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Rating:
In retrospect, with the usual temporal distances that enhance the ability to focus on previously less relevant aspects, it is now clear that a controversial work cannot be discussed from the extreme empathic/enthusiastic or absolutely negative perspectives. Even the (more or less) controversial "Wild Mood Swings" does not escape this basic rule, now observable with greater transparency. Let me clarify two crucial points right away:
1. The Cure of '96 are not the Oasis of "Morning Glory," nor the Pumpkins of "Gish." I say this because, with this album, the English band reaches their 12th album of original work and almost 18 years of career (and as Easy Cure they easily surpass the twenty mark): the criteria of judgment for a work include specific criteria and universal parameters: the temporal and biographical context is indispensable, unlike the two cited (excellent) bands, they are not newcomers, the talent of Robert Smith and his musicians has long stood the test of time, and this should be the starting point for a more serene evaluation.
2. We are not talking about a cult band for a few enthusiasts, but a group with stellar success, and this album has already been judged by the public as "the worst" of their career. However, for once, public and critics are partly discordant, as the latter has expressed two different lines of judgment: outright rejection on one side or greater appreciation of innovative and at times original elements on the other.
It must also be clear that the hypnospheric writer certainly does not fit into the aforementioned category of Paper Magazines (NME, Spin, Melody Maker...) or Virtual Journals (OndaRock, Beat Concrete); he does not have the qualification (nor will he ever have it, for DeBaser's fortune). But I find it necessary, now that the collection of B-sides "Join The Dots" has been published (for those who did not purchase the singles), in addition to the obvious comment on the record, to create a sort of "critical meta-analysis," that is, to grasp the neuralgic points of these musics through a critical comparison between various positions.
First of all, regarding the first single "The 13th", quickly judged by many as "the worst single of their career," I want to quote the words of the excellent reviewer Alberto Campo (Rumore, Musica! - Repubblica, Stereodrome):
it is easy to shoot down The Cure, an activity many indulge in more for intellectual inertia or habitual habit, but it must be recognized that <The 13th>, the lead single of the new album is a clear little pop gem: Tijuana Brass trumpets, skewed piano, and Robert Smith's usual lovable/detestable falsetto, which evoke the remote memory of "Caterpillar".Opinions... but it is certain that in his analysis the journalist captures truly interesting aspects. This allows us to introduce a more general discussion on the album:
- it was released four years after "Wish," a "guitar-driven," spatial, and liquid album, stylistically homogeneous and developed along a fascinating atmospheric gradient, in a sense almost an alter-ego of the predecessor "Disintegration," instead based on the splendid and imaginative ethereal suggestions created by the keyboards.
- unlike the two mentioned works, this one seems almost "schizophrenically" heterogeneous in terms of style, and the production of individual tracks, each entrusted to a different author for mixing, including the notable Adrian Sherwood (working on "Strange Attraction") seems to negatively accentuate this impression; furthermore, although it is "officially" referred to as "most colourful album" followed by a new world tour, this is not enough to quell the perplexities aroused by an album that is both bizarrely eclectic and of oscillating quality.
- the "difficult circumstances that have surrounded its genesis" mentioned in the booklet are another negative element: a certainly troubled context, on one hand, the success achieved much later than colleagues Depeche Mode and U2 (who were already filling 80,000-seat arenas by the mid-'80s) has surely "unlocked" a new creative phase for Robert Smith, on the other, the shuttle between recording studios, mixing, mastering, and the court for the dissolution of Lawrence "Lol" Tolhurst and the legal case for song rights has certainly not benefited the general atmosphere.
The result is that this collection of new songs is, due to its discontinuity, difficult to encapsulate in a definition, hard to find parallels with previous works.
The beginning is good and bodes well for the entire album: "Want", echoing "To Wish Impossible Things" and "... The Deep Green Sea," cadenced, powerful, and absolutely convincing, seems (and perhaps is) a true outtake from "Wish," the song that most resembles the hypnotic cadences and more dilated and psychedelic atmospheres of the previous album. The subsequent "Club America", on the other hand, is in absolute the most resounding and distorted episode of the entire album: still psychedelia but of a different imprint, the model of inspiration seems to be the The Jesus And Mary Chain of "Psychocandy"; but it is with the third "This Is a Lie", literally paralyzing when listened to (as happened to me) first, as an example of "the new Cure album" for the emotional impact with something absolutely unusual for the Crawley band: chansonnerie almost reminiscent of Jacques Brel, constructed with a splendid harmonic intertwining of acoustic guitars and strings, which curiously rests on a barely perceptible electronic rhythmic carpet, it literally gives chills, excites with an intensity rarely achieved, also because it is without a doubt the most atypical Cure song in the entire repertoire: unthinkable that Smith & Co could have written a similar piece during the time of "The Head On The Door" or perhaps "Pornography," now it is possible, and the surprise aroused by such a jewel of rare neoclassical beauty should serve to understand the evolution that Cure's music has undergone in these years.
Parallelisms that are difficult but not impossible to talk about: "Numb", wrapped in soft and subtle psychedelic guitar spirals along with the mentioned "The 13th" harks back to the definitely more bewildering eclecticism of "The Top," while "Jupiter Crash", gently subtle and lingering, on one hand, similarly to "Want" continues in stylistic and poetic continuity with the previous work, on the other shifts the point of comparison to another eclectic album, the majestic, double "Kiss album" from 1987, an ambitious attempt to synthesize rock experimentalism, psychedelia, and "colourful" pop. In the same vein are "Return", "Trap", and "Strange Attraction", another flirt with certain "naive" electronic and exotic jazz-funk. Where, as noted, "Gone!" seems to be a hybrid between "The Lovecats" and "The Walk," the rest of the album flows as a wavering but ultimately pleasant "filler."
The creative fluidity that characterizes this period of Robert Smith, documented by the high number of B-sides composed, almost all of remarkable quality if not superior to the tracks chosen for the album, was mentioned. First of all, the stunning "It Used To Be Me," included in the version for Asia and the South Pacific, and the first B-side of "The 13th.": percussive, psychedelic, slippery, inlaid with a guitar.... provides an example of Robert Smith's vocal mastery and melodic talent. "Adonais," more elusive and rhythmic, moves within similar coordinates, "Ocean" (yet another B-side of the first single) is a tender and intense melancholic and autobiographical ballad, contemplative and suggestive. "Home," the B-side of "Mint Car" begins with a broad rhythmic and guitar partition then suddenly changes rhythm and seems like an updated version of "Inbetween Days."
In conclusion, it makes one wonder, if this album had been released in a "double disc" version or with a different selection of tracks, perhaps the overall cut would have been different, and the public and critical assessments possibly closer. But nonetheless, for the exquisite pieces included in the album, within a context at times less convincing, I can safely say that the Cure have not at all lost their talent, perhaps they should channel it into works structured in a more organized way and with less confused architecture, like the previous work, without falling into the probable temptation of a remake of a second, impossible "Kiss" album.
"As we grow older, we become a bit wiser and a bit more foolish, at the same time".
La Rochelle Faucault
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Club America (05:01)
I ride into your town on a big black trojan horse
I'm looking to have some fun
some kind of trigger-happy intercourse
"club america salutes you" says the girl on the door
"we accept all major lies
we love any kind of fraud
so go on in and enjoy...
go on in and enjoy!!!"
I'm buying for my bright new friends
blue suzannes all round
and my mood is heavily pregnant...
yeah you're right
I couldn't help but notice your icy blue eyes
they've been burning two holes in the sides of my head
since the second i arrived
and it's not too hard to guess from your stick-on stars
and your canary feather dress
your hair in such a carefully careless mess
that you're really trying very hard to impress
you're such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
sensational dazzling perfectly sized
such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
sharing it with me in club america tonight...
so we talk for a while about some band you saw on tv
but I don't listen to you and you don't listen to me
yeah it's an old routine but it's a very special part of the game
and you don't really care what i call you at all
when I can't quite remember your name
and it's not too hard to guess from your stick-on stars
and your canary feather dress
the way you're so carefully couldn't care less
that you're really trying very hard to impress
you're such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
sensational dazzling perfectly sized
such a wonderful person living a fabulous life
sharing it with me tonight
yeah you're a wonderful person living a fabulous life
fantastic divine and thrillingly bright
such a wonderful person living a fabulous lie
with me in club america tonight...
03 This Is a Lie (04:29)
How each of us decides
I've never been sure
The part we play
The way we are
How each of us denies any other way in the world
Why each of us must choose
I've never understood
One special friend
One true love
Why each of us must lose everyone else in the world
However unsure
However unwise
Day after day play out our lives
However confused
Pretending to know to the end
But this isn't truth this isn't right
This isn't love this isn't life this isn't real
This is a lie
How each of us believes
I've never really known
In heaven unseen and hell unknown
How each of us dreams to understand anything at all
Why each of us decides
I've never been sure
The part we take
The way we are
Why each of us denies every other way in the world
However unsure
However unwise
Day after day play out our lives
However confused
Pretending to know to the end
But this isn't truth this isn't right
This isn't love this isn't life this isn't real
This is a lie
This isn't truth this isn't right
This isn't love this isn't life this isn't real
This is a lie
04 The 13th (04:08)
'Everyone feels good in the room,' she swings
'Two chord cool in the head,' she sings
'A-buzz a-buzz a-buzzing like them killer bees...'
Tell me this is not for real
Please simply this is not for real...
From time to time her eyes get wide
And she's always got them stuck on me
I'm surprised at how hot honey-colored and hungry she looks
And I have to turn away to keep from bursting
Yeah I feel that good
She slips from the stage
A foot no more
But it seems to take an hour for her to reach the floor
And the two chord cool still grooves
As she slides towards me smooth as a snake
I can't swallow I just start to shake
And I just know this is a big mistake
Yeah but it feels good!
Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me!
Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me!
'If you want I can take you on another kind of ride...'
'Believe me I would but...'
Deep inside the 'but' is 'please'
I am yearning for another taste
And my shaking is 'yes'
'You will be all the things in the world you've never been
See all the things in the world you've never seen
Dream all the things in the world you've never dreamed...'
But I think I get a bit confused
Am I seducing or being seduced?
Oh I know that tomorrow I'll feel bad
But I really couldn't care about that
She's grinning, singing, spinning me round and round
Smiling as I start to fall
Her face gets big, her face gets small
It's like tonight I'm really not me at all
And it feels good!
Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me!
Do it to me! Do it to me! Do it to me!
It feels good!
06 Mint Car (03:32)
The sun is up
I'm so happy I could scream!
And there's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be
Than here with you it's perfect
It's all I ever wanted
I almost can't believe that it's for real
(So pinch me quick)
I really don't think it gets any better than this
Vanilla smile and a gorgeous strawberry kiss!
Birds sing, we swing
Clouds drift by and everything is like a dream
It's everything I wished
Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it again?
I know we should!!!
The sun is up
I'm so fizzy I could burst!
You wet through and me headfirst
Into this is perfect
It's all I ever wanted
Ow! It feels so big it almost hurts!
Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it some more?
I know we should!!!
Say it will always be like this
The two of us together
It will always be like this
Forever and ever and ever...
Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it all the time?
I know that we should!!!
07 Jupiter Crash (04:15)
She follows me down to the sound of the sea
Slips to the sand and stares up at me
'Is this how it happens? Is this how it feels?
Is this how a star falls?
Is this how a star falls?'
The night turns as I try to explain
Irresistible attraction and orbital plane
'Or maybe it's more like a moth to a flame,'
She brushes my face with her smile
'Forget about stars for a while!'
She melts...
Meanwhile millions of miles away in space
The incoming comet brushes Jupiter's face
And disappears away with barely a trace...
'Was that it? Was that the Jupiter show?
It kinda wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, you know'
Pulling away she stands up slow
Around her the night turns
Around her the night turns
Yeah, yeah, yeah that was it
That was the Jupiter crash
Drawn too close and gone in a flash
Just a few bruises in the region of the splash...
She left to the sound of the sea
She just drifted away from me
Yeah so much for gravity!
08 Round & Round & Round... (02:38)
round and round and round and round and round we go
trying so hard to get a hold of everyone here
we've got to show how much we love them all
we squeak with idiot fake surprise
flap our hands and flutter our eyes
and lap up all their stupid lies
we've got to love them all
and i really don't know why we do it like this
imitation smiles and how "it's wonderful to be here!"
i'm really not sure what we're so scared we'll miss
so round and round and round and round and round we go
hanging on every shape they throw
it's strange the way we can't say no
until we love them all...
so we laugh at every stupid joke
and smoke and choke and point and poke
and gag on countless lines...
how much we love them all!
and i really don't know why we do it like this
imitation smiles and how "it's wonderful to be here!"
i'm really not sure what we're so scared we'll miss
maybe it's the sex with the drugs and the fools
or maybe it's the promise of belief?
maybe it's the pleasure and the pain of the cruel
or maybe it's the promise of relief?
and i know that we've said it so many times before
"once more and never again"
but however many times that we've said it before
once more is never the end...
10 Numb (04:49)
Yeah this is how it ends
After all these years
Tired of it all
Hopelessly helplessly broken apart
He finally falls
He doesn't want to think
Doesn't want to feel
Doesn't want to know what's going on
Says there's nothing he can do will change anything
He doesn't want to know what's going wrong
Because he's in love with a drug
One that makes him numb
One that stops him feeling at all
He's in love with a drug
Forget everyone
He really doesn't care anymore
Anymore...
Yeah this is how it ends
After all this time
Everything just fades away
Worn-out and empty and all alone
With nothing left to say
Oh it's all too big to make a difference
It's all too wrong to make it right
Yeah everything is too unfair
Everything too much to bear
He doesn't have the strength left for the fight
Says all he wants is the drug
The one that makes him numb
The one that stops him feeling at all
He just wants to take the drug
Forget everyone
He doesn't want to care anymore
Just keeps loving the drug
The one that makes him numb
The one that stops him feeling at all
Just keeps loving the drug
The drug that he's become
He isn't really here anymore...
And that makes me cry
11 Return (03:28)
Oh I really love it here!
Oh you've thought of it all!
Candlelight! Coconut ice! And fur on the floor!
And I reeeally love the way you wear your hair
And nothing more...
So tell me...
What is going on?
I was sure that I'd already gone...
But all you say is we're all spinning
It's really not just me
But that doesn't seem to help me figure out how I can be
A prisoner in PVC a minute after three...
It didn't used to be like this
Must be all that sleep I missed...
Yeah but I really love it here!
You've done everything to please!
Stolichnaya! Banco de Gaia! Bad timing on TV!
And I reeeally love the way you turn
Your smile into striptease...
But I'm still not sure what's going on
And I can't help feeling something's wrong
But you just say that we're all spinning
And it's really not just me
But that doesn't seem to help me figure out how I can be
Still wrapped inside your rubber as I wriggle at your feet...
No it didn't used to be like this
Must be something strange I kissed...
Maybe when my eyes were closed?
So tell me what is going on?
I'm sure that I've already gone...
But all you say is we're all spinning
And it's really not just me
But that doesn't seem to help me figure out how I can be
Still fixed inside your fantasy
A TV refugee...
So tell me what is going on?
Just can't help feeling something's wrong...
Or is it right this way I feel?
Someone get me out of here!!!
I'm waiting on my knees...
12 Trap (03:37)
Drowning like a fly in my drink
You drone about being on the brink
But I really don't care what you think
Oh I'm sick of it all
Sick of it all
I hate the way it's always the same
Hate recrimination and blame
And you just wait for me to fuck up again
Oh I'm sick of it all
Sick of it all
The ways you try and put me down
Sweet revenge for the things I've done
The ways you try and twist me around
Give me a taste of my own medicine
Drowning like a fly in my drink
You whine about being out of synch
But I really don't care what you think
Oh I'm sick of it all
Sick of it all
I hate the way you want me to be
Hate regret and humility
And you just wait for me to fall at your feet
Oh I'm sick of it all
Sick of it all
The ways you try and run me down
Make me pay for the things I've been
The ways you try and push me around
All you want to do is win
Any love you once felt for me
Has turned into this travesty
Of selfishness and jealousy
So why can't you just let me go?
Any love you once felt for me
Has turned into this travesty
Of selfishness and jealousy
So why can't I just let you go?
13 Treasure (03:45)
She whispers,
'Please remember me
When I am gone from here'
She whispers,
'Please remember me
But not with tears...
Remember I was always true
Remember that I always tried
Remember I loved only you
Remember me and smile...
For it's better to forget
Than to remember me
And cry'
'Remember I was always true
Remember that I always tried
Remember I loved only you
Remember me and smile...
For it's better to forget
Than to remember me
And cry...'
14 Bare (07:56)
If you've got something left to say
You'd better say it now
Anything but 'stay'
Just say it now
We know we've reached the end
We just don't know how
'Well at least we'll still be friends'
Yeah one last useless vow...
'There are different ways to live'
Yeah I know that stuff
'Other ways to give'
Yeah all that stuff
But holding onto used to be
Is not enough
Memory's not life
And it's not love
We should let it all go
It never stays the same
So why does it hurt me like this
When you say that I've changed?
When you say that I've aged?
Say I'm afraid...
And all the tears you cry
They're not tears for me
Regrets about your life
They're not regrets for me
It never turns out how you want
Why can't you see?
It all just slips away
It always slips away
Eventually...
So if you've got nothing left to say
Just say goodbye
Turn your face away
And say goodbye
You know we've reached the end
You just don't know why
And you know we can't pretend
After all this time
So just let it all go
Nothing ever stays the same
So why does it hurt me like this
To say that I've changed?
To say that I've aged?
Say I'm afraid...
But there are long long nights when I lay awake
And I think of what I've done
Of how I've thrown my sweetest dreams away
And what I've really become
And however hard I try
I will always feel regret
However hard I try
I will never forget
I will never forget
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