Customer Reviews

Acoustic Hits (Deluxe)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Cure have already put out one of the most celebrated best-of's of the rock era, "Staring At The Sea", covering all the singles from their 1979-1985 period (definitely the fans' favorite era). They followed it up a few years back with an admirable companion, "Galore", which picked up where the previous volume left off. Those two CD's give you every single the Cure released up through 1997. I would suggest picking those two up and leaving this one (which only scrapes together a few choice selections from those albums and throws in two new songs) in the dust. If "Greatest Hits" at least contained two of their biggest breakthrough hits from "Disintegration" ("Fascination Street" and "Pictures of You"), I could recommend it for an ultra-casual fan, but without those two songs it barely merits mention. It doesn't even contain anything from "Bloodflowers", their last stuido album, the only one not covered on "Staring At The Sea" or "Galore". The completist will want it for the two new songs (what a [bad move] move by the band and the record company), but for the casual fan, get the previous two compilations and enjoy!

Chances are, if you're on amazon.com looking at the Cure's Greatest Hits you're either:

a. Someone who's interested in getting into the Cure
or
b. A longtime Cure fan, seeing if the chosen songs are worthy.

As a result, this review will have two sides: "New to Cure" and "Cure veteran"

New to Cure:

Ok, here's the deal with the Cure:
1. The band has two sides. Light, poppy, and somewhat happy is one side. Dark, complex, and miserable is the other.
2. Every one of the Cure's albums falls into one of these two categories; there is no gray area.
3. The band's best work is really on their dark albums (i.e. Pornography, Faith, Disintegration), which primarily contain long, drawn-out, complex, beautiful, dark, depressing mood pieces.
4. However, long, complex mood pieces don't tend to make good radio singles, so this Greatest Hits collection is composed almost entirely of their lighter, poppier, happier songs.
5. If you're interested the Cure because you've heard songs like "Boys don't cry", "Close to me", "Just like heaven", "Love song", and "Friday, I'm in love", this collection is perfect for you. It's chock full of irresistibly catchy, poppy, and danceable tunes.
6. However, if you want to see the Cure at their absolute best, pick up the albums Disintegration, Pornography, and Faith. They take repeated listenings to really get into, but trust me, it's worth the effort.

Cure veteran:

If you're like most Cure veterans, you're probably all set to go off on a rant about how this collection basically only contains their poppy stuff and hardly has anything from their darker albums. Well, to that I say, what did you expect? This is a GREATEST HITS collection, not a "best of." We all know how great their dark, depressing stuff is, but the singles from those albums (excluding Disintegration) hardly made any impact on the British charts, let alone the American ones.

Even if you are a Cure veteran, I still say this is a wise buy. There's far too much filler on their happier albums, like Kiss me kiss me kiss me and The head on the door. This Greatest Hits collection, however, gives you a great overview of the best of their lighter side without any of the filler. But, if you have either Staring at the Sea or Galore, I'd recommend skipping this one over and saving your money for the box set. ; )

A Cure greatest hits CD without "Killing An Arab," "Faith," "The Hanging Garden," "Pictures of You," "Disintegration," "Untitled," "From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea," "Apart," "End," "Burn," and "Bloodflowers"? Ha. Ha. Ha.

The Cure's career has been too long and diverse to be well served by any one-disc compilation, no matter HOW thorough. Twenty-plus years of mega-awesomeness, encapsulated in one paltry disc? That just ain't happening. Their 1989 masterpiece Disintegration, or the two existing compilations, serve as a better introduction to the band than this - of course, the fans are going to have to buy this for "Cut Here" (which is admittedly not a bad song), which is a crass but all-too-common move nowadays...that's not even mentioning the fact that this CD mainly presents The Cure's barmy pop side, which no one really knows how to treat. Though "Lovesong," "A Forest," "Boys Don't Cry" and "Friday I'm in Love" are inevitable on any Cure compilation (and they all rule, by the way), many of the tracks I mentioned in my opening sentence are just as definitive and indispensable.

Pass this CD up and go for "Staring at the Sea" and "Galore" instead - those two singles compilations work much better at presenting a good profile of The Cure - and then move on to "Disintegration," "Wish" and "Faith" and be enthralled by the countless styles and huge amount of grooviness like countless Cure fans have been. I'd have MUCH rather seen them release a B-side collection than Greatest Hits - hey Robert, when are we going to see "The Big Hand" and "Burn" and countless others on one googily CD, huh?

The Cure have already put out one of the most celebrated best-of's of the rock era, "Staring At The Sea", covering all the singles from their 1979-1985 period (definitely the fans' favorite era). They followed it up a few years back with an admirable companion, "Galore", which picked up where the previous volume left off. Those two CD's give you every single the Cure released up through 1997. I would suggest picking those two up and leaving this one (which only scrapes together a few choice selections from those albums and throws in two new songs) in the dust. If "Greatest Hits" at least contained two of their biggest breakthrough hits from "Disintegration" ("Fascination Street" and "Pictures of You"), I could recommend it for an ultra-casual fan, but without those two songs it barely merits mention. It doesn't even contain anything from "Bloodflowers", their last stuido album, the only one not covered on "Staring At The Sea" or "Galore". The completist will want it for the two new songs (what a ripoff move by the band and the record company), but for the casual fan, get the previous two compilations and enjoy!

Most of these reviews don't give enough information about the album. I will try to fill in the gaps.
So, we start the album with a few singles from the early 80's. This was when The Cure were starting to play with a more pop-sounding atmosphere. "Boys don't Cry" is catchy and fun. It almost has the pace of some of the Clash's songs. Next comes "A Forest." This is a great example of how The Cure made pop songs that sounded like nothing mainstream America had ever heard before. It's sullen and low, but somehow you still find yourself tapping your foot to it. "Let's Go to Bed" is very synth 80's. If not for Robert Smith's incredible voice and lyrics, it might not be so cool. "The Walk" is the same way.
Ok, so now onto the Cure's experimental days. "The Lovecats" sounds like a far out time warp to the 1940's. It's just another perfect example of how unique The Cure's sound is. "In Between Days" is similar to the tone The Cure's pop sounds would be in the future. Great vocals, guitars all around, and a fun beat. "Close To Me" is awesome. It is so weird. It is a closeted favorite for many. Robert Smith's voice on this is whispery and breathy. It's almost (in a very weird way) erotic and sensual. "Why Can't I Be You?" is another fast paced, big band-infused hit.
By now, the Cure had done a great job of determining what sounds worked best for them. Just listen to "Just Like Heaven." A love song with key guitar work and unbelievable vocals. "Lullaby" is another one of those singles that is extremely unconventional pop. But, it still has the core Cure workings. "Love Song" may be their best known song to many. It's a great catchy tune, but in my opinion not their best song. It's just the most popular to those who don't really know much about The Cure. "Never Enough" is more of a hard rock hit. Much more electric guitar and a lot of percussion.
Only six more songs to go. "High" is a perfect conventional Cure song. Written in 1992 on their 'Wish' album, The Cure had come a long way since the 80's. One of my favorite pop songs by them is "Friday, I'm in Love." It's much more a Cure song by all means and has a fun music video to go with it. (To watch most of the Cure videos, go to Launch.com) "Mint Car" is one of the happiest songs they do. It's quite fun and again very much a Cure piece.
This brings us to the last three songs on the album. These are the more hard rock and less conventional songs. "Wrong Number" was considered a new song on this album, and it wasn't received very well by many. In my opinion, it's just another experiment that shouldn't be taken too seriously. "Cut Here" is actually sort of conventional for them. There is almost an urgency in the song, but it is mellowed out by the clinking of the piano and the calm strumming of the guitar. FINALLY, "Just Say Yes" is... well I'm not going to say anything about it. You have enough information to decide if you want the album or not.
Hope this helped! ENJOY one of the most underrated rock/goth/pop groups out there!

The Greatest Hits is really pointless in the face of the perfectly perfect Staring At The Sea: The Singles 1979-1985 and it's companion Galore: The Singles 1986-1997. Get those two instead of this -- you get more Cure and less contractual filler.

The Cure! How can you go wrong? You really can't. The Acoustic Hits are GREAT!! And I mean GREAT!! The arrangements and Sound Quality are AMAZING. BUT BEWARE! The discs are labled incorrectly. Disc 1 is labled Acoustic Hits and it is really the Greatest Hits. Disc 2 is Labled Greatest Hits and it is really the Acoustic Hits. Also the DVD is a PAL not a NTSC/All Regions as in the editorial notes. Be prepared to have a DVD player that converts PAL to NTSC. Whatever you do, buy this on for the Acoustic Hits, even if it is labled wrong.

Someone who has this box set, please respond. What is your experience with this?

...the fact all of the songs on this particular greatest hits album are remastered. Yes there have been several greatest hits albums before, but none sound like this. I have compared the CDs I have back to back with this one and as good as the originals (and other hit compilations) sound there is night and day difference. Even the album Galore is not as clean and crisp as this one, albeit just a small difference between the two. I know it sucks for those of you who already have the songs, but then again if you want the best of the best mastering you have to buy this CD.

For those of you who do not have a lot of Cure music this is the CD to get. You get (of course) all of the hits in what's currently the best reproduction possible. If you're a diehard fan and want some of those classics to stand out on your stereo you might want to go ahead and swallow that pride and get the CD. It's worth checking out.

I always have to laugh when people get huffy at greatest hits collection because their favorite B-Side song which may have been arguably the band's greatest song ever didn't get in. Indeed singles are not the best that the band has to offer, but since the public buy these albums for the songs they hear on the radio, it's only inevitable. Sure if it was up to me a Cure greatest hits CD would be 50 percent Disintegration, 50 percent Bloodlowers with maybe One Hundred Years but life isn't a rose garden.

That been said, however, I'm a little dubious about what this CD claims are the greatest hits. Weren't 'Catch' and 'Hot Hot Hot' hits in the UK? 'The Caterpiller' sure was, peaking at #14. And I'm sure 'Fascination Street' and 'Pictures Of You' (latter still gets airplay on alternative stations) were bigger hits than 'Never Enough' and 'Wrong Number' put together. And no 'The 13th??' I'm sure sure about the rest of the world but I'm positive that was a hit in Australia. I'm a little baffled. And it would have been nice to include 'Killing An Arab' which altho wasn't a hit did earn notoriety for its subject matter and its always a plus to include the first ever single.

As for accusations about the song selection here as 'pure pop' i disagree. Sure 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'A Forest' may be the only 'goth' songs, but I still find 'Lullaby' and 'Close To Me' kind of creepy and 'In Between Days' and 'Just Like Heaven' altho not exactly gloomy, still witstfully melancholy and lyrically very sad. As for the new songs, 'Cut Here' sounds just like 'High' in my opinion which isn't too bad.

For Cure fans, yes have a whinge, for the casual listener who think you might like the Cure, go ahead and buy it.

This album is a great starter for the intro Cure fan. It is true that many of the Cure's greatest songs are missing from this album, especially those from disintegration, however, it can be also be argued that fans who don't already have both "Staring At the Sea" and "Galore are newcomers and would prefer something more comprehensive. I believe that is who "Greatest Hits" is marketed towards. I don't know what these reviewers who gave the album one and two stars were expecting.
In addition, a previous reviewer falsely stated that the "Acoustic Hits" version of this CD was packaged as a double album in the UK only. This is not true. This was a great move by the band in an effort to get those reviewers giving the album one and two stars to buy it. I purchased the album simply for the bonus acoustic disc which was available in the U.S. for a limited time. I am sure with a little effort, tose interested will be able to find the double disc version in their local used CD store or online for a pretty reasonable cost. Being a owner of this acoustic disc I can tell you it's definitely worth looking for.