Customer Reviews

Cured

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a shock this album must have been when it was first released back in '81. Had Steve Hackett sold out to pop trends and abandoned his progressive roots? Twenty years later the controversy hardly matters. Only the music remains, and to this listener it has aged very well.

Although Cured is mostly a collection of pop songs, a distinct progressive edge still remains. The instrumental numbers (Air Conditioned Nightmare and Cradle of Swans) prove this, but even the most radio airplay friendly songs contain their share of intense guitar work and electronic atmospherics. The most important thing about this album is that it's an enjoyable listen. The songs are candy for the ears - addictive and easy to like. On earlier albums there are times when the music seemes designed to turn the listener off, taking sudden turns into strange territory in a constant attempt to push the boundaries. On Cured, Steve Hackett has refined and sugar coated his sound. The effect is to make the music more accessible while retaining the key elements that made his previous albums great. The electronic drums don't detract from the music as previous drummers were never allowed a really large role; and although Hackett isn't possessed of a strong voice, his vocals work well enough and add a certain genuineness to the music as he's singing his own songs. The title Cured seems to refer to Hackett's attempt to cure himself of the darkness that haunted his previous albums. There is a brighter sound on this one, but the lyrics describe a host of unpleasant feelings and experiences. This is the central contradiction of the album: The cover art depicting Steve Hackett in paradise complete with a frosty drink and palm trees, while he sings on Picture Postcard, "I don't want to be here on my own"... upbeat, boucy songs about heartbreak and depression...a smooth pop sound studded with mind bending guitar work. It all comes together perfectly, with both opposing elements complimenting each other. You don't have to be a Steve Hackett fan to like this album. Just take a listen to Hope I Don't Wake and tell me it isn't a good song. And if you're a fan already, well you haven't lived life fully until you listen to our hero sing "I'm givin' you all of my loving..." Far from a sellout, Cured makes life more worth living.

I was born in the tail end of the 1960s so by the time I was old enough to be addicted to top-40 radio the original progressive rock movement had pretty much come to an end. Having a brother who was 18 years older than I was allowed me to learn about other music, including progressive rock. I started buying all of Steve Hackett's albums on cassette, then later CD, about 1988 when I was in college. I thought everything he had released up to that point was just incredible and wonderfully diverse. He continues to amaze me even now and I'm sure he will continue to do so for some time to come.

Cured was one of my favorites then, and it still is. It has a very stripped-down feel to it since it mostly consists of Steve on guitar plus synths and a drum machine, but in this case that is a virtue because it showcases just how talented Steve is as a songwriter. The more upbeat tracks on this album are ditties that you just can't shake from your head, and the slower songs have quite the emotional impact on me. For a more pop-oriented prog album, this easily compares to the best of the commercial smashes from the early 80s such as 90125, Abacab and Vinyl Confessions.

One more thing I should mention. Tony Banks' album The Fugitive is in some ways rather similar to this one and is another must-own for Genesis completists, or anyone else who enjoys the freedom of restriction that early 80's pop had (especially in comparison to today), and would like to try something a bit different.

In his long and eclectic career, "Cured" may be Steve Hackett's most overlooked and underappreciated album. This is primarily for two reasons; first because the pop songs that make up this album are the polar opposite of classic progressive albums like Spectral Mornings and Voyage of the Acolyte and, second, the production, instrumentation and vocals are subpar from what fans expected from Hackett.

Cured comes near the end of Hackett's classic period (Acolyte to Highly Strung) and, at least in America, probably hastened his slide from a moderately popular artist into progressive rock obscurity. (Although the bizarre GTR album in the late 80's temporarily put him back in the spotlight.) But, in fact, this is not a bad album by any means and complements instead of distracts from the body of work he produced in the late 70's and early 80's.

In fact I have always felt that Cured represents his overall best songwriting. He had already proven himself a master in composing complex and textured progressive epics, but, it takes real talent to write a successful 3 or 4 minute pop song and this album has several. I make a clear distinction between songwriting (pop music) and composing (epics like Spectral Mornings). I believe this works because mainly, at his core, Steve Hackett always loved a good melody. And these songs are no exception.

Of course the problem with this album is the overall recording itself. After jettisoning his recording and touring band to cut back on his expenses, Hackett entered the studio with only keyboardist Nick Magnus to record this album. As good as the songs are, they can't overcome the drum machine (still in its infancy) the dated 80's syn sounds from Magnus and Steve's thin, reedy vocals. In fact, choosing to sing lead for the first time was the biggest mistake he made. He had to double and triple track his vocals and use lots of harmony just to fill the sound out. These songs would have gone down much better had he hired a session singer.

I've always had this dream that Hackett would one day take the master tapes, hire a drummer, bassist and re-record parts of this album and add additional vocals. I suspect this album would attract a lot more fans. Still, for the opened minded and curious Hackett fan, there are some very good songs on this album; you just have to listen past their faults to get the core of some good pop.

I remember once reading that, if Genesis lost their brains when Peter Gabriel left, then they surely lost their heart when Steve Hackett left. "Cured" was Hackett's 5th solo album and his most commercial sounding up to that time, although it seems to have turned off his progressive fans and failed to recruit many new followers. But this work should not be dismissed out of hand. On repeated listens the songs wear far better than ordinary pop efforts of the early 80s, thanks to a keen melodic sense and an uncanny instinct for how to exploit limited vocal talents to best effect. "Hope I don't Wake" and "Funny Feeling" are gems of bittersweet pop that settle in for the day when you hear them, while "Can't Let Go" and "Overnight Sleeper" work well as basic rock songs retrofitted to a more extended progressive format. "Cured" is one of those albums that the artist himself might look back on 20 years later with some embarassment, but for those who are not fixated on Steve Hackett as a soldier for the original Genesis' theatrical meanderings, it offers simple yet lasting pleasures.

As this review's title indicates, this album might not be for everyone. I think Steve Hackett fans will enjoy it, and they should add it to their collections simply for the remastered songs. The remastered "Overnight Sleeper" (my favorite track on the album, maybe one of my favorites of all SH's music) is worth it alone. This album is a little quirky with its highly synthesized feel, but it's worth having.

All of Steve Hackett's first six albums have benefitted from remastering, but not all have benefitted from the bonus material; that varies from album to album. The bonus material here is okay: not the worst, not the best. "Tales of the Riverbank" and "Second Chance" sound good, but they sound even better on Bay of Kings. "The Air Conditioned Nightmare" is okay too. The bonus material is probably the only thing that makes me think a 3.5 is the best rating for the album.

As the least impressive of Steve Hackett's rock/band format albums, Cured still has a few shining moments, but please don't start with this one. Cured is a brighter collection in contrast to his previous album, the brooding 'Defector', and the two couldn't be more different. With Cured, Hackett was experimenting with new technology and trying to develope his songwriting as well as his guitar playing. He may have also had his eye on the success of his ex-bandmates Genesis and the solo projects of both Collins and Gabriel, which may explain the more streamlined pop sound on half of this album. His vocals are mediocre at best(he would develope into a better singer later on, but not on this one), and some of his worst lyrics are found here(Picture Postcard). It is also a rather short album(a paltry 33+ minutes) in comparison to his ex-bandmates in Genesis who put out hour-long albums(Duke etc.). On Cured, Hackett had also ditched his band for financial reasons, retaining only keyboardist Nick Magnus and guesting his brother John on flute. The drums are programed synth drums, though they are done somewhat tastefully. Those are the flaws. On the other token, one of Hackett's coolest instrumentals graces this album, 'the Air Conditioned Nightmare', with plenty of proggy solos and trademark Hackett atmospherics. The other instrumental almost doesn't fit in this collection, but is a welcome if not unusual contrast to the rest of the vocal-oriented album. 'A Cradle Of Swans' is a short and pretty nylon acoustic solo, similar to his work on 'Bay Of Kings'. 'Overnight Sleeper' is the one track that harks back to 'Defector' or 'Spectral Mornings', while the best of the simpler tunes is 'Funny Feeling'. Another note is that all of the songs have references to sleep or dreams in one way or another. Don't get this one first, go for Spectral Mornings and Defector(for his Genesis/70's progressive sound), Guitar Noir(for maturity, clarity and atmospheres) and Bay Of Kings(for his classical acoustic work).

Steve Hackett has made many different kinds of albums, and often he'll have many different kinds music on one album. In the context of his extensive discography, CURED is a bit of an oddball, but also sort of a milestone. It marks the first time he tried to sound "pop"-ish, and the first time he did all his own vocals.

The "pop" part is only partially successful. The tunes are catchy enough (especially "Funny Feeling") but the words are often a bit too lazy and awkward to work as good pop lyrics. "Can't Let Go" is a good example of a song where the lyrics start out sounding promising, but then quickly turn sloppy and meaningless.

But it's not *all* pop. There are definite bits of prog here, and the standout track -- the instrumental "Air Conditioned Nightmare" -- isn't pop at all. The primitive drum machine sound throughout the album is less than ideal, but not too distracting.

Considering that Steve never so much as sang backup for Genesis (while members like Phillips and Rutherford, who sounded awful at the time, did), his shot at vocals here isn't bad. He would continue to become a better singer, of course; enough so that he could be a poster child for making the most of a limited voice. And if you've heard his later vocals, it's obvious that CURED has him working, unnaturally & uncomfortably, in the far upper part of his range. On "Picture Postcard" he even evokes Roger Hodgson from Supertramp. But only on the closing "Turn Back Time" does he really sound so strained as to negatively affect the music.

The bonus tracks (2 studio, 1 live) on the remaster were all originally non-album B-sides. All are different recordings of songs available elsewhere. Less known is the fact that the remaster restores a brief intro on "Funny Feeling" that was on the LP but deleted from the original CD issue.

Overall, CURED will probably not interest many people besides Hackett fans. But said fans should definitely check it out once they have his more "obvious" works.

Steve fires his band, keeps only the keyboardist, takes voice lessons and makes a pop song masterpiece as a duo and sings all the vocal. This guy is amazing, Oh my, think what would have been if Genesis had kept him.
Critics...you have to admire Steve for his bravery here, even if you don't like the pop Steve Hackett.

It's all too easy to compare Steve Hackett's 1981 album "Cured" with the concurrent work of his former band Genesis. That's not to say that "Cured" sounds very much like "Abacab", but "Cured" does mark a definite shift toward pop-rock songwriting and arrangements, albeit with a lot of progressive rock touches (also true of '80s Genesis). The change in style is kind of surprising, but the results are incredible. Maybe Hackett felt he had reached an artistic dead-end following the release of "Defector".

Unlike the Banks-Collins-Rutherford lineup of Genesis, who modified their sound gradually from album to album, Hackett made sudden changes with "Cured". In a big turnaround from his previous solo albums, "Cured" is pretty much a two man show--Hackett and keyboardist Nick Magnus--and this seems to go hand in hand with the change in style, a change that's partly reflected in the album cover. Hackett also takes over completely on lead vocals, and most of the album consists of vocal numbers--out of the 8 tracks, there are just two instrumentals. Actually, I believe Hackett handles ALL of the vocal parts on the album, and he does an extremely admirable job--although his voice is rather thin, he neatly manages to breathe life into some lyrics that look corny on paper, and his earnestness and sincerity give the album a winning homely charm, plus he really does a heck of a job with the harmonies.

Steve appears to be extremely content on the album cover, and many of the songs on here are indeed very upbeat from a musical standpoint. However, in a curious contrast, the lyrics on the album are uniformly downbeat, frequently reflecting on the concept of people drifting apart and coping with the loss, with Steve taking a flat-out defeatist tone on songs such as "Hope I Don't Wake" and "Funny Feeling".

Hackett wrote 6 of the 8 tracks here himself, and co-wrote the other two, and he displays an amazing pop-rock sensibility. The album-opening "Hope I Don't Wake" is a beautiful, unbelievably catchy, breezy pop-rocker, musically upbeat with wonderful ringing guitar lines and rich vocal harmonies. The ballad-ish "Picture Postcard" sets a really captivating mood with its arpegiatted electric guitars and pensive melody, plus it has a bridge section that's pleasantly reminiscent of the chorus to Genesis' "Dutchess". "Funny Feeling", co-written by Magnus, is a mind-bogglingly catchy song, with an infectious vocal melody and a cool keyboard riff--compulsively listenable stuff indeed. "Can't Let Go" is also an absolutely irresistible, hook-heavy pop-rocker, stuffed with great keyboard riffs and great guitar and bass licks. "Overnight Sleeper", co-written by Kim Poor, has a captivating instrumental intro (even though it contains a 9/8 section that sounds like it's ripped off from one of his previous albums), nicely dramatic verses, and a lovely, melancholy section that arrives at 2:20 of the track. The slow-paced album-closing ballad "Turn Back Time" is reflective, extremely tender, and beautiful, fading away in mesmerising fashion.

As for the two instrumentals... "A Cradle Of Swans" is one of Hackett's classical guitar excursions--after about a minute it starts getting head-scratchingly aimless, but on the whole it's quite lovely, and serves as an effective link between "Funny Feeling" and "Overnight Sleeper". And "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" is a blast, with its toe-tappingly catchy beat, amusingly mock-ominous sound, and Hackett's wailing guitar heroics--it totally rocks, and it's almost as if it's been beamed in from a completely different album.

To say I'm pleasantly surprised with "Cured" is a big understatement. This is an incredibly addictive album that I'm simply blown away by. For any serious music fan, but ESPECIALLY fans of '80s Genesis, "Cured" is an absolute must.

It's all too easy to compare Steve Hackett's 1981 album "Cured" with the concurrent work of his former band Genesis. That's not to say that "Cured" sounds very much like "Abacab", but "Cured" does mark a definite shift toward pop-rock songwriting and arrangements, albeit with a lot of progressive rock touches (also true of '80s Genesis). The change in style is kind of surprising, but the results are incredible. Maybe Hackett felt he had reached an artistic dead-end following the release of "Defector".

Unlike the Banks-Collins-Rutherford lineup of Genesis, who modified their sound gradually from album to album, Hackett made sudden changes with "Cured". In a big turnaround from his previous solo albums, "Cured" is pretty much a two man show--Hackett and keyboardist Nick Magnus--and this seems to go hand in hand with the change in style, a change that's partly reflected in the album cover. Hackett also takes over completely on lead vocals, and most of the album consists of vocal numbers--out of the 8 tracks, there are just two instrumentals. Actually, I believe Hackett handles ALL of the vocal parts on the album, and he does an extremely admirable job--although his voice is rather thin, he neatly manages to breathe life into some lyrics that look corny on paper, and his earnestness and sincerity give the album a winning homely charm, plus he really does a heck of a job with the harmonies.

Steve appears to be extremely content on the album cover, and many of the songs on here are indeed very upbeat from a musical standpoint. However, in a curious contrast, the lyrics on the album are uniformly downbeat, frequently reflecting on the concept of people drifting apart and coping with the loss, with Steve taking a flat-out defeatist tone on songs such as "Hope I Don't Wake" and "Funny Feeling".

Hackett wrote 6 of the 8 tracks here himself, and co-wrote the other two, and he displays an amazing pop-rock sensibility. The album-opening "Hope I Don't Wake" is a beautiful, unbelievably catchy, breezy pop-rocker, musically upbeat with wonderful ringing guitar lines and rich vocal harmonies. The ballad-ish "Picture Postcard" sets a really captivating mood with its arpegiatted electric guitars and pensive melody, plus it has a bridge section that's pleasantly reminiscent of the chorus to Genesis' "Dutchess". "Funny Feeling", co-written by Magnus, is a mind-bogglingly catchy song, with an infectious vocal melody and a cool keyboard riff--compulsively listenable stuff indeed. "Can't Let Go" is also an absolutely irresistible, hook-heavy pop-rocker, stuffed with great keyboard riffs and great guitar and bass licks. "Overnight Sleeper", co-written by Kim Poor, has a captivating instrumental intro (even though it contains a 9/8 section that sounds like it's ripped off from one of his previous albums), nicely dramatic verses, and a lovely, melancholy section that arrives at 2:20 of the track. The slow-paced album-closing ballad "Turn Back Time" is reflective, extremely tender, and beautiful, fading away in mesmerising fashion.

As for the two instrumentals... "A Cradle Of Swans" is one of Hackett's classical guitar excursions--after about a minute it starts getting head-scratchingly aimless, but on the whole it's quite lovely, and serves as an effective link between "Funny Feeling" and "Overnight Sleeper". And "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" is a blast, with its toe-tappingly catchy beat, amusingly mock-ominous sound, and Hackett's wailing guitar heroics--it totally rocks, and it's almost as if it's been beamed in from a completely different album.

To say I'm pleasantly surprised with "Cured" is a big understatement. This is an incredibly addictive album that I'm simply blown away by. For any serious music fan, but ESPECIALLY fans of '80s Genesis, "Cured" is an absolute must.