08/06/2007
Deep Cuts Home / Music Home / Bullz-Eye Home
The Cure is one of those groups that seems to split
its own fans right down the middle. Do you like the
melancholy and gloomy side of Robert Smith’s creativity,
or are you one of the listeners who enjoys his more
accessible and pop-friendly work? Sometimes you can
certainly like both, but there are definitely those
fans who are deeply into albums like Pornography and Bloodflowers,
two major works by the band that can often be impenetrable
at times. As for this writer, I have to admit I’ve
always enjoyed the poppier side of the Cure. Not
that this collection of the band’s deep cuts won’t
include some of the darker shades Smith has offered
to his legions, but overall I’m one of those people
that enjoys the Cure more when it isn’t all about
the despair. Of course, I’m also 34 and don’t have
that young angst to wade through anymore. Still,
Robert Smith is older than that, and he can’t seem
to give up the ghost at all. Ah well, here are the
Cure’s deep cuts for your speculation. Note that
I’ve avoided the density of the Join the Dots box
set -- as that’s one massive Deep Cuts collection
in itself -- and have just mainly stuck to the original
albums, a couple singles and an EP.
"Plastic Passion" – Boys Don’t Cry
We’re working with the US debut album
here, because frankly it’s better than Three
Imaginary Boys. It was refitted with both
A and B single sides and chopped out other stuff
that dragged down the UK debut. "Plastic Passion"
finds the Cure sounding positively New Wave unlike
they ever had before or since. For that reason
alone, you should enjoy this song. It also appears
on the Join the Dots box set if you
want to pay premium for it.
"Object" – Boys Don’t Cry
Okay, there’s one caveat here: this
song only appears on the cassette version
of Boys
Don’t Cry for some odd reason. Otherwise,
you’ll have to settle up for it on CD on Three
Imaginary Boys. What a quandary. Still,
the song finds Smith and Co. blasting out a bit
of power pop while dealing with sexual plasticity.
Hey, didn’t they do that on "Plastic Passion"
as well?
"World War" – Boys Don’t Cry
This also only appears on the cassette. What
the hell? This time, if you want it on CD, you’ll
need to shell out for the deluxe two-disc version
of Three Imaginary Boys. What needs
to happen here is that a "deluxe" version of Boys
Don’t Cry needs to be issued with all the
songs that appeared on both its CD and cassette
versions. Well, maybe not "So What."
"Fire in Cairo" – Boys Don’t Cry
Why Smith wasn’t enamored of these
songs is beyond me. "F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O" is
perhaps the catchiest chant ever laid down in
a pop song. The music is lean and tight and finds
Smith playing out some of the themes he began
in "Killing an Arab."
"In Your House" – Seventeen Seconds
I haven’t heard this much phasing
since Captain Beefheart’s Strictly Personal album.
On their second album, the Cure got rid of a
lot of the fun, fun, fun, but still maintained
an accessibility that this semi-dark version
flaunted. On this track, the slow beats and moody
synths have already appeared and Robert Smith
mopes about being in your house and stands out
as that freak in the corner who just won’t shut
up, have a drink and try to have a good time.
Sheesh.
"M" – Seventeen Seconds
This is one last gasp at that whole
New Wave style, and dare I say it, but it almost
sounds Joe Jackson-ish. Just picture it being
played on piano with no phasing and a sarcastic
snarl in the voice and you’ll see what I mean.
Hey Joe, maybe you should cover this tasty little
nugget sometime.
"At Night" – Seventeen Seconds
Get ready for the fall into the pit
of despair. "At Night" sports a sinister riff
and those wide open spaces and long notes that
the Cure are known for. It could be a piece with
"In Your House," though slightly darker. Ah,
but all that dark, dank goodness was about to
rear its ugly head in full on the next album.
"All Cats Are Grey" – Faith
Unfortunately, the Faith album
suffers from a lot of its songs sounding the
same. Perhaps even Smith knew this, as this was
the last album by the band to have its decided
"sound" that envelops the first three discs.
"All Cats Are Grey" is certainly dirge-like,
but it’s also atmospheric in a way that many
of the other songs on the album don’t share.
Maybe it’s the echo on Robert’s voice, or maybe
it’s just because that same old sounding guitar
isn’t being worked out again here.
"Faith" – Faith
The title track is another tune with
a bit of atmosphere, again the patented guitar
sound isn’t being wrought through a bunch of
the same rhythmic chords, and it’s just gloomy
enough to not cause one to hide the razor blades.
Robert sounds a bit desperate at the end, though.
"Primary" (Red Mix) – "Close
to Me"
CD single
I’d like to give special mention to this
version of "Primary" here. The song originally
appeared on Faith, and this version is
from the CD single for "Close to Me" that was released
as part of the Mixed Up series of singles.
In its remixed form, the song gets a lot of punch
added to it, as well as an extended workout of
that great chugging riff that propels it along.
Definitely not a remix that sucks.
"A Short Term Effect" (Pornography)
Out with the old sound and in with the
new. On Pornography, the Cure’s sound
got a bit denser and Robert Smith’s muse got
a whole lot darker. If I have to pick just one
track from this album (one I’m otherwise not
very enamored with), this one’s pretty tasty.
The slowed-down vocal effects and backwards guitar
work pretty well here, and the whole thing is
not too overwrought.
"A Strange Day" – Pornography
This is the other tune from this
album that I can get into. It’s almost like an
update of the sound featured on Seventeen
Seconds and Faith but
with a bit better production and not all that
phasing piled on top. Smith figured out he could
be gloomy without resorting to that singular
effect time and again. Hooray for sadness.
"Bananafisbones" – The Top
What can you say about this album?
It’s pretty weird, and pretty different from
everything else "the Cure" did, probably because
it was Smith playing the majority of the parts
here. He referred to the disc as "psychedelic"
and maybe it was, in some ‘80s fashion, but more
often than not it just sounds jumbled. On this
song, Smith does his funky best while freaking
out on some arsenic-laced acid trip.
"Bird Mad Girl" – The Top
Maybe Robert wanted to be Duran Duran
on this song. Maybe he was just getting a bit
fried with all those goodies he was ingesting
at the time. It’s certainly better than any of
the "dance" songs that David Bowie was crapping
out at the time. Yes, you too can do the mashed
potato to the Cure!
"Dressing Up" – The Top
Wheeee…Fat Bob goes off the deepest
end here and just kind of lounges about in all
the kookiness. There’s a sparkling sound to this
track, and that pan flute or whatever the hell
it is reminds me more of someone blowing on empty
Coke bottles, furthering that notion of the sparkling,
glass-like sound. Just let me have my own weird
fantasies about these tunes, dammit.
"The Blood" – The Head on the Door
I remember as a teen watching some
wacky evangelical show on TV one night discussing
satanic rock albums. This one landed in their
pile of musical evil. Don’t ask why, you know why.
All for that "I am paralyzed by the blood of
Christ" line. Gee, and I always took that as
a kind of pro-Jesus statement. Call me crazy.
No, just call me normal, unlike those idiots
who look for the "satanic" in everything.
"Six Different Ways" – The Head
on the Door
In a way, this album is like the
Cure’s version of Revolver. Each song
is a perfect little pop tune with its own identity
and sound, and is easily likable. The songs get
in, do their job, and then get out. This one features
some whimsical shit out of left field with bouncy
piano, Smith doing his patented "do-do-do" and
plenty of exotic instrumentation. What’s not
to enjoy?
"Push" – The Head on the Door
This song makes it sound like the
Cure have arrived, baby. Dig those cascading
sheets of guitar at the opening, the big cinematical
feel of the production, and the perfect riffs
and melodies that all coalesce into something
fine. Was Smith having a good time? If so, why
didn’t he do this more often?
"Screw" – The Head on the Door
More people should use fuzz and/or
distorted bass in their songs. That instrument
is featured here doing the funky riff and Robert
mopes in a joyous fashion about some person reacting
to his nonsense. Too bad he’d take that shit
to heart and get all sad again on us.
"Hey You!!!" – Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss
Me
Go ahead and hate me, but this is
one of those double albums that to my ears has
too much shit on it. Here was the beginning of
the Cure experimenting with those interminable
songs that go nowhere wedged alongside some really
tasty pop treats. This song finds Robert all excited
and freaking out amongst some hot sax and horn
lines. High school marching band Cure!
"The Perfect Girl" – Kiss Me Kiss
Me Kiss Me
Should have been a single and wasn’t.
And that’s all that needs to be said.
"Untitled" – Disintegration
This is the only tune I’m picking
from this album. The singles are groovy from Disintegration,
but slogging through the other stuff, except
for this track, always made me feel like I ran
a 100 mile marathon after it was over. Just too
much meandering and goofing about when some good
music could have been made. "Untitled" pretty
much tightens up the dreariness and gets the
job done even as it mopes about the floor. Poor
broken-hearted Robert. Get the hell over it already.
"Hot Hot Hot!!!" (Extended Mix), "Inbetween
Days" (Shiver Mix), "Never Enough" (Big Mix)
– Mixed Up
I always liked this album, despite
other fans’ hatred of it, and here are the
three reasons why. Each of these tunes gets
a makeover that makes it funky without falling
into remix overkill. Not all of the album is
great, but it’s not bad at all as far as these
sorts of things go.
"Harold and Joe," "Let’s Go to Bed"
(Milk Mix) – "Never
Enough" CD single
"Harold and Joe" could possibly be the
greatest Cure B-side ever, while "Let’s Go to Bed"
seems to be another Mixed Up session that
just didn’t fit on the official album. The former
is also available on the Join the Dots box
set.
Bypassing Wish completely (file your complaints elsewhere), we arrive at…
"Club America" – Wild Mood Swings
Yeah, this album’s a mess. It’s hard to listen
to all the way through and there’s a lot to digest.
But this song is a nice little rave up, sort
of echoing the hard rock grooviness of "Never
Enough." Smith just wants to have some fun. Let
him do it, people. He doesn’t get out enough.
"Where the Birds Always Sing" – Bloodflowers
Another album I could mostly do without is saved
by this fine song. Nice acoustic guitars, the
patented Cure electric guitar lines dotting the
background and Robert Smith declaring "the world
is neither fair nor unfair." So why all the sullenness,
Bob? You’d think it wouldn’t be so bad after
all this time.
"Before Three" – The Cure
It’s the only song from this otherwise bland
album that I don’t want to skip. Ah, Robert,
maybe you should seriously think about calling
it a day. But you’ve got that other album on
the way, so is it going to be a gigantic surprise,
or more of the same?
"Boys Don’t Cry" – The Peel Sessions
I wanted to end this Deep Cuts on an up note,
so do yourselves a favor and enjoy the entire
four-song EP that this track was taken from.
They’re all fine semi-live cuts of Boys Don’t
Cry tracks. You know, the best album the
Cure ever released?