Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Rolling Stone reviews 4:13 Dream

Rolling Stone gives 4:13 Dream 3 & 1/2 out of 5 stars.
(Thanks FMJews)

106 comments:

  1. Was that really a review or a soliloquy? WTF?

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  2. Very short review indeed.

    They seems to focus in only 4 songs.

    The good point is every time more on-line sites are reviewing this album...

    But it´s weird because the most of us ( i hope so, if don´t i´ll feel the unluckyest fan on earth ) haven´t heard the album yet.

    :(

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  3. Um, not very in depth or analytical, and reviewing only a few songs? Quite disappointing.

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  4. like i said in the other thread, how many times do these reviewers actually listen?

    the conspiracy theorist in me says they haven't listened to the studio album at all but just the youtube vids of italy and based their review on that. i wouldn't be surprised, since rolling stone is moving toward more politics these days anyway.

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  5. i agree with MB, and that was the most short and boring review ever.. left me with nothing

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  6. craig - for my birthday, i asked my girlfriend to draw me her interpretation of the album cover for 4:13 Dream and I wanted to share with all of you the drawing/painting she made.

    http://i35.tinypic.com/fkt8v7.jpg

    I love it. and she even laminated it.

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  7. From the magazine that gave Disintegration 3 and half stars, Bloodflowers 2 and a half stars and Pornography 1 and a half stars. Nothing unexpected. Perhaps even an extremely positive sign?

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  8. Seriously, that's one LAZY review...
    It's hardly a glammy record.
    T-Rex, Bowie, Roxy Music, Suede... glammy.
    The Cure? Not so much...

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  9. doesn't seem like a bad review. it's equal to 7/10. so what's wrong with that?

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  10. Nice drawing Andy ¡¡¡

    Your girlfriend must to love you so much to do this.

    Cheers Man...

    Thanks for sharing your happiness with us.

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  11. aww andy !!! that is so sweet of her, and happy early bday!

    LOOL beau!!

    Rolling Stone sucks aalot of the time. they can cover the Hills, and write this for the cure.

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  12. my girlfriend made me something similar but with the wish cover:)

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  13. happy b-day andy!
    it's all downhill from here! :D

    or is it?





    yes. it is :|

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  14. she also made me some pretty cool robert and porl dolls, the guitars and the rest of the band will be made soon

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  15. So Rollinstone gives the "4:13 Dream" review to their resident fossil David Fricke. This guy reviews everything old (re-issues, box-sets, oldies, etc.) And yes I know The Cure is old but this guy is about as anti-alternative as it gets. I know Smithy is a fan of Neil but UTS has nothing to do with Neil, CSNY or Crazy Horse. It is an obvious answer to what Fricke is listening to cuz he is stuck in the 70's. Just look at his Velvet Underground wanna be doo.

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  16. I give the review 1 out of 5 stars. Try harder next time, Rolling Stone.

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  17. HUH???

    oh man, i thought it was next month!! *slaps self*

    oh and its Kelbel's bday too! very happy birthday to you guys. :D

    *bakes a cake with the 4:13 album cover*

    monkeybutt - for the 79th time, put on your geezer spectacles

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  18. The review is over even before it says anything about the album...what a disappointing read.

    Happy b-day Andy! Those pics are sweet! Your girlfriend did a great work :)

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  19. That so-called review said absolutely nothing meaningful, in a fairly depressing way. I would hate to be washed up on a deserted island with that boring old fricken sod!

    Andy, Happy memorable Birthday 4 2day!

    Andy/Carlos Girlfriends producing Cure art work on request THATS BRILLIANT!!! Like to see those dolls.

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  20. Well, I assume an editor determined the length. Given his space constraints, I think the reviewer crammed in a lot of descriptive words... "Rag-doll bounce" sums up nicely a certain quality of late-eighties Cure that, yeah, they don't really have anymore.

    Not the greatest review ever, but can we not reflexively take turns dumping on a review just because it's not glowing? I don't really mean to describe everyone's comments like that, but taken as a whole, the CoF reaction seems a little defensive.

    To digress a little, I think a lot of people here are still high from the Rome concert, where we got to hear seven songs for the first time. I'm positive that a lot of our opinions of 4:13 Dream are going to settle down a bit in coming months. It looks to be a good album, but does it have to be a new classic for everyone to be happy? I welcome reviews that make some effort to describe what the writer is hearing.

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  22. Fair enough but having said that, such a short review after a 4 year wait for a Cure album,leaves the majority of readers here wanting a bit more...

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  23. Hey Trace. I understand what are you saying... it's not that the reviewer gave it less than 5 stars that bugs so much as the review itself was not very probing. It glossed over most of the content of the album and didn't mention anything about its cohesiveness or lack thereof, and so on. Granted, there were length constraints - but then, I think, why do any review at all in such a short span if you can't give an album proper treatment? And I say that for any album.

    Furthermore, the Cure has put out FIVE albums since the 80s, and done countless other projects - and STILL people are comparing their stuff to their 80s music?? COME ON! We are not IN the 80s anymore - that is an era frozen in time, and so of course The Cure and other bands who started around that time are going to sound DIFFERENT and evolved. Eighties comparisons are really really really really LAME, I think, especially coming from a supposedly seasoned music reviewer who should know better. The 80s are OVER; get over it and move on.

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  24. And if that is ALL that Rolling Stone does about The Cure album, that's pretty pathetic, given The Cure's legendary status and indelible impact on modern music.

    Billboard gave the album much better merited treatment.

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  26. Yeah, I agree with you, clockwise cat. There are too many people who praise The Cure as a relic of the past. They are not an anitique. Why can't they enjoy what The Cure are doing rihgt now? I do love 80's, but I don't want live in the past.

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  27. Rolling stone reviews are notorious for the reviewer trying to draw more attention to his/her prose then to the album itself. To call them pretentious is an understatement.
    Ultimately, from a review, people want to know if they should spend their money on a product. The clear and resounding answer to this question for 4:13 dream is YES. Even if just for the interesting sounds of the album, the music is worth it. I think it's great that 4:13 dream has so many songs to choose from as "the new favorite." The destiny of 4:13 as a "classic" album remains to be seen; By definition, "classic" status takes time to develop.
    P.S. - I cannot seem to get the riffs from "This.Here and Now. With You." out of my head. That's a good sign.

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  28. blah blah wan chirp blah blah falling yowl blah blah gnarly glam blah blah looping riff viscera blah blah fey gloom blah blah blah its over blah relief. ah..yep..ok

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  29. Anybody noticed this? :

    Posted: Oct 30, 2008

    Fricke may trying to hide he was just listening to some youtube videos.
    I think it's pretty poor to write a review without listening to the real thing.

    By the way - thats David Fricke
    http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15857960/ask_david_fricke_frickes_picks_columnist_and_rolling_stone_senior_editor_answers_your_questions

    I don't want to get unfair, but he really seems to be stuck in the 70s as lysdexia said...

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  30. Below Frickes review is written:

    "Posted: Oct 30, 2008"

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  31. I am the guy who found this review online. The date is really strange and i noticed in my post when i give the link.
    The strangest thing is that on the home page of Rollingstone there is no news about this review and if you try to search no result of 4:13 Dream review.
    Mistery...

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  32. Rolling Stone is by far one of the worst music publications on the market today. They care less about what's good and more about what is trendy with hip young 16 year olds. They automatically hate all artists that have been around for a long time, but love pretentious 'cool' stuff like M.I.A. Most of the albums that I love get 3.5 stars from Rolling Stone, oddly enough. I'm more interested in what Pitchfork says about it.

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  33. Yeah, I don't know why I am/we are giving any credence to Rolling Stone - such corporate suck-up pseudo-liberals, although I do like Matt Taibi's stuff, and he writes for them.

    Thing is, lots and lots of peeps read RS, and so they shape the music scene in many ways. Which means that if the Cure don't get their due with RS, then they won't get their due with their audience..

    And I'm torn on that latter point because on the one hand The Cure has such idiosyncratic charms that they were never meant to appeal to a mass audience, but on the other hand they are so fucking good I believe the whole world needs to embrace them...

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  34. the only opinion i care about is my own.

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  35. I learned nothing from this review. Even a short one paragraph review can give you some idea about the quality of the music and writing but this guy seems like he is doing some kind of college creative writting essay for the first time. He gets a D!

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  36. nme have this http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=123&p=5081&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1up

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  37. http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=123&p=5081&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

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  38. MIA is pretentious and Pitchfork isn't?
    They love her too! hehe!

    The new album will please many I am sure...
    I would love to hear what some of the darker stuff sounds like...
    I keep thinking it would still be poppy yet grim, ala Other Voices.

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  39. zephyraris - Pitchfork? Really? Talk about a music publication concerned about hype and image. They're not worse than Rolling Stone, nobody is, but really, I can pretty much tell you what Pitchfork is going to say about the album already.

    The Cure
    Dream 4:13
    Rating 6.3

    Then the review will blather about The Cure's past and will lament the fact that the old Cure is never coming back, yadda yadda yadda. Most of it will just be full of pretentious prose that was most likely heavily edited (as Pfork does regularly).

    Pitchfork sometimes falls onto good albums, but mostly they're all about trying to push the new hip trend.

    I mean, they recently gave Dear Science by TV on the Radio a higher rating than Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! Seriously, Pfork?

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  40. pitchfork liked over 70% of the self titled cure album, which was a surprise to me.

    also, wasn't the self titled up by now on some streaming site? i remember listening to it a week or ten days before it was actually released...something like yahoo music or EW or something?

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  42. I guess the live versions is like streaming it :)
    It's better this way. Streams sound like crud and now, you have the retail version to look forward to. It does sound different!

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  43. Despite Pitchfork's hype and image, they actually fucking love the Cure. Beyond that, they actually are the ones that create the hype, not follow it like a lost puppy. Pitchfork puts bands and artists like M.I.A. and Arcade Fire on the map, whereas Rolling Stone just jumps on the bandwagon of music they know little or nothing about. All I'm saying is that we can probably count on P4k to give the album a good review, and these days they're making much bigger waves in the music scene than Rolling Stone. To sum up my point, the only person I know with a Rolling Stone subscription is my 50 year old uncle. Pitchfork may be pretentious, but at least they get it right sometimes. Don't know the last time that Rolling Stone had a year-end best list that didn't make me want to puke my guts out...

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  44. Pitchfork's reviews don't make or break anything for me. True, they will discuss bands I like ALOT more than Rolling Stone. They ARE pretentious though!
    I can appreciate their respect for classic albums of bands that aren't considered "cool". From what I can remember, they were kind to OMD's "Dazzle Ships", The Cure's reissues and U2's reissues.

    When it comes down to it, reviews hardly matter. Pornography and Faith were critically reviled!

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  45. Re: Rollingstone review. Dylan or Bruce could take a dump on a phonograph and they would give it 5 stars! All Robert has to do is keep recording well into his 60's and wait for the love from Rollingstone???

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  46. Pitchfork is basically the garbage at the top of the garbage pile. It's trash, but at least its hipster trash instead of confused senior citizen trash.

    :D

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  47. i just wanted to stop by and say that the cure is the best band ever!
    :D

    okay!

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  48. lysdexia: that was basically dylan's 80s output.

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  49. That's interesting, I had no idea Pitchfork gave TC a favorable review. I read it for the first time and I have to admit, it gave a slightly. different perspective on the album. I never thought of Lost as a Pornography-type song.

    And I was thinking about how much, I wonder, the album art for TC influences my view of it negatively. The art seems so far removed from the music inside, and it throws me off. Call me strange for letting album art affect the way I listen to music so much, but it really has a big influence on me. If the art had been less "drawn by a 2 year old" and white, and more ethereal and dark, I think it'd have been much more appropriate. It isn't exactly a poppy Cure album, although a couple of poppy tunes are thrown in.

    I'm re-listening to it right now and although I'm not all of the sudden in love with it, I feel like I'm able to make a little more sense of it right now.

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  50. And yeah, I guess I'm weird for still "figuring out" and album four years later. :/

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  51. todd: not at all. i still find stuff in the top and i'm like "shit, never heard that before!"

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  52. TC has many great songs: Lost, Labyrinth, B43, EOTW, Anniversary, IDKWGO...and then on some versions, TGB, Fake, GN, TM...

    Those latter songs on ONE definitive version would have made it a more smashing effort...

    As it is there are some mundane mediocre songs like UOT, TO, Never that muck things up.

    The Promise live is a visceral stunner, but on the album it's a bit lackluster.

    I continue to hold TGB as one of the best Cure songs EVER...TM is pretty great too

    The album also suffers from bad mixing at times, but in no way do I think it's the fetid feces that some do *cough*monkeybutt*cough*

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  53. hey cat!

    why don't you go leave your opinion on TC in all the other recent threads in case someone missed it?

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  54. *cough*
    Why? What her opinion on TC??

    *gets shot*

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  55. *takes a bullet for hynreck*

    IVE BEEN HIT! *collapses*

    HEY! hipster trash <<<<<<<<<<<<< senior citizen trash.

    pitchfork, stereogum, none of the music blogs aint done nothin for me.

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  56. none of these reviews will change the fact that i am buying this album when it is released and that i will love it.

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  57. Hey get off the cat's back, it makes a refreshing change to see someone saying some positive stuff about the self-titled album which on balance is far better than it is given credit for.

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  58. Todd, I agree completely.
    Look at something like Pornography, Faith and Seventeen Seconds. The artwork kinda goes with the feel of the album.
    I guess that's why I hate the new era of digital downloads. I used to love how what album you walked out of the store with said more about you than your haircut or clothes...

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  59. No way scribs, I've found shit tons of music thanks to the Fork. Their reviews may be exercises in linguistic self-gratification, but the score is usually a decent indicator. Albums that score in the 8's are usually really good, whereas things that go 9 and up are typically pretentious and unenjoyable. But come on, Pitchfork recommends amazing bands like Of Montreal, Built to Spill, The Decemberists, and classics like the Cure. They gave a whole slew of high scores to the Cure albums when they were reissued. Rolling Stone has done nothing for me ever, but Pitchfork has introduced me to a whole universe of great indie music, despite their pretentious bullshit.

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  60. I just want to echo what Cat said about TC, mostly to get on people's nerves. :p

    I love the self titled album, This Morning is probably my favorite of all Cure songs from the past 15 years. Take off a couple of bad songs, put in the ones left off and you have a DAMN good album. The production kind of bothers me, I could go for more relaxed vocals in the mix.

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  61. ok zeph i agree with you on that!

    its their pretentious im a hipster thing BS that makes me loathe them so friggin much :)

    what did you not like that they scored 9?

    TC was a great album! the japanese versions is better :P

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  62. ANOTHER price cut on 4:13 Dream at Amazon.com

    It is now $9.99!

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  63. seems all the links are disabled now, so i felt it necessary to remove my link just so that TMU wouldn't remove it.

    i don't want my SkyDrive disabled, so i will reupload elsewhere.

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  64. we really need something new around here, like a leak or an official site update, things are reaaally sloooooo...oooooo...ooooooo...oooooooowwww around here

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  65. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  66. madbob - no leak yet. i mean the links to the Rome show and the mp4 videos. I removed my link to the videos before they shut me down.

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  67. scribs, I suppose it's unfair to say I hate an album if it breaks a nine. Built to Spill's two best albums, Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like A Secret both received low 9's from the Fork, as did Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and many other things I like. However, the probability of shitty pretentiousness increases greatly as you get closer and closer to a 10.0. Take for example Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, which I personally believe is an exercise in figuring out just how much horrendous nasal singing teenagers can put up with. Fiery Furnaces are another band that make awful "intelligent" music and get 9's relatively often. Naturally, making blanket accusations is seldom effective, but I can certainly attest that if I were to look at P4k scores for the things in my CD collection, most of them would probably be in the 7.5-9.3 range, give or take. I mean, I have things like Arcade Fire's Funeral, which is quite a decent album, but vastly overrated at 9.7 or whatever it was. Guess I'd have to say it's all just a big crapshoot, really, but I try not to let Pitchfork's shitty hipster image interfere with my enjoyment of their recommendations for indie pop and rock music.

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  68. if the self titled were wiped from history i would never miss it, to be honest.

    and i am always suspicious when pitchfork gives a crap band like the knife an amazing review and someone really interesting and innovative like ed harcourt a shit review. they lean way too fucking hipster and although i have learned of some good bands from reading pitchfork, i take EVERYTHING they say with a big fat hipster grain of salt.

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  69. When Paul McCartney separated from Heather Mills-McCartney, she was said to be distraught.

    "He has been my crutch for so long! I have no idea why this has happened, I'm stumped", she said.

    It's been said that,"She was running around in circles", and that,"it wasn't easy to walk out".

    After the breakup, Paul was asked if he would ever consider going down on one knee again. He said he would prefer it if we called her Heather.

    There is speculation as to whether a pre-nuptial agreement was signed prior to the marriage. If not, she won't have a leg to stand on.

    It was suggested alcoholism was the cause of the split. Macca would get home and find her legless.

    Paul tried his best. He bought her a new prosthetic leg for Christmas, but it was just a stocking-filler. He also bought her some tights and a pair scissors.

    As part of the divorce deal Paul will be buying Heather a plane, although she will use Immac Hair Removal Mousse for the other leg...

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  70. switch so far is my least favorite song and it's because it reminds me, oddly, of a guns n' roses song.

    and i like guns n' roses. but i don't like the cure reminding me of guns n' roses.

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  71. Mad Bob: That song you were asking about from the Lenoir show today, is Back of the Van by Ladyhawke.

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  72. Sofia, you had me until you said G&R :)

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  73. Craig:

    Thanks a lot for giving me info about the song.

    I really really like it, a catchy tune indeed.

    Good way to start the day.


    :)

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  74. Back in the Middle Ages the town bell ringer died, so there was a vacancy for a replacement. One day there was a knock at the Vicar's door and standing there was the ugliest guy the Vicar had ever laid eyes on. He told the Vicar he was the best bell ringer in the land and they went to the tower for a demonstration. The new guy gets against the wall-and runs towards the bell as fast as he can-and smashes his face into the bells. Oddly enough, he was a really good ringer even though his
    method was very weird-so he was hired.

    One day during a ringing session, the ringer missed the bell and fell out of the tower window. He laid dead on the ground. The towns people yelled out," Vicar, come quick-please tell us who this man was."

    The Vicar looked down at the broken man and said,"Well I don't know his name but his face sure rings a bell."

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  75. So the town once again needed a new ringer, and sure enough, a few days later there was a knock at the Vicar's door. There stood another really ugly guy bragging how good of a bell ringer he was. Turns out he was the brother of the guy that fell out of the tower and died, and he had taught him everything he knew. So the Vicar hired him on the spot. Months went by without incident but one day-another slip. The ringer missed the bell and he too fell to his death. Again the townspeople gathered around yelling,"Vicar, come here, tell us who is this guy."

    The Vicar took one glance at him lying there and said,"Well, I don't know his name either, but he's a dead ringer for his brother."

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  76. I'm starving for news! What's happening with the official site? Thought they were going to revamp it.

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  77. Andy thanks for posting the alternative mp3s for the rome show. Are they any better quality or the same?

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  78. "Sixty is the worst age to be", said the 60-year old man. "You always feel like you have to pee and most of the time nothing comes out."

    "Ah, thats nothing", said the 70-year old. When you're seventy you can hardly get a bowel movement any more. You take laxatives, sit on the toilet all day and nothing comes out."

    "Actually", said the 80-year old,"eighty is the worst age of all."

    "Do you have trouble peeing too?", asked the 60-year old. "No, I pee like a racehorse every morning at 6 o'clock. No problem at all."
    "So do you have a problem with your bowel movement?" "No, I have one every morning at 6.30."

    The 60-year old was puzzled."If you pee every morning at 6.00 and do a number 2 every morning at 6.30, what is so bad about being 80?

    "I don't wake up until 7.00.

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  79. lawrence, i had you until i said i LIKED gn'r or that the song sounded like a gn'r song?

    because it DOES sound like a gn'r song and when i figure out which one it is- ALL YOUR MINDS WILL BE BLOWN!

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  80. unrelated to the cure, but RIP levi stubbs.

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  81. asked him what his favorite color is, and whether he prefers vanilla or chocolate ice cream. i hope he responds.

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  82. mein gott, what to ask!?
    really i'd like to just say- it was a mistake letting porl go away, wasnt it? ADMIT IT!

    or

    what about your 13th surprise, eh?

    or

    what did you read or do that inspired your lyrics this time around?

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  83. sofia,
    that's the question I just asked in almost the exact same words!!!! ("what booksinspired the lyrics this time around")

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  84. don't you all think it's a pretty disturbing picture : robert wearing a betty boop tie. Firt time I've seen him wearing a tie.

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  85. ok, seriously, the questions i asked:

    1- where'd you get that tie?

    2- how many tracks will the "dark album" have?

    3- is there a name in mind for the "dark album"?

    4- who would you vote for if you lived in the USA?

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  86. with the exception of about 5 songs (underneath the stars, siren song,freakshow, the scream, this here and now with you)
    the album to me sounds kind of boring...like the cure trying to sound like the cure reinventing themselves but not doing a good job...

    my judgement may be premature as i have not heard the album versions, and the other sngs may grow on me, but i'm sorry the real snow white is a shite song...like maybe someday and watching me fall, songs that could have been good but failed in execution....

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  87. dumpty, that's because great minds think alike!

    and then there's monkeybutt


    ;)

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  88. maybe someday is one of the three or four songs on BF that i really like...

    what about 'the hungry ghost'? that one is really growing on me. has a great urgency about it.

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  89. yeah, sofia, ha ha HA.

    keep it up and you'll get no ice cream.

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  90. mb, well i'm lactose intolerant. so there.



    *snif*

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  91. Hmm, vital questions, I guess...:

    Details about the dark album...
    Details about the next remasters batch or batches in general...
    Details about concert dvds and such...
    Details details details...!! Less vague comments, unless it's cute.

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  92. hynreck, ask him if you and i can go hang out with him at his garden estate.

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  93. Hmm. I'm sure he will let us. No reason not too.
    I'll ask him if he can lend me money for the plane ticket though...

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  94. I should have skipped that review!

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