|
|
|
I'm going to cover this review from the point of view of a casual listener of The Cure, a phrase which might seem like an oxymoron if you're familiar with the devotion of The Cure's fan base. I like The Cure, I appreciate them, but I've never been a follower or a fanatic. Still, my esteem for them is high enough that I was excited to receive this 2-disc deluxe re-issue of their 1979 UK debut album. Disc 1 contains the album in the form of its original UK release (with an added throwaway instrumental on the end), and Disc 2 has 20 rare tracks from the period, including demos, outtakes and live versions. Actually it's really 18 rare tracks, since 2 of them are subsequent singles and U.S. album tracks. The liner notes for this edition are very interesting, with some very candid comments from Robert Smith revealing his dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the album, many of which were forced on the band by the record label, such as the cover art and the inclusion of their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady". The writer also refers to poor drummer Lol Tolhurst as "inept"!
As for the music, it features The Cure as a lean, post-punk 3-piece. The earliest demo tracks on Disc 2, from 1977, show the band in full punk mode, with young Robert doing his best Johnny Rotten. On the album bit of the punk sneer remains on tracks like "So What" and "It's Not You", but something much more idiosyncratic had emerged by then, highlighted by Smith's distinctive vocal phrasing and quirky, rhythmic guitar work. The songs are so spare they're almost skeletal, with only hints of the atmospherics and surrealism that would become the band's hallmarks in their heyday, and none of the tracks are as pop-oriented as the subsequent singles "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train", which are included on Disc 2. Whether it was a deliberate stylistic choice, by necessity, or a result of inexperience, the songs on "Three Imaginary Boys" do not seem as fleshed out as they could be, sonically or compositionally. Also, as a young band they make a few rookie moves, like the way "Grinding Halt" comes to a literal grinding halt. Despite these signs of immaturity, though, you can hear a distinctive musical voice emerging, and obviously there was tremendous growth in their subsequent releases.
The casual listener such as myself won't get more than one or two spins out of Disc 2. The demos show the evolution of the songs, as you might expect, and the outtakes do compare favorably in quality to the album tracks. The live tracks are bootleg-quality and not particularly interesting for the non-fanatic, except to hear a sped-up version of "10:15 Saturday Night". While I'm not the target audience for this material, as a once-obsessive collector of all things Guided By Voices, I can definitely empathize with the Cure superfans and completists out there for whom this stuff will be pure gold. Even the fact that the album itself is being released in the U.S. for the first time is cause enough for celebration for hardcore Cure fans, most of whom I'm sure, at the time of this writing, have already bought this, received it for Hanukkah, or are eagerly waiting to find it in their stocking. (mike.12.04)
rating for the casual listener
related links