I fear I belong to the de-streghua of those who emphatically deny the conclusive and quite wise Foucaultian phrase. Regarding the de-recensiti Chì-Ur: frankly, I never delved into Their listening (not even in my youth), therefore I wouldn’t know nearly anything in their de-merit. This does not detract from the significant intrinsic value of His carefully curated (as usual) discursive treatment. Cordially and excessively respectful regards.
beautiful and quite accurate, although an inevitable philologist on the subject like myself can't help but notice some inaccuracies (they don't exceed, at most they barely reach 20 years of career in '96; moreover, the "difficult circumstances" are probably a joke: in an interview, Smith says it was the most fun gestation his album ever had, between a tennis match and another in the big house rented to record in Bath); furthermore, some comparisons sound a bit forced, like that of Club America to the JAMC.. let’s say they are the Cure at their quintessence (even if certainly more "mature," artistically speaking, than in The Top or Kiss Me): that is, a band that filters everything but always sounds unique, for better or for worse.
The one by giorginomichael, right? Are there other acts of Faith? I don't think so. This selvaggioswing is the + greatest 'cure' of all time. Try it to believe.
Good review. You did well to mention the b-sides and to highlight what was really the true mistake of this album: the poor organization/selection of the tracks. If "Ocean," "It used to be me," "adonais," and "home" had been included instead of others, we would be talking about a completely different work.
Always liked them, I remember seeing them live "after the decline" that night a killer rain hit alongside the storm, the sound system on stage cut out three times but there weren't any problems... magical concert including Robert, who was now close to 100kg. Good reception, the album barely reaches passing grade. Cheers.
SANJURO LEAVES DEBASER. Dear friends (few) and de-stronzi (the others, 99 out of 100), I am abandoning the site never to set foot here again. I promise solemnly that I won’t post anything more; after almost two years of stunning contributions (my gold-quality reviews), I am leaving this site of zombies. When there is no more room on earth, the dead will start to write steaming shit on Debaser. Anyway, the living legend Sanjuro leaves you to your descriptions of human nullity, to the disgusting home pages of yet another Pink Floyd album, as well as to the most outrageous editorials ever produced by human abortions. (The average Debaser editorial was so full of javelins that during the Olympics there was a hunger strike from the athletes due to the lack of poles). Goodbye Debaser, no more Pretazzo who has a fit at the drop of a hat (naughty Scaruffi), Punisher who wears you down with his stench, and Poletti always limp in bed. Goodbye to Bionic Metallaro who redeems hardened Porn stars with his photos and directs them towards monastic careers, goodbye to the rebel Mary G from Bagaglino and to all the languages she surrounds herself with every time she drops a review just because she has something that starts with an F and ends with IGA. Goodbye to the post-77 guru Dave Jon Gilmour. Goodbye to Zion who distributes the beats and prefers Fabri Fibra to the Residents, you brainless Neapolitan scum, Naples I hate you, Vesuvius burn them all. Goodbye to the nullity Guglielmo Epifani who launches his sermons on screwing every entity on the site, probably to convince his hand to stop choking the little veined micro thing he has between his legs. Goodbye to the most repugnant "man" of the animal kingdom, namely Cazz, by the way... yesterday I saw Caz's girl, it was deep night and I was at his house, we had a few drinks and got loose... oh, nothing to say, even though she was lying on the floor with me on top and her cheeks all red and her mouth trembling... well, she was just fucking faithful, every second she kept saying "Yesss please give me Cazz, I want Cazz, only he satisfies me, I desperately need Cazz" the thought always went back to you, my dear human abortion Caz. I will privately contact some worthy characters within the site to continue the conversation (Festwca for example) outside. Goodbye you invertebrate little beings, scribes of the digital age, clumsy censors of the ineffable, shits. Goodbye.
Thank you all, perhaps too generous :)), it’s true that maybe not everything official biographers write can be genuinely reported, and sometimes even Smith's statements haven't been, but my underlying thesis is precisely about a (possible) different selection of the songs (indeed many) composed during that period. If I may say, there is a trend toward "compaction" even in albums by Italian artists from the recent period (without any comparison to the Cure: P. Pelù makes an album that lasts just over 40 min, Sugar Fornaciari even less), the balance between quality and duration would have benefited this album: in a nutshell, fewer songs but the most successful ones. As for "Disintegration," it is unanimously regarded by fans and much criticism after the sequence "Seventeen Seconds" "Faith" "Pornography" as the most successful work of the '80s, a peak that they would never reach again. Merci, H.B.
Great review! Very detailed, focusing both on the general aspects of the songs and the more personal ones. Well done, well done... I'll give my rating for the album when I finish listening to it...
For me, the Cure are, in terms of quality, quantity, and eclecticism, the best band of the '80s. I like them both in their personal dark guise and in their more "pop" form. However, it must be said that in this "Wild Mood Swings," their pop vein appears less fresh and inspired than before, more of a mannerism, even if a single like "The 13th" is nothing short of disorienting with its camp-Latin sounds, and every time I hear it, I can't help but laugh. In any case, this album is not a total disaster as many say, but surely for me it is the only album, along with "Japanese Whispers" (which isn't really an album), that doesn’t reach a full passing grade, and it is also the only Cure album that, after an initial disappointment, I have never fully reassessed, unlike what happened with "Bloodflowers."
The review is too long, but still well-structured, well done! Let's get to the album. It's the edge of the abyss, since everything that has come after is just fluff. They are still the Cure with a bit of creativity, arranging a track in their own style without trying to sound "like they are the Cure." Sure, it's 100% pop now, but still a notch above the competition, with some very good stuff and some others off-kilter. Owning the entire discography (even the very sad recent one), I only recommend it to fans... Can someone explain to Robert Smith that if he makes a light, sunny album, no one will be offended? In fact, we are all ready to have fun with him!
all very in-depth comments, thank you again; regarding the idea that The Cure have progressively (sometimes with a few "stumbles") emphasized and highlighted the "pop" component more and more (starting from the pseudo-anthological compilation "Japanese Whispers", but going back you can find pop in "Charlotte Sometimes", and even further back in "Boys Don't Cry"), I have already expressed this in the 4Play album on iTunes. To respond specifically to Mike76 and Tier79, I really tried (to hear how it sounded), having both the album and "Join The Dots" (CD 3/CD 4: I wanted to do a "split" review but the cover I sent was not used) to partially change the selection of the tracks; let's say that a possible sequence could be (but you can vary it as much as you want) 1. WANT 2. CLUB AMERICA 3. THIS IS A LIE 4. THE 13TH 5. HOME 7. MINT CAR 8. JUPITER CRASH 9. OCEAN 10. GONE! 11. TRAP 12. IT USED TO BE ME 13. ADONAIS (possibly maybe...) H.B.
Goodbye dear Sanjuro, but don't do like the usual Roberto Smith who always comes back. ;) -Dave Navarro is a porn director, I swear, he understands it all: after all, he was already enjoying making home videos with l'Electrica Carmen..
Another one of those bands that has always annoyed me. With that idiot Robert Smith always acting all sad and pathetic. Really close to the pathetic. Despite everything, I appreciate many of their songs, but clowns belong in the circus, not in music.
Here, a setlist as you proposed would have certainly brought more luck to the album. Maybe we would have talked (this time, rightly) about a new "Kiss me kiss me kiss me." It didn't go that way, but in any case, I recognize that this album, in its ugliness, has its own identity. I realized this when I went to the tour and saw all those little spring animals on the amplifiers... On the other hand, the last work left me perplexed for its lack of substance, without a story behind it. Let's wait for the next one, which seems imminent.
I bought the "deluxe" version of "The Cure" album, the one with the DVD. Aside from the instrumental version of "The Promise," the Cure perform a "Someone's Coming" in which it seems to me they allude quite clearly to post-rock: percussive and vocal virtuosity, intertwined with brilliantly played guitars. I really hope this signals a new stylistically more "homogeneous" direction. It seems, according to rumors, not too strongly denied, that it might be released this year and that it’s a "double CD." Let's hope (on my part) for the best...
Hi, I just uploaded a new track, "The World Is On Fire," heavily inspired by the 80s new wave (with references to Duran Duran, Alphaville, Classix Nouveaux, The Associates, B-Movie, Wim Mertens, and The Killers), on my music page on MySpace (linked below my signature), while the other two previously uploaded songs are still "making waves": one is titled "Formerly Known As The King" and could be described as a mix between psychedelic post-punk and symphonic power metal, vaguely influenced by Muse and Sonata Arctica, but with a trashy lyric inspired by crime news... and the other, "Nothing To Believe In," is a sort of prog-jazz ballad with Eastern, classical, and new wave elements and inspired by David Bowie, Arcadia, Furniture, Eyeless in Gaza, Japan, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Dolphin Brothers, Nine Horses, Masami Tsuchiya, Yukihiro Takahashi, Melon, The Cure, Metro, John Foxx, etc. I hope you enjoy them! Best regards, Welcome to the new Myspace!
As soon as I listened to it, this album disappointed me. And I didn't reevaluate it for years. Now, maybe being older and more nostalgic, I believe it has many merits and just as many flaws. The lyrics are fantastic. Jupiter's crash and Bare are among their best tracks. The 13th is too fun and quirky in a Cure way. And I like quirky Cure in a caterpillar kind of way. Other songs are pleasant and enjoyable. All in all, a varied, relaxed, and enjoyable album, with moments of poetry. Criticize me all you want, but I much prefer this album over the latest "the cure."
I consider WMS a mix between the spectral mists of "The Top" and the didactic (and ambitious) "Kiss Album." These are the two most cited albums, both of which were little understood at their release (and to some extent still are). However, it would be a mistake to underestimate Robert Smith’s pop talent. The same happened from Joy Division to New Order. Talking about "purity" in new wave is a logical contradiction, as it is, by its very nature, a "hybrid" and "open" genre, much like the themes it has addressed. Therefore, I don’t understand those who say they have "stopped" at the Cure's "Pornography." As far as I'm concerned, I see the real weak link in the entire discography as "Bloodflowers." The latest album certainly suffers from a production that is too heavy, and the relationship with GEFFEN (primarily interested in reissuing the entire Cure catalog) doesn’t seem very fruitful (just read the negative comments on thecure.com). However, practically everyone, even the most severe critics, has said that there are at least 3 songs of excellent quality: "Lost," deemed "the best song written since <Disintegration>," "The Promise," and "Anniversary." Not bad are "Labyrinth," and "Going Nowhere," and for those who have the UK version, "Truth, Goodness and Beauty" (spectacular). For the rest, it has been rightly written everywhere that the Cure seem to be in a perpetual search for a new "Just Like Heaven." If you've heard the new single "The Only One," well, in my opinion, they may have found it…
"Ah, why did the Cure produce anything after the fourth LP? I’m not aware of it." You're not aware, maybe because you've been stuck in 1982. Ah, anyway, I agree that "Wild Mood Swings" marks the beginning of their decline.
Thank you. Let's say that the Cure, in 1992, riding the wave of certain indie music that was becoming mainstream (R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Oasis, Dinosaur Jr), composed their musically perhaps most "perfect" album of the moment, namely "Wish." The artwork, b-sides, and worldwide tour, as well as 1st placement in the USA and 4th in the UK, confirmed their insights. After that, they (or it seems they have) lost their way: the lineup changes (the best of their history was during the Wish Tour), and after two (rather useless) live albums, after a long 4 years, comes an album that I personally found irritating, uneven, layered with every stylistic genre, yet containing some gems ("This is a Lie" is definitely worth it). Many believe and claim it is the weak link in their discography; personally, I have a slightly different opinion on "Bloodflowers," but I don’t want to repeat myself. Instead, I make a parallel that may not please many, but I don’t care at all. U2, after the glories of "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree" (it was around the time of the "Kiss Album" and "Head On The Door"), in 1991 released a rather bold and certainly successful album: "Achtung Baby." Even though "Wish" came the following year, their tours and sales can easily overlap. Now, while the Cure took 4 years to produce an album that is barely defensible (which is what I did; it's easy to review "Pornography..."), a year later (1993) they released "Zooropa," a gamble but fundamentally successful. Not to mention 1997: while the Cure, apparently once again grappling with a (too?) long gestation period of an album ("Bloodflowers") that will leave some doubts and will come out in 2000, their Dublin counterparts released "Pop." Like it or not? Objectively, it must be acknowledged that the mega-production entrusted to Howie-B, Flood, and Eno achieves the probable miracle of updating their sound: while on one hand we have the EBM pop song "MoFo," on the other I have to endure "Strange Attraction" and "Gone!"—then I'd better stick with U2's "Gone." And R.E.M.? After "Monster," they certainly didn’t just sit back and watch: "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" is a true encyclopedic "tractatus" of American rock-pop and not just of the last 20 years. And Depeche Mode? "Ultra" wasn’t liked by everyone, "Exciter" may not be their best album, but compared to the prevailing dullness of "Bloodflowers" and the at times enlightened confusion of "Wild Mood Swings," and especially in light of the subsequent "Play The Angel," I’m sorry but as a fan of the Cure since I was 17, it leaves me with a bitterness and a sense of anger that I still cannot explain.
Well, you make an interesting argument, partly but not entirely shareable. "Wish" sounded quite contemporary because with that predominantly guitar-driven sound (at least for half the album) between Hendrix and shoegaze, it sought to engage with the grunge explosion. "Wild Mood Swings," on the other hand, aimed to compare itself with Britpop, so if it fell short, it’s not an issue of being out of touch. "Bloodflowers" is indeed penalized by a rather outdated sound (perhaps it was trying to compare itself with the neo-acoustic wave like Kings Of Convenience or Travis?) and I didn't like it at first either, but over time and with changing trends, I've reassessed it greatly due to the beautiful songs, an album that may not have been trendy but will certainly be more enduring than a lot of fluff that passed for modern back then like NIN, Marilyn Manson, or Limp Bizkit. Depeche Mode have always been electronic, and since modern music is increasingly heading in that direction, they definitely have much less difficulty evolving without losing their essence. R.E.M., on the other hand, can be said to have never been modern. I’ve never really liked U2 and have listened to them very little, but I remember they made something courageous (or clumsy?) between "Zooropa" and "Pop," even though they later retracted everything with subsequent albums. However, the relevance of a proposal isn't a parameter that can fully determine its musical value; otherwise, a mediocre song like "Invisible Man" by Queen would have been considered great.
I agree: the beauty of a work can lie in its classicism (the Rem of "Murmur"), in its innovative strength (the JAMC of "Psychocandy"), or in a mixture of the two components. Sometimes it’s impossible to separate them and to say how much is experimentation and how much adherence to formal rules (were the Pink Floyd of "The Piper At The Gates..." more "modern," starting from a distortion of Beatles-esque pop, or were the Kraftwerk of "Radioactivity," who, despite being the avant-garde of Music tout-court, still drew from pop-melodic forms?). I clarify my position (perhaps too negative) on "Bloodflowers." There are three "out" songs not included in the album, about which R. Smith said, "the new course of the Cure at the beginning was - as you can hear - quite different from the final result," and further stated, "we didn’t include them to avoid upsetting the overall balance of the record." These songs are "Coming Up" and "Possession," where I hear an interesting (in my opinion) innovation in the use of electronics, blending space-pop with a new guitar sound, complete with "noisy" bursts and experimental allusions. The third one is (this is just my suspicion) the b-side of a song released a year later, namely "Signal To Noise" (b-side of "Cut Here"), which is more classical in a pop sense (like "Just One Kiss" or "A Night Like This," along that line) but still has a guitar sound of that genre and a break with a time change that isn’t usual (it’s one of the few "retros" they often do live). "Bloodflowers," in my opinion, significantly develops the lyricism of songs (and music) like the aforementioned "Bare" and "Jupiter Crash," encompassing truly precious tracks, finer in texture than the more "pop" productions ("Maybe Someday," "Out Of This World," and especially "The Last Day of Summer"), restoring a sense of stylistic homogeneity. However (it may be a suspicion or an excessive evaluation), the sense of "fatigue" I perceive makes me think that the reasons for this change in choice are external, namely the closure of Fiction, the move to Geffen-Universal (I imagine with different "expectations" from the group), and thus a certain hurry to change direction (after the disappointment of "Wild Mood Swings"). The negative impression that more than one fan seems to have received from the "Dream Tour 2000" (as I recall) where the sequence of songs (including the intro) was practically absurd (out of this world - watching me fall - plainsing - want - fascination street - open (!!)... ) and as noted "without an emotional crescendo" seems to confirm the not-so-happy period of the Cure. Unfortunately, "Bloodflowers" (which objectively is in itself a refined work and more "for the few," if I may) comes out at the wrong time (in several places it reminded me distantly of "Wish"), but... we are merely dealing with pure abstractions "scripta (ipnosfericae) volant"...
(00)
(00)
(00)
(00)
Watch out you haven't accessed DeBaser!
To fully experience the true experience of being on the DeBaser it's nice to be registered.
So
Log in
or
Register
Woody
30 aug 07sfascia carrozze
30 aug 07djmushroom
30 aug 07under
30 aug 07S4doll
30 aug 07easycure
30 aug 07Bubi
30 aug 07Fiumani
30 aug 07Woody
30 aug 07Blackdog
30 aug 07tier79
30 aug 07Anonimo
30 aug 07vortex
30 aug 07ecioso
31 aug 07ecioso
31 aug 07Sanjuro
31 aug 07hypnosphere boy
31 aug 07Anonimo
31 aug 07Mike76
31 aug 07ziabice
31 aug 07hypnosphere boy
31 aug 071. WANT 2. CLUB AMERICA 3. THIS IS A LIE 4. THE 13TH 5. HOME 7. MINT CAR 8. JUPITER CRASH 9. OCEAN 10. GONE! 11. TRAP 12. IT USED TO BE ME 13. ADONAIS
(possibly maybe...) H.B.
Blackdog
31 aug 07Surferkangaroo
31 aug 07Mike76
31 aug 07tier79
1 sep 07hypnosphere boy
2 sep 07Anonimo
23 dec 07I hope you enjoy them!
Best regards,
Welcome to the new Myspace!
Rank
26 may 08hypnosphere boy
27 may 08GustavoTanz
15 jul 08currahee72
5 nov 08hypnosphere boy
7 nov 08Mike76
14 nov 08hypnosphere boy
15 nov 08