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The Cure – The Cure by Zane Ewton

The rumors surrounding The Cure for the past four years have been that Bloodflowers would be the band’s swan song and Robert Smith would be focusing on a solo career.

After the tour in support of Bloodflowers, Smith found himself enjoying the band again.  He completed a solo album, but favored the idea of doing another Cure album.  So in January of 2004, the band reconvened and began recording their twelfth studio album which would become The Cure.  Smith joined forces with  Ross Robinson to produce the album. 

The first single, "The End of the World” is a good introduction to the rest of the album, as it is in the middle of the road of emotions covered.

The Cure is very much a guitar album.  Ranging from the acoustic flourish of “Taking off” to the abrasion of “Us or Them”, the album is clearly guitar oriented and guitar driven.  Smith went back to the same 4-track that he used to record The Head on the Door, and found inspiration in using only 4 tracks to create as many noises as possible. 

With some old guitar pedals he had, he went about writing songs.  The true strength of the album is in the songwriting--Simply put, there are 11 exceptional songs on this album.

The vocals really make this album stand out.  The lyrics themselves become an integral part of the songs and the music would not be the same without them.  Smith sounds defiantly confident on this album which could be directly attributed to his newfound contentment with the band.

For those worried that the Cure has gone happy, you can relax as there are all of the moods and contents that have been scattered throughout the band’s career.  There are themes of loneliness, romance and alienation.

The lead-off track, “Lost” is a slow dirge that builds into a pulsing thump that just begins the roller coaster of emotions that ends but isn’t resolved with “The Promise”. 

The Cure is cohesive with never a dull moment.  This album feels like a new beginning for The Cure. 

Now that's you've seen the quick take on the CD, be on the lookout for the upcoming "Legends" feature on The Cure as Zane looks at what made The Cure legendary. 
 
 

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