Customer Reviews

Blue Sunshine

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By now you know that The Glove was the side-project of The Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie & the Banshees' Steve Severin, with Severin's girlfriend at the time, Jeanette Landray, usually on vocals (Smith sings lead on 2 tracks).

"A Blues in Drag" is one of the great instrumental in post-punk's history. You could almost call it a tone poem, with its slowly shifting sweeps backed with sparse piano notes, hidden giggles, whispers, gently whining violins and other strings. The effect is beautiful, mesmerizing and deeply sensual.

"Punish Me with Kisses" is a lilting, strange pop song juxtaposing a nice lyrical flow with seemingly opposing images of violence, love and sex; the title should already tell you that much.

Smith sings on the enigmatically sexual "Mr. Alphabet Says", which almost sounds like a freaked out version of the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" complete with moaning cellos and minor key piano. Lyrics include fun moments of covering, and of course removing, honey and treacle (that's Brit for molasses) from a partner's body. Ends with the hilarious lyric, "Don't be afraid, there's no marmalade."

"Perfect Murder", the other Smith-led number, is a bouncy, swirly (if you'll let me make that word up) track with Robert sounding a lot like the howling, wailing vocalist he did on The Cure album `The Top'. Reverb-affected synths and noises snake throughout the entire mix.

One of my favorites is the entrancing "Sex-Eye-Makeup" filled with some of the most lurid lyrics on the subject of self-satisfaction ever heard. "Run around the stairs in your Sunday dress, it's the best thing money can buy. Or leave me on stairs with my feet in the air, I'll think that I'm jazzy like Christ. Someone coughing took away my breath; Inches of glass all shiny and new, screaming, laughing, f@#ks me to death." The screeching guitar coupled with the organ feel dirty but in an artful way.

"Looking Glass Girl" is every oddball David Lynch scene set to music; "The umbrella man is shouting, we shake his paper hands... we peel away like tinsel"... all set to a light samba rhythm.

"Relax" is black and dreamy with minimal strumming of guitar and bass drifting amid floating noises and bizarre, looping phrases & whispers. It is hypnotic, trippy and not boring despite being an instrumental.

"Orgy", another hypnotic song, is very Middle East influenced and blends in a flute similar to another song from `The Top'. When she sings, "Overgrown senses ripple and spark... we could swim, my little fishes and me" somehow on a song called Orgy I don't think she's talking about the fishes in the deep blue sea. "This Green City" is similar in tone and content.

One of the singles is the upbeat "Like An Animal", which is unlike the other tracks without feeling out of place. Jeanette's vocals are almost ethereal here, sounding much bigger than elsewhere. As with elsewhere on this disc, the words are strange, darkly suggestive and jarring and violent despite the sing-song bounce to it. The guitar feels like Smith did on "Head on the Door"... think "In-between Days".

The B-side "Mouth to Mouth" makes for one of the best songs and features a piercing guitar hook. "I laid in bed for hours remembering your taste."

"The Tightrope", another instrumental, starts out sounding like a fun trip to the carnival but midday turns haunting as if it represents a horrifying childhood memory. The sense of loss, or maybe it's a sense of being lost, is powerful.

The album is a must for Goths, fans of either Cure & Siouxsie or anyone interested in really strange, original music. Despite the heavy hitters involved in the project, this album is unbearably obscure. Still it remains as one of the great albums of the 80's.

i have been listening to the Cure since 1984, and i love all their work BUT this album is definately one of my favorite projects Robert Smith has performed in. (Pornography next to it). For some reason, the dark but dreamy mood of this album hits my heart on the spot. If you listen to the Cure, i need not to explain my reason. His music has this effect. Robert only sings on 3 of the songs, but you can hear his guitar style and production throughout every song on the album. Not a bad inch on this album. I worship the Cure, Joy Divison, Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, and Siouxsie. But i have to say, THIS WILL BE THE RECORD THAT I WILL TAKE TO MY GRAVE. Buy it. MOst beautiful!!! If you do not like the Cure or Siouxsie, please do not waste your money on this.

I was in college around 1990-91 when they finally "officially" released this album in the states so I was eager to get it. The collaboration between The Cure's Robert Smith and Sioxsie & the Banshees bassist Steven Severin as The Glove turns out to be interesting to say the least. The story goes they spent hours upon hours watching horror movies to descend into some altered state to record this album. [...]....

At times musically haphazard, it's certainly interesting to listen to. The fact that Robert Smith sings on only two songs, 'Mr. Alphabet Says' and 'Perfect Murder' shouldn't disappoint Cure fans. His influence is all over this album. 'Punish Me With Kisses' and 'Like An Animal' are pretty good singles, but the song of the album is 'A Blues in Drag.' It's a haunting instrumental with simplistic, reverberating piano keys that I still can't stop playing. Most of the album is sung by Jeanette Landray, who has an original, if not powerful, voice.

For a Cure or Siouxsie fan, it's a must-have. For anyone interested in 80's music, it's a worthy addition as something off the beaten path.

This album, at first seems uncoordinated. Though, constant listening appeals senses more each concurrent repeat. "Blues In Drag," can play in my head for the rest of my life, and I could never get sick of it. Solid testament to early 80's modern music.

Although I agree that this is a must-have for any devoted Cure or Siouxsie fans, it doesn't sound anything like any album by either band. In fact, there's really nothing to compare this album to. It contains a lot of dark psychedelic snippets of music, some weird organ work reminiscent of Danny Elfman's scores, and Robert Smith's trademark animal lyrics. You may not listen to it every day, but it's well worth having around for the times when you need that happy depressed feeling.

One warning - don't buy this if you like neat, homogenous albums. Blue Sunshine skips around musical styles and moods, particularly at the end. The last three tracks are the bonus tracks from the American release, and while they are good songs, they sound utterly unlike the rest of the album. They are much faster and more synthey, and don't fit here at all. This always annoys me.

this is an amazingly well-done album that sounds even better toi me now than it did in the mid-80s. the production is ideosynchratic and perverse at times, even slap-dash. but even it;s rough momnets are gems. the sparkle and shine isn;t all acid-begot, either. many of the songs are fantastic as songs, and guest vocalist jeanette landry is one of the under-appreciated tlents of the recent past.

almost all the musicians and music lovers i know treasure this subtle, though very infulential album. very highly recommended.

why isn;t there a tribute album?!?!?!

Unless you a Cure (because of Smith) or Siouxsie & the Banshees (because of Severin) completist you probably would be better off spending the $20 or so on a copy of Siouxsie's "Hyaena" and The Cure's "Head on the Door" or "The Top" - they are all very similar (I think) to "Blue Sunshine" yet overwhelmingly better. Severin's unique bass approach in "Like an Animal" and "Mr. Alphabet Says" (easily the best two tracks on the disc) is worthwhile but there is little else that I was impressed with. I'm happy that Smith left this project in the dustbin otherwise we all might have missed out on some of The Cure's best work.

The Glove's album "Blue Sunshine" is an interesting mixture of songs, which overall, are chipper little tunes. Jeanette Laundry sings most of the songs, with "Like an Animal" being her best on this album. Track 5 (A Blues in a Drag) is an instrumental and track 10 (Relax) is a weird song that resembles an instrumental, but has sound clips of a few phrases repeated over and over.

Tracks 4 (Mr. Alphabet Says) and 9 (Perfect Murder) have Robert Smith of The Cure on vocals. If you are a Cure fan, these two tracks alone make the album worth getting. Both are fantastic songs.

This album came out in 1983, and is now relatively obscure. "Blue Sunshine" is by far one of my favorite albums and is filled with songs that leave me feeling excited and full of energy.

Steve Severin and Robert Smith, taking a break from Siouxsie and The Banshees and The Cure in the early eighties, produced this weirdly eclectic record. It's almost in the vein of what the Banshees did on albums like Hyaena and was a bit of a preview of the direction the Cure would go during the Japanese Whispers period, there aren't many stand out songs, but Mr. Alphabet Says is worth the price of admission all by itself. Fans of the Cure or Siouxsie and The Banshees should really have this lesser known gem in their collections.

As a true Robert fan I was dissapointed to find that he only sings on a few tracks. However, I also like the girl. The music is awesome and I wish they had produced more albums. I would say it is a must-have for any hardcore Cure or Siouxsie fans. Its great to hear our most loved people in a different way. Robert does awesome things with his voice on track 9.