The Cure (Self Titled) is The Cure's twelfth studio album. This album was released on June 28, 2004 internationally and a day later in the United States. This album continues the pattern of a release once every four years: Wish (1992), Wild Mood Swings (1996) and Bloodflowers (2000). This album has been critically positive from most magazines and sites. This album has a different approach to the listener as it provides a more dark feel and more angsty is in this album but there are some beautiful moments on this album that blows away the angsty instantly. This album is the first since their debut when Robert Smith doesn't produce the album on his own. This album is produced by Ross Robinson, who has produced
Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, At The Drive-In and a fair few others. Due mainly to the producer, this is the reason why there are songs on this album much heavier than ever before, although the classic Cure sound still shines through.
This album debuted in the top ten in the US and UK, it also debuted in the top 40 in Australia. The album art are done by children and they are put on every page on the booklet and seem quite fun to look at.
The Band:
Robert Smith -
Voice & Guitar
Simon Gallup -
Bass
Perry Bamonte -
Guitar
Jason Cooper -
Drums & Percussion
Roger O' Donnell -
Keyboards
--- The Review ---
"Lost" starts off the album with Robert saying aimlessly
"I can't find myself" with some creepy guitaring in the background. The song picks up in stages like after a verse it picks up with some powering bass lines and then later drums come in. The song when it picks up really shines as it adds the soul of the song and it really appeals to you. The vocals get more serious as it goes on and it gets better as well when Robert screams out that main line again showing the isolation in the song. When you listen to this album, you see that this style is totally different to their old stuff, it has a more angst feel to it but it still holds the Cure feel to it. This song is crafted well and is a great start to the album.
"Labyrinth" has a more meserizing sound with its middle eastern guitar sound repeating in the background. The lyrics are very strange, for example:
"Say, it's the same sun spinning in the same sky,
Say, it's the same stars streaming in the same night,
Tell me it's the same world whirling through the same space,
Tell me it's the same time tripping through the same day.
The vocals accompaining the lyrics really fits to it with some emotional vocaling and some chanting of a another main line which is the same logic as
"Lost":
"Say it's the same you". This repeating of the line really affects the song well. The music here is very well constructed with some more powering bass line and some spine-tingling guitar riffs. This song is another great song but tends to repeat itself a bit but it's a minor problem.
"Before Three" is a more uplifting track the the recent two and this song has been voted by critics one of the best on the album which is quite right. It has some lovely guitaring in it which has that Cure trademark on the guitar with its lead guitar riffs. The vocals here are great with the music as it has emotion and it is needed on the song as lyrics represents the love on the song. This song could have been a great single release as it has some moments that are brilliant with its emotional music and lovely vocals. A magnificent song on the album and one of the best on here.
"The End Of The World" is the first release on this album and this song got me interested to buying this album. The starting of this song is instant to the verse with some great vocals and guitaring that is simple. Again, this song has a main line that Robert sings with emphasis which is:
"You couldn't ever love me more.". This as well gives that flowing effect to the song. This is actually the whole chorus of the song. This song is actually simple but it has that nice flow to it and it has a great bass line on it, also the end of the song is wierd with Robert wailing to his highest pitch and it suddenly disintergrates. Another great song on the album and it was a quite successful release.
"Anniversary" starts with some synth music that tends to be very dark and it plots out the main rhythm of the song. The song consists of just keyboards playing, bass and vocals which is very different to the other Cure stuff. The vocals tend to be a bit flawed here but sometimes excellent but mostly it goes to the style of the song. The song tends to be repetitive and there isn't much special feelings here so this is the first average song on this album.
"Us Or Them" is the most angst on the song with its ripping guitar effects at the start and some degrading lyrics to it. The song is suprisingly catchy in a way that the song moves along. The song like I said is full of angsty with lyrics like this:
"There is no terror in my heart,
Death is with us all,
We suck him down with our first breath,
And spit him out as we fall"
The vocals are very angst and Robert screams with full of power with lines that are the main part of the song as usual. This song has a lot of adrenealine in it and it works really well infact. This song is actually excellent but old Cure fans wouldn't appreciate it as well as others.
"alt.end" starts with an indie feel which consists of a catchy drum beat and some arpeggio on the guitar that is on clean. The vocals on this song are back to normal and it sounds excellent. The music shines on the chorus with some rapid picking on the guitar and some powerful vocals to accompany it. The lyrics are actually well crafted with some catchy parts to it that makes you want to sing along to the song. Overall, this is another great song on the album.
"(I Don't Know What's Going) On" is the most uplifting on the album and the shortest. This brief song is brilliant with it's powering start to finish. The music here is again well crafted with some excellent drumming and the vocals are so great by Robert. This is pure Cure sound and it is one of the best on the album. The song has a catchy riff that is used after choruses and it follows up to the verses very well so overall this song is beautifully crafted and sung gracefully.
"Taking Off" is the second release on the album and is another great song. The song has again has that pure Cure sound with it's trademark usage of the guitar lines. The vocals are excellent with the music being really nice to listen to so this is a friendly song to listen to. The bridge is the best part of the song when the music picks up with some emotional vocals that shines. This song is fantastic and a great release.
"Never" starts with some frantic drumming and some guitaring waiting to break out. The vocals are normal and the chorus is uplifting with it's upbeat style. This song 'never' appealed to me with it's repetitiveness and it seems such a lazy song to listen to, it seems that it is so under average to the rest of the songs so I name this the worst on the album. Even though the vocals are the only great thing on this song.
"The Promise" is so damn long to listen to, it clocks in at 10:21 which is too long for a song like this in my opinion. The song starts with some screaming from Robert and some wah-wah on the guitar. The bass line kicks in after a brief moment and it is catchy. This part of the song goes on for at least 1:30 until the singing comes in and it sounds a bit boring. When you get to this part, you will be bored out of your mind to be honest, but I do like the usage of the wah-wah as it sounds promising and the bass line keeps you into the song. When you follow this, the song does gradually pick up when Robert does eventually add some emphasis to his voice. Then the drums come in with its beat to the song and then it has the same logic as "Us Or Them". After 5:40, the song goes back to normal like the start and then picks up again and the guitar uses the wah-wah so frantically it sounds really good but a bit messy. The song really becomes so loud towards the end it becomes so messy you don't know what's happening. But the song is actually ok with it is picking up but the song is too long and my god it repeats a lot so it is an average song after all that.
"Going Nowhere" is very beautiful with its pure Cure sound again. The song is slow but it has so much emotion in it with it's magnificent piano playing and guiatring. It has this intro for at least 1:40 but it is so good, the vocals come in with it's depressing lyrics and it sounds like Robert is crying at parts when in the versesm it adds the emotion so much in the song to make this the best on the album with it's beautiful music that aends the album with making you feel sad, such a brilliant end.
--- Overview ---
Here are the ratings of the songs:
1. Lost - 4/5
2. Labyrinth - 3.5/5
3. Before Three - 4.5/5
4. The End Of The World - 4/5
5. Anniversary - 3/5
6. Us Or Them - 4.25/5
7. alt.end - 4/5
8. (I Don't Know What's Going) On - 5/5
9. Taking Off - 4/5
10. Never - 2.5/5
11. The Promise - 3/5
12. Going Nowhere - 5/5
Overall, this album is excellent in my opinion but it did take me a hell of a long time for me to appreciate the quality of this album as it is different to their previous work. On the other review I said that this was disappointing, but now I feel that this is actually great as I gave another try and it does take time to see how good this is, Cure fans will not be disappointed but if you are slightly, give it another try, it does shine through eventually.
Overall - 4/5
