"On the afternoon of July 26, I sent e-mails to Alan Cross, the programming director and host of The Ongoing History of New Music, and Don Mitchell, the music director, of Toronto radio station 102.1 The Edge regarding the lack of airplay of The Cure's last three singles, including the current one. Late night yesterday, I actually got a response from Alan! Here's what he said:
"Thanks for the note! We’ve been looking at the Cure’s new material during our music meetings and researching it with our audience, but for some reason, the new stuff is having a hard time gaining traction with them. It’s weird. We’ll keep at it, though…"
Alan Cross"
Update: "I mentioned before that I contacted both the program and music directors for 102.1 The Edge in Toronto, and my response from Program Director Alan Cross was posted a few days ago. Well, guess what? I heard back from their Music Director/Assistant Program Director Don Mitchell yesterday, and this is what he had to say...
"Hi Shawn. We do spend a large amount of money on music research. It involves Phone, Online and Auditorium surveys. We try new songs on them (like the Cure), and sometimes they just don’t take off. Unfortuantely, to stay competitive in the tough TO radio market we simply can’t play everything and have to choose the songs that will make the quickest impression on our listeners. Thanks for the query. dm"
Taking the easy way out in the name of money. The 102.1 of today is so far removed from the 102.1 of the late '80s that had no set format and played bands such as Skinny Puppy. I guess that it's really no surprise that their market share dropped and that they've never surpassed or even tied it since the change. It's really too bad."
(Thanks Shawn-W)
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Here's Shawn's letter:
ReplyDeleteHi, Alan. I'm an avid and long time listener of 102.1 from Niagara Falls, NY, and there's one thing that I'd like to ask, if I may. Why isn't The Cure's new single Sleep When I'm Dead getting any airplay, and for that matter, why aren't the last two, Freakshow and The Only One? The only thing that I've seen listed over the last few days is Just Like Heaven, and that was early in the morning. This really surprises me because of how much The Edge has supported and pushed the band in the past, most notably with the live broadcast of the 2004 Toronto Curiosa performance in its' entirety, as well as the ticket presales.
I don't know about the sales in Canada, but in the US, according to Billboard, Sleep When I'm Dead is the #1 selling single, with Freakshow and The Only One at #s 10 and 12, respectively, yet they're hardly getting any play here, either. Even Robert Smith himself has commented on the disparity on The Cure's official site, mentioning, with confusion, that US stations as a whole have played it just 38 times total since it was released on July 15.
As a person who's been a fan of The Cure for nearly 15 years, I'd ask that you please play it. Frankly, I think that it should be played at least as often as The Edge is playing NIN's Discipline, but even once or twice would be greatly appreciated, if only to show that Canadians as a whole, or at least those in Toronto, have better taste in music than what gets played over here. If you've gotten this far in the e-mail, thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Shawn Wright
Are they researching with the right audience?
ReplyDeleteWhy not just try and airplay it to see the response?
(I problably don't now anything about the radio bussiness...)
sais sûrement la même histoire avec montréal ,sa fesais 12ans qu'ils etaient pas venu a montréal et qu'ont attendais pas de the cure a la radio (une fois toute les 6mois) ici a montréal quelqu' ils aient le plus populaire sais le fucking hiphop et le crist de danse music(tecno) en passant toute les bar goth ici a pas les place de punk sont presque toute fermer on dirais qu'ils faudraient qu'ont change toute de style pour fiter dans la photo de tout le monde.
ReplyDeletethis is exactly what i was just thinking: there's no traction.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteshawn: great pictures at the Wolstein Center! Really close!!
ReplyDeleteomgz, Alan Cross! I love that dude and his podcastin madness.
ReplyDeleteThe fact you haven't heard them means they haven't really tried. Canada is fracked! Our TV and radio music stations have completely failed us. At least the US has indie alternative rock or whatever and maybe they have a music station (whatever has succeeded VH1) that shows some decent stuff. All our stuff has turned into MTV with no alternatives.
ReplyDeleteHeck, even our TV ads suck balls. They're so painful with their 13-year old sensibilities and repetitive rip-offs of American TV cliches. I really miss American ads.
I'll take corporate America over corporate Canada any day!
Thanks for trying, Shawn.
I like the new Cure stuff. I don't need corporate radio's audience to confirm for me what is good and what isn't. If I were Robert, I would consider myself lucky that my material wasn't being played on some trashy bullshit radio station. Who even listens to FM radio anymore? I quit paying attention to FM radio about 1992 and I haven't missed anything. That I'm sure of.
ReplyDeletesi sa continue comme sa je vous le dit montréal et toronto vont devenir les plus grande ville hiphop du canada pis moi je vais sûrement me suicider!!(joke ) .
ReplyDeleteIf they aren't playing it, how are they researching it with the audience?
ReplyDeleteSounds like he was brushing you off to me with a made up story. Kind of like the email I got back from the station here.
It's still corporate bullshit at work IMO.
après toute les année passer the cure a toujours jouer de la super music je comprend toujours pas les station de radio qui ignore cette music ?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe all obviously own or want to own the singles, bratwithabat. It's about trying to raise The Cure's profile because no one outside of hardcore fans even knows The Cure has no music out. We want The Cure to have a bigger fanbase. It's kinda what Bono says about trying to reach that person that would like your music, but might not have a chance to because it's not on the radio and he/she doesn't know anyone who likes that music. If it weren't for my big brother, I wouldn't know how great The Cure is. This site helped with my curiosity, but it all started with my brother's copies of "Wish", "Head on the Door" and "Mixed Up". The Cure's output hasn't been very good from the mid-90s, so most of my age group don't know anything about the band's music.
ReplyDeleteWe want the band to be successful commercially and culturally, since it's so unfairly dismissed in favor of garbage mainstream Canadian bands over here. When I was growing up, I really thought most pop music sucked because what was played on muchmusic was so bad. It's way worse now!
You asked for it, you got it Brat.
ReplyDeleteThanks Craig. You're a good American like myself. You can be consistently relied upon. I like that quality in my webmasters.
ReplyDeletexoxo
j'aime pas u2 j'haie bono sais a cause de ce guere de music qu'aujourdhui the cure a de l'amisere a perser a montréal ,mais sais surtout le style que u2 d'egage comme music!
ReplyDeletejupitermain, my mother made the same comment after I read the e-mail to while I was visiting last night. Oh, and regarding the Cleveland photos, thanks. :) Considering that the ones I've posted thus far were taken in the security area thanks to my handy photo pass, I couldn't have gotten any closer without being up on stage and in Robert and Co.'s faces.
ReplyDeletemuldfeld, some decent stuff does get played on 102.1, but yeah, the quality could be better. Still, it's better than Clear Channel's homogenized and standardized stuff. The Miniatures are decent, and I'm pretty impressed with what I've heard from Human Kind, though neither are getting any play on there currently. I also like the stuff that gets played when they broadcast live from the Mod Club.
In my opinion, "terrestrial" radio is still quite a viable format, and shouldn't be written off yet. If it was, how could I keep winning those '80s Fast Track contests on 105.1 The River? :) That reminds me, I still need to go pick up the barbecue tool set that I won.
I believe the band made a mistake by leading off with "The Only One". I think it is the weakest of the 4 singles from the new album and follows the formula that they have established over the years. Upon first hearing this song, I thought, "I know this song..."
ReplyDeleteI trace it back to "Pictures Of You" which I have always believed to be bland and about 4 minutes too long. My apologies to those who think that Disintegration is the bible/torah/koran, but I really have never understood the appeal of that song. Next came "High" & "Friday I'm In Love" which I also found to be forgettable. On through the years, "Mint Car", "Strange Attraction", "Just Say Yes", "The End Of The World", "alt.end", "Taking Off"...brings us to the present.
Every album since "Wish" (save for "Bloodflowers", bless it's unappreciated soul) has had one or more of these forgettable songs. Each of these albums also had one (or more) tracks that would have made better (and more interesting) choices for singles.
It seems the band is always trying to force a quirky pop song on us. Just once, I'd like to see a lead-off single with loud guitars...or screaming...or over 4 minutes long. "Wrong Number", "Maybe Someday"...few and far between.
Just one man's humble opinion.
if traction's what he needs, Robert should just go back to wearing those sneakers he used to wear - you know, the white hi-topped ones? I'm pretty sure that those got waay better traction than whatever he's wearing now.
ReplyDeletehmm. wow. the cure.
ReplyDeletei mean, your ability to make the right decision all the time begins to wane, eventually. he's nearly 50. it was bound to happen sometime....
but i like FREAKSHOW. that's the only one i really like thus far.
i hope the album is better than these singles.
shawn-great letter, you really got you point across quite well. Too bad for the crappy response. Why can't they just play the damn singles? They have to do research? Are they looking to find a cure for cancer? WFT??? Just play it a few time and see if people like it that way! Is it too much to ask for? It's all about marketing these days on radio, not the music.
ReplyDeleteI just really miss radio that was a bunch of audiophiles playing music that they were into, exposing their audience to new or interesting sounds. Now it seems to be pretty much "consensus radio" or "conformist radio," primarily there to reassure people that they belong to their demographic. Meh.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell does no traction mean? If you haven't been playing it then you ARE the traction! The old ways of music have just turned to shit. They don't care about music they care about money, they care more about their advertisers than the fans. "More people will listen to Rihanna, play that!"
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to MTV, they'd rather show Tila Tequila reruns and Crib's Wackiest Moments than music videos. Even MTV2 just shows Big and Rick marathons. The Internet is where it's at now, and record companies are trying to squash that too.
Ah screw it.
Traction... Maybe a single's ability to stick with an audience?
ReplyDeleteIn the end, we all know this album will be HUGE for The Cure.
Radio sucks in Montreal and Toronto, that's for sure. I've always thought it could be traced back to the point where canadian radio stopped taking its cues from the UK and looked to the US.
ReplyDeleteFor example, about 10 years ago Much Music used to play the Wedge twice a day in the afternoon. There was a time when they had interesting enough VJ's and actually played some music videos here and there. I won't even touch the current state of affairs at MM (only except being video on trial).
The Cure get no love on the radio in Montreal either. Commercial radio here blows big time and so i limit myself to the McGill (CKUT) and Université de Montréal (CISM) stations. Well that and my guilty pleasure: and am talk radio late at night (i love coast to coast! :P)
Maybe the songs aren't getting played because they aren't very good. I can't believe I am saying this because UTS is such a brilliant and special song, but I fear only WMS will keep this from being the worst Cure record and actually unless these are the four worst songs on the record, it may be the worst. The compostions are eccentric, the vocal melodies are at odds with the structures and the lyrics are trite (UTS notwithstanding). You can make a simple pop song and still create something that resonates like BDC, JLH or Friday. At this point I would gladly take songs like Gone, Mint Car, Alt.end, Taking Off or Cut Here as opposed to this stuff. I keep thinking after all the US shows I went to that I just needed to hear the studio versions...uh, no. The Only One is OK, on about even par with the other "light" singles of years past, but Freakshow is atrocious, maybe worst 10 ever (hmmm...Do the Hansa, So What, Another Day, Give Me It, Fight, Wendy Time, Bare, Just Say Yes, Us or Them, Never, Lost and Freakshow! thank you very much...oh crap that's 12 oh bother, well they are all gahrbage IMO). I can't decide whether Freakshow is very long verse with no chorus or the other way round. Either way it sounds like a sound check jam with improved vocal. SWID is Porl being obnoxious with the wah wah, which is how he ruined Wendy Time and Away-cum-Cut (check the play out video and see for yourself what these songs could have been like) and why Robert "saw him as a bit of a limiting force" as he put it back in 93 or 94. As for PB, someone mentioned forgetable songs and while I disagree with those choices I find that an appropriate term here. Not to mention that the B sides are suffering from Robert trying to get a double or two seperate or whatever album plan he has in store for us now. Even the eponymous record and WMS gave us good B sides like It Used to be Me, Adonais, Waiting, This Morning and Your God is Fear. That these three songs can't muscle their way on to a record with the 4 singles, makes me worry about what else might be on the record. I try and remind myself that fans of the band from 79-82 must have died twice when they heard LGTB, Lovecats and The Top, but Robert gradually rebuilt momemntum and gave us some truly brilliant music, here's hoping that it can and will happen again.
ReplyDeletei'm not surprised at all that radio stations aren't taking a risk with these new singles. radio stations DO NOT take risks. they have ad time to sell, and if someone switches the station thanks to a song the listener doesn't like, their ad client won't be pleased, and it affects future possible sales. it has NOTHING to do with the music, only with what the listener wants to hear (or what they THINK the listener wants to hear).
ReplyDeleteso don't take it personally, it's just the flaws of corporate radio.
I know this isn't going to go down too well but from my standpoint the "blame" should also be thrown Roberts way.
ReplyDeleteNo (or really crappy) music videos means no connection with the MTV audience.
Constant delays (i.e the album was supposed to come out in April 2006) has disconnected the band from the new audience they found from the self titled album.
Even The Cures own website is still dressed up in its 2004 incarnation, with updates as common as leprechauns.
There are a whole heap of problems here and its a wonder the singles have sold so well as it is.
andrew127, the reasons you posit for the lack of positive media reception are not valid. Since when has an album delay put off corporate media. Also, the shift toward basic videos was due to their last set not getting any airplay. When's the last time you saw a Cure video on TV?
ReplyDeleteI blame Geffen for not paying off the right people, and I blame idiot DJs and Clear Channel dictating our tastes for us. Granted the new singles aren't as staggeringly beautiful as those from the "Wish" album, but is U2's pathetic "Vertigo" any good? It's awful and painful every time I hear it. How good is Shania Twain? Aside from her provocative videos in the mid-90s which sluttied up country, how can anyone be attracted to her awful, awful music? I hear it all the time!
I think a lot of it is due to a certain lack of intelligence among those who program which songs get played and their bias against the Cure for being "depressing".
Let's face it, The Cure does not have the same pull that it did when most of us got in to the band. I'm sure that the single sales are almost 100% driven by long time fans.
ReplyDeleteRadio stations these days, as Alan alluded, do their homework and know who their target audiences are.
The Edge is a now well and truly part of the corporate machinery. When I grew up with it, it was located in a tiny run down building in a small town north of Toronto. Certain DJ's smoked pot whilst on the air and they played kick ass music. I can remember them playing most of The Cure's 1981 live set at the Capitol Theater in Sydney!!
"Traction"??????? When did airplay turned into a Physics problem???
ReplyDeleteIs it that they throw a single ONTO someone and if it doesn´t stick on they won´t play it on the radio??
It´s still the same payola s*t!! The radios will play ANY ridiculous - sampled - stolen - f*ing thing from Rihanna because they get paid!!!!!!! Simple as that!!
The Mighty U gives a s*t about the Cure for a long time. u2 releases an average album and all the news are "oh, great, fantastic, back to the old times..." F* IT! Not a single tv ad about The Cure´s 2004!! Someone said here: Cure sells out TWICE the NY shows and... Nothing on news!!
And the old Cure fans...? Well, they will only get even older!! And a kid won´t ever know The Cure if he/she DOESN´T LISTEN TO IT!!!! Wherever it may be!
I believe "Traction" is a diminutive for "TRACK SUCTION". For a music track to air in on Canadian airwaves, it must SUCK. Thus, The Cure don't get airplay. Come on people, it makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the efforts
ReplyDeleteMuldfeld I disagree with you about the lack of videos not having an effect. I remember seeing the End Of The World video a lot, during and after, 2004.
ReplyDeleteIt just seems to me right now that the band believes to have done their bit (made the music, gone on tour etc) and our now leaving the promotion into some very uncapable hands.
Delaying the albums doesn't help and the whole half arsed attempted at promoting the stuff isn't doing anyone any favours. Like I said about the offical website not being updated is a good example. The videos are not even being streamed on their own website so they have to link, through COF, to Youtube.
Namepa, I almost completely disagree with your statement, but I guess that you're looking for and expecting something totally different from the band than I am. In fact, there are so many differences, I'm not sure that I can cite just one thing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, as others have stated, MTV hardly played the stuff from self-titled album, so why bother with elaborate videos? As for the delays, uh, how long have you been a fan? It's not like delays are anything particularly new with them.
For my part, when I was a DJ at my college radio station, I played at least one Cure track every show, including the live, extended, and remix stuff. Over the course of my first semester as a DJ, I played whole Bloodflowers album, including Coming Up, and perhaps even Spilt Milk, and in my last semester, the Underdog Remix of Watching Me Fall, from the American Psycho soundtrack.
With that said, perhaps college radio is the only legitimate hope for any serious airplay now.
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ReplyDeleteOh, AND I got a local club DJ to play a couple of tracks from Bloodflowers, a few days before the release date. He chose Out of This World and The Loudest Sound. I shed tears when I saw the dance floor fill up both times. They were both so ideal for dancing! Perhaps again, someday...
ReplyDeleteAndrew - you are so right. Everything you just said was right-on. I would love to be the fly on the wall in RSX's house while he's having a conversation with the mighty U.
ReplyDeleteThe official site is just begging to be shut down and re-vamped. I know it's probably not a priority "yet" but I hope it's definitely on the to-do list.
Also, I can't help but wonder if the hesitation to play the songs on the radio is because there is lack of an actual album??? I mean really, that's where the money is to be made, not so much with just the singles. So I wonder if promoters are waiting until the release to actually promote it.
FWIW - WMS is one of my favorite albums. Want, Jupiter Crash, Treasure, Bare.........love, love love it.
Namepa -
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you completely about Freakshow - I love its tempo and I love how unique it it. As for the other songs you list most of the other songs you list, many of them are B-sides, which isn't an excuse but come on... THEY'RE B-SIDES. The 1st album (another day, so what...) was very garagey, which was a large part of its charm. As for Lost, that song sounded BRILLIANT live but I agree that the studio version was a bit sucky (overproduced?) And Give Me It??? How could you say that song sucks? Okay, you could say any song sucks as it's an opinion but come on... Give Me It? I freaking LOVE that song.
I do agree with you on one of the songs though - Us or Them. That song ABSOLUTELY sucks.
As for the new ones, I never really know if I like a song, any song, until a year or so passes. Some songs are catchy at first and some take a while to get "traction" (haha) but I never make a final verdict on music until I have listened to it for a while. Right now I like Freakshow... and I don't quite get Sleep When I'm dead... and The Only One sounds too much like other songs they have already written... But a year from now, who knows how these songs will sound to me. Will I love them? Hate them? Who knows.
Wrong Number took several years to grow on me (HATED THAT SONG FOR YEARS!)
Even so, the Cure has hundreds of songs and if a few of them suck that's to be expected. BUt overall, I am happy with the singles so far.
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ReplyDeleteBang on!...Obviously a matter of opinion but i disagreed with 90pct of Namepa's choices for songs that suck..everybody's entitled to their preferences and i respect that, but i don't think you can knock Freakshow for being innovative!
ReplyDeletej'aime ca voir que toute le monde ici ce preoccupe de nos ville qui refuse de passer du the cure a la radio !si au moin le monde ici serais comme sa pour d'autre chose comme le cancer sa ferais sûrement toute une différence !
ReplyDeleteSingled out - Your point stands and thus needs to go the whole way: "Us or Them" doesn't suck! I love the energy in this song and how aggressive the vocals are! It's indeed only a matter of opinion...
ReplyDeleteErgo, I also disagree with namepa.
As I've stated before, The Cure have given me my life's soundtrack and I can't wait for them to release their "most uninspired washed-up rehashed overproduced album" every-time they release something new!
Recently, it feels like COF is visited by bitter Morissey fans!
Where's the looooooove peeps?!
Where's the fun anymore???
Gaw, where my homies at?
ReplyDelete:P
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Fantac said...
'I believe "Traction" is a diminutive for "TRACK SUCTION". For a music track to air in on Canadian airwaves, it must SUCK. Thus, The Cure don't get airplay. Come on people, it makes perfect sense.'
Once again, I agree completely with you Fantac. And since when do The Cure need to be mainstream?
"Recently, it feels like COF is visited by bitter Morissey fans!"
ReplyDeleteEvery Morrissey fan is bitter.
Remember, he wears black on the outside because black is how he feels on the inside.
Hee Hee....
(And to all you literals out there, that was a joke, I like Morrissey just fine.)
Fantac - I've got Cure love!! I feel like a tattooed middle-aged cheerleader with black toe-nails, jumping up and down rooting for The Cure trying to remind those critical of them that there have been DOZENS of really good songs that have been released since 1992.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has a right to their opinion, I just don't agree that The Cure lost it after Wish by any means. I am fully enjoying the new singles and cannot wait to hear more!
All these people saying that they lost "it" after Wish? Pahlease, that would be like me refusing to listen to anything else aside from Pornography or Disintegration. Unrealistic snobbery.
ReplyDeleteYou're right CG2, they are entitled to their own opinion, but if you're a true fan you're going to love them through whatever happens. Unless they release an album consisting purely of Miley Cyrus covers.
Shawn. Yes I know delays are common grounds for The Cure but sometimes I can't help but feel that this is contributing to their poor radio status.
ReplyDelete4 years between albums? Hardly keeping their new found audiences interested from their last album and not nearly enough time for a comeback. A few one off singles would work wonders for them during that time.
Must be hell for Radio hosts as well. Plugging the singles with the solid album release date of September only for it to be pushed back to October? Not the worst thing in the world but hardly helping is it?
it's such a shame that radio is so sucky these days. if it's not some annoying buttrock band or teeny bopper with no talent, they won't play it.
ReplyDeletemmm buttrock... maybe that's the new album title.
ReplyDeleteThe chicken/egginess of this whole thing is a tad frustrating, huh?
lol, david, that would be an interesting title, woudln't it?! and maybe switching back to those old white hi-tops would give him more traction!
ReplyDeletei agree, i know that there was a time we needed radio, but it seems these days its becoming obsolete with things like XM and Sirius. Maybe we'd have more luck getting airplay with them! who knows!
Namepa : ALL YOU SAID IT JUST THE WAY I THINK AND FEEL !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you !!
Summer, There's been at least a few times I've been in the car with my brother or a friend who has XM where I've heard The Only One so it's definitely getting some play there!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the other singles though...
I think XM is different than regular radio, seems like they would take more chances than conventional radio.
ReplyDeletenamepa, I agree on Do The Hansa, that song is just really a joke though. But Give Me It?! Bare?!! Freak Show?!!! Lost?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Genital Ben, Yeah, XM is like an entirely different species. Regular radio won't touch a great deal of songs that I've heard on it.
ReplyDeleteIt still gave me a bit of a thrill hearing it each time though! :)
Has anyone taken into consideration that The Cure's new songs kinda suck? I'm a huge Cure fan, still buy T-shirts and play them constantly, but come on people, they've (he's) lost it. Not a good record since "Wish", and I just wish they'd tour and NOT put out any further material. What do you want, The Cure's "Steel Wheels"? Me neither.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, you've obviously smoked some bad weed after taking a knock to the head, so I can forgive you for saying that Bloodflowers wasn't a good album.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I find it truly, truly sad that some people want bands to rest on their laurels because anything made after their favorite album must certainly and inevitably suck, just because that's how they feel about it.
ReplyDeleteBloodflowers is a great album, but thats the only good thing after 1992.
ReplyDeleteWMS has some good songs (want, trap, gone and this is a lie)
The cure 2004 has 3 good songs: labyrinth, anniversary and going nowhere.
The rest is shit ! If the singles that are now released are the standard on the new album than it will be the first time i dont buy a Cure album.
Its i shame i know, but i will download it. I will not spent any money for it.
I think Robert and the rest can do better than this.
A reason why these new songs dont appeal to me is because of the lyrics. It doesnt match. UTS is a good song. I hope they leave all the current singles of the album and i hope that there are more songs like UTS. Thats a great song !!!
I follow the band sinds 1985 and with most records i have something special. But that changed after the release of WMS. Round, Round, Round is such a horrible song !!! The 13th is THE MOST worst song the cure ever did. All the songs i really hate are on WMS. I wish they didnt release it back then.
The Cure and all that they are and were is clearly not for everyone. I also think that it is difficult to like new music as one ages.. Everyone likes the music that was released when they were young (even if it is crap)and they (however falsely) claim "well, it used to be good" but maybe it's more that your mind used to be open and when you hear old songs they remind you of that time and therefore you think they are great?
ReplyDeleteMusic, inevitably, reminds us of the past. Songs become entangled in our history. Maybe your disappointment is not tied to the new music as much as to the passage of time.
I think the new stuff is great, by the way. It's the Cure - it's not some crap dance music, or electronica, or beeping nonsense. It's rich in tone and texture and Robert's voice sounds amazing... yea, I like the new stuff as much as I would have if I were still 16. Of course that is just me, I am completely addicted to Cure music and probably always will be!
The one thing that can be said for sure about the cure is that the variety of sounds that they have explored throughout the years has attracted a fan base with a diversity of musical tastes. What one of us sees (or hears rather) as good another of us doesnt quite get. This to me is quite logical. How can you compare "The 13th" with "The same deep water as you"? The comparibles start and finish with the sole fact that they were created by the same group and I dont believe that the differences in line up can explain this. We all are aware that Robert is the principle driving force and most definitely has a huge say in the choosing of the next musical direction to be taken. So what of the new singles and lack of air play. It could be for all or any of the reasons given here. My opinion is that they are not anywhere near as good as is possible from this band and I do not say that easily.When I put on "The only one" for the first time I asked my partner what she thought. She said it sounded like she had already heard it before from the cure. "Freakshow" (as was "The 13th I.M.H.O.) is an attempt to re-create "The Caterpillar but it just doesnt do it. Its reasonably catchy at best. "Sleep when im dead" is not worthy of release. Its like a cross between rock and pop that has produced a mongeral something that doesnt feel or sound right. I am fully aware that there are hundreds and perphaps thousands of you out there that would contradict my every word as is your right. I think this fact in itself confirms my opening point about musical diversity attracting a variety audience. For what its worth I consider myself to be an absolutely avid avid cure fan and I am certain that the new album release will have something in there that will keep me on board and have me longing for more. But these three singles? Im sorry but they are not to my liking. I hope that my honesty does not offend.
ReplyDeleteHere are two statements:
ReplyDeleteCurefan#1 writes: "I don't like most, if not all, of what The Cure has released since Wish."
...as opposed to...
Curefan#2 who writes: "Everything The Cure has released since Wish is SHIT."
If you fail to see the difference in tone, read again.
People expressing themselves ala "Curefan #2" can kiss my ass. Who the fuck are you to come on here, of all places, and insult my musical taste and my favorite band in such a way? That YOU don't like what The Cure has released since the Bible is one thing. But insinuating that people are nuts to like it is another. It IS not shit because YOU say it is!
If you feel like discussing matters of opinion, please do so showing some respect! Respect for the music, first and foremost, the band and its fans!
And if you feel like expressing yourself ala Curefan#2, go on www.ihatethecure.com instead! You'll be among peers.
Having said that, has anyone seen any kitten lately?
Just because i am not a fan of their music right now does not make a anit-cure fan !
ReplyDeleteI will go to their concerts no matter what they release......Robert himself is not a BIG fan of his work after 1992....considering they hardly play any of the songs during the 4tour... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Besides want and club america (only played a few times). 3 or 4 songs from the 2004 album and not many songs from Bloodflowers.
After 23 years of being a cure fan i have the right to say that these singles sucks and they do !!
And thats the reason why no-one play them on the radio.
Many people dont even know the cure are still a band. They think they stopped years and years ago.
Oh, and... Singled Out, you talk as if it is a foregone conclusion that as people age, they stop listening to new music. I don't think of that as a result of aging - to me, it's a cause of it. Elixir of youth: keep a fresh, open mind and stay curious and interested in new ideas, shifts in culture, in moving your body and definitely in new music! :^D IMO music appreciation is always your friend.
ReplyDeleteAnd Marco, if radio play were a measure of song quality, then we would live in a different musical universe. Radio sucks in the US and Canada, with rare exceptions, and of course with the exception of some college radio and satellite.
Maree - X&Y was released by Coldplay, not The Cure.
ReplyDeletehi hi
Thanks for your comment Maree! We're sick of having to defend our luuuuuve for The Cure, specially on CPF! And it's only recently that this's started. It seems there's less fun around here lately :o(
Must be summertime and people being away on vacations... Ah Elise... I hope you're having fun snorkelling! Know that you are greatly missed...
And where's Cat when you need her to use insults and bad words???
I miss you peeps!
(I know, I know! It's me that's been away most of the time... Shame on me...)
COF*
ReplyDeleteI guess the one great thing about living where we all do, either US Canada or the UK, the nice thing is we can all express our opinions. I can't pretend to know what it was like when Disintigration and faith and all the other "classic," albums came out. I don't know how it was because I only became a fan of theirs in 2000, when bloodflowers came out. Does this mean I'm a bad cure fan? No, this album led me to getting all their other albums. Now after having seen them twice, once during the not so great "curiosa" tour and once during the stellar 4world tour, in Toronto, i can still say they are one of my favorite bands of all time. I love WMS, I will willingly admit that. "club america," is the only song on that album that I don't like. I even like "the cure" album, not all of it but most of it. In my opinion it's not the ugly bastard that most people make it to be. Honestly I love all their albums, not all their songs because they have made some turkeys. "Hansa" anyone? With that being said I am half looking forward to the new album and half dreading it. I'm looking forward to UTS and The Only One. Unfortunately though I'm not loving Freakshow and Sleep when I'm dead, they just seem off. I appreciate all of you that like the new songs, because honestly I probably like a song or album that you don't like. People are different and that's what makes everyone great. We shouldn't be fighting over why the band isn't getting played in Toronto, which is the only place I get to see shows cuz I'm from upstate ny and don't want to drive 6 hours to the city. What we should be doing is celebrating the fact that after so many years we are all so passionate about the music that we have come to love. We should all be greatful that Robert and the gang is still making tunes, no matter how good or bad they are.
ReplyDelete