Cure - The Top - 1984

Sorry about missing Tuesday's post.  I got busy on Sunday getting ready to leave for the week and didn't have time to post.  Hopefully, the extra post I made today will make up for that.

Of all of the Cure albums pre-2000, this is probably my least favorite.  Dressing Up is good, Caterpillar is good, and the b-sides aren't too bad.  But, I could never really grasp the rest of the songs.  They just didn't do it for me.  The melodies were chaotic and unattractive, the mixing wasn't the best, and the track arrangement left a lot to be desired.

I had this one on cassette forever before I finally got it on CD.  It was the last Cure album I purchased on CD when I was converting my collection (probably 1995).  I only got it on CD to complete my digital Cure set.  So sad.

When the deluxe sets came out, I was hoping for some better material hiding in the bonus disc.  But, alas, not hardly anything we didn't already have.  I mean, what sort of title is Sadacic?  How do you even pronounce it?  You Stayed... wasn't a bad track, but the rest of the material was weak.

This collection eliminates the demos of the album tracks and intermixes the b-side and unreleased song demos into the actual album, in a sad attempt to fix it.  Doesn't help.

Cure - The Top - 1984

Don't forget the bonus post, just below this one!

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987

Tonight's second show is a grand one that I would've given my left gonad to see.  When this tour hit, and they came through Chicago, I was living there at the time and remember a bunch of kids at school going to see them.  I remember the girls coming back the next day with their concert Ts on, and their hair all ratted up and the dark eyeliner practically dripping from their eyes.  I wasn't the HUGE fan of them like I am now, and chose to see other shows that year, based on what my friends wanted to see, really.  Now, I look back and kick myself.

This is a great recording of a great show.  There's enough concert hall echo in the soundboard recording to make it feel like you're really there.  They all play in excellent form, and Robert is chipper and talkative.

I know the cover of Kiss Me3 is of Robert's lips and eye, but I found these pics in HD and had to use them, they looked so good.  Of course, I had to do a lot of adjusting of colors and whatnot, but I think I got it to match up with the album pretty good.

Also, you will note this recording is 1 1/2 hours long, more than will fit on one disc, but I only made one cover.  I did it like this, as it's tough to decide where to split the track listing, and also a lot of you have said that you simply encode the jpg graphic to the Mp3 file.  If you feel the need to burn it off and make a case, just split the album wherever you desire and squeeze the two discs into one case.  Simple enough.

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987 - Pt 1 

Cure - Live in Brussels - 1987 - Pt 2

 

Cure - Head On the Door - 1985

So with Disintegration being my favorite Cure album, followed by Kiss Me x 3, then Three Imaginary Boys...  I guess HOtD is my 4th favorite Cure album.  It would probably slip a place or two if I added in Mixed Up and Japanese Whispers, but those technically aren't albums.  As it is, when looking at the amount of work RS has released, being in 4th really isn't so bad.  Better than being 4:13 Dream, which came in dead-fucking last on my list.

Best songs on the album are In Between Days and Push, two absolute pop hook songs, and  A Night Like This.  The opening guitar cords on Push awaken younger feelings and times, that almost seem like long lost friends coming back to visit.  There's always a sense of forlorn and loss when I listen to this album, and I don't know why.  Maybe because I loved being a teen, and now that's all gone......

Worst song on the album is Close To Me.  Don't know why I feel this way, but I can't stand it.  Don't like it now, didn't like it then, won't like it tomorrow, either.

I redid this "Deluxe" version, as the official version had too many live tracks and home demos on the bonus disc, and not a single remix or b-side.  Is he serious?!  Really?  Come on, Robert.  Half that crap no one really cares about, and you didn't even add anything extra on the album disc, either.  So, I added the b-sides and mixes, and a few of the STUDIO demos, to make it more worthwhile.  What I have here is definitely more in line with what I wanted/expected from a deluxe version.

The two demos I included - Lime Time and Mansolidgone - are definitely period, and would have sounded good on the album.  Obviously, Lime Time (fabulous name) shared lyrics with Inbetween Days and seemed a tad too cheerful for the actual album.  Mansolidgone (stupid name) was also a little too cheerful for the album, but also could have changed the face of the album all together.  It sounds like a precursor to a Kiss Me track, reminding me a little of Hot x 3 and WCIBY?  Both are great demos, just wish the lyrics and melodies had been filled out a little bit more.  But, that's why they're demos, I guess.

Cure - Head On the Door - 1985

Untitled - A Compilation

This is the track listing from the very first time I sat down to make a real mixtape.  I was probably 18 or 19, and had dabbled with taping my favorite songs off of the radio or other tapes.  But those other tapes were cobbled together with no rhyme or reason, just a hodge podge of miscellaneous tracks that I had put onto tape so I could listen to them in my Walkman when I was out.  I mean, you can't very well take a record player out with you.

At the time I made this tape, you can look at the track listing and see that a lot of fantastic material had been released pretty much all at once.  I had my favorite tracks from every album release by these artists, and I wanted to listen to them all, without having to haul 10-12 tapes/CDs around with me, trading them out as each track ended.  So, I pulled my favorites, and sat listening to them, then arranging them in a way that sounded good.  Back then, you didn't have any music on your computer (if you even had a computer), so it wasn't like you could load the tracks in your WinAmp and hit shuffle.  No, this was a very careful and deliberate process that took a while for me to come up with the right arrangement.

I made the tape, though, and used it in my car, listened to it while I mowed the yard, and played it when I went to friends' houses.  It was pretty good.

I've rearranged some of the tracks as years have gone by - only added the Ian McCulloch about 1998 and traded the Cocteau Twins track from Heaven Or Las Vegas to Dials (and then plugged it on the end of the mix).  But, as for the rest, this is the same setup I made back in 1990-91.  And, I still listen to it about every other month or so, to this day.  To me, this comp represents the best these groups had to offer, at the peak of their popularity.  Every song is quintessential to what these groups/artists are.  They are all lush, romantic, and full of emotion.  They are perfectly written, and perfectly performed.

To this day, I still don't have a name for this collection.  It's still, to this very moment, Untitled.  But, to me, that might be the best way of describing it, too.

Untitled

Cure - Kiss Me Remixes - 1987

As Fiction, Elektra and Rhino began releasing the Deluxe versions of the Cure albums, I fervently anticipated the arrival of Kiss Me x 3.  This is the album, as I've said in my first Kiss Me x3 post, that was my "life" during 87 and 88.  It was and still is BY FAR my favorite Cure album.  So much of my soul is in all of those songs, and so much of those songs are in my soul.

When they finally released the Deluxe version, I felt a distinct tinge of disappointment, as the bonus disc didn't have any remixes, and there were no new, un-heard-of tracks, and the only additional material was demos of songs we had already heard.  Despite, I still anxiously listened to the bonus material, hoping to find something new and wonderful to pull me back in.  But, there really wasn't.

The bonus disc from Rhino is ultimately a disappointment.  First, in my opinion, as stated in the last couple of posts, I despise live tracks unless they are part of the entire concert.  None of these hit and miss bastards.  The bonus disc had six separate tracks from four different shows.  WHY?!  That's just dumb.  Second, all of the rest of the tracks were "demos" and "guide vocals".  They may as well just have been labeled instrumentals, because that's all they were.

I've arranged here today the missing "third disc" that many have mentioned before.  I've included all of the remixes from the singles and b-sides.  I've included alternate mixes, and then finally the To the Sky remix.  Yes, I've included some of the tracks from the original bonus disc, to flesh this one out, and cut out the unnecessary.  This is what the second disc should have been, in my opinion.

I hope this one fits up snugly against the Album set I posted some time ago.  It completes that Kiss Me era, but I still have a few shows from the Kissing Tour that may yet make it here....

The Kiss Me Remixes

Cure - Faith - 1981

SO, nothing completely unique or spectacular about this post.  Just doing what's right for the album.  On their deluxe disc set, disc two was almost entirely unnecessary as the few tracks that were actually needed, could have fit on the first disc.  And, I eliminated Carnage Visors from this release, as well.  There are a couple tracks from the deluxe disc that needed to be added, and the b-sides to the singles.  I put Charlotte Sometimes on it for good measure, to give the single a home.

To me, this is an essential Cure album, but it is also something that is not necessarily breath-taking or earth-shattering.  It's just another Post Punk/Gothic staple that has several great tracks, with great performances by all.  What more could you want?

Anyway, rearranging the living room tonight with the wife, so I'm lucky I had the time to post this.  And remember...  Techno/Rave Week starts on Monday!!!!!!!!

Cure - Faith - 1981

Cure - Wild Mood Swings - 1996

Again with the dumbass watermarks.  Can't stand that shit.

SO, here's the first album in which Robert Smith started to lose it.  This is where I decided that maybe the Cure would be better off releasing EPs for the rest of their careers rather than releasing albums.  There are quite a few good tracks on this album, but I also noticed that a lot of the b-sides were better than some of the album tracks.  In fact, my favorite song from these album sessions is the b-side It Used To Be Me - Best ever song.

Anyway, this album came out shortly before my wife and I got married.  I was really excited, because I really liked Wish (but not as much as Disintegration and Kiss Me3 and HOtD) so I was anticipating a great new experience with this.  The opening track kicks ass, Club America seemed okay, but a little weird lyrically, and then it started falling apart around The 13th.  That song really really sucks.  Can't stand it.  It wanders in and out for most of the album, then, with the occasional obligatory "smash hit" pop song like Mint Car.  But, then it closes weakly.

I knew then, that the era of Cure greatness had passed us by.

I've added the bonus track Ching Chang Chong (Which people had mistaken for a Bloodflowers demo) and it seems to help things a little.  I had to mix the b-sides into the album, just to try and salvage it.  As I said, the b-sides seemed better than the album tracks, so I hope that having them interspersed will help things.  You be the judge.

All being said, it IS the Cure, so I can't help but collect it and listen to it, and even love it a bit.  It just wasn't as good as I thought it should've been.  But, who am I to judge.

Also, extra disc of mixes...  See you all tomorrow.

Disc One
I accidentally zipped an incomplete recording of
Ching Chang Chong
so use this one...

Disc Two 

Mix Disc 

The Cure - Japanese Whispers - Extended Edition - 1983

As the second of four awesome posts in a row, I've chosen my own version of Japanese Whispers by the Cure.

There's nothing worse than getting a "album" and finding out that it's only 28 minutes long, it's a collection of previously released singles, and not all of the materiel from those singles was included.  I mean, this is BARELY an EP in it's original form.  There were no new tracks, not all of the b-sides were included, and none of the remixes were included.

Well, I fixed that.  NOW, you have all the singles, all the b-sides, all the remixes, a previously unreleased song, and even a remix by Dreamtime.  I've more than doubled the amount of materiel on the disc!  NOW it's an album/compilation worth having.

I find this time in Robert's life to be the most innovative time of his career.  He pulled away from his Punk/Gothic sound, and truly became Post Punk.  This is about the time when the make-up started showing up as well.  He broke the formulas of song-writing that he'd previously been using and started writing music that was not only all over the spectrum, but also pushed the experimental boundaries of what was considered "masculine" music.  He wrote music that was true to himself and no other.  And no better way than by himself, as that was what most of this album was.  I think at most the band was a three-piece.

Every song on here is a classic Cure track.  I like all of them except for Speak My Language and Lovecats.  Yeah, I said it.  I don't care for Lovecats.  Is that wrong?  Dreamtime's mix of The Walk is superb, as always.  The flexi-pop of LaMent is terrific, and I really can't tell the difference between the Lovecats remix and the original mix.  Maybe I'm missing something....

Have fun with this one, and I'll see you tomorrow with another great album...

The Cure - Japanese Whispers - Extended Edition - 1983

The Glove - Blue Sunshine - 1983

This was the post I originally intended for yesterday.  Sorry it's late, but what can I say?  It was beyond my control.

As I grew ever more and more fond of the Cure in the late 80s and early 90s, I started to accumulate as much material as I could lay my hands on.  I didn't find The Glove until 1992, and even then it was only on cassette.  I hate to say it, but I thought it sucked.  Sucked HARD.  The two Robert songs were great, but I couldn't stand their vocalist.  Still to this day she really turns me off.

So, when they released the deluxe set with the RS Demos on the bonus disc, I was ecstatic.  Overjoyed.  Thrilled.  I listened to it like it was a lost Cure album.  Well, essentially, that's what it was, to be honest.  Yeah, Severin was good in his own right, but IMO, nothing compares to Fat Bob.  If that makes some Banshee lovers out there mad, I'm unapologetic about it.

In a comparison side-by-side playing of the original album, and the RS vocal album, it's surprising how different they sound.  It's amazing what a difference can be made just by switching up the vocalists.

So, on my version, I kept all the Smith vocal tracks.  I cut out all the original release tracks and remixes.  I left the b-sides, and anything on which Robert sang.  I used a single sleeve as the cover, and here you have a beautiful "New Wave" looking album with all of the goodness, and none of the bad.

I wish I could've been Robert, he was so cool back then.  Now, though, eew!  Sorry, Bob, but you is fat and scary looking.  You look like Aughra from the Dark Crystal.  Time to retire.  It's best to have burnt out than to fade away...

The Glove - Blue Sunshine - 1983

Cure - Wish - 1992 .... KEEP SCROLLING!!!!

Personally speaking, this was the Cure's last great album.  After this, the albums started to fall until Fat Bob jumped the shark with the 2004 self-titled album.

I had been in college for two years when this one came out.  It was apparent from the first play that they had gone all-out pop on this one, with the radio success they had from Disintegration.  Within the first measure of Friday I'm In Love, I knew it was a single, and I knew it was going to be popular.  I didn't really care for the cover art, as the last 4 albums had had some awesome manipulated photography cover art that really captured the mood of the albums.  This cover art was probably the first computer art that they used for their covers.  The logo was clever enough, and the typeface was nice, but the graphics were a joke and the color pallet was too plain. 

All of the music was tight, though.  I didn't care for A Letter To Elise, but I knew it was going to be a single as well.  The b-sides rocked, with A Foolish Arrangement being one of the best songs of the set.  The Saunders remix of High was great, the three-part ending of Cut, To Wish Impossible Things and End was epic.

All in all, this is a great album that you're going to thoroughly enjoy if you haven't heard it yet.  It's completely accessible to all audiences, and it will turn you into a Robert fan no matter what....

Cure - Wish - 1992 - Disc One

Cure - Wish - 1992 - Disc Two 

Now, for the completists, these are the additional tracks from the Lost Wishes tape, plus 3 demos that were recorded well enough to be a part of this set.

All of them are instrumental, and the Lost Wishes songs are actually rather good.  The additional three demos have definite structure, but you can tell why they weren't pursued any further than their current form.  But, if you've got to have it all, then you have to have these....

Cure - Lost Wishes - 1992

Finally, for shits and giggles, here's a show from the Wish Tour in 1992.  I've added the concert that Show should have been, but wasn't.  Mind you, I love the live footage of the concert, but the playlist was too predictable.  At least this show added a little more diversity.  

The complete show, with the entire encore and crowd noise, but it is a great audience recording and it feels like you are actually at the show. The last encore is probably the best part of the set.  The only thing that could have made it better, would a quality soundboard recording, but alas...  Great tracks, perfect performance, and 100% Cure.

For the cover, I was able to get one of their concert Ts to work out well enough for it.  I feel it worked rather well.

For those of you who don't care for live performances, I apologize, but this one is worth it.

Cure - Wish - Live 1992 - Disc One

Cure - Wish - Live 1992 - Disc Two

Cure - Live - 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990

Making my post early today, as I have stuff to do tonight.  I knew you probably wouldn't mind. 

Nothing much to say.  Today is "The Cure - Live" day.  4 concerts from four different tours in the 80s.  Soundboard or FM broadcast recordings. 

I'm not going to lie to you, these are shows that are freely available on other sites, and you may already have them.  But, they're some of my favorites, and I really wanted to redo the covers, because I've always hated most bootleg art.  It's readily apparent that whoever does them has no artistic ability, and at times they don't emulate the style and art of the particular era of the show, so the disc looks out of place on the shelf.  I've tried to fix that.

If you don't have these shows, I hope you enjoy them.  If you already have them, or don't like live recordings, all I can say is Tough Tittie.

1982 - France, Paris - Olympia

1984-05-09 - London

1986 - 06-21 Glastonbury

1990 - 04-08 Leipzig

Cure - The Cure - 2004

Truth Is (sic), I have no nostalgic memories or moments to share with you about this album.  Yes, I remember when it came out, and I remember how much I realized that Fat Bob had jumped the shark.  It was hailed as being the best work they'd done since Disintegration or something.  Yeah, right.  All I do remember is putting the disc in the car player and I started driving away and I was like "Oh, my god...  what crap."  I winced, I frowned, I shook my head, I quickly skipped to the next track.  Okay, Labyrinth is a good song, but....  I mean, he's got a song called Why Can't I Be Me, when 17 years earlier he was singing Why Can't I Be You?  There are conflicting messages throughout the album, as if he's trying to appeal to every teenage neurosis out there.  He's obviously grown up, but he wants to sing like he hasn't, and it shows.  And the cover art.  I'm sorry but what crap.

I had seen this coming, though.  When Wild Mood Swings came out, I had a little twitch.  Hmmm  what was that, Robert?  Then Bloodflowers shows up, and I am thinking, okay, there is definitely something wrong here.  Things had started to fall apart then.  I felt a little better after seeing them in St Louis that summer and they put on a kick-ass 3 hour show.  But, then this appeared, and I knew the show was over.

Yet, here I stand with an album and a half of materiel, chased down, gathered and arranged into one big set.  All the demos, b-sides and guest vocals.  I am definitely an obsessive/compulsive.  Or maybe I'm relentlessly hoping that one day........

I found a picture of a guy with this painting of Robert on the back of his leather coat.  What an AWESOME painting.  I had to Photoshop it a bit to get it to look more like a painting and less like an article of clothing, but I feel it worked out well.  Two discs, one cover.  Make it work...

I don't know, some people love Robert regardless of what he does, and maybe they will like this.  All I know, is that I feel sad for him when I listen to it.  And unfortunately, 4:13 wasn't much better.

For all the completists....  There you go.

Cure - The Cure - 2004 - Disc One

Cure - The Cure - 2004 - Disc Two

Cure - Three Imaginary Boys Don't Cry - 1977-1979

When introduced to the Cure, and listening to the Cure in the beginning, I always tended to stick with the Just Like Heaven/Let's Go To Bed/Lovecats/Inbetween Days sort of Cure songs.  Melodic and dark, lilting and poetic.  I found it hard to listen to the first three albums as they were punk and gothic, and that's not what I thought of when I thought of the Cure.  It wasn't until the mid to late nineties when I started hitting the Punk/New Wave thing pretty hard, that I finally went back and gave those three boys another shot.

This album is one of those that has always been near impossible to get in one piece.  Some versions have So What, some do not.  Others have World War, others do not.  Then you have the b-sides.  Then you have Pillbox Tales and Do the Hansa, which I don't think were actually recorded in the studio, officially for release, until the Boys Don't Cry single in 1986.  And where the hell can I find a studio recording of Heroin Face?!  So, this "era" of Cure music was a treasure trove of findings, that I still love to this day.  I wonder how Meathook would sound on stage now, or if Robert even remembers how to play it.

I did not include the first Easy Cure single as it wasn't sung by Robert.  And, I probably shouldn't have included the first four tracks, as I think those might be considered Easy Cure, and they don't quite sound like the rest of the album.  Regardless, I have it all here, Just no Cult Hero.

Who would have thought it would all start like this?  And look at him now.  Robert, please, comb your hair.

Cure - Three Imaginary Boys

Cure - Mixed Up - 1990

The height of my Cure love came about the time of Never Enough and Mixed Up.  We just had the spectacular Disintegration with a host of b-sides and remixes, so a new song and a promise of a remix album, and I was taken.

Bad thing is, half of Mixed Up wasn't new.  I had the singles from Disintegration, so all of those mixes, I considered old.  I had the new Never Enough single, and that mix was on there too. Wha?  Come on, now.  I was promised a disc of new mixes!  New to who?  Not your diehard Cure fan.

So, I bought the singles they released, and the album with some new material on it.  And, I looked, and low and behold, there was quite a bit of new stuff there!  Throw Harold & Joe in there, right down the middle, and Rubyait's Hello, I Love You, and technically, there was enough material to actually consider a new album.

I didn't actually consider it finished until I got the Psychedelic Mix of Hello I Love You, and it made it complete.

Enjoy.  This is what Mixed Up SHOULD'VE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Cure - Mixed Up - 1990

Being a completist and lover of all things Fat Bob, there are quite a few songs out there that can't quite be relegated to specific albums.  I took all of the songs that Robert sang and/or played on, and put them onto their own compilation discs.  I had completed "More Than This" back when I got my first CD burner, way back when.  But, it took me 15 years to compile the tracks for "Not In Love"  Both discs are lovely little discs that play well wherever you are.  There are quite a few poppy party tracks, but there are some real, fat gems like "Yesterday's Gone" and "Burn".  The Depeche Mode cover is better than the original, Not In Love really kills it, and closing it with Girl In the Corner is absolutely spectacular.  The only track missing, that I know of, is C Moon, which wouldn't fit onto disc two. 

If anyone knows of any tracks that I'm missing, let me know....

Final note, I really didn't clean up any of the tagging on the tracks, so you can see where they came from and their original names.  The whole thing is rather ugly, so you should either clean up all the file names and tagging, or just burn the tracks off onto disc....  like me!

Robert Smith - More Than This

Robert Smith - Not In Love

Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me - 1987

Continuing on the theme of 1987 being a pivotal year for my musical tastes, I bring my version of the Cure's Kiss Me 3 album.

Overwhelmingly, the song "Just Like Heaven" typifies my life at that time.  I felt like "Duckie" from the Pretty In Pink movie, and I had two different girls that I would have done anything to be with.  One teased me and kept stringing me along, the other pushed me away constantly.  "Just Like Heaven" was that teen angst heartache of unrequited love in my life.  I think, the lyrics described what I wanted, but never had.

A nice long album full of some great songs, I still found the singles to be more interesting in this case.  Lots of extra tracks and mixes, and the creative covers that only the Cure could make. (Although, I hated the "Why Can't I Be You?" single cover, and left it off this sleeve.)  Once I found a decent copy of "To the Sky", I was able to complete my project.

At first, I planned on using the extra tracks and mixes to make a "Part II" album.  But, I settled on blending the non-album tracks into the album, leaving the remixes out.  I also utilized the A-Side/B-Side format to wedge most of the b-sides in between the two album sides.  I also then cut a couple of tracks into the album tracks on the last half of the album, to add a tad bit of diversity.

Still too many tracks to put onto one disc, this is a two disc set.  The mixes will be on a separate disc later on.

Enjoy!

Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me - 1987