Not Crap!
The Cure might not always be brilliant, but I think It's almost impossible for Robert Smith to make a really bad song. His perfectionism is so much a part of his nature.
His best works are incomparable,though.
Smith is also an inventive and criminally underrated six string bass player.
Simply elegant!

I've been revisiting Faith. What a stunner of a record that is.

I've only ever heard Pornography. "One Hundred Years" is a great song. All the others sound exactly the same and I can barely remember how any of them go. Plus, Robert Smith's voice actively annoys me...that whole half-crying schtick really gets on my bad side. I mean, tough luck, Nancy! Fuckin' scream about how life sucks. Don't whine!

Is there something I'm missing here?

I just bought "Disingeneration" and it's really good.


Not Crap from this household.

SecondEdition wrote:I've only ever heard Pornography. "One Hundred Years" is a great song. All the others sound exactly the same and I can barely remember how any of them go. Plus, Robert Smith's voice actively annoys me...that whole half-crying schtick really gets on my bad side. I mean, tough luck, Nancy! Fuckin' scream about how life sucks. Don't whine!

Is there something I'm missing here?

you need to hear seventeen seconds.

Funny, I just saw them on tv, playing a live version of their new single, The Only One. It wasn't very exciting really, but i can't say I hate it.

I'm glad Porl Thompson rejoined the band. What a great guitar player!
If you don't know him, go listen to The Cure's Wish. The album features some of his best guitar works. I actually think Porl Thompson deserves most of the credit for this album.

Not a great band.

Campy. Often ridiculous. Old stuff is unconvincing by and large.

But he has an ear for a tune, and on occasion it adds up.

I mostly like the middle stuff--not too overwrought, not too pop:

A Forest (live version)
The Walk
In Between Days
Just Like Heaven
Pictures of You
Lovesong
Fascination Street

Boy, I don't know. Is that enough? Three of those songs are from Disintegration, and I don't even think that is that great of a record.

I like the way he detunes his high E string on purpose.

Is that enough?

I do not know.

I think maybe however I voted on the Police, that's how I vote on the Cure. I can't remember what I decided on them.

I could never get into this band, because of the fans they had in my high school. So rabid. I think I own exactly one of their records - The Top - but I'd have to go to the Northern Outpost to find out.

I think one of the reasons why I got into all the SST bands was a direct opposition to the Cure/Smiths fans that surrounded me in homeroom.

Bartok wrote:hated three imaginary boys. but faith, pornography and disintergration are great.

Wow, just the opposite. "Boys Don't Cry", "Fire in Cairo" and "Killing an Arab" were all great singles. Then something happened and they became a dense dreampop shoegaze nightmare. Much as I love "Three Imaginary Boys", Crap.

I've got a live concert from 1981 which I downloaded off the sadly defunct Postpunkjunk website.

It's super stripped-down, just Smith, a bassist and a drumbox, and I like it a lot. There's a lot of later stuff by the Cure that I'm not into so much, but the simple structure and super clean live sound of this live recording do it for me every time.
Also, I must say that "Killing an Arab" is a true post-punk classic.

N/C - although there is a lot of Cure stuff I wouldn't listen to if I had the choice.