Rhino has released reissues of The Cure's "Seventeen Seconds", "Faith", and "Pornography". Each releases features the original album remastered on one CD with home demos, studio out-takes, and live recordings on the second CD. Needless to say I snapped them up. The bonus material on "Pornography" is outstanding. The home demos have cleaned up nicely and it feels as though your sitting on a practice session complete with the poor drum sound and miscellaneous rattling one gets while recording in a practice space. The stand out track across all three though is the studio out take of "Primary" from "Faith". The pace is slowed down, the echo on the voice increased, and there is a keyboard part that mimics the bass but adds a nifty melody. It sound down right cheery next to the final recording. It could have been a hit in its own right and it is well worth the price of admission.
My favorite tracks on "Pornography" are "All Mine", a sliver of which is found in the "Standing on the Beach" video release, and "Temptation 2" which acts to bridge the gap from "Faith" to this record. In fact, hearing the home demos and knowing that they sought out the producer of the Psychedelic Fur's "Talk Talk Talk" for the drum sound helps one understand how "Pornography" developed. For me it explains the why and where for of a critical part of the band's career. Oh, and some significant drug abuse I suppose adds an element here and there but, the impact is hard to quantify.
The fidelity of the live material across all three CDs is surprisingly good considering they were not the major act they are today. The band obviously had someone tending to the archives from the start. The liner notes add some interesting tidbits that I wasn't aware of (or perhaps have forgotten since I haven't been an expert on the band since I was 18). Robert Smith recorded the demos for "Seventeen Seconds" using only the family's organ and his guitar, plugging the guitar directly into the organ and using the built in drum machine. That's one way to go minimal.
All in all I'd say these releases are worth the cost if you are a fan, don't own these fabulous records already, or want to hear some more from a brilliant period in a seminal band's career.
Thank you for the review. What are your thoughts on the recent lineup change?
Posted by: Don at June 13, 2005 11:32 AM
I like the idea of the Cure as a trio again but, I also have a soft spot for Roger O’Donnell's work on "Disintegration". Honestly, I think it is the drummer that needs to go. His style is far too rock for my liking though admittedly it is hard to replace the excellent Boris Williams. Boris had a more minimal and consistent style with less flash that suited the Cure's sound. It's not all about tom rolls and cymbal splashes. It is interesting that despite Smith's interest in electronic music he hasn't introduced the sounds of the latest equipment into the mix.
Posted by: human_companion at June 20, 2005 09:59 PM