Tuesday, July 19, 2016

The Cure For What Ails You


From Simon Sweetman at Stuff:

OPINION: If you're talking "Bucket List Gigs" – and besides the fact that that's a horrible term – there's certainly one this week, The Cure live in Auckland.

The Cure has played New Zealand shows before, but not for many years.
The Cure is, quite remarkably, a band that manages to be nearly all things for nearly all people. Want a great singles band? You've got it.

Their singles are usually available in 7" and 12" variety, often with different B-sides, and there have been two excellent collections of The Cure's singles as long-play compilations. Got someone, erm, close to you, who isn't quite sold on the band – give them a copy of Standing On The Beach to absorb. That'll cure em!

It plays through like an alternative greatest hits/career summary.The remixes of some of the band's biggest hits and best album tracks are worth hearing on their own – again you can hear them all in one place if you like.

There are instrumentals and cover versions, there are live albums.

The Cure doesn't ever quite sound like any other band but The Cure. And for those that want to write the band off as same-sounding or "boring", there are over a dozen full-length records to hear across 40 years.

And even if you only like the early years, and only restrict yourself to that first decade there's still an absolute embarrassment of riches

The Cure is also a great albums band.

There is no one great Cure album that is the only go-to. A fan might list Seventeen Seconds or The Head on the Door or Disintegration as The Great Cure Album.

Someone else might list Faith or Pornography or Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me as their favourite. There's almost no wrong answer. (Almost).

And this great albums/singles/B-sides band is famous for putting on long and spellbinding shows, gigs that stretch up to three hours and beyond, that include many rarities as well as the hits, that showcase brand new unreleased material as well as the favourites; shows that feature up to four encore sets on top of the main show.Gigs that transport and transcend, that whisk people away: from the dressed-up Goth to the buttoned-down office worker.

You can be a fan of The Cure for their dark and gloomy music or their uplifting three-minute pop gems. Of course you can be a fan of both.And just when you thought The Cure stopped making great music – whether that's at 1985 or 1989 or 1992 they released, in the year 2000, a song that is to my ears the equal of anything they did: a career highlight hiding there on an album that some Cure fans might not have even heard.

The albums have slowed down, yes. But the shows have not. A look at recent setlists suggests that Thursday night's show could offer absolutely anything and very nearly everything.

That's a show to be at.I'm out of the country at the moment – which makes me out of the world of The Cure. I'll probably never get to see them now. But I'm still excited to hear from Cure fans about previous shows, and about this upcoming gig.

Three years ago I put on a Cure DJ set. It was so easy to play hours of Cure material, to indulge the B-sides and album tracks as well as some of the big, big hits. I could have played more and probably should do another Cure set at some point.I'll leave you with a playlist of most of the music I played that night. It could serve as part of your build-up for the show or you could, as I'll be doing, listen to it as part of the commiseration process for missing out.

I'm sure seeing The Cure will be out of this world. All the best for all the fans out there. One of the world's truly special and unique bands in my book. (Thanks Matt)

24 comments:

  1. I get so annoyed at the constant 413 Dream album bashing. Is it their best work? No. But it's a thousand times better than the drivel that is the self-titled that came before it. This album and Wild Mood Swings getting ignored this tour was maddening to a fan who also likes those, in addition to Head on the Door / Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me / Disintegration

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    1. Totally agree on 4:13. So much better than the awfulness that is 'The Cure'. Shame that so many fans hate it.

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    2. I like 4:13 but for me The Cure is the most underrated of their albums. I love it!

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    3. Half of "The Cure" is a Great album...unfortunately they play live the other half...anyway lost, labyrinth, anniversary, before Three and going nowhere are solid cuts...

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    4. I think that only (I don't know what's going) On and Never are not as good as the others and for me Lost, The Promise and Going Nowhere are perfect.

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    5. I get your annoyance but I think it is fair to say that it would be fairly shocking for a Cure fan to say that 4:13 is their favorite Cure album. I know I would fall over if someone told me that.

      So I read it more as what are the chances of it being someone's favorite as opposed to its a crap album.

      I really like 4:13 and love WMS! As someone who fawns over Robert's adorableness I cannot help but love Strange Attraction and Bare is one of my favorite Cure songs of all time - GORGEOUS!

      I hope hearing Want and/or Jupiter Crash during this tour make some fans more people check it out.

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  2. still don't get why folk hate 'the cure' bar a couple of tracks its an ace lp fake, this morning, promise, labyrinth, anniversary, truth goodness beauty,are amongst the best they've ever done I reckon

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    1. Except that Fake, This Morning, T G & B aren't on the album.

      Terrible production, terrible track selection, some terrible songs (among their worst ever), and Ross Robinson's overall taint.

      But if you love it, great! Don't let anyone else's opinion ruin that for you. Same for those of us who like 4:13.

      And the world would be pretty boring if we all agreed on everything. :)

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    2. Hello, i agree with other, i think "the cure" is a great album,but the vinyl version, that includes fake, this morning,t.g & b. It‘s a shame that the cd version it doesn't!! Finally, if u try to listen the vinyl version, or dowload it, I'm sure that u will enjoy "the cure".
      What i don't like about 4:13, is the sound/mixing ..anyway, tastes are tastes

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    3. Hello, i agree with other, i think "the cure" is a great album,but the vinyl version, that includes fake, this morning,t.g & b. It‘s a shame that the cd version it doesn't!! Finally, if u try to listen the vinyl version, or dowload it, I'm sure that u will enjoy "the cure".
      What i don't like about 4:13, is the sound/mixing ..anyway, tastes are tastes

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  3. agreed but - em , they are certainly on my album craig ?I'm not sure what you mean that they are not on it? that sorta live sound on the production I wouldn't like on every record but it works on that one I think . I love 413 too but the production on that really is shit

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    1. The double vinyl has 3 more tracks on it than the cd, at least in Europe. Vinyl has 15 and cd is only 12 tracks.

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    2. Looking at discogs, the us version only has 11 tracks!

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    3. The same for me. Production of 4:13 Dream and I think The Top too gone wrong.

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  4. both would benefit from being 3 songs shorter mind you ~(imho~)

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  5. Two of my faves bloodflowers and was, used to always get ignored. Glad bloodflowers is coming back.

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  6. Ditto...I got the US version and also The Japanese Version of The Cure because the import was waaay better...413 Dream was also good in my eyes the problem is that a lot of people and most here at COF want The Cure to get stuck in this Wish and earlier groove and just regurgitate the same Ole same ole....the Cure has been great at every facet....unfortunately many 'fans' don't feel the same way...we can't be stuck in 1989

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  7. Ditto...I got the US version and also The Japanese Version of The Cure because the import was waaay better...413 Dream was also good in my eyes the problem is that a lot of people and most here at COF want The Cure to get stuck in this Wish and earlier groove and just regurgitate the same Ole same ole....the Cure has been great at every facet....unfortunately many 'fans' don't feel the same way...we can't be stuck in 1989

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  8. There's one thing that I really don't understand...why they play the worst songs of The Cure? Why End Of The World or Alt. End instead Lost, Labyrinth, Before Three, Going Nowhere? And for 4.13 Dream, Why Sleep When I'm Dead instead Underneath or The Scream? I really can't understand this...sometimes band choices are weird...

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  9. I know the above was a rhetorical question, and it's certainly a matter of personal taste, but I'm sure a lot of fans are wondering exactly the same thing. I actually don't mind hearing any of the above-mentioned songs, though I do sometimes wonder why the "better" songs are never/seldom played or kept on the back burner. To me this an indication that it's not quite over...some have speculated this could be the end, but if that were really the case they would likely be blowing out one gem/rarity after the next at every show (not that they haven't done so already, but it would be more frequent/intense).
    Of course, once a rarity is played often enough it's easy to become jaded, and the excitement soon fades with each subsequent appearance of the song...(law of diminishing marginal utility?). That may partially explain why some of the rarities might be held back. Another explanation might be if the band intends to play the song more frequently on a future tour or later on the same tour. Regardless of the reason, I try to enjoy every show at face value whether it's in person or vicariously via COF...(though it may not always seem that way as some of my comments might be (mis)construed as grumbling or bellyaching)....LOL. �� �� ��

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    1. We bellyache because we care ;)

      When I went to the MSG shows I was pissed because I heard Pornography twice but didn't hear Cold once but hey, I did hear a Strange Day and got one of the few playings of This Twilight Garden even though the B-Side I wanted was Exploding Boy BUT I got the 2016 Tour premiere of Bananafishbones that made me loose my damn mind. So bottom line is all hardcore Cure fans are going to have a story like mine: I wish they would've played this instead of that, etc. but I do think the great majority of us at the end of the day appreciate what we do get. As I've said repeatedly I'm just so grateful I still get to see my favorite band killing it.

      Bottom line is we've been spoiled because their catalog is AMAZING. Fans could create their own dream 50 song setlist (ala Robert's BDay in Mexico show) and STILL be agonizing over what to put in and leave out.

      I hope you're right about this not being the end.

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    2. I agree with you!! Just grateful I got to see them. I also hope it's not the end.

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  10. I like 4:13 Dream. 'The Reasons Why' and 'Underneath the Stars' are solid. As for the production I think Robert wanted it mucked up. 4:13 Dream is a very solid album imo. The art work is amazing too.

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  11. "The Cure", with the correct songs selection, would be a really good and solid album...the "problem" with the tracklisting begun with WMS (an underrated album), bsides of that period are beautiful, compared to 3 or 4 songs of the album...the same fot "The Cure". 4.13 is a more homegeneous work, but without peaks (with the exceptions rapresented by underneath the stars and The Scream).

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