The Cure: Classic or Dud?

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Omar raised this question in the "Why are you here?" thread. I put it forth to you all. Were Robert Smith and his ever-changing band musical giants or giant whiners?

― Dan Perry, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

both

― , Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

DUD

― Tom, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Dan, thanks for taking the load of my back. ;) So yeah Dud of course. Classic case of crap voice. The music is nothing special. Occasional decent single like 'A Forrest' but for the rest, it's Fat Bob innit? But I'm interested in how Ned is going to explain to us the appeal of The Cure (no, really!).

― Omar, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Sorry Tom? I didn't quite hear that. Classic, anyway. I don't claim to be their biggest fan, but listening to things like the Boys Don't Cry and Disintegration albums, the good stuff outweighs the duller moments quite comfortably.

― Ally C, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Absolutely classic in almost every conceivable way. The effortless switches from pop-punk squalling to moody atmospherics to venomous pathos to synth-pop typified by their output from '79 through '83 are impressive enough, but the fact that they went on to create pop masterpieces like _The Head On The Door_, _Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me_ and _Wish_ while retaining enough of their darkness to produce _Disintegration_ and _Bloodflowers_ makes them an essential band of the 80's and 90's. Even their lesser efforts have worthy moments (ie, "Want", "Treasure", "Jupiter Crash", "Trap", and "Gone!" from _Wild Mood Swings_, "Shake Dog Shake", "Piggy In The Mirror", "The Top" from _The Top_). And their remix album is pure money.

Anything to add, Ned?

― Dan Perry, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Classic, I 'spose. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but _Disintegration_ is very close indeed (overblown rock histrionics done flawlessly; luckily Smith doesn't whine on it much). Funny how so many of the criticisms of the band you hear refer to the concept of "Fat Bob"; in fact I'd say a lot of the attitudes towards British bands and artists on ILM seem to be heavily influenced by the media's portrayal of them.

― Tim, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

The Cure represented the finest of what the Euro art rock had to offer during the 80s. They were more majestic than Depeche Mode and less metallic than the cult. Classic in my book

― Luptune Pitman, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Forgive me...as I'm relatively new to this forum, I have a hard time with these polar extremes: ('classic'versus'dud'). In the case of the Cure, I couldn't say either term applies (although one could certainly tag them to individual Cure albums). Like many bands cited around here, the Cure have changed styles in as many albums, playing everything from funereal dirges through spritely, radio-friendly pop ditties and much inbetween. I'm not saying they're a "something for eveyone" band, but musically, they've been hard to pin-down. The one strike against them, however (beyond their tonsorial problems) would be Robert's inimitably distinctive (is that a repetitious statement? like "luminous glow" or "alien outworlder") voice, which is so firmly rooted in their 80's heyday. Even if the band were to put out a radically avant-garde album of the most cutting-edge styles and sounds conceivable, the second Robert opened his mouth and let out his signature wobbly warble, it'd be the old "oh, it's the Cure again." And if you can't get beyond his voice, then there's no point in ever purchasing a Cure album, regardless of era and/or particular incarnation. That said, I think they're a marvellously diverse singles band, but I could certainly see why some would avoid them like the plauge (ho ho, pardon the pun, Camus fans). Sorry, I'll shut up now. - Alex in NYC

― Alex in NYC, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

classic. 'charlotte sometimes' is one of my favourite songs ever. each record up to and including disintegration is worth owning and even the one after disintegration is not horrible. i have no interest in them now but robert smith's guitar sound is far more influential than he gets credit for. without robert smith there would likely not be a roy montgomery, at least not in his current guise and that would be a devastating tragedy at least for myself.

― keith, Monday, 26 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

What seems to predomine here is "I'm not actively into them NOW, but I spent the first half of my teens with the Cure on my walkman". At least I did. I believe this means classic.

― Simon, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Re: classic or dud polarisation.

The idea is to encourage people to be forthright in their opinion but it's not a vote or anything. It's a catchier way of saying "what do you think of this band?"

Cheers!

(PS: Dud. A couple of the singles are nice musically, even very good, but they have Smith's horrible smeared moan over the top of them. He sounds like a fourteen-year-old with a splinter in his toe: there's something wheedling about his voice which makes me want to smack him and tell him to get a grip rather than empathise with him.)

― Tom, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Classic. Part of my yoof, you see. I've whiled away many an unhappy evening in the company of 'Faith' and 'Seventeen Seconds'!

Seriously.. though it seems the norm to slag 'em off these days, it's amazing just how much good stuff they have done. 'Boy's Don't Cry'/'3 Imaginary Boys' is a great debut, whichever version you have. Scratchy wired glum-pop. In fact it's all classic up to 'The Top', their first major clunker.

'Head on the Door' is great pop. 'Kiss Me X3' is also great pop ('Just Like Heaven'), except where they try too hard to make great pop and fail ('Hot, Hot, Hot'). 'Disintegration' is their last great album. But not pop. No problem.

My last encounter with The Cure was 'Wild Mood Swings'. I swung my copy back from whence it came - Record and Tape Exchange. Still, 'Galore' sums up the later years nicely.

Anyway I like old Bob, a pop man at heart even in his gloomiest moments.

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

I think I've been asked for at least twice in this thread already. ;-)

Classic. And if you disagree with me I'll shove all twenty or so CDRs of rare and odd stuff I have of theirs down your throat and kill you. *proceeds to light candles to huge _Disintegration_ poster in room*

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Classique. They have enough great tunes and came up with some pretty original sounds. I like how they continually evolve, even if some of their evolution has produced some crap music. I could still listen to "Jumping Someone Else's Train" repeatedly after all these years. I heard some of their last record and it was really bad though. And kill that "Friday I'm in Love" dung, boys! But for the most part, great stuff.

― Tim Baier, Tuesday, 27 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Classic, though their most recent stuff sucks.

The Cure are a band who, like Depeche Mode and a number of others of that ilk, should have just hung it up on December 31, 1989. Their glory days were in the 1980s, Disintegration should have been their last album. It would have been a perfect ending. Instead, they chose to put out three subpar releases in the 1990s. While Bloodflowers was a definite improvement over Wild Mood Swings (did *anyone* like that album?) and Wish (which came out at the peak of my Cure fandom and still disappointed me), it still wasn't close to the material they released during the 1980s.

Yeah, some of their stuff is whiny and pretentious. But I think they manage to pull it off reasonably well, and I think the whininess and the pretentiousness will make them staples of every sad-sack high school kid for the next thirty years, whether they continue to release new albums or not. (And hopefully they won't, judging from the poor quality of their most recent albums--I think that the more bad stuff they release, the less "legendary" they'll become.)

By the way, I *was* a teenage goth girl. I was also an early-20s goth girl. I own a velvet and lace cape and little pointy boots and black lipstick. Heh.

― Nanette, Wednesday, 28 March 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

Nanette, I'd argue that _Wish_ is a very underrated album. Its mood is radically different from _Disintegration_, which is one thing that I think threw people off when it came out. I, for one, really dig the snarlier tone of "Open", "Cut", "FTEOTDGS", and "End" and their juxtaposition with more contemplative "Apart", "Trust", and "To Wish Impossible Things". _Wish_ also has "High", which I consider to be the last truly great pop song that the Cure did.

_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 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

one month passes...

I'm in sympathy with the way that the 'classic' brigade have articulated that they love the band even though they can see their sillinesses, repetitions and limitations. Possibly a lot of pop love is of this kind.

― the pinefox, Saturday, 28 April 2001 00:00 (eighteen years ago) Permalink

one year passes...

The Cure are damned by having so many annoying fans.

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 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Dud. Possibly something worthwhile beyond Smith's vocals, but I can't get past them.

― DeRayMi, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I've had a love/hate relationship with The Cure that had long since given way to indifference. but recently I've listened again to Robert Smith's 1983 collaboration album with Steve Severin - The Glove is great! (probably like how I'd rather listen to the Andy Partridge solo album Take Away/Lure Of Salvage than most XTC.)

as with many Cure detractors, Bob's voice and self-pity usually get to me. still have fond memories of Seventeen Seconds and Faith but I also enjoy some later stuff where twisted humour, all of Pornography, or tenderness, "The Upstairs Room" and "Birdmadgirl", balance out the self-loathing and sappiness.

the Laurence Tolhurst abuse didn't help Robert Smith's case (and John McGeoch was a better Banshee).
― Paul, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

stop

― Paul, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

The Cure are fucking appalling. As someone else already keenly observed - a classic case of having a fucking awful voice. I mean I don't mind some of the musicianship but fatboy Smith is such a twat. Really.

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 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Actually, I think it's that the boring protestations of those who don't 'get' the music always have to be matched by those who emphatically do. One defines the other ..

― Dare, Monday, 29 July 2002 00:00 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Not at all, Paul. There's something about The Cure and The Preachers that triggers fervour of a disturbing religiosity in people's heads, well, in my experience anyway. And if you wanna put that to the test, gently question a more avid fan and watch them twist like they was shackled to the cross.

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 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

two months pass...

If i brooded around and had a aweful voice, would i be as good as the cure, which coincidently, isnt even good to begin with

DUD

― Hayward, Thursday, 3 October 2002 02:11 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Oddly enough, I've never really sought out their albums; I'm sure I'll get around to it, but I'm pretty sure they'll always be available... Pretty much all of their singles, though, are flat-out amazing - how could they not be classic?

― Clarke B., Thursday, 3 October 2002 04:37 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

The albums are SO WORTH IT, Clarke.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 3 October 2002 11:13 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Quite.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 3 October 2002 23:38 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

hmmmmmmm .............
dud

― donna (donna), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:02 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I'm exactly like Clarke. Always loved what I heard, but only own 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'... Last year I told a friend of mine that the reason for this is because I pretty much know that I'll like them and am just 'saving it'. Is this like some weird Cure phenomena?

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 01:39 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I LOVE THE CURE. They fill a niche that no other band does. From the acutely depresso Pornography stuff to the silly dance stuff to the haunting gothy Faith stuff to the blatant sunshine pop... they've done all this convincingly and well. Did they invent the drugged up goofy romantic miserable goth ecstatic giddy thing?

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 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Where to start, Ned and Dan? I'm thinking _Pornography_, but some of their _Disintegration_-era stuff kills me (esp. "Lovesong").

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 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

In your place I'd start with 17 Seconds, Clarke. It has their greatest song on it, "A Forest" and I find it the darkest and most powerful of their records. A lot of their stuff didn't age too well (even Disintegration), but this record definitely stood the test of time.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 4 October 2002 07:03 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I wouldn't go for _Pornography_ first; I think I'd get _Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me_ and the cassette version of _Standing On A Beach_ in order to get the b-sides.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 11:04 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Classic until "Stranding on a Beach" came out, after which they descended into the depths of self-parody.

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:37 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I kinda saved them also, Kim - owned the two singles compilations for years before actually buying my first proper album (Disintegration) just this year. Though I do like it, it hasn't swayed me into snatching up the others yet. Maybe in another four years I'll get another one.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Friday, 4 October 2002 17:51 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

They fill(ed?) a niche no one else did (which I usually characterize as "Harlequin romance rock") and they did a perfectly accomplished and unique job of it most of the time but it's not one I care to listen to much at all. I can play Pornography maybe a couple times per year and it's sometimes nice to hear the singles on the radio but overall there's not a big connection. And I couldn't imagine sitting through a whole album of stuff like "In Between Days" or "Let's Go to Bed". The singles comp (Staring At the Sea?) is probably as much as I'd need of that. I'd buy Disintegration if I thought I'd ever listen to it. Wish and Wild Mood Swings were awful.

― sundar subramanian, Friday, 4 October 2002 18:32 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I honestly cannot comprehend how _Wish_ is AWFUL.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:34 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

the cure were/are one of the best bands for dancing to whilst only wearing underwear...hopefully not by yourself...

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 4 October 2002 18:47 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Ok, I'm a liar. I totally forgot that I also had 'Standing on a Beach' on cassette - played it to death. I don't have it anymore though. I think my brother "borrowed" it and never gave it back! Ooooh...that little...

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:39 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

I like just like heaven, I'm going to get Kiss me times 3.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:43 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

classic classic classic and why should you not dance to the cure in underwear by yourself! unless you are wearing the underwear out to the goth dance club, of course.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:44 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Have you ever been to a goth dance club? Underwear as outerwear is pretty much de rigeur.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:48 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Clarke, start with Disintegration first, and then try Seventeen Seconds and then Pornography. I've argued elsethread about this already so I won't go into the details here...just click the link, cause there's a lot of other good talk there anyhow.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:55 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

Pretend that there's a smiley at the end of my last post. I sound like a meanie otherwise.

― Kim (Kim), Friday, 4 October 2002 20:57 (sixteen years ago) Permalink

ten months pass...

"And yet Robert Smith - the Chatterton of Crawley - had created if not a wall of sound then a very high hedge of sound, over which he seemed to peer at the world like a boy who couldn't be bothered to ask for his ball back."

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 (fifteen years ago) Permalink

"Join the Dots" (B Sides and rarities) is out on October 21st. I presume it'll have the much talked about Cassette b sides from Standing on a Beach on it, but does anyone know that actual tracklisting is?

― flowersdie (flowersdie), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 09:05 (fifteen years ago) Permalink

Hopefully it'll have the stuff off "curiosity", too. And that soundtrack they did.

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 (fifteen years ago) Permalink

Hopefully it'll have the stuff off "curiosity", too. And that soundtrack they did.

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 (fifteen years ago) Permalink

Skipping 1186 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

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

― steven, soda jerk (sic), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 08:52 (one month ago) Permalink

called them a tribute band or something on Instagram

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 10:16 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― ufo, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 11:43 (one month ago) Permalink

oh nvm i misread that because i'm tired lol

― ufo, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 11:44 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 11:44 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 11:46 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 14:04 (one month ago) Permalink

complaining is fun!

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 14:11 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 14:30 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 14:34 (one month ago) Permalink

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.)

― steven, soda jerk (sic), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 16:20 (one month ago) Permalink

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?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 16:37 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 16:42 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 00:06 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 00:18 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 00:19 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 00:50 (one month ago) Permalink

*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.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 01:12 (one month ago) Permalink

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).

― blokes you can't rust (sic), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 01:48 (one month ago) Permalink

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.👍🏻

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 03:55 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 04:41 (one month ago) Permalink

Jeanette Landray

― GDPR vs GAPDY (DJP), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 08:20 (one month ago) Permalink

Caroline Crawley

― blokes you can't rust (sic), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 08:46 (one month ago) Permalink

Alison Shaw?

― rip van wanko, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 10:53 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 11:22 (one month ago) Permalink

Most of them?

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 11:26 (one month ago) Permalink

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)

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 11:43 (one month ago) Permalink

Yeah, this is nitpicky.

― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 11:44 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 18:39 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Duke, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 18:48 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 18:55 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― blokes you can't rust (sic), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 19:46 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― GDPR vs GAPDY (DJP), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 21:24 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 21:38 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 22:08 (one month ago) Permalink

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

― GDPR vs GAPDY (DJP), Wednesday, 3 April 2019 22:16 (one month ago) Permalink

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.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 April 2019 23:41 (one month ago) Permalink

one month passes...

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.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Wednesday, 8 May 2019 04:05 (two weeks ago) Permalink

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

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

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:49 (one week ago) Permalink

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.

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:51 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― Bee OK, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:52 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 03:09 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 08:10 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― DJI, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 17:25 (one week ago) Permalink

More than a few of us.

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

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 18:26 (one week ago) Permalink

(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.)

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 18:27 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― alomar lines, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 20:25 (one week ago) Permalink

Email campaign to get Ferry to cover "Sinking."

― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 20:27 (one week ago) Permalink

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?

― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 20:39 (one week ago) Permalink

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

― DJI, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:15 (one week ago) Permalink

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