – Flicker Mix – 2018 remaster ( 5:40 )
10: Inbetween Days – Shiver Mix – 2018 remaster ( 6:22 )
11: Never Enough – Big Mix – 2018 remaster ( 6:07 )

DISC TWO – Mixed Up Extras : Remixes 1982-1990

01: Let’s Go To Bed (Extended Mix 1982 – 2018 remaster) ( 7:44 )
02: Just One Kiss (Extended Mix 1982 – 2018 remaster) ( 7:15 )
03: Close To Me (Extended Remix 1985 – 2018 remaster) ( 6:31 )
04: Boys Don’t Cry (New Voice Club Mix 1986 – 2018 remaster) ( 5:29 )
05: Why Can’t I Be You? (Extended Mix 1987 – 2018 remaster) ( 8:07 )
06: A Japanese Dream (12″ Remix 1987 – 2018 remaster) ( 5:47 )
07: Pictures of You (Extended Version 1990 – 2018 remaster) ( 8:06 )
08: Let’s Go To Bed (Milk Mix 1990 – 2018 remaster) ( 7:13 )
09: Just Like Heaven (Dizzy Mix 1990 – 2018 remaster) ( 3:42 )
10: Primary (Red Mix 1990 – 2018 remaster) ( 7:10 )
11: The Lovecats (TC & Benny Mix 1990 – 2018 remaster) ( 4:39 )

DISC THREE – Torn Down

01: Three Imaginary Boys – Help Me Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:21 )
02: M – Attack Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:07 )
03: The Drowning Man – Bright Birds Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:29 )
04: A Strange Day – Drowning Waves Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:05 )
05: Just One Kiss – Remember Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:57 )
06: Shake Dog Shake – New Blood Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:11 )
07: A Night Like This – Hello Goodbye Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:24 )
08: Like Cockatoos – Lonely In The Rain Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:49 )
09: Plainsong – Edge Of The World Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:33 )
10: Never Enough – Time To Kill Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:34 )
11: From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea – Love In Vain Mix by Robert Smith ( 6:21 )
12: Want – Time Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:44 )
13: The Last Day of Summer – 31st August Mix by Robert Smith ( 5:44 )
14: Cut Here – If Only Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:25 )
15: Lost – Found Mix by Robert Smith ( 3:59 )
16: It’s Over – Whisper Mix by Robert Smith ( 4:54 )

choice of tracks for torn down is interesting. if bob's theme was "deep cuts worth more attention" as it appears to be then we like a lot of the same cure songs.

Excited about having a remaster CD version of the original 12" remix of Just One Kiss. Intrigued (but dreading) the 2018 RS remixes.

So irritating they didn't include the original 12" mix of Primary.

Disc 3 has potential,,, always found Mixed Up to be a rather plodding affair.

I remember being so disappointed that an album of remixes is what followed Disintegration, which was the height of my Cure obsession... enjoyed the Never Enough 12" though. By the time Wish came out I had moved on. Still excited about the deluxe edition of Wish that should now be next!

Never Enough 12" was great. I still play Harold & Joe. Always preferred that to Never Enough. Loved Mixed Up on release though. It was great to get those mixes all on one disc.

Harold & Joe is a great song. Maybe a candidate for that Deep Cuts thread

“Harold and Joe” is ridiculously good. The immediate _Disintegration_ follow on era had so many good studio, live and remix cuts all in a heap.

http://craigjparker.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-cure-announce-details-of-mixed-up.html

Get ready for 16 new remixes from Robert Smith

The Cure have announced details of the upcoming deluxe editions of ‘Mixed Up’ and ‘Torn Down’ – with new mixes. Check out the epic tracklist along with Robert Smith’s new remix of ‘Want’ below.

‘Torn Down’ serves as a sequel to The Cure’s Record Store Day release – a vinyl reissue of the band’s 1990 remix album, ‘Mixed Up’. Remixed by Smith himself and available across multiple formats, the release includes Cure classics such as ‘Lullaby’, ‘Close to Me’, ‘Pictures of You’, ‘Lovesong’, and ‘Why Can’t I Be You?’.

On ‘Mixed Up’, Smith singled out Brian ‘Chuck’ New’s dub style remix of ‘Pictures Of You’ as the muse for the record’s bold and adventurous direction.

“That mix turned the music on its head, but at the same time left the essential heart of the song intact,” he said. “As soon as I heard it, I updated the entire ‘Mixed Up’ plan. My revised ambition was to compile an album that was contemporary without being dated, immediate without being obvious, musically inspiring, rhythmically exciting and sonically great!”

Of the re-energising power of releasing ‘Mixed up’, Smith continued: “The whole of 1990 was essentially spent emerging from the shadow of Disintegration, and we managed to do it in a creatively satisfying way; by the end of the year, I couldn’t wait to start work on new songs for the next record”.

Speaking of ‘Torn Down’, Smith continued: “I wanted a 3-disc package, but we didn’t have enough ‘historic’ remixes – for a while I thought the ‘extra-extras’ CD would be Cure songs re-mixed by choice artists, rather than by choice re-mixers… that then got me thinking maybe I should have a go at one… so in early August 2017, I decided to experiment with ‘Three Imaginary Boys’. It is a pretty sparse multi-track; I pulled it apart at home and finished the initial re-mix in one session – and I really enjoyed the whole process”.

A release from the band adds: “By choosing favourite songs rather than the usual singles, one of Smith’s objectives was to illustrate the variety of the Cure catalogue, and by October of 2017 working on songs in chronological release order, he had remixed entirely the 16 songs that appear on ‘Torn Down: Mixed Up Extras 2018’.”

Mixed Up’s genesis came from the band’s Disintegration album and its accompanying global Prayer Tour. Released in 1989, Disintegration had delivered a triumphant end to the 80s, but the first year of the 90s found The Cure unexpectedly unsettled.

Determined to keep up the momentum of the band’s ongoing success, but knowing there were internal tensions to address before heading back into the studio, Robert Smith decided on a different course of action; curating an album of the band’s rarer 12” mixes. As work on Mixed Up progressed, Smith realised that some of The Cure’s earlier remixes didn’t stand up to the newer ones.

Two tracks on the album, ‘A Forest’ and ‘The Walk’, were not just remixed but entirely re-recorded, as the multi-track tapes for both songs had long been lost. Both songs were reconstructed in the studio with producer Mark Saunders, using original instruments and gear.

The band convened over five days in June 1990 to record a new track for Mixed Up. After a certain amount of fraught experimenting with beats, loops and sequenced bass lines, Smith decided to change the vibe. A demo entitled PhaseAGE that had previously been deemed ‘too rock’ was committed to tape as ‘Never Enough’ and was released as a single in September 1990. The ‘Closer Mix’ of ‘Close To Me’ soon followed this and both songs were accompanied by customarily deranged Tim Pope videos.

For the Torn Down cover, Smith decided on a self-portrait painted in oils during the summer of 1990 which was originally intended as the sleeve for Mixed Up. He chose Torn Down as the title for the ‘extra-extras’ album inspired by the way he had “torn down” ‘Never Enough’, stripping the song back to resemble his original 1990 PhaseAGE demo. “I felt it was a good way to bring the project back full circle…in a Mixed Up kind of way” he says.

Uh holy shit

Well FINALLY.

Now it'll just be eight years until Wish.

Would love to listen to that remix but I'm a card carrying member of the "Fuck Spotify" Party. Anyone know if it's popped up elsewhere?

which mix? is there something from this that already leaked?

The Cure have announced details of the upcoming deluxe editions of ‘Mixed Up’ and ‘Torn Down’ – with new mixes. Check out the epic tracklist along with Robert Smith’s new remix of ‘Want’ below.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3IFvpSonQE96BozFYv4EWu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-srzgv6OYM

Song is on Apple Music too. Pretty horrid on first listen

Yeah that "baggy" rhythm is --- um --- yeah.

https://vimeo.com/266379545

wow this M! I'm going to danse the FUCK outta this one at the goth klubbe

did he rerecord vocals for all these?

ok nm these are the old vocals but wow they cleaned em up. lol @ the recorder on just one kiss. this is real fun so far.

wow, this is horrible. i'm so glad I didn't waste money on this in the store. can't believe they let this out with the Cure's name on it. It sounds like a very poor fan forum tribute compilation.

nah man its fine. and it def has robert's stamp on it. easter eggs all around too (he played the recorder during the top tour). but yah this wont sound good on computer speakers. these will play great at the goth klub.

can't believe they let this out with the Cure's name on it

ha ha who do you think "they" is in this sentence?

The Cure, but I don't think Robert Smith makes every decision. The record company had to approve it too. Clearly the Cure as an entity isn't fully in charge or RS wouldn't be doing that show as Robert Smith and Friends.

this project was all Robert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz-ZKCQJcf4

The Cure, but I don't think Robert Smith makes every decision.

RS is the owner, manager and sole voting partner of the business The Cure. Which 2018 record company do you think even could have an employee with the responsibility of protecting the Cure's legacy by not letting them put out a bad record?


also, reacting to Mixed Up 2 with "ugh this remix album is a stain on the band's legacy" is pretty funny :)

Clearly the Cure as an entity isn't fully in charge or RS wouldn't be doing that show as Robert Smith and Friends.

this is because he had already sold the 40th anniversary gig as being The Cure's only European show for 2018 (and Meltdown generally has several variant-from-usual performances by acts or curators)

finally!! a Cure album for everyone who wanted a bunch of classic back catalogue tracks to sound more like "Wrong Number"

That's the beauty of opinions, I guess. I think it's terrible. I also think the remixes collected for the original Mixed Up are pretty great overall. Lots of good points being made, I don't know if a record company would turn down a Cure album, no matter how bad, but I'd like to think there was some type of quality control happening somewhere.

How does the Mixed Up remaster sound? I have the orignal 2LP set, but thought about getting the new pressing if it sounds better.

Also, I don't think it's a stain on their legacy. Not sure I said that, but it's not much of a stretch to get to there from what I did actually say. I'm a 'strictly nothing post-92' Cure fan, so their legacy was already stained in my opinion. I wasn't in love with Wish overall, despite loving a few songs on the album.

this is because he had already sold the 40th anniversary gig as being The Cure's only European show for 2018

I had high hopes given the tracklisting, but it's not good. umsworth OTM.

yeah, I'm just funning bcz so many reactions to Mixed Up 1 were "wtf, stain."

Wrong Number rules btw, one of maybe five great things they've done since Wish

not a fan of remix albums but will still probably buy on CDs and i don't buy CDs anymore. i have all the newer ones so i will keep going. i just listened to "Want" and i actually like it.

listening to that pod cast "i just finished Wish and it's next."

happy happy, joy joy!

Man this is pretty bad. Sounds like he sat at his computer and just slapped some EDM synth plugin presets all over his original vocals. "Just One Kiss" is the only somewhat freaky and ok one out of them all. Terrible.

"Clearly the Cure as an entity isn't fully in charge or RS wouldn't be doing that show as Robert Smith and Friends."

I don't know. Maybe Simon has some rights....but as for this, roger didn't even know this was coming out; he learned it from me on facebook.

If the tracks were the originals it would pretty much be my own Cure "Best Of". But I lean towards the "this is horrible" camp.

No surprise there. RS has lost his ear for music in the late 90s. Don’t think he spent much time on this though

Extremely great interview by a board vet here

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/07/the-cures-robert-smith-i-was-very-optimistic-when-i-was-young-now-im-the-opposite

Had no idea they used Plainsong in Ant Man. I'm never going to watch the movie. Was it good?

that's a great interview, thanks for posting Ned!

the great thing about "Plainsong" in that movie is that it's so prominent. they played the full song too or pretty close from what i remember. all in slow motion. the movie is a super hero movie if you are into that sort of stuff. i am, so i liked it.

found it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9urW_X0LJss

there's a difference between "written by Joe out of Adam & Joe and directed by Peyton Reed" and "written & directed by Zack Snyder" or "written & directed by Frank Miller"

Great interview yeah. I wonder what Bob made of Plainsong being used in Toni Erdmann..

since Parry sold off the business, Robert seems to have been happy to license songs to any film that asks.

speaking of, i found this in regards to:

(07/23/15): Director Peyton Reed tells Film School Rejects how and why this scene happened.

Reed also would’ve been upset if Marvel couldn’t secure the rights for a song from The Cure’s finest album, Disintegration. Ant-Man may be the first movie in history to have a song by The Cure playing during one of its big set pieces. At one point Ant-Man and Yellow Jacket fight in a briefcase to the amazing sound of ‘Plainsong’. “In the briefcase battle, we knew we wanted to have an iPhone joke,” Reed says. “We had all these different versions of jokes, like, Yellow Jacket saying, ‘You’re going to end up dead!’ and then you’d hear ‘Searching for the nearest Panera Bread.’ There were some funny jokes and some not-so-funny jokes, but, at the end of the day, they were just jokes. What if he activated the music feature? What would it be? I’m a massive Cure fan. We came up with a bunch of things, but we thought we could find a joke for ‘disintegration.’ The first song on Disinigration, which is the second CD I ever bought, was ‘Plainsong’. It’s such an epic song that it transcended the joke — scoring this whole battle in a briefcase. There was this weird, cold wave goth vibe, changing the character of that action scene. You have all these action scenes you want to have a different flavor. Then it became a question of, ‘Will [The Cure frontman] Robert Smith let us use his music?’ He ended up loving it, so he did.”

BTW, for those who didn't read the article that Ned linked, possible new The Cure album after 10 years. God, i hope so!

Yeah, but Robert Smith said it, so there's a 99% chance it's just slightly drunken bullshit.

so finally got around to listen to the new remixes - not as bad as I thought, although very throwaway.
The cheesy Avalon-ish version of Night Like This for instance is pretty great. The actual mixing though is pretty crap (as usual), with vocals way too high up (this ruins what would otherwise be a pretty badass version fo Shake Dog Shake)

re-discovered how great the "Everything Mix" of 'The Walk' was. Weird to think that remix is nearly 30 years old - it really sounds like it could have come out last month.

That's a great interview - I enjoyed reading Robert's thoughts on his approach to writing lyrics. While I can understand why he shies away from certain kinds of approaches, I'd be interesting in seeing what kind of lyrics he's come up with while deviating from his preferred methods.

i finally listened to the remix album today and it wasn't bad. i do own the original CD but i'm not a remix type of person, so i never really warmed up to it. this new version is not bad but is still a remix album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2E3EWhvDsc

Hi Turrican :)

so weird how the fest was billed as old members coming back and drastically different versions of songs and then none of that happened.

no surprise here

Might as well throw this out there in this thread:

My take a Cure album that never was--but that I suspect may have been intended to be at some point--circa 'Wild Mood Swings' but IMO far superior to that album, comprised of a few album tracks and some of the b-sides, almost all of which are superior to the album that was released. There were enough tracks in that era that heavily featured string instruments--not something they often did before then--that it makes me think at some point that was a sound they had in mind for an album. The vibe is just too coherent and consistent for it to be an accident--a lot of the b-sides even have album-style intro-outro segue portions, such that it all hangs together rather nicely as an album. I would rate it around the equal as 'Wish,' which for me is to say not amazing but quite good, a few spotty mid-90s production flourishes notwithstanding.

https://scontent.fzty1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/20045576_10159281061750495_3240874481460166229_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=84d76d07d27915aa6b90954cb2abd7be&oe=5BB337C1

01. Adonais
02. Jupiter Crash
03. A Pink Dream
04. Treasure
05. Home
06. Waiting
07. Dredd Song
08. It Used To Be Me
09. Numb
10. Ocean
11. Bare
12. This Is A Lie

http://www.mediafire.com/file/8f97pneclpg72ut/ThisIsALie.zip/file

Yeah I think RS has alluded to this a few times. He was planning to release a Nick Drake influenced set of songs and worked with strings for quite a bit, at a time when he was the only remaining member of the band. I guess when Simon came back he decided to /had to go back to a more traditional sound. Anyway, the idea sounded good on paper, but always found these acoustic and strings songs incredibly dull and lifeless.

The liner notes for Join the Dots confirms as much: RS initially envision Wild Mood Swings as an all acoustic album.

*envisioned

I find hearing it all together as a 50-min. album, it really works. It's not especially acoustic, but it does feature strings heavily.

I don't think the Judge Dredd tune would be on it. I think he never really liked it and it just sounds like what it probably is, something to fill up a soundtrack.

Really digging this unrecord, Soundslike! I don't know much Cure post-Wish (have listened through them all 1x or 2x but without sparking much interest) but these are sounding great.

now someone post zips of DJP's mostly-b-sides versions of the last two albums plz

So the trend of b-sides being better than album cuts has continued post-'Wild Mood Swings'? I admit I didn't follow past there. . .

there are fewer b-sides overall but many of them are quality. all the various s/t bonus tracks are great

Enh, the self-titled's non-album material was pretty strong, but the 4:13 Dream stuff was hit or miss. 'Down Under' and 'Without You' are decent.

Same with Bloodflowers. There weren't really any "b-sides" from that album, but the outtakes and related recordings from the time are kind of meh.

"Spilt Milk" is from the Bloodflowers era and is all time.

It's alright. Definitely the better of the "lost" songs surrounding that album.

Coming Up, the Australian bonus track, was deeply meh, but I don't know what else was an outtake from around then. Of the two new songs for the Greatest Hits the next year, Cut Here is great and Just Say Yes is underwhelming but tolerable.

While I'm posting, here's Wolf Alice clashing Boys with Boys Don't Cry for an Australian radio session:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1ocz7TUL4

Really enjoyed the Hyde Park event yesterday evening. The sound could have been a bit better, but it was an interesting mixed crowd and good atmosphere. I stood rooted to my spot for the whole set and my knees were 'locked' when i went to move: the old person's personal indicator of a good gig.

I was going to go but I asked a friend if they were interested when it was first announced and they said the sound is always shit in Hyde Park because of draconian noise level restrictions so I gave it a miss, the ticket price made that decision easier

Hi dere. I’ve got a question that’s probably been asked or answered a dozen times, perhaps by me, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that part of Robert Smith’s guitar sound was an intentional detuning of some of the strings, perhaps making the high E string a bit sharp. Now I can’t find this anywhere so I am asking for a friendhere while the thread is live.

That's a good question! I know RS (like other guitarists) had an epiphany that what the chorus effect was doing was in essence just detuning his guitar, so I can see how he might make that leap, though in practice it seems a pretty imprecise way to go. I know he did use a six-string bass - tuned up? - as his guitar quite a bit, which also throws off nailing his sound, at least sometimes.

Yeah I saw something about a Fender VI, I think it was

Here’s something about that. Interesting that he wrote “Primary” on one but then used a Precision to record it.

Link I meant to add: http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3687

Sad news

Andy Anderson, Former Drummer For The Cure, Reveals He Has Terminal Cancer

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2019/02/20/andy-anderson-the-cure-cancer/

Saw that yesterday on reddit.

I swear, if we're ranking the members of the Cure just based on how cool they looked in their tenure with the band, Andy wins easily. One cool bloke, to be absolutely clear.

ticket ballot is open for four nights of them playing Disintegration at the Sydney Opera House btw

Really is awful news about Anderson. Hoping Robert mentions him at the HoF ceremony for sure.

So, so sad.

Aw no, absolutely shit news. The most underrated of all the Cure drummers.

this is horrible news, didn't know or realize that he also played druns on The Glove album.

Such horrible news. I always enjoyed listening to live performances from their 1984 tour and his drumming was a big part of that.

Coincidentally, according to this Chain of Flowers post, Andy Anderson, Phil Thornalley, and Matthieu Hartley will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame as former members of the Cure.

That's just bullshit. They played on records and were touring members.

Agreed. It feels wrong to me to not induct the rhythm section that played on 'The Lovecats' ...

It's bullshit if they leave 'em out but let Reeves in, who has played over a hundred shows now but only done three tours in seven years as a member, and never been contracted to play on a Cure record (I think? since Wrong Number was recorded by Cogasm)

otherwise, ehh, don't the Hall make inexplicable line calls about who's admissible every year?

Yeah they have some weird standards in that regard.

Sadly, Andy Anderson has now passed on.

https://www.post-punk.com/former-drummer-for-the-cure-andy-anderson-has-passed-away/

Just saw this on Twitter. Holy shit

It's with a heavy heart, I have to report the passing of a Cure brother.
Andy Anderson was A true gentleman and a great musician with a wicked sense of humor which he kept until the end, a testament to his beautiful spirit on the last journey. We are blessed to have known him.

— Lol Tolhurst (@LolTolhurst) February 26, 2019

Best Cure drummer, I just saw a clip of a show from the early 90s where they were playing music from his era and wow I missed him.

The world just got a lot less cool.

Andy🤜🏻🤛🏿Andy

this is horrible news, RIP.

going to have to play The Top tomorrow.

My favourite Andy moments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFCNikO5TmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd8uz2e7fsk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pgc3fgh27c

So sad.

The Top was the Cure album I ignored the most when I was a teenager as to young me it sounded like a band that had lost its way a bit - like it crawled out of the darkness, made a couple of great pop songs and didn't know what to do about it. Over the years it has grown and grown on me and the drumming was a big part of that.

RIP Andy

(have to disagree with Matthew about "One Hundred Years" on Concert though. Andy never quite nails the crushing oppressive magnificence of Lol's studio effort - for me it's Lol's finest moment as a Cure musician)

I agree the studio version crushes (altho I have a lingering suspicion it’s not all Lol) but that Concert version is like a cruise missile

Well it's a drum machine in studio - part of why it didnt work live for a while

They were on fire in '84, the London performances that some of the Concert tracks were taken from are all time.

Thanks, thought I was nuts for thinking that. Those 84 shows are wonderful.

Recordings can be found here, if you scroll down about two-thirds of the way.

http://cureforall.eklablog.com/1984-c215966

💙from pearl thompson's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuXUxlZn5qE💙

This is heartbreaking, this concert was posted by Andy Anderson himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoqxwFyTywI

just finished watching that full concert. not sure if Andy is my favorite Cure drummer but he was good. back to the concert, it is like an end of an era concert. they, of course, recorded The Head on the Door next and it changed the Cure forever. it was their second phase, i count Three Imaginary Boys as the first phase, and they were going in a full pop direction after The Top album. the Cure have always been a fantastic live band and this concert is special.

My take on Cure drummers - Lol: there for the camaraderie, great at the minimal, atmospheric beats early Cure required; Andy: along with Phil, helped Robert break his impasse and move into pop, powerful drummer whose style was an addition but didn't quite gel; Boris: perfect Cure drummer, creative, deft, deceptively technical; Jason: has been there longer than anyone else.

RIP Andy, I didn't understand the Top until I was older but I listened to Concert about two thousand times.

And he really left Hawkwind to join the Glove? That is pretty awesome.

I tend to think of the Cure as having four different eras, each one neatly marked by each drummer: Early Years (Lol), The Lost Weekend (Andy), Classic Era (Boris), and Late Period (Jason).

And he really left Hawkwind to join the Glove? That is pretty awesome.

whaaaaaat

The Glove is one of my favorites, RIP Andy

And he really left Hawkwind to join the Glove?

he did not fuck about, my friend.👍🏻

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEA-ewhvs2Q

http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/341782/we-ve-always-rejected-the-convention-says-the-cure-frontman-robert-smith

So, the 4:14 Scream idea sounds like it's been canned in favour of a whole new album.

what an unexpected development

jeez guys just release the deluxe edition of Wish already

But if they do that, what else is there to look forward to, really?

A blu-ray release of the Cure in Orange, death

otm, probably.

I just hope that any new stuff doesn't sound as terrible production-wise as the last one. The crap production on 4:13 Dream was doubly irritating as it spoiled some of - IMO - the bands best material for years.

ask yourself, what was the last cure record with good production

The last Cure album with production I couldn't fault from end-to-end was Wish. I also think that Wild Mood Swings mostly sounds good even if the material isn't their strongest. The mix on Bloodflowers is too cluttered, and Ross Robinson proved himself unsuitable for the band (as they were at the time of recording) on the self-titled...

...but the sound on 4:13 Dream is a different level of bad. Badly engineered (the muffled drum sound!), badly mixed (whoever EQ'd and balanced the levels was fucking deaf, I swear) and on top of it badly mastered.

Yeah. OTM on all of this. I believe RS to be the main culprit for the production job (and his overall attitude that louder is always better). So I have only mild curiosity for a potential new record (I’ll believe it when I see it).

(and his overall attitude that louder is always better)

This was fine when his ears worked: contrast the "mixed to play loud so turn it up" Disintegration vs the Disintegration/Entreat remaster.

I was listening to some podcast defending Bob Rock's production of "St. Anger," not saying it was good but basically saying that Metallica was a huge superstar act with tons of power and endless resources who could probably have gotten any producer they wanted, and therefore that the only way the album could end up sounding like it did was because the band wanted it that way. Which is to say, yeah, if a Cure album sounds bad, blame Robert Smith.

Wish really is an incredible sounding album, some of the best dreamy guitar sounds of the 90s

i love wish. it brings back memories. the last cure album i have any relation to whatsoever.

If only I'd thought of the right words... https://t.co/GGJC6Ujt0a

— Jake Rudh (@JakeRudh) March 31, 2019

LOL

ROBERT

Read a few people on social media calling him a dick for the way he responded to this chirpy, annoying robot. He's always been a dick to the phonies and I have to love the fact he hasn't tempered it with age.

i loled when i saw this and i am a reasonably perky person
it was funny!

hahaha, go Robert Smith!

The other thing is that the reporter tweeted about it and it seems like she wasn't offended, so I don't quite get the people offended on her behalf.

I remember countless interviews with alt-rock stars from MTV days, so many of them were comically bad

complainers are concern-trolling for sure

the Cure get endless good will for their epically-long live shows, they played like 36 songs last time I saw them

On a side note: how come Simon Gallup hasn't got severe back problems?

I remember reading that Nils Lofgren had knee and hip problems because Neil Young made him wear ankle weights to stop him from moving around so much. Maybe Simon otherwise stands so disconcertingly erect they give him an extra heavy bass?

On a side note: how come Simon Gallup hasn't got severe back problems?

He's played 141 gigs in ten years, and probably has enough pull to get a box of epsom salts on the rider

Probably got some tips from Peter Hook.

Or, like, Rob Trujillo:

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PE4yTibqNmWMgbkPA8Q7u.jpg

Hahaha

Hook originally learnt to play at a normal incorrect height, then saw the Clash for the first time "and never wore the bass above my bollocks again"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxoSHmoCVp8

1. Shake Dog Shake 00:38
2. A Forest 05:12
3. Lovesong 12:19
4. Just Like Heaven 15:52
5. Boys Don't Cry 19:46

For a five song set, that actually does a pretty good job summing them up.

Yeah, there's a little of everything there... and nothing past 1989.

Back on the Schecters, boo

Was Boris there?

He was! About 5:30 on this clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2dVIOczM7VGWYCEQn4XFTNgQyOPD4B-z7MGR_6dLzsEnpWR0gbH2sJbUM&v=VFINzd26anI

Yeah pretty much everyone?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3FTKR5WoAADl9Y.jpg:large

Plus Trent, their new roadie. Speaking of roadies, thought this was a good thread:

I've been watching all 273 former members of the Cure take their victory lap over the weekend. They all seem very proud to have played their small part in the saga and grateful for the recognition, but Perry Bamonte is the only one who seems sad that he's not in the band anymore.

— Svenllamus Horribilis (@svenllama) April 1, 2019

I still think that Robert firing Perry and Roger after The Cure was a really crap thing of him to do. At least Roger got to be back in the band. After Pearl (formerly Porl) Thompson left the band (again), Perry wasn't invited back.

pretty much everyone?

I'm figuring the grey beanie is Boris and the dark beanie is Dempsey, so Mathieu Hartley and Phil Thornalley are the only exclusions once Andy died and Bob insisted Reeves counted

Cure keyboard must be a tough gig. One finger solos, trying not to look bored ...

There's also things like 'Homesick' ...

Ha, maybe that explains why they so rarely play it: 15 times since 1989.

I would have thought that might have something to do with it not being one of their more popular live numbers than any difficulty Roger O'Donnell would have playing keyboard parts that he himself actually played on the studio version to begin with(!)

opening with Shake Dog Shake = CLASSIC

yeah that's a pretty good selection. Surprised that RS didn't invite any old members on stage but I guess a couple of them harbor bad feelings (Perry by the looks of it, Pearl/Porl judging from his comments on social media).

Pearl/Porl judging from [...] comments on social media

?

called them a tribute band or something on Instagram

xp Porl changed his name to Pearl a few years ago now

oh nvm i misread that because i'm tired lol

I would have thought that might have something to do with it not being one of their more popular live numbers than any difficulty Roger O'Donnell would have playing keyboard parts that he himself actually played on the studio version to begin with(!)

Oh, I never meant it wasn't played because it was difficult, quite the contrary! I said it must be tough to be a Cure keyboard player because the vast majority of the songs are simple/minimal/one-finger, yet many of their players have been more than competent enough to handle more complex stuff, which I can imagine is pretty frustrating/boring/stultifying. And yet RS clearly prefers that nothing gets too fancy, so any any keyboard player ready and hopeful for a Homesick or something a bit more flashy is going to be stuck playing a lot of tambourine.

xpost The last time I saw the band, some time ago, was when they were playing as a keyboard-free four-piece, iirc, with Porl, and I remember being pretty disappointed. It sounds like they've sort of sprung back to life after that, but I haven't had a chance to catch them again since.

I saw that tour and I kinda liked it as a full-on rock Cure. And given Pearl left of her own volition, unsure why she's complaining.

complaining is fun!

I noticed during the interview segments that first it was the current band, then it was Michael, Lol, Perry & Boris, then Pearl Thompson alone.

Though apparently RS made a point of thanking the previous members of the band, living and dead.

And given Pearl left of her own volition, unsure why she's complaining.

I went through the last six months of her instagram, and the only reference to The Cure is an RIP message to Andy Anderson - are these complaints in comments on other people’s posts or something?

(of course, she could have left because she felt they had become a tribute band, specially given the eleven-year non-release of 4:14 Scream, and “Classic Album” event concerts.)

I always have a sense of Pearl being someone who followed her own distinct muse -- she was there at the start, after all, did a lot of the design work along the way, a participating artist as part of a larger project who stepped away as desired (thus the time with Page and Plant back in the 1990s, etc.). So yeah, it could be she eventually felt that the well had run a little dry, and given RS's long term pause on new material, why not?

all her album and single covers are all-time, so gorgeous... just look at the covers for all the Kiss Me singles

i heard they played and opened with "Shake Dog Shake" as a tribute to Andy Anderson. <3

I wonder if there were any issues with Pearl's transition among the band members - as much as we'd like them to be better people than that. But The Cure have never had a female member, nor any contributions from women on their records that I know of, aside from Siouxsie's vocal on "I'm Cold" and that single with Saffron.

I also dimly recall Porl (as he was) being in a relationship with Robert's sister Janet back in the 80s.

He was married to Robert's sister, is now married to someone else.

*They were

Sorry, force of habit, since I've been so used to referring to Thompson as "he" for decades.

Has Thompson ever gone on record as how they identify? I mean, sure, the name change would suggest some kind of gender transition, but Thompson has always been a very arty type and they have always had their own thing going aesthetically/fashion wise. I have no idea if Thompson identifies as he or she, but I can be fairly certain that the name change is a form of rebranding, whether that's to start a new life living as a woman or just an artistic way of making a clean break with the past. I guess we won't know unless Thompson comes out and says it - and they are very well known for keeping their private life private.

I don’t believe so - I switched to “she” because she was female-presenting for a while, but Pearl seems to have only formally announced a legal name change, and to still be referred to as “he” by IRL associates (eg Lol and art-world types).

robert has worked with lots of women. let's not forget his time in the banshees, also.

i'd consider mary an unofficial member. kind of like an emotional billy preston or smthgidk she's also the only non-band member / non-model to have ever appeared on cover art.

ned, your last post above was terrific. my compliments to the chef.👍🏻

I'm not accusing RS of sexism or whatever, more that The Cure has always seemed like a bit of a boys' club / football team in its group dynamic. Can you name any women RS has worked with apart from Siouxsie and Saffron?
Not trying to pick a fight, it's just something which occurred to me, that I'm surprised I haven't noticed before.

Jeanette Landray

Caroline Crawley

Alison Shaw?

Landray for sure, my bad. I don’t think he worked with Crawley beyond liking SO and inviting them on tour - Boris ended up on a band with her though. And the Cranes connection ... ? Also Crystal Castles but that’s not exactly an endorsement these days.
I’m sure there are many bands you could level the boys’ club accusation at, though.

Most of them?

Anyway to get back on initial topic, I’m pretty sure Pearl/Porl’s departure and subsequent ill feelings had nothing to do with possible transition. Pure speculation but I would imagine it’s a mix of personal animosity (divorce with Janet occurred at same time, no?) and artistic (Porl’s always followed his inspiration as Ned said and the last 20 years of the Cure have been pretty vacuous creatively speaking)

Yeah, this is nitpicky.

Agreed, sorry for the derail. I was a Cure obsessive 1985-1990 so it’s hard to see them fade. Hope the new record is a stormer.

it's odd to still listen to a band who are still active but whose last meaningful release (for me) was thirty years ago. I remember buying it the day it came out.

I go ways back with them as well. My timeline same as yours, Mathewk. For me "...Deep Green Sea" was the last of their great songs. Still, I check up on the them when there's news and it still makes me incredibly happy to see the "old" crew reunited for whatever reasons (I'm Team HOTD" as my fave lineup). It also reminds me that I'm growing older seeing my musical heroes wearing the signs of age. Love them.

I don’t think he worked with Crawley beyond liking SO and inviting them on tour -

They'd guest onstage during shows (Cranes too). I shouldn't think that Robert was ever in the same room as Alice Glass for Not In Love, and likely not on the same continent.

I was listening to the s/t and 4:13 Dream today and I do not for one second regret sticking with them through their latter-era albums.

i actually think 4:13 Dream is a really good album almost great. the only problem with it is the production. there are some really good songs on that album that is seem to hum to myself out of the blue ie "The Only One." i never really got into the self titled album but i should play it again to see why it never really stuck for me.

Yeah poor production, tuneless shout-singing and lazy lyrics are what drags these albums down. The music is otherwise still pretty great.

I don’t think you can blame “The doleful cant of a bigot / Blinded by fear and hate” on laziness

I was listening to the s/t and 4:13 Dream today and I do not for one second regret sticking with them through their latter-era albums.

This is accurate.

jammin' 'a forest' from concert right now and i have to chuckle at how un-epic it is; especially considering that it would become upwards of twenty minutes at some shows in the later 80s and especially in the 90s.

i mean, damn, you heard that opening note towards the end the set and it was like, "ladies and gentlemen, the gothful dead" after a while.

i'm finally back as my sabbatical has come to an end and just in time too:

https://i.imgur.com/jBrRvVB.jpg

they had me at The Cure but add the Pixies and Mogwai to the bill? i'm going and $150 for this bill is not bad at all. a Saturday Night in the summertime in Los Angeles. a bit like heaven.

i did see the Cure at the Rose Bowl before, it was The Wish tour and Dinosaur Jr with the Cranes opened that show.

not even gonna mention the Throwing Muses are playing, huh.

Xp I think there were a few of us ilxors at that show :)

I went to the version of that show in NoCal (Shoreline, I think).

More than a few of us.

https://nedraggett.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/not-just-the-ticket-53-the-cure-june-27-1992/

(While tempted, I'm not doing this upcoming show; it would be easy enough to fly down and all but that very night Bryan Ferry is playing up here in the Bay Area, and I've seen the Cure numerous times and Bryan Ferry, never. So, priorities. Also, I rather assume they'll play here either right before or right after the LA date, so.)

DJI I think it was at San Jose State football stadium, remember the fireworks?

Email campaign to get Ferry to cover "Sinking."

i never had any interest to go to la for 55 years but the cure plus the pixies plus the throwing muses, three fave groups from when i was a twen of whom i have seen none live might change that, it is is just a 14 hour flight incl. a stop over from bloody old berlin, so why not?

alomar - um - maybe? That was a LONG time ago.

playing the last night of the Disintegration shows RIGHT NOW at the Sydney Opera House

Cool, thanks!

This is so much better than working. Thanks!

He seems so content and chill these days.

I caught the last bit of "Fear of Ghosts" and one of the instrumental demos from that time period when I woke up

looks like the whole thing is up for replay at the same link, at least for the moment

Okay this first hour is directly beamed in from god

Setlist:

00:00 ----
16:50 "Hello..."
17:20 Delirious Night
23:44 Fear of Ghosts
30:55 No Heart
34:20 Esten
38:19 2 Late
41:09 Out of Mind
44:45 Babble
---
54:42 Plainsong
59:25 Pictures of You
1:06:44 Closedown
1:11:00 Lovesong
1:14:40 Last Dance
1:19:52 Lullaby
1:24:46 Fascination Street
1:29:47 Prayers for Rain
1:35:34 The Same Deep Water as You
1:44:47 Disintegration
1:53:11 Homesick
2:00:16 Untitled

There's more than that! Three Imaginary Boys, Pirate Ships ...

2:10:50 Burn
2:17:50 Three Imaginary Boys
2:21:30 Pirate Ships

I hadn't seen that in the comments

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7zBwC-UIAABlka.jpg

omg

Also can we talk for a second about how Robert is 60 and still sounds like he did on this album?

The "Disintegration" in this Disintegration >>> the "Disintegration" in the Trilogy Disintegration.

Haven’t listened to the album yet but what a treat to hear these b sides played. I don’t think it worked so well live but still, never thought I’d ever hear them play Fear of Ghosts. Babble otoh kicked ass live. They should add it to their regular live set rotation.

(after a short youtube link following trail) btw, I didn't know about the alternative lyrics to A Forest in 1979 + the energy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCCLhCBb1I4

the energy!

Whenever I see clips like that I just think "the drugs!"

I spent a lovely evening chatting with Reeves Gabrels' wife via Twitter DM last night and got confirmation that Robert uses a bunch of vocal technique to keep his voice intact

he sounded wonderful on that livestream

also, i may be misremembering this, but that performance of disintegration seemed v deeply felt and even slightly... energetic? compared to my old trilogy dvd

I didn't know about the alternative lyrics to A Forest in 1979

In the early years their lyrics could be in flux even from night to night as they wrote songs onstage (and even occasionally after recording: Seventeen Seconds' song Three spent years in the set after turning into Forever with improvised lyrics)

Last thing I expected was a new interview with Boris Williams but it's great. I'm not sure I've ever heard him talk at length before, he sounds lovely and very chilled:

https://t.co/e61zznKlwB

Some very interesting (YMMV) insights into his time in the band, including (too briefly) why he left and how he feels about seeing the band play without him.

https://thequietus.com/articles/26614-the-cure-beyond-the-hits-rare-b-side-album-track

What fine judgment throughout, especially that one guy. Modesty forbids.

We will be holding an exclusive advance screening of "The Cure - Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London" at a secret location in London on Wednesday July 3.
This screening will also feature a special introduction from director Tim Pope. pic.twitter.com/uVrmEHOKrk

— The Cure (@thecure) June 17, 2019

tim pope thingy update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGr3vWnOcKM

Looks like it's just a concert film though?

Oh like The Cure in Orange? Twist my arm.

No, I just thought there had been some discussion a few years ago about a documentary, with Tim sorting through all sorts of archival stuff. But nothing in the trailer seems to indicate that.

Wonder if they have a recording of the Mexico City show from 2013 where they played like 50 songs?

Dunno, not really excited about that concert film either. Setlist was pretty bland and the setting too. I don’t really see the point of this (Reflections or the Disintegration show would maybe have been more interesting)

bring the Wish deluxe edition!

maybe they did a set in the rain at Red Rocks at some point they could release

Man, this looks dull :(

I was just listening to Wish, streaming it, and noticed it was branded "explicit." I assume that means profanity, but I'm trying to remember where on the album there's any profanity.

the end of Wendy Time has a "fuck" in it

Huh, so it does! Is there much or really for that matter any profanity in the rest of the Cure catalog?

Get your fucking voice out of my head

The Kiss has a "fuck" in it, but I can't think of any others offhand. In Wendy Time he's kinda self-censoring by swallowing most of the word!

hahaha xpost

Give Me It - "My heart is black and stops every fucking night"

Us or Them - "Get your fucking world out of my head"

It's Over - "It's always fucking over"

Sleep When I'm Dead - "The whole other fucking world"

"The spiderman does poops and pees in the lavatory at night"

Shiver & Shake - "You're three sick holes that run like sores - you're a fucking waste."

Interviewed Tim Pope the other day about the forthcoming concert film -- great chat, and the film's excellent. Story should run next week.

In the meantime, enjoy yesterday's Glastonbury set:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0006t9s

Saw it last night on the telly. They're truly on form again. A delight to see Robert Smith enjoying himself as much as he did, quirky dance moves and all.

TV version:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006h4g/glastonbury-the-cure

Might not be available in all countries?

Our man in San Francisco Ned Raggett chats with Pope about his forthcoming Cure concert film Anniversary as well as more unusual anecdotes about his many music videos for them than you can shake a stick at. Or is that a sock?

https://thequietus.com/articles/26761-tim-pope-interview-the-cure

And indeed, that is me. Fantastic chat, could have gone on for so much longer but I had to squeeze it in between several things on my schedule.

Great piece, Ned!

Thanks!

The most detailed answer on the biggest question was definitely his "Why Can't I Be You" thoughts

https://thequietus.com/articles/26761-tim-pope-interview-the-cure?page=7

^_^

I totally read that as

Our man in San Francisco Ned Raggett chats with the Pope about his forthcoming

"So Francis, you a Pornography man?"

"Who am I to judge?"

I also misread it that way and thought "the pope" was a terrible new nickname for Robert Smith.

Astounding.

Seeing the film last night in a full theater experience was pretty great.