The Cure Album: “Bloodflowers”

sometimes i think to myself, "shouldn't i have outgrown the cure?" being in high school in the mid-80's, the cure and the smiths and depeche mode were everything. it was all so cool. but gosh i'm almost 30 now - you'd think the cure would be faded adolescent memories. well, with a great set of tunes like bloodflowers, i realize i could never tire of the poetry of robert smith. i've read a few reviews which tag this album as "the logical follow up to disentegration" - and i agree...it is. the mood, the dense atmosphere, is very disentegration. the two main differences that help the albums compliment each other rather than making the new one sound like rehash is that this album is even less pop - there's no "love song" (i remember feeling back then that robert had really sold out with that tune), no "pictures of you", or "lullaby". and that's not a bad thing - my favorite cure had absolutely no radio potential. the other noticable difference is that bloodflowers is very concise...very direct. disentegration was much more meandering and sometimes overly poetic. the four stars - because there will never be another faith or pornography (actually my favorite cure is from the out of print "cure in orange" concert movie). this is definitely their best music since 1989 but nothing compared to the old classic stuff.

While many reviewers have compared this album to the Cure's classic '89 album "Disintegration" (which is, to my mind, the Cure's seminal work), I have a hard time understanding such comparisons. "Bloodflowers" is indeed a dark album -- but so is the majority of the Cure's work, save the awful "Wild Mood Swings" and some cuts from "Wish." The Cure's latest features most prominently layers and layers of harsh, ugly and highly intense guitar riffs. Sure, the classic cure melodic style is mixed in, but at least half of the songs on this disc are brutal, cutting tunes. (Watching me Fall; 39; Bloodflowers; Maybe Someday -- though this one mixes in a certain pop element as well). These tracks, to my mind, are quite reminiscent of the louder tracks from "Wish." They are also, save track 4, *very* effective. The remainder of the songs feature a blend of softer percussion with Robert's now-classic simple, emotional guitar melodies. Each one is really quite beautiful, with somber lyrics that have really touched me (particularly "The Loudest Sound" and "There is no if..") There is not a weak song on this album, save perhaps "Maybe Someday." The other eight are thickly layered, raw, and highly emotional. Personally, I would have liked to hear more keyboards on this disc; as it is, they are merely a background element (another factor distinguishing this album from "Disintegration," where lush keyboards abound). Ultimatley, a powerful return to form, with a raw edge that really gets beneath the skin.

Bloodflowers does not seem to be an album meant to be played out in a public place but instead, like all my favorite albums, makes sense when listened to alone, selfishly, where it can be explored by your mind. Indead it is hard to rate with stars from one to five, it is just an album thats on its own level. This opus by Smith and Co. exists on its own terms and is probably more suited to an individual who knows who the cure is. The album is rigid in feeling but what a feeling it is. Seeping with bittersweet melodies from acoustic guitars and keyboards to dread and sadness from harsh basses and calculated drumming, Bloodflowers really never disappoint. Out of this world opens with a slow fade in which sets the album's mood and tone with a somber beat and a heart tugging acoustic strum. Then Robert begins to pour out his heart and with his sad and wonderful voice lets the listener know this will not be an easy listen but somehow needs to hear. This album is very mystical operating on a level that is really hard to compare to other albums that I own and have heard, and I own and have heard A LOT of albums. Bloodflowers is pure feeling, which tries to reach the core of the listen. This is why it is better to hear alone where reflection can occur. When Watching me fall comes in, it is eleven pressured minutes of menacing guitar that sounds harrowing all at once. Robert's voices matches the mood with desperation with an undertone of anger and as the music towers, his bloody-murder wails accent the music which comes crashing down drowning the listen in tension and release. Where the birds always sing moves in with intricate melodies while still having pop sensibility that pushes the album forward and is one of those songs that can be listened to outside the album. It has the great lyric, "the world is neither fair nor unfair" and Robert's sadness continues to move into different forms. Maybe someday is another great stand-alone song that injects a very anti-commercial album just at the right moment to give a focused attitude and deliberate direction creating an anthem-like feel. But not too much because when you think the cure are about to launch into a guitar solo, they do great keyboard washes instead. The last day of summer and there is no if... are the more mood setting pieces that add to the album as a whole. The first is a sad song with sweeping keyboards and a guitar solo that holds it together and the later song is the most experimental with simplistic acoustics and keyboards with a mid-break instrument change up to electric guitars that propels Bloodflowers along to The loudest sound. This song is fabulous with content carnival plinking, moving guitars, and keyboards that can only be described as waves crashes in the universe. It has a grand guitar solo and, as all great songs, climaxes with Robert and the band creating tension at the end. The album then shifts mood to 39 with menacing keyboards, cutting guitars, and dense production as Robert rants and screams with multiple guitar solos creating the feeling of urgent dread. The final epic is Bloodflowers, which starts out with tribal drumming, and a deathly somber Robert singing about the end. The guitars and bass are grim with strain that explode into crashing cymbals and a guitar solo that...I can't even describe. The song is...incredible. What makes this album worth listening to is the fact that it flows and is multifaceted. Each song complements each other, which makes it somewhat easier and more intense to listen to then past cure albums (pornography and disintegration). The overall production is just in your face and can be literally a wall of sound or quiet as a mouse. The album is uncompromising with songs in average length of six minutes creating stirring moods of sadness and desperation rarely captured to audio in such grand artistic fashion. Bloodflowers is another crucial album by THE CURE.

If you have listened to the Cure since the early 80's and been a serious fan, it has been a real treat to see the development of the band's work. Some albums have bordered on legendary (Disintegration, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me) while other have not been quite as good (Wild Mood Swings). Every great band has had its ups and downs. However, it seems with Bloodflowers, Robert Smith has returned the band to its roots. Namely, beautiful, ethereal melancholy music in which you can lose yourself. This is what the Cure is all about and as long as you can accept that, Bloodflowers has to be considered one of the best pieces of work they have ever done.

"Out of This World", "There is no If", "The Loudest Sound" and "The Last Summer" are bound to become Cure classics and I consider them to be the standouts of the album. They are songs with layers upon layers of elegant sound and lyrics with meaning and thoughtfulness. The rest of the album is equally as good. If it's true that this is their last album, I say to Robert "stop here!" Simply put, Bloodflowers is the Cure.

I have been a CURE fan since 1984, and let me tell you, the latest effort from Robert Smith is indeed worthy of being hailed as an instant classic. BLOODFLOWERS swims through the air, and intoxicates every part of you....it is a fine piece of work. Granted, the music of The CURE has changed throughout the years, but the end result is brilliant. BLOODFLOWERS is a CD any CURE fan will love, and is also a CD any new CURE fan must have. The highlight of the album is track #1 "Out of This World"....it's infectious. The rest of the album takes you on a journey, and Robert Smith is your captain.....thoughts and images weave through the music leaving you wanting more. Unfortunately, this is probably The CURE'S last CD. Job well done to one of the finest bands ever to survive the 80's. "Held for one moment, I remember a song... An impression of sound... Then everything is gone... Forever." A Strange Day- from the CURE album pornography