The Cure

[agentknight]

Discuss the most amazing musician of all time ROBERT SMITH, his trusty companions, and all of their amazing albums

THREE IMAGINARY BOYS - 1979
BOYS DON'T CRY - 1980
SEVENTEEN SECONDS - 1980
FAITH - 1981
PORNOGRAPHY - 1982
THE TOP - 1984
KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME - 1987
DISINTEGRATION - 1989
MIXED UP - 1990
WISH - 1992
WILD MOOD SWINGS - 1996
BLOODFLOWERS - 2000
THE CURE - 200

[captainofbeef]

Don't like 'em, most know my opinion. You wanna hear it again, I'd be glad to produce it. But please, not tonight. Too exhausted.

[ie]

You just gotta produce that argument tomorrow.

You don't even love the Lovecats?

[sacrilegend]

Love!

[blackmoses]

The Cure is mindblowing!

[captainofbeef]

Ok, I'm gonna start this off by saying that I do respect The Cure as musicians. Tons of people love them, and although I really don't see why, that has to be good for something right??

Okay, now down to the technical side of things. Why doesn't Beef like The Cure. Ok, first off the music is too dense for my tastes. The guitars and bass are often put on the track more than once and are often overshadowed in the mix by the synth lines and pianos. Not to mention that both guitar and bass lines are often excessively simple. They do have some complex stuff drumwise, but that isn't enough to cancel out the simple guitar stuff. Not that simplicity is a bad things, it is just that excessive simplicity gets on my nerves.

Next thing is Robert Smith's voice. Its pitchy, very pitchy. He starts off in a near whisper sometimes and then starts singing. Usually he hits that semi high note in mid song, and it just sounds whiny. Maybe not out of place in the song, but that little high note pisses me off and I wish Smith would do it less.

Okay, third thing, lyrics. Maybe the fact that I have never been in love effects this somehow but whenever I read Cure lyrics, I could easily mistake them for some emo band of todays lyrics. Okay, for example, Boys Don't Cry's lyrics and the lyrics for some of Dashboard Confessional's songs are very similar in my opinion.

Ok, there are my reasons for not liking The Cure. Bash away if you wish.

[agentknight]

That was barely an argument at all! Good job, m8. You've essentially listed a bunch of small things about the band that bug you but failed to explain exactly why you don't like these things. The paragraph on RS's voice was particularly baffling. He hits a high not occasionally and you wish he would do it less? He is not consistent in the way he delivers his vocals, and this "pisses you off"? Why? Do you really think that if he delivered his vocals in a more monotonous, less energetic way, this would benefit the music somehow? Has it occurred to you that perhaps all of these things that bug you are just examples of how much energy and emotion RS pours into his music? And don't even BEGIN to criticise The Cure for using simplistic melodies, a glimspse at your last.fm charts reveals some of the most melodically simple music imaginable! Can you seriously call any RHCP riff anything less than woefully predictable?

Essentially the main problem with your argument is that somehow you think that your personal tastes are objective. The production in many of their albums is very unconventional, and you say that it is a flaw. Why are unique and interesting production techniques a bad thing to you? As good as many of your favorite bands are, stuff like Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam, RHCP, Guns n Roses, etc. uses very even-handed, boring and frankly unoriginal production techniques, practically tampering with EQ and limiting it to that, whereas RS throws one gorgeous melody on top of another, not afraid to "hide" any one part of the song.

Also, The Cure's lyrics are so much better than anything an emo band could write. Whether it's the lyrics themselves or the way RS delivers them they sound GENUINE. They sound REAL. They sound like they're coming from somewhere really personal.

It doesn't matter if we all die
Ambition in the back of a black car
In a high building there is so much to do
Going home time
A story on the radio

Something small falls out of your mouth
And we laugh
A prayer for something better
A prayer
For something better

Please love me
Meet my mother
But the fear takes hold
Creeping up the stairs in the dark

Waiting for the death blow
Waiting for the death blow
Waiting for the death blow
Stroking your hair as the patriots are shot
Fighting for freedom on the television
Sharing the world with slaughtered pigs
Have we got everything?
She struggles to get away . . .

The pain
And the creeping feeling
A little black haired girl
Waiting for Saturday
The death of her father pushing her
Pushing her white face into the mirror
Aching inside me
And turn me round
Just like the old days
Just like the old days
Just like the old days
Just like the old days

Caressing an old man
And painting a lifeless face
Just a piece of new meat in a clean room
The soldiers close in under a yellow moon
All shadows and deliverance
Under a black flag
A hundred years of blood
Crimson
The ribbon tightens round my throat
I open my mouth
And my head bursts open
A sound like a tiger thrashing in the water
Thrashing in the water
Over and over
We die one after the other
Over and over
We die one after the other
One after the other
One after the other
One after the other
One after the other

It feels like a hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
One hundred years

[captainofbeef]

I don't wish that he would be monotonous with his voice, I don't even care if he is consistent or not. I just often find that the little high note contrasts the music. Robert Smith does have energy and emotion in his music. He is a talented man, but some of the things he does with his melodies, lyrics, and voice are not my cup of tea.

I"m a fan of many different types of music. Don't even BEGIN to criticize my music taste based on what I listen to on my last.fm account. Not all of the music I listen to is on my computer and I have a sister and mother who also listen to music on my computer. I do like some bands that use unconventional techniques of production; King Crimson, Floyd, Yes, Modest Mouse, and believe it or not, Led Zeppelin used some of the most unconventional and groundbreaking studio techniques ever. And as a footnote, U2 is another example of a band who uses the studio to create music. Do you think the the Edge can play 8 guitar parts at once? Basically you are right about The Cure, I do not (for the most part) like music that uses the studio as a tool to create new music. My favorite music is straight forward, the creation of music without the use of machines and other techniques. I love music that is played in a raw manner, just a couple of guys playing their hearts out on their respective instruments.

Robert Smith may put more energy into his lyrics than emo bands do, but that does not change the fact that the lyrics you just posted remind me of emo lyrics.

[sacrilegend]

agentknight said:

That was barely an argument at all! Good job, m8. You've essentially listed a bunch of small things about the band that bug you but failed to explain exactly why you don't like these things. The paragraph on RS's voice was particularly baffling. He hits a high not occasionally and you wish he would do it less? He is not consistent in the way he delivers his vocals, and this "pisses you off"? Why? Do you really think that if he delivered his vocals in a more monotonous, less energetic way, this would benefit the music somehow? Has it occurred to you that perhaps all of these things that bug you are just examples of how much energy and emotion RS pours into his music? And don't even BEGIN to criticise The Cure for using simplistic melodies, a glimspse at your last.fm charts reveals some of the most melodically simple music imaginable! Can you seriously call any RHCP riff anything less than woefully predictable?

Essentially the main problem with your argument is that somehow you think that your personal tastes are objective. The production in many of their albums is very unconventional, and you say that it is a flaw. Why are unique and interesting production techniques a bad thing to you? As good as many of your favorite bands are, stuff like Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam, RHCP, Guns n Roses, etc. uses very even-handed, boring and frankly unoriginal production techniques, practically tampering with EQ and limiting it to that, whereas RS throws one gorgeous melody on top of another, not afraid to "hide" any one part of the song.

Also, The Cure's lyrics are so much better than anything an emo band could write. Whether it's the lyrics themselves or the way RS delivers them they sound GENUINE. They sound REAL. They sound like they're coming from somewhere really personal.

It doesn't matter if we all die
Ambition in the back of a black car
In a high building there is so much to do
Going home time
A story on the radio

Something small falls out of your mouth
And we laugh
A prayer for something better
A prayer
For something better

Please love me
Meet my mother
But the fear takes hold
Creeping up the stairs in the dark

Waiting for the death blow
Waiting for the death blow
Waiting for the death blow
Stroking your hair as the patriots are shot
Fighting for freedom on the television
Sharing the world with slaughtered pigs
Have we got everything?
She struggles to get away . . .

The pain
And the creeping feeling
A little black haired girl
Waiting for Saturday
The death of her father pushing her
Pushing her white face into the mirror
Aching inside me
And turn me round
Just like the old days
Just like the old days
Just like the old days
Just like the old days

Caressing an old man
And painting a lifeless face
Just a piece of new meat in a clean room
The soldiers close in under a yellow moon
All shadows and deliverance
Under a black flag
A hundred years of blood
Crimson
The ribbon tightens round my throat
I open my mouth
And my head bursts open
A sound like a tiger thrashing in the water
Thrashing in the water
Over and over
We die one after the other
Over and over
We die one after the other
One after the other
One after the other
One after the other
One after the other

It feels like a hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
A hundred years
One hundred years

Pretty lyrics! You're absolutley right. These are my favourites:

The Cure - The End Of The World

Go if you want to
I never try to stop you know there's a reason
For all of this you're feeling low
It's not my call
You couldn't ever love me more
You couldn't love me more
You couldn't love...
Me...
I don't show much
It's not that hard to hide you see in a moment
I cant remember how to be all you wanted
I couldn't ever love you more
I couldn't love you more
I couldn't love...
You want me to cry and play my part
I want you to sigh and fall apart
We want this like everyone else
Stay if you want to
I always wait to hear you say there's a last kiss
For all the times you run this way it's not my fault
You couldn't ever love me more
You couldn't love me more
You couldn't love...
I couldn't ever love you more
I couldn't love you more
I couldn't love...
You want me to lie not break your heart
I want you to fly not stop and start
We want us like everything else
Ooo-eee-ooo...
Ooo-eee-ooo...
Maybe we didn't understand
It's just the end of the world...
Ooo-eee-ooo... Ooo-eee-ooo...
Maybe we didnt understand
Not just a boy and a girl
It's just the end of the end of the world...
Me... I don't say much
It's far too hard to make you see in a moment
I still forget just how to be all you wanted
I couldn't ever love you more
I couldn't love you more
I couldn't love you more
I couldn't love you more
I couldn't love you more

Post me some more? Lyrics are almost masturbating material to me... I eat them for breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Dessert. Yum.

[agentknight]

Amazing song from a criminally underrated album! GG!

I'll post the lyrics for what is at once one of the funniest and creepiest things RS has ever written.

On candystripe legs the spiderman comes
Softly through the shadow of the evening sun
Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead
Looking for the victim shivering in bed
Searching out fear in the gathering gloom and
Suddenly!
A movement in the corner of the room!
And there is nothing i can do
When I realise with fright
That the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight!

Quietly he laughs and shaking his head
Creeps closer now
Closer to the foot of the bed
And softer than shadow and quicker than flies
His arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes
"Be still be calm be quiet now my precious boy
Don't struggle like that or I will only love you more
For it's much too late to get away or turn on the light
The spiderman is having you for dinner tonight!"

And i feel like i'm being eaten
By a thousand million shivering furry holes
And i know that in the morning i will wake up
In the shivering cold
And the spiderman is always hungry...

[sacrilegend]

Hahhaha... Creepy!

[sacrilegend]

End of The World

I couldn't love you more

What a beautiful song!

[sacrilegend]

ANDDDDD the bestest ever video in the world.