_Wild Mood Swings_ is more problematic. It's a very erratic album and contains a couple of songs that never should have seen the light of day ("Mint Car", "Return"). However, it also contains the absolutely marvelous "The 13th", "Want", "Gone!" and "Jupiter Crash". Some judicious editing (and swapping some album tracks for b-sides) would make this a much better album.
For me, _Bloodflowers_ compares very well to their 80's output. It seems that the group got back into a good songwriting groove for this album, which is particularly evident on "Out Of This World", "The Loudest Sound", "The Last Day Of Summer", "Bloodflowers", and "Watching Me Fall" (Cure cliches and all). The album has a strong sense of flow and there are no embarrassing attempts to rewrite "Friday I'm In Love". It was a good ending for them, assuming that Robert's latest pronouncements about the band's demise are actually true this time.
There are individual songs I don't like, and _Wild Mood Swings_ is easily my least- favorite of their albums, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that I actively dislike any of the Cure's albums.
― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 28 March 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― the pinefox, Saturday, 28 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
They have many good tunes. However, they have many bad ones, viz "Friday I'm In Love".
Still, at their best they show an impressive ability to make both poppy goth jumpathons and total doomfests.
― DV, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― DeRayMi, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Paul, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I had a girlfriend once who was into these boys hard and she used to play is it 'Pictures of You' (?) over and over and over (a sort of pining for a lost love I think; not me, incidentally). Anyway, it used to bore the hell out of me, not to mention what felt like a large hole in my brain.
The thing is, with the Cure, it's like the Manic Street FUCKING Preachers syndrome - people who like 'em don't just like 'em, they fucking LOVE 'em, and think they're prophets or something. No, they are miserable, half-goths with absolutely nothing to say and even less charisma.
That said, I am admit that I am hardly familiar know their canon, since I can't bear exposure to it for protracated periods.
Still; DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUD
― Roger Fascist, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dare, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Hmm, having said that, I do get riled when someone fails to 'get' my favourite bands and indulges in the kind of mindless attack I have already posted against The Cure. Yet, I feel that certain bands are wont to attract a more dependent following, who hang the band's music like metaphorical rosaries. And I'm not sure that even among my most beloved artists, there are those which I could hold in such equally mindless esteem.
What say you?
― Roger fascist, Tuesday, 30 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
DUD
― Hayward, Thursday, 3 October 2002 02:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Clarke B., Thursday, 3 October 2002 04:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 3 October 2002 11:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 3 October 2002 23:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donna (donna), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
Yet I do wonder how much my own nosatlgia plays a role. I still think Wish is great, despite every. review. ever. written. Maybe if I hadn't listened to it for the 1st time as a teenager travelling thru Europe with schoomates I'd think differently.
― Aaron A., Friday, 4 October 2002 03:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
Also, I really really like the Wolfgang Press song on _Lonely is an Eyesore_, but I've heard their recordings are pretty patchy. Any recommendations there?
― Clarke B., Friday, 4 October 2002 05:30 (twenty-one years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 4 October 2002 07:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 11:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― TMFTML (TMFTML), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Vinnie (vprabhu), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sundar subramanian, Friday, 4 October 2002 18:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― g (graysonlane), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jel -- (jel), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
the "cure=suburbia" part of Michael Bracewell's England Is Mine is one of the best things ever!
― etc, Wednesday, 20 August 2003 08:54 (twenty years ago) link
― flowersdie (flowersdie), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 09:05 (twenty years ago) link
Classic, BTW. Again, my mid-teens coincided with Disintegration and I was full-on obsessed for a couple of years. I bought a shedload of albums at Oxfam last year, and a friend and I drove our GF/wives insane by listening, back to back, to 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography and the Top. Divorce was on the horizon by the end of that evening.
― Jim Eaton-Terry (Jim E-T), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:04 (twenty years ago) link
Thing is, there are SO many B-sides and rarities which have officially surfaced that they'd have to put out a box set. As it is, if the remasters that are surfacing next year are going to include bonus discs for each with room for other oddities, then that will partially settle the problem.
― Thy Lethal Zen Ned (Ned), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:42 (twenty years ago) link
― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:55 (twenty years ago) link
― flowersdie (flowersdie), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 13:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 14:01 (twenty years ago) link
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 14:04 (twenty years ago) link
― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 14:18 (twenty years ago) link
― David A. (Davant), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 19:47 (twenty years ago) link
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Saturday, 6 March 2004 12:31 (twenty years ago) link
― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:25 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:30 (twenty years ago) link
― Lynskey (Lynskey), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:34 (twenty years ago) link
― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:34 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:35 (twenty years ago) link
― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 March 2004 16:52 (twenty years ago) link
Shake Dog ShakeFascination StreetA Strange DayA Night Like ThisLovesongPushSinkingPictures Of YouLullabyLovecatsMaybe SomedayIn Your HouseFrom The Edge Of The Deep Green SeaMCharlotte SometimesInbetween DaysJust Like HeavenHey You!!!Play For TodayA Forest Fire In Cairo (as a 3 piece)Grinding Halt (as a 3 piece)10.15 Saturday NightBoys Don't CryI Dig You (with Porl Thompson and Frank The Postman)I'm A Cult Hero (with Porl Thompson and Frank The Postman), Close To MeLet's Go To BedWhy Can't I Be YouFriday I'm In Love
Fucking hell, just reading that through sends me into space. I'm still shellshocked.
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Sunday, 7 March 2004 19:38 (twenty years ago) link
Sounds great at that pace - really thick and druggy
It’s such a shame they play everything to a click now
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Saturday, 10 February 2024 02:51 (two months ago) link
Is Paris the last release with Boris? Excepting that odd unplugged thing from the hits compilation.
― assert (matttkkkk), Saturday, 10 February 2024 06:11 (two months ago) link
Lost Wishes and the Elise B-sides were recorded before Paris but released after it was performed/recorded; Purple Haze I think would be the last recorded-and-released Boris.
― bae (sic), Saturday, 10 February 2024 06:46 (two months ago) link
I always thought Burn was the last Boris thing - but I am open to being educated here
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Saturday, 10 February 2024 06:59 (two months ago) link
d'oh!
― bae (sic), Saturday, 10 February 2024 07:05 (two months ago) link
Is Boris even (doing the programming) on Purple Haze? I want to say yes but I can't remember. Obv he's right there on the Virgin Radio version.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Saturday, 10 February 2024 07:27 (two months ago) link
Burn is indeed the last recording. Just him and RS at that point if memory serves.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 10 February 2024 10:34 (two months ago) link
Really great piece by Jude Rogers on Charlotte Sometimes, book and song but primarily the book, I think rightly.
https://steadyhq.com/thequietus/posts/21b14186-0eb3-436a-bb5c-3f7e27c29a0c
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 23 February 2024 00:12 (one month ago) link
Tonight I was out to dinner with an old friend of the opposite sex. She brought up the song "The Last Day of Summer" and I so casually said that song is on Bloodflowers. Now thinking back, how in the hell do I know that? But it's the Cure and they're my all-time favourite band and its not even close, so I did know that piece of trivia.
Ironically, she also talked about the Smiths "Asleep" and I had no clue where that song came from other than I didn't think it was an album track.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 24 February 2024 07:25 (one month ago) link
do you dislike bloodflowers? I wasn't hot on it for many years but I've come around, maybe in part because the albums after were fairly disappointing by comparison. The Last Day of Summer is probably my favorite song on that album.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:17 (one month ago) link
It's a beaut, and it was nice to see it back in the mix on last year's tour.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 February 2024 15:51 (one month ago) link
Yeah that album’s saving grace
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 24 February 2024 16:45 (one month ago) link
I’m also very fond of The Loudest Sound
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Saturday, 24 February 2024 17:03 (one month ago) link
I think Bloodflowers is great, especially "The Last Day Of Summer".I just wish "Watching Me Fall" was a bit faster, like "Disintegration" or "One Hundred Years" to give the album more dynamic. It's a good song, but it really weighs the album down.
― LeRooLeRoo, Saturday, 24 February 2024 17:59 (one month ago) link
Could also just be shorter! For me it doesn’t have enough going on musically or lyrically to justify the epic length - was an absolute slog when they played it second in the set on the tour. Those shows were pretty great though.
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Saturday, 24 February 2024 19:39 (one month ago) link
(Re Watching Me Fall specifically - although the overlong/under-interesting criticism does somewhat apply to the album overall)
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Saturday, 24 February 2024 20:24 (one month ago) link
My point was it being an obscure song and not exactly "Just Like Heaven." She could have said "Throw Your Foot" or "A Chain of Flowers" for example and I would have known it was a B-side and from which album.
Bloodflowers is good but hardly ever play it. I think I like 4:13 Dream more, is this a poll idea?
― Bee OK, Sunday, 25 February 2024 19:21 (one month ago) link
The last time I played "Bloodflowers," maybe last year, I liked it. I hadn't heard it for years, but had remembered it pretty well (maybe because I had gotten to see them play a small club here behind it). Iirc I only listened to "4:13 Dream" a couple of times, when it was released, and I don't recognize any song titles now, so at the very least I'm sure it would be surprising if I ever put it on again.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 25 February 2024 19:53 (one month ago) link
Will nobody dare mention the poor unloved self-titled LP
I have to say I find The End of the World and Alt End pretty charming Cure singles - their late(r) attempts at giddy pop have often felt forced to me but those two are better than they have a right to be.
(I also felt like The Promise had… promise but kind of needed to go full Mogwai or something - it just stays on the one intensity setting for 7 minutes or whatever)
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Sunday, 25 February 2024 20:12 (one month ago) link
Lost > The Promise because of the escalating intensity
I really love the s/t, particularly the Japanese import that adds “Truth, Goodness, and Beauty”, “Fake”, and “Going Nowhere” to the tracklist, but I don’t think I will ever be able to get past “The doleful cant of a bigot/Blinded by fear and hate”
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Sunday, 25 February 2024 20:20 (one month ago) link
aka Donald Trump's Cure covers EP
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 25 February 2024 22:36 (one month ago) link
ILM is one of the only places where you'll find ardent admirers of the s/t album (and WMS). s/t has some good songs utterly ruined by shitty production and roger being mixed out. 4:13 Dream has a good opening track and no other memorable songs.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Sunday, 25 February 2024 23:03 (one month ago) link
The Real Snow White, The Scream, and It’s Over are all fantastic
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Sunday, 25 February 2024 23:51 (one month ago) link
I do like the flow of 4:13 Dream and like the songs on the album. "Underneath the Stars" is amazing, might be the best late period song by the Cure. Bloodflowers could be better, I suppose, but it has been awhile since I heard it. The s/t I just can't listen to as it hurts my ears. Tho probably a decent album if you play with the alternate tracks and B-sides.
― Bee OK, Monday, 26 February 2024 01:10 (one month ago) link
The biggest problem with the last 2 albums is how loud and up front in the mix Robert’s voice is. Makes them barely listenable unfortunately. I’m surprised he doesn’t hear it.
― LeRooLeRoo, Monday, 26 February 2024 01:19 (one month ago) link
I went and watched a live version of The Promise and it probably delivered more on the assaultative guitar burnout front - without quite getting there - could even faintly hear Roger's keys
Would be a pretty interested to read a candid oral history of those Ross Robinson sessions - sounds like the goth Some Kind of Monster - band identity crisis, tantrums, walkouts, Robert berating the band for not being worthy of being the Cure, people throwing music stands across the room (audible on Lost IIRC) etc
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Monday, 26 February 2024 02:03 (one month ago) link
If Wiki can be trusted it looks like Ross has produced over 30 albums since that one, most of which I've never heard or even heard of, so I'd like to think it tanked his career.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 26 February 2024 03:07 (one month ago) link
Wish they'd finish up Songs of a Lost World and release it
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Monday, 26 February 2024 03:10 (one month ago) link
Me too
I have been BURNed before but I still hold out hope that they have a mature-age masterpiece in em
They really should, all the things that RS sang about at 25 are actually happening now
― Kraal Disorientation Chamber (emsworth), Monday, 26 February 2024 03:47 (one month ago) link
https://youtube.com/XmoFgi2EB9c
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 26 February 2024 09:56 (one month ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmoFgi2EB9csorry
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 26 February 2024 09:57 (one month ago) link
sky arts showed both Nocturne and the Cure's 2018 gig from hyde park on friday night. the years have not really been kind to R Smith but his voice has held up remarkably well, i thought.
― koogs, Monday, 18 March 2024 10:13 (one month ago) link
(there are like a million people in hyde park by the looks. played for two hours. things like A Forest and Just Like Heaven sounded note-perfect. it's all very impressive)
― koogs, Monday, 18 March 2024 11:34 (one month ago) link
Yeah their live show at this point is full-on stunning
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Tuesday, 19 March 2024 11:28 (one month ago) link