Ross Robinson to produce The Cure

I'm more mystified as to why the Cure have recruited him. Does Robert really think he can capture the imagination of today's youth (let alone one's of the meatnecked nu-metal contingent)?

Robinson did produce the decidedly non-Nu-metal, At the Drive-In, which is not to say that ATDI sound anything like the Cure, but more that Robinson is capable of working with acts that don't hunch over at acute angles when they play their guitars or wear furry Kangol hats.

Was the six-string bass too much?

Custos is way off the mark, it would be more like:

Robinson: "Louder and in a lower key, ye snivveling limey cocksuckers!"

Smith: "You obnoxious twat. Why don't you fuck off?[1]"

Robinson: "What? What did you say?."

Smith: "Right, that's it. Roger, hold my lager. Simon, grab his arms!" (pummels Robinson repeatedly)

[1] Translated from RS Mumblese.

I doubt he cares about 'today's youth' as such -- he essentially told Elektra to farewell and fuck off once he wrapped up the contract with them via the hits disc last year, along with trashing American record companies in general, while the band can still draw sizable crowds when touring (played two outdoor ampitheatre shows for Bloodflowers in LA alone despite the record barely registering on the charts).

Yeah, but Styx can say the same.

Seriously, though, I thought I was going to be full of righteous indignation but actually I find that I don't give a shit. I'm a huge fan and I have faith, pardon the play on words.

I'm sure they can. Hey, their fans are happy with that, I'm happy with this! More Cure = a good thing. :-)

what ever happened to the robert smith solo album?

As for Smith being a lover, Custos, obv you're forgetting the Pornography sessions, which were apparently huge melees involving copious amounts of both alcohol and contusions.

"Putting my solo album out with the Cure album is because there's been so much speculation about it, it's been going on for so long, that if I put it out as a solo album, people will think "That's fucking awful". It's like it can't possibly be as good as people think it's going to be. So if it's free with the next Cure album, then people will think...if they don't like it then it doesn't matter, and if they do like it, they'll be getting two good albums for one. The real reason is that it takes all the pressure off me to feel...I've talked and talked about it, and I've been really worried that I'll bring it out and people will sort of go "Is that it?", you know, cause it happens all the time, you hear about an album and it's like, and then you hear it and it's like, it's fucking awful. For me it's kind of a way round a problem, cause I still get to release it, but it's no longer like, you know. And also I suppose, very importantly, I wouldn't have to promote it and I don't really want to do solo stuff"

Of course we can't ever *really* believe anything the man says in interviews...

Smith always wrote all the songs and made all the decisions regarding the direction of The Cure. There was a passage in 10 Imaginary Years that said something to the effect that "Democracy in the Cure meant that everyone did it my way, and we all shared in the writing credits."

If you look at it, The Cure has not been a real band since Michael Dempsey was kicked out before the Faith sessions. It was pretty much Robert Smith and Lawrence Tolhurst, the latter being kept around as an object of abuse. The line up shifted often throughout the 80's whenever studio work or touring was necessary.

I really loved The Cure when I was 12-14. Even then, the shtick started running thin. I really have no idea what they did after the released Wish. That album pretty much ended any fandom I had for them.

I don't think Simon Gallup played on any of those albums. I know he didn't play on Japanese Whispers.