| The Cure |
 |
| Studio album by The
Cure |
| Released |
June 28, 2004 |
| Recorded |
2003 - 2004 |
| Genre |
Alternative
rock |
| Length |
53:55 |
| Label |
I AM/Geffen |
| Producer |
Ross Robinson,
Robert Smith,
Jesse
Cannon |
| Professional reviews |
|
|
| The Cure chronology |
Join
the Dots
(2004) |
The Cure
(2004) |
|
|
The Cure is the
eponymously-titled twelfth studio album from The
Cure. This album
was released on June
28, 2004
internationally and a day later in the United
States. Initial pressings included a bonus DVD "Making 'The Cure'", which featured video
footage of The Cure recording the backing tracks and "scratch" (guide)
vocals to three of the songs included on the album.
|
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Track
listing
- 2.1 Extra
tracks
- 2.2 Making
'The Cure' bonus DVD tracks
- 2.3 Missing
songs
- 2.4 Trivia
- 3 Singles
- 4 Personnel
- 5 Chart
success
- 6 Critical
response
- 7 External
links
|
Overview
This album continues the pattern of a release once every four
years: Wish (1992), Wild
Mood Swings (1996) and Bloodflowers
(2000).
The album is the first Cure release on Robinson's I Am label, with whom they signed a
three album deal. To promote the album, the band went on several
festivals in Europe and the United States in spring
2004. The band also premiered the song "The End of the World" on The Tonight Show With
Jay Leno. In the Summer of 2004, the band launched the Curiosa
festival, where they performed shows across the United States with
other bands that have been inspired by The Cure, including Mogwai, Interpol
and Muse.
The band then performed in Mexico (Monterrey and Mexico
City) and then did some more festivals and TV performances in Europe to
end 2004. At the end of the year, all of the main twelve songs on The
Cure (including "Going Nowhere") were played live.
The Cure album was co-produced by Ross
Robinson, who has produced Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot,
At
the Drive-In and a fair few others. Due mainly to the producer's nu metal
influence, there are songs on this album much heavier than ever before,
although the classic Cure sound still shines through. Smith has
described it as "Cure heavy", as opposed to "nu metal heavy". The
entire album was recorded live in the studio, according to what is
mentioned in the CD booklet.
Track listing
- "Lost" – 4:07
- "Labyrinth" – 5:14
- "Before Three" – 4:40
- "The End of the
World" – 3:44
- "Anniversary" – 4:22
- "Us or Them" – 4:09
- "alt.end"
– 4:30
- "(I Don't Know What's Going) On" – 2:57
- "Taking
Off" – 3:19
- "Never" – 4:04
- "The Promise" – 10:21
Extra tracks
- "Going Nowhere" (on all versions except the North America,
after "The Promise")
- "Truth Goodness and Beauty" (on the UK CD, Japanese CD, and
vinyl versions, in between "Before Three" and "The End of the World")
- "Fake" (on the Japanese CD and vinyl versions, in between
"Us or Them" and "alt.end")
- "This Morning" (closing track on the vinyl version)
According to Robert Smith, the official track listing is the
main album plus "Going Nowhere" at the end. Only the North America CD
excludes the track. It and "Truth Goodness and Beauty" were never
released in North America (except as a video in the DVD).
Making 'The Cure'
bonus DVD tracks
- "Someone's Coming" (alternative version of "Truth Goodness
and Beauty")
- "Back On" (instrumental version of "Lost")
- "Jason 3" (instrumental version of "Never")
- "The Broken Promise" (instrumental version of "The Promise")
Missing songs
- "A Boy I Never Knew"
- "Please Come Home"
- "Strum"
The song "A Boy I Never Knew" has been thrown around by Robert
Smith as one of the most "depressing" songs he's ever made as it is supposedly
about the son whom he never had.[1]
Trivia
- Presence, the band that Lol Tolhurst
played in following his departure from The Cure in the early 1990s,
also released a song called "Never". (See Inside)
Singles
- May
18, 2004 - "The End of the
World" (b/w "This Morning" and "Fake")
- October
18, 2004 - "Taking
Off" / "alt.end" (b/w "Why Can't I Be
Me?" and "Your God is Fear")
Personnel
- Robert Smith –
vocals, guitar
- Simon Gallup – bass guitar
- Perry Bamonte – guitar
- Jason Cooper – drums
- Roger O'Donnell – keyboards
- Porl Thompson also contributed to
several songs for The Cure, though none were
included on the album. He is, however, featured on the singles'
B-sides, "Why Can't I Be Me?" and "Your God Is Fear," and does play on
the three unreleased songs.
Chart success
The Cure was released on June 28, 2004 and debuted at #7
in the U.S., selling 91,000 copies in its first week of release, and #8
in the UK. The album also debuted in the top 30 in Australia. Since
then, the album has sold 2 million copies world wide.
Critical response
Metacritic.com has rated the
Cure at a 73 meaning that the critical response has been
generally positive. [2]
The album was rated as good by: The
Guardian, New
Musical Express, Kerrang!,
Playlouder,
Rolling Stone Magazine,
Stylus Magazine,
Tiny Mix Tapes
Pitchfork,
E!
Online, Entertainment
Weekly and the Los
Angeles Times.
The album was rated as average by: All
Music Guide and Blender.
The Guardian described it as a "masterful
performance all round". Best tracks: "The End of the World", "Going
Nowhere" "Anniversary", "The Promise". Rating 4 stars out of 5 [3]
The New Musical Express described it as
"startling from the first listen." (19 June 2004, page 55)
Rolling Stone rated it as four stars saying
"it's the grooviest thing, it's a perfect dream." Best tracks: "Before
Three", "Lost", "(I Don't Know What's Going) On [4]
E! Online rated the album as a B, stating
"It's hard to imagine a set of songs that better reflects every phase
the group has navigated through its turbulent career". [5]
Entertainment Weekly stated: "As with Prince
on Musicology,
Smith allows the Cure's current lineup to become his own tribute band".
(9 July 2004, page 86)
Allmusic.com rated the album as three stars
saying "the album is a satisfying listen and there's a certain charm in
hearing a Cure thats so comfortable in its own skin, but its the type
of record that sits on the shelves of diehard fans, only occasionally
making its way on the stereo". Best tracks: "Lost", "Never", "The End
of the World". [6]
Blender stated: "They come off more than
ever like a caricature." (August 2004, page 104)
External links
| v • d • e The Cure |
| Robert Smith | Porl
Thompson | Simon Gallup | Jason
Cooper |
| The
Cure personnel |
| Discography |
| Studio albums:
Three Imaginary Boys
| Seventeen Seconds
| Faith | Pornography
| The Top | The
Head on the Door | Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
| Disintegration
| Wish | Wild
Mood Swings | Bloodflowers
| The Cure
| Untitled thirteenth album |
| Live albums:
Concert | Entreat
| Paris
| Show | Trilogy
| Festival 2005 |
| Compilations:
Boys Don't Cry
| Japanese Whispers
| Standing on a Beach / Staring at
the Sea | Mixed Up
| Galore
| Greatest Hits
| Join the Dots |
| EPs: Half an Octopuss
& Quadpus | Lost
Wishes | Five
Swing Live |
| Related bands:
Malice | Easy
Cure | Cult Hero | The Glove | Fools
Dance | Presence | Babacar | Levinhurst |
