The Cure – The Cure

I have a sealed copy of the original US press .. that I am willing to use as trade looking for original pressings only
spiritualized , kinks , blur , pulp , talk talk , xtc send message

Official Vinyl reissue coming in September reedición a finales de septiembre

Just picked up a nice copy of this on vinyl. Also have it on CD but the sound from the vinyl is so much better. It’s an album that grows on you. When I bought the CD I didn’t really rate it very highly but it has to be played loud now I’m glad I bit the bullet to pay the extra for the vinyl copy. It makes worthy addition to my collection.

I am betting we are seeing this release next year as a reissue- picture disk- rsd…😌

(laughing) Robert Smith seems to have gone from a despondent high schooler filled with angst, moped his way though four years of college, and is now the repining guidance counselor at the same school, still shuffling down the halls, favoring the art rooms of course, yet fond of laying in the middle of the football field on warm days, knowing that there’s no hope for anyone, that time is the healer of all wounds, taking solace in the fact that he can ebb these kids in the right direction, rather than the other straight laced counselors who share his office space.

First, this is a very loud album, gone are most all of the sonic synth layers in favor of a more guitar oriented presentation, one spurred on by the drumming of Jack Cooper (yes, the same man who would later make up half of Ultimate Painting), drawing back the curtains on the band’s early years, all while mystically maintaining those popish visions visited on us with the release of Wish, though perhaps without the excesses that made up Wild Mood Swings. All this leaves the band to come off sounding leaner, more in and of the moment, yet still wrapped in the woven textures of Smith’s insightful mix of death, sex, despair and innocence seeking to be lost. The Cure unfolds with snappy lines that match the music stride for stride, it’s atmospherically dark, perhaps even epic, and (though I’m not yet sure of this) in its striving for salvation.

Without a doubt, the album is brighter than Bloodflowers, immensely more dense than certainly Wish, where The Cure presents Robert Smith as a visionary sorcerer's apprentice who lives in the overgrown tattered gated house at the end of the lane, secretly conducting (yet more conjuring) another mad bit of infatuation and blissed out angst. In many ways The Cure comes off as an unapologetic reconciliation, though Smith never defines the systemic issue that brought him here, his desire to be reconciled, and who that person or persons is/are.

This is a very ambitious step for the Cure, though in fact, it’s actually an ambitious step brought to light by Robert Smith, fashioned together with aspirations of wonder by the new mates who surround him.

*** The Fun Facts: As to the album’s artwork, the artwork was designed by Smith's nephews and nieces. The children who were unaware that their drawings were to be put on the album. The drawings were supposed to represent a 'good dream' and a 'bad dream,’ one from each niece and nephew.

Review by Jenell Kesler

I don't understand the criticism of the sound of this pressing. It sounds great to my ears. It's not a high fidelity recording to begin with, but this record sounds great on vinyl. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up this pressing if you find it at a decent price.

might be worth it if it's like twenty bucks; even if just to hear the mostly great "bonus" tracks. the mastering is so harsh and digitally-inclined that it sounds absolute rubbish on vinyl. can't believe these prices smh