Customer Reviews

Ten Imaginary Years

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I have been a cure fan for as long as I remember and own several cure books, but I must say this is my very favorite, one of the most interesting I have ever read on this band."Ten Imaginary years" takes you on a journey from the very begining of the band (it even mentions how Smith and Tolhurst meet) and ends around the late 1980's when the cure play in Orange, France.
Members of the band talk about their experiences with being in the world of music,their musical inspirations, life on the road, bad managment,fights,bar hopping, drinking binges (hilarious!!!), making of their videos, family life and the very unusual characters and situations they have been in along the way.
This was one of my first cure books , so I absolutely recomend it to the new cure fan and for the old cure fan, its a must have. It has great pictures (including childhood pictures form all members!!), a discography at the end of the book and lots of information about the members I had no idea about. Most important of all this book is extremely humorous.This book is the real thing, it revelas all unapologetically. You will love it!!!!!

Ever since I became a Cure fan I had always wondered if Robert or any of the other band members had a biography, marking the major turning points of their musical careers.... And I guess that my question has been answered ever since I first heard about this crucial book. It lives up to what everyone has said about it, and I just got it yesterday from my friend Ben actually!(Thanks again! You're a sweetie!!)
What can I really say that hasn't been said already? It starts out in the late 70's, the original band members were in the middle of high school and already showing major signs of music excellence. Robert showed obvious signs of his intrest in music around his 10th grade year, and this book clearly highlights his journey to the top. I personally think it's quite intresting to read about their rise to fame and the obstacles they had to encounter along the way. I don't want to give out any spoilers so you all will just have to find out of yourselves the stories in here (oh yeah, there's a hilarious one that concerns Lol and Billy Idol... I almost fell over laughing!!)
This treasure is full of surprises and just about anything else you won't expect to hear. And, lets not forget the oh so needed eye candy!! It's practically exploding with tons of rare, great pictures... Color and black and white. The cute as hell baby pictures are a perfect ending. I especially love the color on the cover. Just because it says it's "paper-back" does not mean that it's not durable or good-looking. First time I saw it I thought it was a hard back because the front is glossy.
The pages are made out of nice quality paper and it's really thick, so you'll have hours to spend reading it. It's a fairly large book as well, I'd say around the size of a good-sized magazine (the width being roughly 8 1/2 in. and the length being 11 in.). This book is generally hard to come across(if not impossible), so I highly urge any Cure fan who is considering on buying this to second-guess no more.
You WILL NOT find any and I mean ANY other Cure book that will be more on the mark than this one. Take it from me and millions of Cure fans alike, this book will easily become one of your most valued possesions. Also, it's important to note that this is the only site on the 'net where I've seen this book for sale (new and used).
I've tried bidding before and no matter what, I was always outbidded by like, 12 other people so just save yourself some time and not to mention money and buy this now! I wish that I would've done that a long time ago. I promise you won't be disappointed in the least!

This book is not just a The Cure fan's book, it just a great book. In depth from cover to cover with every thing from school times to kiss me kiss me kiss me. In a few words: Lovable, interesting, and just wonderful.

writen as well as the music, in depth from early school days to 1989. beutiful pictures not just for a cure fan but for anyone wants to read about interesting people.

This book is the "definitive version" of the first ten years of the band we all know and love, The Cure. It takes us from Robert's early school days to the height of 1986, without leaving anyone behind. By far, the best biography to date, but another is in the works.

So great to read about stories behind many songs that soundtracked a good portion of my life and still continue to do so. Book is full of interesting information from the band and Robert himself. Some cool press clippings and tid-bits, it's very Cure, very eclectic; I loved it. The book ends with Kiss me Kiss Me Kiss me being released, so you never get to masterpiece that is Disintegration, and I would love to read about how that all came about, since it was the album that started me on The Cure and the one that I think is just about a handful of musically perfect creations from the first note to the last. I am hoping that part two of the book will come out. Even so, I had such fun couple of afternoons sifting through the book and listening to each album parallel to reading about it. What a great band, what great music legacy they created, and what interesting driving/creative force Robert Smith is. Always loved him, always will. Recommended for fans, or newcomers to their music.

All I can say is thank goodness there is a such thing as satellite radio with wonderful stations such as XM Channel 44 titled 1st Wave. This is the station that already played some of my longtime favorites such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Kate Bush. It also re-accquanted me with great alternative bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, New Order, and most notably The Cure. The Cure was one of those bands I always seemed to know, yet not. The few tunes that made it to my long ago American Top 40 radio immediately caught my attention as a kid in the 80's, and, strangely enough, I've never not known who Robert Smith was. I must have caught a quick snapshot of him in one of the trillion teeny bop magazines out at the time. I somehow never forgot The Cure's lead vocalist and songwriter. It must have been the Edward Scissorhand aesthetic, which I always found intriguing. Here lately, however, I really began to wonder about this character and his band. By this time I had become very familiar with older singles such as "Killing An Arab", "A Forrest", and "Three Imaginary Boys", and wondered how in the world this band evolved from a rather stark punk sound to the more complex rhythms encountered on tracks such as "Pictures Of You" and "Fascination Street". I decided I needed a good, straight forward guide to answer some questions. I was very happy to find what I was looking for in "Ten Imaginary Years". True, it only covers the first ten years, but jam packed full of interviews of all the members and a great many photos. What I found extremely helpful was the frankness of this biography. It wasn't written to kiss the band's rear. It was very honest in the fact that many critics hated them for not being radio friendly, then questioned integrity when a lighter more juanty tune did break through to the Top 40 charts. On the opposite end, however, this biography was not written as tabloid fodder. Personally, I'm sick and tired of has-been rockers who decide they need pages of a book to spew all their long ago drug induced escapades and groupie trash in order to make the next mortgage payment. Of course, as a group of young guys in the 80's, drugs were around, excessive drinking happened, but as far as information involving significant others, all the members were quite discreet. Bravo! It's about the music these guys have created in their first ten years together, which are, no doubt, some of the most definitive songs of the post-punk era, not how many pieces of trash from the audience came along to the after parties. Again, Bravo! Highly recommended for any Cure-ious fan.

I had read others like "Never Enough", but this one remains the best and the truest.
Hope more cure fans enjoy it too.

Reading this book will make you realize that. There are much wonderful pictures to look at -pictures of younger Bobs and a kissable picture of Smith as a toddler as there are much interesting stuff to read. I learned a lot from the book not only about the band but of other things as well like the psychology of the band. What I wish they had included is some previously unpublished pictures of his wife. I also wish that Smith would have wrote more about his private life. I think his relationship with his wife is almost as fascinating as himself. Other than that I was fully satisfied. Since having read it carefully once, I have flipped through the book at least 5 times a week.

This was made to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary and is a must-have for any fan. Everything you want to know and all the full-colour pictures you can handle! Also includes a Discography. Includes everything up to Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and the Cure in Orange. Personally (as a fan) it's one of my most prized posessions, even now that their nearing their 20th anniversary!!! Absolutely hilarious!