A thread for the Cure reissues

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Hahah, uh oh, 1989 Ned to thread on that score...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Mind you, at least you could hang some longboxes up as opposed to, I dunno, those horrible plastic bubble things...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 14:49 (nineteen years ago) link

oooh, that deepdiscountcd link above is tempting. my local tower has these for approx $28 (incl tax) which is just ridiculous.

it seems to me that the big ilm cure heads really dig these so far...i still have to ask, are the liner notes, remastering, and extra material really worth it?

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:14 (nineteen years ago) link

i should add that 17 secs and faith are among my fave cure albums.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:16 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd say it's totally worth it, but I'm that way.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:21 (nineteen years ago) link

i knew you would say that, ned!

i have to say that i am glad they are digipaks.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:35 (nineteen years ago) link

In relistening to the 17 bonus songs now they're already starting to nestle in stronger. I especially love the crowd cheering "FRANK-IE!" at the end of the Cult Hero live cuts.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:36 (nineteen years ago) link

i think i am most curious about the demos especially after reading the comments about the faith ones above. cult hero and "carnage visors" on cd are good things too. my copy of that curiousity tape has gone the way of, well, tape as well. hm. is any of the stuff on these reissues redundant with join the dots? i like to watch the robert smith image trajectory too (does that ever sound nerdy). the hair began at the end of faith didn't it? my memory is a bit fuzzy...

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:45 (nineteen years ago) link

is any of the stuff on these reissues redundant with join the dots?

Nope -- they've said since the start that Join the Dots would not be replicated on the reissues and so far that's true. I am wondering how they'll handle the Japanese Whispers tracks, though.

I should also note (assuming it hasn't been already) if it hasn't been already that the live version of "Faith" on the second disc of that album is in fact the one from the 12" of "Charlotte Sometimes," which wasn't on JtD and so finally has resurfaced.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 16:47 (nineteen years ago) link

THE CURE: Pornography (Deluxe Edition With Bonus CD) Despatched
THE CURE: Faith (Deluxe Edition With Bonus CD) Despatched
THE CURE: Seventeen Seconds (Deluxe Edition With Bonus CD) Despatched
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: B-Sides & Rarities (3CD) Despatched

DESPATCHED AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH! I NEED TO SEE "DELIVERED"!

Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 20:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, the Nick Cave box is good too...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 20:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Trudged all around the west end in my lunchbreak today, no sign of the reissues in London, now facing the grim reality that I'll not get my paws on these suckers till 2nd May. Jeex.

One consolation, the Stereolab box is aces.

mzui (mzui), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

I am wondering how they'll handle the Japanese Whispers tracks, though.

Seems fairly obvious that they wouldn't bother doing a Japanese Whispers reissue (it being effectively a singles compilation anyway). I dare say either the three A-sides will be on the Top's second disc, or they'll get orphaned like Killing An Arab (to later be compiled on the Cure's Sensational Sixth Semi-Redundant Singles Comp!)

kit brash (kit brash), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 22:01 (nineteen years ago) link

picked "faith" up earlier. still haven't listened to it (still listening to stereolab) but the packaging is beautiful!

Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 22:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Seems fairly obvious that they wouldn't bother doing a Japanese Whispers reissue (it being effectively a singles compilation anyway)

Sorta my thought. We'll see. There is also that Glove reissue as well...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 27 April 2005 22:47 (nineteen years ago) link

so there were a couple of nuggets in the liner notes that were interesting/new to me, but I thought it very odd that they didn't explain "Carnage Visors" at all.

teeny (teeny), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:16 (nineteen years ago) link

also: guy at record store was very excited that I was buying all three and flirted with me despite presence of burly husband. He said I got the last three in the store, and that those had just been recovered from some kid trying to shoplift them.

teeny (teeny), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Heheheh. It's nice to see that desperation for Cure goodness continues. (As does record store dude oddity, which is perhaps less nice.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Do these reissues actually SOUND better than the original CDs? I could give a shit less about the extras (they're a nice conclusion, but I won't listen to them more than once), but well-done remastered sound is a big plus for me.

Michael Copeland, Thursday, 28 April 2005 03:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Make that INclusion, not conclusion.

Wow. I really need to get some sleep.

Michael Copeland, Thursday, 28 April 2005 03:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, haven't listened to Porn disc 1, but the difference in sound on Faith is huge. I was grinning all through Other Voices...

As for the liner notes, there are some serious holes indeed. No explanation on Carnage Visors or Airlock. Nothing said about that last demo on Pornography (ie. the let's go to bed skeleton), which was recorded AFTER the album, so probably around the time of Lament. Background info would have been nice.

Baaderonixxxorzh (Fabfunk), Thursday, 28 April 2005 09:52 (nineteen years ago) link

What is the background behind Airlock anyways?

mzui (mzui), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:00 (nineteen years ago) link

AFAIK, it was a little piece of music played before the band hit the stage (maybe accompanying a film a la Carnage Visors?).

Baaderonixxxorzh (Fabfunk), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, haven't listened to Porn disc 1, but the difference in sound on Faith is huge. I was grinning all through Other Voices...

Yeah, Faith sounds ridiculously great -- not that it didn't already, but jeez, just everything now, down to the texture of the keyboards on "The Holy Hour" and "The Funeral Party" and the way the drums sound on "All Cats are Grey" and... "Primary" now has this weird fluid grace in the bass that somehow I had never caught or felt before.

Have yet to listen to the extras for that one. But that will happen shortly.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

This thread prompted me to break out my Faith/17 seconds LPs. Both of which I think sound pretty amazing.

But I was dumbstruck at just HOW HORRIBLE A DRUMMER LOL IS. It's like hearing a child barely competent...I still love the records and will forever but jeez...worst drummer ever.

ddb (ddb), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link

*befuddled* Uh. I'll grant you that the sound of the drums on those songs often matters more than the drums themselves (if you follow), but I never saw them as out of place or bad or anything. He may usually have only one trick per song but it's almost always a great trick! (I give you the simple-but-needs-no-more rolling breakdown throughout "All Cats Are Grey.")

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, I love the sound...it's his playing that I am refering to, it almost sounds like he falls out of time or is about to.

I dont think his playing takes away from the songs...I just was amazed by it, in a: how come I did'nt notice this before.

Did he play drums on Porn. it sounds like a mixture of him and machines or overdubs, because it sounds vastly improved. Maybe he got beter?!?!

Boris on the other hand...AMAZING!

ddb (ddb), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Boris is a GOD. Andy Anderson was no slouch, but WOW BORIS!!!

I like JAson a fair amount, too, but oftentimes he's a little too busy; Boris had a great knack for knowing when to stop embellishing.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, Boris = best of the lot. Jason's always been just sorta there.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Did he play drums on Porn. it sounds like a mixture of him and machines or overdubs, because it sounds vastly improved. Maybe he got beter?!?!

In the liners for Pornography, Robert sez they invited Phil Thornalley in to coproduce because of his work on the Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk, specifically the drum sounds, so that might have something to do with it too...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Ahhhh...yeah that Furs album is TOP NOTCH.

ddb (ddb), Thursday, 28 April 2005 14:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Anyway, revelations as they happen from the Faith second disc:

* Solo home demo of "Doubt" -- *much* slower pace, just guitar and beatbox, no vocals, really enjoyable.

* "Drowning" -- you can sorta sense "The Drowning Man" trying to emerge from this, but it's still different enough, contemplative, almost more like a variant on Carnage's arrangement.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:34 (nineteen years ago) link

* "The Holy Hour" -- same pace but the murkiness and the different vocal -- can't tell if it's a flatout different lyric or just a different way Robert sings it, calmer, steadier -- gives it a different kind of warmth as from the final take.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:38 (nineteen years ago) link

* "Primary" -- WINNER! The effect here is like the "10:15" demo on 3IB, slower, calmer, shows a new side to the song, different from the bootleg demo I'd heard elsewhere. Totally different lyric, sung by Robert through huge amounts of reverb. Instead of compressed mania, almost wistful spiralling away into somewhere. Drum machine beats as far as I can tell. Chorus is the same lyrically but the massed choral vocals really stand out here now.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:42 (nineteen years ago) link

* "Going Home Time" -- catchy enough, a bit of a step back to 3IB's guilelessness or a projection ahead to "Walk"/"Lovecats" era B-sides without the full studio gooniness. Robert's vocals are wordless croons, the whole thing actually feels like a bit of an Associates song from that time (if much calmer) -- like this was a demo eventually transmogrified into Sulk. HMMMM.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:46 (nineteen years ago) link

(I forgot to mention the home demo of "Faith" that started things out -- nice but just Robert playing the bass part for a bit.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:47 (nineteen years ago) link

* "The Violin Song" -- wow, even more of a lighter touch to things than I imagined. Could the true secret of this time be that 'happy' Cure was secretly coexisting with the darker shades? It's not kick up your heels "Doing the Unstuck" by any means, but again, the lack of lyrics (just heavily echoed singing bits here and there) and the, again, slightly wistful air to the mid-paced arrangement suggests the Cure more towards 1987 at its merrier moments on the B-sides. Nice keyboards, turns a touch gloomier on the chorus, a rough sketch but a good one.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link

* "A Normal Story" -- easily the most chipper of these past three! Had this all been on the album in place of any random three Faith songs we'd all have a *completely* different impression of the album and possibly the band. Again, just a gentle guide vocal, steady pace, it's not so much the deathlessness of the song or arrangement as it is simply that this kind of atmosphere was so readily conjured at this time, and workable. Does definitely suggest an eventual path forward rather than looking back, and when Robert kicks in with the guitar more it all feels very familiar, very "Ah, Billy Corgan would have loved this."

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:54 (nineteen years ago) link

* "All Cats Are Grey" -- best live version from the time I've heard so far in terms of recording quality, Lol's drums finding an equivalent pattern to the studio version and more or less holding to it well enough, the keyboard thinner sounding by default, an extended introduction to the song (vocals don't start until the third musical verse, are much more direct and clear while still sounding resigned).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:57 (nineteen years ago) link

* "The Funeral Party," "Other Voices," "The Drowning Man," all the Curiosity versions so nothing new if you're already a hyperfan.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link

* The "Charlotte Sometimes" 12" live version of "Faith" I think I've heard before, or perhaps a different mix of it -- long performance at almost eleven minutes, absolutely entrancing. I've heard many live versions over time, this is one of the best.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:17 (nineteen years ago) link

an extended introduction to the song (vocals don't start until the third musical verse, are much more direct and clear while still sounding resigned)

The studio version doesn't bring in the vocals until the third musical verse as well.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:19 (nineteen years ago) link

*thinks* Oh you're right! Scratch that, my brain was on lock.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:28 (nineteen years ago) link

* "Forever" -- well, what can be said? ;-) This particular version hadn't surfaced officially before, and I think this is the one with the clearest vocals I've heard yet. It is rather loud and tense.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:29 (nineteen years ago) link

FWIW, I saw these 3 yesterday @ my local Circuit City for only $20.99 (each). No doubt a local chain (cf. NEWBURY COMICS) can HOOK! YOU! UP! for even cheaper.

I think Dan's dastardly plan to NEVER SEND ME THAT CURE MIX CD has borne fruit in that I've dropped $$$ on 3IB (still unheard, tho!), & I'm probably going to drop money on these other damn things, too. Well played, Perry, well played.

David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 28 April 2005 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link

They are $17.99 apiece at Newbury Comics.

FUCK YOU IDEAL COPY.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:04 (nineteen years ago) link

(um I am honestly going to send it to you on Saturday, DR)
(but buy these anyway)

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link

...and the "Charlotte Sometimes" remastering is okay enough. Now, Pornography.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Ned, is this version of Primary the 'yellow' one, like the peel version?

mzui (mzui), Thursday, 28 April 2005 19:45 (nineteen years ago) link

It's related to that version but not exactly the same. More delirious.

Baaderonixxxorzh (Fabfunk), Thursday, 28 April 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link


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