Anxiety said:

My only complaint is this...

I don't like studio and live stuff on the same disc. I think that's part of my problem with Sound and Vision, although The Cure probably have a better excuse for doing it.

But between b-sides, outtakes, instrumentals like Carnage Visors, etc., you'd probably have enough to flesh out each of these albums into a full disc and an interesting listen. That's what I'm doing. And I'm also isolating the demos or previously released songs as their own set. Same with the live stuff. So when this is all said and done, I'll have 3 different sets - the albums proper with good sounding bonus tracks, the collected demos, and the collected officially released live material. I'll post my results once I've figured it out.....

And, at the very least on the Faith bonus disc you have "Charlotte Sometimes".

JonSnow said:

I might have to make this.

Anxiety said:

And I love it. It consolidates things nicely. Everyone should do it.

And I've got Prince's whole back catelogue figured out for when the time comes to start remastering...MF just needs to call me!

I listened to Faith last night. Each day I have a new goodie to re-discover. The bonus material sounds pretty good, but there are some poor quality live versions on this one too. I can't take anything away from the live version of "All Cats Are Grey" though.

I just put on Pornography on the way to work, and it sounds huge! Those guitars on "One Hundred Years" really wail! His vocals sound so much more fresh.

Moonbeam said:

I'm still stuck on the first one. Gonna make my way to Faith today.

GangstaFam said:

Have you gotten to it yet?

I have a feeling these 3 releases will be my favorite music purchases of 2005.

i'm so broke, i'm going to the wrecka stow on the way to work today to trade in some old CDs in hopes of getting at least one of the other two reissues that i don't have yet...if i have to choose, i'll probably get 'seventeen seconds', cuz i've never heard that album in its entirety. i *WILL* have all three eventually!

Anxiety said:

I'll be sure to bring them along next week.

Anxiety said:

I'm in the same boat. I just have a hard time parting with most of my cd's, even if just for nostalgic reasons. I've had some big purges before, like over 100 at a time, but I've never done it for the money. Just to get rid of some shit I've grown out of and know I'll never listen to again. I have a bunch of shit I'd like to unload on Ebay cuz I know I wouldn't get what I deserve in a record store. I really appreciate your offer to let us stay, cuz I don't know how I'd afford it otherwise!

Moonbeam said:

I did last night as I was going to bed. And I was absolutely stunned. The improvement in sound seems even more stark than the 17 Secs one, and that's kinda suprising to me considering how sparse SS is. I was hearing all kinds of shit I'd never picked up on, especially in some of the more misty ones like "All Cats Are Grey" and "Faith". Another thing I noticed is how all the songs flow right into eachother. I hadn't picked up on that before. I don't know why cuz I've listened to it a ton. I love this album. I have a feeling it'll be the one I return to the most in the coming weeks.

I still don't get why everyone prefers Seventeen Seconds better? I found it to be too boring and meandering. Well, most of the tracks anyway.

I think Faith is better for the bassline to "Other Voices" alone. That album rocks and it's the most "Goth" of all their albums, I'd say. It even has "Charlotte Sometimes" on this bonus disc.

NWF said:

I think it's split about 50/50 on this thread. But you're right, most fans and critics prefer it.

I'll tell you why I do here once I have time to write it all out.

GangstaFam said:

i just got 'seventeen seconds' on the way to work today!

in reality, i could technically afford to buy all the cure reissues right now. but i have this repulsive mental illness that's making me discipline myself and put a limit on how much money i spend on music, and if i have some kind of absolute need or lust for something beyond that limit, i feel that i should make some kind of sacrifice, like selling stuff i already have that i never listen to. and with the addition of my portable mp3 player to the way i listen to and compile my music collection, i can sell some stuff that's kinda lukewarm and still have it circulating in what i listen to on a day-to-day basis. so it all works out in some weird way that makes sense to me. kinda. mostly.

plus - I GOT 'SEVENTEEN SECONDS' TODAY!

It's like, I love the Cure, but I'm not gonna sacrifice my funds for them. I know that these CD's won't be going everywhere, so I'm being patient about getting them.

NWF said:

right? i gotta get a second job if i wanna keep on top of all the stuff the cure's been releasing from their archives. not that i'm complaining about it getting released, and not that i'm not loving it - but DAMN!

Anxiety said:

so have you had a chance to listen to SS yet all the way thru? What are your thoughts on it.

JonSnow said:

nope. not yet. i work nights so i won't have a chance to listen till i get home...i don't like to listen to new stuff at work because i can't give it my full attention, plus i don't want to equate first listens to new music with being at my workplace.

This thread makes me very happy. Is it common for Prince fans to also be Cure fans? When I'm not listening to Prince, Robert's in my ears. I've loved both for so long.

And yes, I'm excited about these releases. "Join The Dots" got me craving more old Cure and the Deluxe Three Imaginary Boys was excellent.

Prince should surely do a "Trilogy" concert.

Great thread!

NWF said:

I always thought Faith meandered on.

Seventeen Seconds is a benchmark Cure release because it set the stage for what was to follow. As great as Faith is (and this reissue is making me more interested in it than I have ever been), its voyage was paved by the work put into Seventeen Seconds. SS was when the Cure found their signature sound in its most skeletal form.

Maybe I like it so much because I love minimalism. Robert says in the liner notes that he wanted to make songs that didn't require a lot of instrumentation. As a result, I think the instruments on SS speak so much more loudly than on most of their records because there isn't much to clutter the sound. Every time I listen, I can get lost in the bass, or the guitar, or the piano, or the percussion.

i can hear a lot of the cure's present sound in 'faith' - some parts of it remind me a lot of 'disintegration' and 'bloodflowers'. just listening to this one album is really unifying the stuff that i know really well, not just within the stuff i'm familiar with, but with the stuff that i'm hearing for the first time all the way through. i was always afraid the cure's old stuff would be too obtuse and opaque, and that's why i never really gave the old albums a chance. with the exception of 'three imaginary boys', which i don't really care for all that much, i'm really loving the old stuff. i'm listening to 'carnage visors' right now and just lapping it up.

8up said:

That would be incredible if Prince did a Trilogy concert, but what 3 albums?

Wouldn't this be fantastic: Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy back to back to back. DROOL

JonSnow, that would be a great show.
I actually think that many songs sound much better on The Cure's trilogy than the original recordings. It's amazing how accurate they did all those songs. Prince could do the same thing. ONA Live was nice, but sometimes the little pieces of songs gets annoying. I've never heard Robert do 10 seconds of a song. I could go on for an hour so I'll stop.

8up said:

I've never heard Prince or The Cure mention eachother, and their music is certainly not alike, but I've always thought of The Cure as the equivalent of Prince in the indie/alternative world. They do it all. And well. And their fans are just about as rabid. Plus they're my favorites!

there are several similiarities between Prince and The Cure (interesting topic, by the way....)


they both have deep and extensive back catelogues for exploration. they have great, classic b-sides. they have alot of great tours that have been heavily bootlegged. they both have classic albums, and albums that don't get much love (although, even those have their vocal supporters). P and RS are both extremely prolific and respected songwriters, and both have been hugely influential in their genre. both have had mainstream success, but fans of both feel that neither gets the attention and respect they deserve. there are also similar career arcs - early days / first awakening of brilliance / questionable middle period / rebirth.

And SOTT and KMKMKM are both examples of great, all-over-the-place, double albums.

i'm sure there are more.... but yeah. I think it's natural for fans of The Cure to also love Prince, and vice versa.

Anxiety said:

I can understand where you're coming from. I imagine it's a bit like knowing portions of Bowie's career...they don't necessarily all make sense taken together unless some of the gaps get filled in. And I definitely see Faith as a template for both Disintegration and Bloodflowers. You might not know they were capable of such murky, majestic elegance based on the rest of their pre-Disintegration work without hearing Faith. I've read somewhere (I think maybe Goldmine magazine) that all the signature Cure elements are present on Faith and that they only refined and expanded from there. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I can kinda see what they're getting at.

JonSnow said:

I've got another...Prince and Bob are complete and total frizz-eaks!!!

With big black hair.

Moonbeam said:

It doesn't. Both albums are tight. End of discussion.

Anxiety said:

YAY YOU!!!

wow.. i just listened to the opening bass line of The Holy Hour on my headphones, and got cold chills. Damn it sounds so good.

GangstaFam said:

heh, good point!