The Cure [Deluxe Edition w/ Bonus DVD]

The Cure | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B00029PBYE
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (181 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,910 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Lost

2. Labyrinth

3. Before Three

4. The End of the World

5. Anniversary

6. Us or Them

7. Alt.end

8. (I Don't Know What's Going) On

9. Taking Off

10. Never

11. The Promises

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Having threatened to enter into retirement after 2000's bleak goodbye letter, Bloodflowers, weathered British goth idols the Cure turned around only to discover their sound being commandeered by the likes of the Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, and Interpol. Is it any wonder the band seems a little put out on its self-titled 13th studio album? The disc sounds like a terse history lesson covering all eras of its back catalog, from the baroque post-punk of 1981's Faith ("Labyrinth") and jangle-pop of 1987's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me ("Taking Off") straight through the atmospheric dirges of 1989's Disintegration ("The Promise") and the dark-tinged MOR of 1996's Wild Mood Swings ("The End of The World"). It's not so much a comeback effort as a collection of templates affirming that no one does the Cure better than themselves. --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Deluxe edition includes 30 minute Making of the Record DVD. Album produced by Robert Smith and Ross Robinson.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC Cure, July 10, 2004

By 

kk (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cure [Deluxe Edition w/ Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

Just to get this out of the way...I've been a Cure fan for over 20 years (whew, that was rough to admit) and my favorite song is still Charlotte Sometimes. In all that time, I've never been sure quite what to expect when the band puts out a new album. I'll also admit that I have not always loved every album, or at least not right away. Wish, in particular, didn't do much for me when it came out. I listened a few times, picked out a couple of tracks that I thought were OK, then basically stored it away for about three years. When I finally pulled it back out and gave it a listen, I absolutely loved the album start to finish. The lesson being that the music is what it is, and whether or not you connect with it has as much to do with you as it does with what the band recorded.

That said, I've found this album to be almost a distillation of everything that I've always loved about the Cure. There's an edgieness and passion to the music. I find myself believing that what I'm hearing is exactly what Robert Smith wanted to say. Unlike some of the Cure's other releases, these songs stand really well together as a collection. My favorite tracks at the moment are Alt.end, Us or Them, and Taking Off. The telling thing to me is that I don't find myself skipping the other tracks to get to them.

I guess what I really like about this album is that this Cure sounds like what I expected the Cure to sound like. I think that this lineup of the Cure has really hit their stride post-Trilogy and I'm excited to see what they do next.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cure Evolution, July 4, 2004

By 

William C. Nance "museman" (Charlotte, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cure [Deluxe Edition w/ Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

What has made the Cure one of the best bands over the past twenty-five years or so is their ability to do different things. Faith is not Kiss Me is not Disintegration is not The Cure. Perhaps the reason for these bad reviews is a short sightedness or lack of understanding. This sounds like the Miles Davis debate... It's not Kind of Blue! I say good. An artists or groups longevity is directly proportional to how they develop as an artist. I don't understand those who say they have been fans since the Eighties but then complain about the music here. Myself, as a musician, understand what it is like to work for months on something only for someone to take two seconds to criticize what took much effort to produce.
Yes, this is different. However, my first reaction was one of a delightful surprise. And I think that the bonus DVD is worth the price. There are things here that reflect the traditional Cure sound. In Lost we hear the repetitive structures that one can find in a song like Want. There is also an extended song, The Promise, like we find on Disintegration (Prayers for Rain). While the instrumentation is different, the Cure style is still there and I am thinking this really is their best album since Disintegration even though it couldn't be more different from Disintegration. There is much emotion and variety on this album. I wish I could give more than five stars. Viva la Cure!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I...can't find myself...", July 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cure [Deluxe Edition w/ Bonus DVD] (Audio CD)

Alright, I've been a Cure fan for over 10+ years, and I have to say, this is one of their best albums. I have read many of the reviews on this site and others and they have been very, VERY mixed. One thing I keep noticing on some of the negative reviews is there comparison with "Disintegration". Common people, The Cure will never release another "Disintegration", so stop trying to compare all their later work to it! The album changed many lives, I know, but that doesn't mean that their (The Cure) new material can't either!

The album is probably one of their most experimental in terms of song structure, as many have no distinguishable choruses or hooks; this is partly caused by the album being recorded live in the studio (which explains why alot of Robert's vocals are louder than the music; if some of the earlier reviewers read the cd insert they would see at the bottom the declaration as such).

The cd is definitely an acquired taste, but it seems to be a worthwile musical experience if you go into it with no expectations.