Monday, March 20, 2017

Presence - Inside - 1992

I never knew that Lol Tolhurst had been literally "fired" from the Cure for drugs and alcohol.  How do you get "fired" from a band?  Does Fat Bob exercise that much control over the comings and goings of the group?  Must be so...

Once Lol left the band, then, he formed this new group called Presence.  Listening to it, I am reminded of Kiss Me and Disintegration with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds on vocals. And, as I said, I am just REMINDED of this, not that it sounds exactly like any of that. Just very familiar.  The songs are all well written and well performed, and it's a quite enjoyable piece to listen to.  But, it's not revolutionary, it's not even risky.  It's very safe and conservative.  And, for a 1992 release, it sounds really dated.  It's a sound and style that would have worked in 1986 or 1987, but by 1992 everything had changed.  It's too bad,really, as this could have been Lol's time to really show Robert that the Cure wasn't all about him.  But, I guess it was.  It's still a pretty good album, I don't mind listening to it.  And, as a link to the Cure, I'll always have it.

This is one of the two covers that they released for the album.  This was the good cover.  The other one was ugly and amateurish.    In 2011 they released an "expanded" version, but they were missing a track, and I didn't like their arrangement.  So, this is mine....


4 comments:

  1. The Cure shot themselves in the foot firing LOL. He was a good foil to Robert Smith, that and with the departure of Porl Thompson after Wish, The Cure was not really The Cure anymore. A bit like New Order is not the same without Peter Hook. However these guys are in their personal lives is one thing, but what they add to the band, really adds an ingredient that is hard to replicate.

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  2. Hi, do you have the Closer album of Presence? Thanks

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