The Cure Album: “Cure [Bonus Tracks]”

growing up my favorite music was the Cure, the Smiths, David Bowie and Kate Bush....and the Misfits. these artists shaped my view of what good music is.

here i am now almost 40 getting back into the cure.

so here is my impression of the Cure's the Cure album.

i really liked 5 songs on the Cure album. and there also was one other song that i tried hard to like (promise) but it just goes on too long. the music for promise is nice actually, it builds up nicely but mr.Smith just dosen't do much with it lyrically...it ends akwardly with him repeating the words "and i'm still waiting." would of been better with the music just sort of fading out. like i said i tried really hard to like it. so 5 good ones and one almost... basically that (and the stars above) is my review. period.

*END OF REVIEW* (the rest below is supplemental)

i paid 28 bucks but soon as i cliked buy i realized i could of gone to amazon uk and got the uk version of this album which even includes the same extra tracks (yes even the extra songs all for MUCH cheaper! go to amazon uk even with the additional shipping you'll save.)

side points: an objective review considers the positive and negative so here goes. when you put this CD in your computer to access bonus material (a link to a site that has some interviews and a few demo versions of songs on the album) the files don't play. i have a new computer (jan 2007) with Win XP , latest version of quicktime and realplayer still the files wouldnt play.maybe the site is no longer being maintained.

also note: the deluxe version of this album that comes with a DVD (this one i'm reviewing does NOT come with DVD) has 4 bonus songs

1.Someone's Coming" ("Truth Goodness and Beauty" alternative version)

2."Back On" (instrumental version of "Lost")

3."Jason 3" (instrumental version of "Never")

4."The Broken Promise" (instrumental version of "The Promise")

this track listing comes from [...]album)

i dont have the deluxe (with DVD) version but i think, based on the tracklisting, the album im reviewing is better than the deluxe version..or so i believe.

that's it. you'll notice in my review above that i did not compare this album to DISINTEGRATION. well....the Cure is an eclectic group. their music spans a range of emotions. Unfortuantely lots of people into goth are also into the Cure. and they take each new release, each new Cure album and compare it to Disintegration.

the Cure's work flirts with both the beautiful and grotesque. Robert Smith's songs reflect wild mood swings. soaring into deliriously happy songs to rock songs with almost a punk edge all the way down to songs that are more dark and somber.

"Japanese whispers" and "boys dont cry" are albums labeled as "pop" or "goth pop." becuase they aren't dark and gloomy they are inaccurately labeled pop.you got people here on Amazon (so called fans) writting reviews saying "the Top" is not an essential Cure album to listen to.

such a shame...those albums are true gems with songs that are emotionally complex. songs about love and loss that just dont fit into the narrow perspective of some who only want to hear gloom.

maybe Disintegration is your favorite album...fine.

maybe you consider it their best work...i have no problem with that.

the majority of Cure fans here are into goth so their voice is the loudest. It's too bad to becuase if ever there was a band that shouldn't be judged based on *ONE* lone album...it's the Cure.

im not here to tell you what is and isn't essential.

and i don't need to compare this album to disintergration (or any other)

also scales of 1-5 stars are arbitrary...it's arbitrary, i mean really.

i paid 28 bucks for the album and liked 5 songs, but how much would i pay to have the band come to my house and play those same 5 songs?

so like i said, i gave it a few good listens, 5 songs i really liked and one song i almost liked..(i only pushed skip twice, only 2 songs were hard to listen to) but as a whole i enjoyed listening to the whole album several times which is alot more than i can say for a whole lot of other artists material.

right now its Jan 27 2007.i got this album along with the alt.end single with lyrics like

"your God is fear" and "there is no terror in my heart"

i found these songs to be quite relevant.the alt.end single has:

1.alt end

2.why can't i be me?

3.your God is fear.

i spent like 4 bucks and was very happy, 4 bucks well spent.

if you're new to the Cure i suggest you start at "staring at the sea"

i gave four stars becuase i couldn't give 3 and half...

i am learning Japanese in college right now, so i actually got a kick out

of reading the lyrics in the cd book in Japanese. an added plus.

but like i said head to Amazon.UK and get the UK version of the album there

unless of course you're learning Nihongo :)