The Cure: Classic or Dud?

But for many of us born in or around 1974, this issue is fairly cut and dried. For a decade, The Cure made (mostly) great, emotive music to match the self-indulgent drama of teen angst. I too, found romance with a girl because of it. She was into Sylvia Plath 'n shit and thought Robert Smith was really good at painting with words in his lyrics. I felt the same. Even his terrible voice was welcomed as a strike for the blemished and the meek (read 'indie') against mainstream, hard-rock masculinity (what we call 'bogans' in Australia).

Then, as Paul and others have pointed out, we came of legal age in the early 90's and were lucky enough to be doing so right when music got a huge shot in the arm - with much better drugs and, yes, prettier girls. How convenient it was to feel disillusioned with "Wish" and all Cure work since. But my best efforts at objectivity still tell me, as they do to so many others, that The Cure are 80's classics and 90's duds. You can neatly bookend the best of this band up to and including "Disintegration".

I was born in 1973 and I approve this post.

Robert Smith guest presents the John Peel Show tonight 11pm - 1am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/index.shtml

you can listen live via the web stream.

-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), March 26th, 2001

?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Smashing Pumpkins - '1979' - (Hut)
The Cure - 'Desperate Journalist' - (Fiction)
Joy Division - 'She's Lost Control' - (Strange Fruit)
The Pixies - 'Monkey's Gone To Heaven' - (4AD)
Led Zeppelin - 'Communication Breakdown' - (Atlantic)
The Deftones - 'Minerva' - (Sire)
Cranes - 'Jewel' - (Wergo)
Nirvana - 'Heart Shaped Box' - (Geffen)
David Bowie - 'Saturday Night' - (EMI)
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - 'Swampsnake' - (Mercury)
Mogwai - 'Killing All The Flies' - (PIAS)
Tricky - 'Moody' - (Epitaph)
Placebo - 'The Bitter End' - (Virgin)
The Beatles - 'Eleanor Rigby' - (Apple)
The Rolling Stones - 'Paint it Black' - (Decca)
Janis Ian - 'Tea and Sympathy' - (Sony)
Thin Lizzy - 'Don't Believe A Word' - (Warners)
The Clash - 'White Riot' - (Sony)
AFI - 'Girl's Not Grey' - (Nitro)
Blink 182 - 'Down' - (Island)
The Cocteau Twins - 'Lorelei' - (4AD)
My Bloody Valentine - 'I Only Said' - (Sony)
Sneaker Pimps - 'Low Place Like Home' - (One Little Indian)
Tom Waits - 'Looking for The Heart of Saturday Night' - (Anti/Epitaph)
Supergrass - 'Alright' - (Parlophone)
The Cooper Temple Clause - 'New Toys' - (RCA)
Scarling - 'Crispin Glover' - (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Interpol - 'NYC' - (Matador)
Jimi Hendrix - 'Are You Experienced' - (MCA)

Underworld 9.5/10 [they mixed things up, had some special mixes, plus had the buzz of the chat room, and added humour]
Siouxsie Sioux 7/10 [Siouxsie came across as a broadcasting professional, in control, measured - however i expected some more fun like when she was on 6 Music roundtable]
Robert Smith 6.0/10 [too many predictable choices, reminds me of guest slot hour on Xfm]

siouxie had a patch where she was talking under something rather than over it. but nice enough. didn't like her question answering session.

underworld sounded a lot like the 3am comedy strand at times (which is itself worth a listen)

?!?!?!?!?!?!?

-- manthony m1cc1o (anthonyisrigh...), October 21st, 2004.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

** The new release dates are 29th November 2004 worldwide and December 7th in the U.S. on Rhino **

The Cure's debut album from 1979 has now been elevated to the Deluxe Edition series.

Compiled by Robert Smith and Digitally Remastered by Chris Blair at Abbey Road, this 2 CD set is a must for all Cure fans as it contains 6 Previously Unreleased songs and 15 tracks on CD for the very first time! The 16-page booklet has sleevenotes by Johnny Black plus rare and previously
unseen photographs from Robert Smith's personal archive.

DISC 1 - Three Imaginary Boys

01. 10:15 SATURDAY NIGHT
02. ACCURACY
03. GRINDING HALT
04. ANOTHER DAY
05. OBJECT
06. SUBWAY SONG
07. FOXY LADY
08. MEATHOOK
09. SO WHAT
10. FIRE IN CAIRO
11. IT'S NOT YOU
12. THREE IMAGINARY BOYS
13. THE WEEDY BURTON

DISC 2 - Rarities 1977-1979

01. I Want To Be Old (sav studio demo 10/77 - previously unreleased song) (@)
02. I'm Cold (sav studio demo 11/77 - previously unreleased version) (@)
03. Heroin Face (live in the rocket, crawley 12/77 - previously available on 'curiosity' mc 1984) (@)
04. I Just Need Myself (psl studio demo 1/78 - previously unreleased song) (@)
05. 10:15 Saturday Night (rs home demo 2/78 - previously unreleased version)
06. The Cocktail Party (group home demo 3/78 - previously unreleased song) (@)
07. Grinding Halt (group home demo 4/78 - previously unreleased version) (@)
08. Boys Don't Cry (chestnut studio demo 5/78 - previously available on 'curiosity' mc 1984)
09. It's Not You (chestnut studio demo 5/78 - previously unreleased version)
10. 10:15 Saturday Night (chestnut studio demo 5/78 - previously unreleased version)
11. Fire In Cairo (chestnut studio demo 5/78 - previously unreleased version)
12. Winter ('tib' studio out-take 10/78 - previously unreleased song)
13. Faded Smiles (aka I Don't Know) ('tib' studio out-take 10/78 - previously unreleased song)
14. Play With Me ('tib' studio out-take 10/78 - previously unreleased song)
15. World War (on early copies of 'boys don't cry' album 1979)
16. Boys Don't Cry (single - also on 'boys don't cry' album 1979)
17. Jumping Someone Else's Train (single - also on 'boys don't cry' album 1979)
18. Subway Song (live in nottingham 10/79 - previously available on 'curiosity' mc 1984)
19. Accuracy (live in nottingham 10/79 - previously unreleased version)
20. 10:15 Saturday Night (live in nottingham 10/79 - previously unreleased version)

the bastards are gonna make me buy their whole fucking back catalogue again aren't they? gah...

No 'Plastic Passion' either, come to think of it :-/

On the plus side 'though, if I were to buy this, I would finally get to own "World War", after having spent the last 24 years quietly seething with self-righteous wounded indignation about the injustice of having apparently been expected to pay import prices to buy the Boys Don't Cry album, just to get that one track, when I already owned every single other track on the album, several of them more than once.

I may just decide that I'd prefer to carry on sulking about it 'though - I really haven't decided yet.

Never say I don't do anything for you, Baaderonixxx:

http://www.siouxsieandthebanshees.co.uk/

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - DOWNSIDE UP
B SIDES AND RARITIES - 4 CD BOX SET
Released: 29th November 2004

34 Tracks on CD for the first time including The Thorn EP.
76 Page booklet with an introduction by Siouxsie
Full track annotation by all 3 band members
Full lyrics for all b-sides printed for the first time
Sleevenotes by Mark Paytress

Disc One
01: Voices ( 5.33 )
02: 20th Century Boy ( 1.58 )
03: Pulled To Bits ( 3.24 )
04: Mettagiesen ( 4.00 )
05: Drop Dead Celebration ( 4.24 )
06: Eve White Eve Black ( 3.03 )
07: Red Over White ( 4.34 )
08: Follow The Sun ( 2.47 )
09: Snap Dash Snap ( 3.40 )
10: Supernatural Thing ( 4.24 )
11: Congo Conga ( 4.13 )
12: Coal Mind ( 3.31 )
13: We Fall ( 3.38 )
14: Cannibal Roses ( 4.29 )
15: Obsession Ii ( 3.52 )
16: A Sleeping Rain ( 4.18 )
17: Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant ( 2.33 )

Disc Two
01: Tattoo ( 3.29 )
02: There's A Planet In My Kitchen ( 5.22 )
03: Let Go ( 3.36 )
04: The Humming Wires ( 4.22 )
05: I Promise ( 4.38 )
06: Throw Them To The Lions ( 4.50 )
07: The Execution ( 3.50 )
08: The Quarterdrawing Of The Dog ( 4.54 )
09: Lullaby ( 3.32 )
10: Umbrella ( 4.13 )
11: Shooting Sun ( 4.44 )
12: Sleepwalking ( On High Wire ) ( 5.10 )
13: She Cracked ( 3.07 )
14: She's A Cuckoo ( 4.15 )
15: Something Blue ( 3.55 )
16: The Whole Price Of Blood ( 3.53 )
17: Mechanical Eyes ( 3.36 )

Disc Three
01: False Face ( 2.51 )
02: Catwalk ( 4.57 )
03: Something Wicked ( This Way Comes ) ( 4.20 )
04: Are You Stil Dying Darling ( 4.44 )
05: El Dia De Los Muertos ( 3.38 )
06: Sunless ( 4.26 )
07: Staring Back ( 3.16 )
08: Return ( 5.02 )
09: Spiral Twist ( 3.55 )
10: Sea Of Light ( 4.35 )
11: I Could Be Again ( 4.30 )
12: Hothead ( 3.30 )
13: B Side Ourselves ( 3.47 )
14: Swimming Horses ( 4.41 )
15: All Tomorrows Parties ( 6.12 )
16: Hang Me High ( 6.05 )
17: Black Sun ( 3.10 )

Disc Four - The Thorn E.P.
01: Overground ( 3.52 )
02: Voices ( 5.25 )
03: Placebo Effect ( 4.36 )
04: Red Over White ( 5.43 )