Cure - Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001
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Free Music Notes for Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001
Free Music Review: Box set does have flaws but still a masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
With Robert Smith hacking away at previously released material Ie:Galore , Staring at the sea and most recently the double release Greatest hits,Its a wonder this disc set didnt come out sooner - many completist and long time fans have almost all of this material already. The box set is not as complete as the average person might be led to believe though... It is still missing many early tracks including the long sought after first single Cult Hero as well as Forever which appeared on many bootlegs and early recordings. Also if you were to have purchased the live cassette which side A contained the concert Side B was an array of outakes and B sides which included a live release of Forever as well as Heroin face with a mass array of others. Another missing track is Side B to the Faith cassette which was a 20+ minute instrumental that drones a little but was actually a sountrack to a short movie the band had played before them going on stage. These are stand out tracks that should have been included as a bonus disc on this box set. With that bieng said I will go into the actual review of the content of the box set itself. I will also try and point out what is nice to be added to the box set and what is sadly left off when needed.Going through disc one it opens with a few of the original songs that later were re-done and made to be on the U.S. version of the release Boys dont cry. The remaining songs on disc one is Side B to the Staring at the sea cassette which formed a nice compilation from all of the bsides that coincided with side A of Staring at the sea. I was extremly exited to see these were finally available for the first time on cd.
Disc 2 goes into the Kiss me stages of the discog. Tracks 2-9 all are from the singles. The only one I am sure of is the single for Catch featured Breathe and Chain of flowers on it. Again they didnt use all the Bsides because you could make a box set in just the remixes featured on every single as well. Again tracks 2-9 falls under the same assumption that we are all rejoicing to have these on cd quality instead of the cassettes that wear out and vinyl that has been played to skips and scratches. Track 9 is a song that many Cure fans tried like hell to get in the early 90's and mostly in vain - to finally have To the sky on an official release and not a bootleg was eneough to win me on this box set! Picking up on track 10 is where The Cure really started getting noticed for how wonderful the Bsides they were doing really was - I had went out and bought EVERY single I could find from the Disintigration cd (and wish as it came out) but more on that later... Babble and out of mind both were from the first single I ever bought which was the Fascination st. single. They both seer with intensity. Fear of Ghosts is perhaps one of the greatest songs the band ever did and sadly it was mostly overlooked. Hello I love you appeared on the Rubyat compilation and the remainder of the cd plays out other bsides from the Disintigration era.
Disc 3 I feel has the most commercial appeal and probably success that the band ever achieved. Wish was a huge seller for them as well as singles for High , Friday im in love and Letter to elise spawning some amazing bside tracks,the box set missed a few vinyl singles sadly. There is a demo style mix of Open on a rare clear vinyl 12" for High that sounds better then the original as well as a few misc. ones on others. The mix of Open should not have been left off this compilation. For the 3rd disc though. Opening with This Twilight garden could not have been a better choice! This is quite possibly the bands most beautiful ballad , both musicly and lyricly Robert has never been more poetic. Going all the way to track 7 it follows the singles that came out for Wish. Moving onto track 8 we have the cover of Purple Haze that appeared on the Stone Free release that was a tribute to Hendrix then moving through track 12 we go to the songs they did for the movies The Crow & Judge Dredd as well as his cover of Bowies Young Americans. Then it went into a few songs from Wild Mood Swings to round out disc 3 - I still stand on disc 3 bieng the most solid of the 4 discs that appear on the box set.
Disc 4 moves into ending out the disc so the singles are a bit slower - the more powerful songs from Wild Mood swings ended the disc off nicely which flows through track 6. Then you have a few tracks from tribute releases then the bsides from the Greatest Hits single as well as some remixes. Disc 4 was really the weakest disc on the box set. Many of the remixes at the end could have been left off to be included on a seperate box set and leave it to add in what songs I said that were left off. Regardless of what is missing on the release , without owning about 40+ Cure related releases , there is no other way to own all the wonderful songs included on the box set. If you like The Cure then you need this box set. It is one of the most complete that I have ever seen any band do and thats including what flaws that the release has and well worth the money.
Free Music Review: The Holy Grail of Cure fans
Hit: 5 Stars
This is something Cure fans have been waiting for, for years and years, a (nearly) complete assembly of those great b-sides. Rhino Records has done it again with this box set, proving that they are the marquee label of reissues and packages. This is a great update for the old tape of 'Standing On A Beach' that the first disc covers nicely. The second disc covers that transition period of when singles were first being issued on compact disc, and provides the hardest to find Cure b-sides (The 'Kiss Me' b-sides, that is). The 'Disintegration' b-sides through 'Wild Mood Swings' sides are all available already on various singles, but this collection puts them all together (and is less costly than trying to track down the out-of-print 'Wish' singles and the various imports). The remastering on the older cuts is fantastic, and the songs are put in chronological order. The song 'Possession', from the 'Bloodflowers' sessions, has also never been issued and this is the only place to find it. It's also admittedly not that bad of a song either. Also, most of The Cure's soundtrack cuts are here as well, like 'More Than This', 'Purple Haze', and 'Young Americans' (the last one from a radio promo disc).The packaging and presentation of the set is great, and much more sturdy than the New Order box set released last year. Also, I'm very happy to have the discs in plastic holders and not cardboard slipcases like in the new Talking Heads box. The booklet contains a lot of pictures and interviews segments, including a track-by-track summary of the set, much of which by Robert Smith himself. In the back, there is also a complete discography with everything, ever! This set is gold on those features. There are a few things that I would have absolutely loved to have seen on here. A superb live version of 'Faith' was issued as a b-side to, I believe, 'Charlotte Sometimes' in 1981, or the unreleased track 'Spilt Milk' from the 'Bloodflowers' sessions (which "spilt" its way onto the internet). Also there's a demo of a cover song from the 'Disintegration' sessions called 'Pirate Ships' that was put on the Cure's website a couple years back. I'd have even been willing to pay extra for a fifth disc with the live cuts not included on this set, but that's just a fanatic talking. Those are all petty complaints of a spoiled fanboy, who has no right to complain, so I apologize.
This set is the Holy Grail of Cure fans who are sick of playing their old tapes or even old vinyls. Most of these tracks have been on the internet for years, given, in terrible sound quality, but this set makes all of those bootlegs obsolete. Hopefully on the album re-issues, that are supposed to start this year, the albums will be supplemented with more outtakes (I hope the 'Faith' re-issue has the live b-side version) and even some demos, but I'm getting off track. Every Cure fan needs this box set, because we all know that Robert Smith has a reputation for putting fine material on the b-side of the disc.
Free Music Review: New, Improved Tracks Make This A Must-Have For Cure Fans
Hit: 5 Stars
What can I say? This is something Cure fans have been awaiting for years. Since I am one of these fans, I have a lot to say... This set contains literally every B-side the Cure has released up to the present time, including songs that later appeared on studio albums. The inclusion of such songs does take up a decent amount of space that could have been left for other rarities, but this is truly consistent with the idea of a comprehensive B-sides collection.The downside to this box set is many die-hard Cure fans will already have over 90% of the material here. One of the major upsides, however, is the previously nearly impossible to obtain songs, such as Possession and Doing The Unstuck (Saunders Remix), which features an outstanding guitar solo by Porl Thompson, beginning just before the fourth minute. His style here is unmistakable and will make fans long for the days before he left the band.
The other major plus to this compilation is the improvement in sound quality for many songs - not because they are remastered, but because they are professionally done from the original source tapes. Among the songs featuring a dramatic sonic improvement are Another Journey By Train, Pillbox Tales, Do The Hansa, Lament (Flexipop Version), Sugar Girl (I'm not sure if I've ever heard this from the CD single to compare), and Hello, I Love You (Psychedelic Mix).
However, the more recent B-sides as they originally appeared on the CD singles actually sound better and more natural to my ears. I have never been a fan of remastered recordings (at least for music from the 80s and after). Remastered stuff is basically just compressed to be louder and "bumps" more, while slightly changing, and perhaps distorting, the overall sound. Fortunately, many of you will probably not be bothered by this or even notice it. I admit I am a bit of a fanatic when it comes to fidelity.
For the hardcore Cure fan, the previously unavailable material and songs of improved sound quality are enough to make this set worth buying. On top of this, there is literally a book inside this thing, complete with previously unreleased photos and new commentary. This would also be a great collection for the more casual or new fan, as it reveals a whole different side of the band. It is definitely true that unlike many other artists, much of The Cure's greatest work is found in their B-sides and more obscure recordings.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Overall, this is an excellent release. For fans who were expecting more rarities out of this set, the four remastered studio albums that are set to be released this year will each contain a bonus disc of rare and unreleased material. I'm hoping there will be some really far out stuff that nobody has ever heard. We'll see!
So what are you waiting for? This is an amazing box set by the greatest band in the world!
Free Music Review: its a shame it had to come to this.
Hit: 5 Stars
well,here it is.the box set tying up all the loose ends.all the unreleased b-sides to the dozens and dozens of cure singles are here.for years,the cure always put out a unreleased b-side on all thier singles to dupe thier cult like fans into forking over more cash.so,in order to keep it straight,you had to basicly glue yourself to mtv for decades and harass the guy at the record store to know when they were coming out.i guess they made enough money off of us and now theyll quit screwing with us and give it all up.ok,theres many things that make this box set cool.1-every b-side since 1978.2-new versions of old singles.3-all thier songs from movies.i will go over them now.before i do,ill tell you all the albums this encompasses.1978-boys dont cry,1980-17 seconds,1981-faith,1982-pornography,1983-japanese whispers,1984-the top,1985-the head on the door,1986-standing on the beach[now only available as staring at the sea],1987-kiss me kiss me kiss me,1989-disintegration,1990-mixed up,1992-wish,1993-show,1993-paris,1996-wild mood swings,later yet-galore,blood flowers and greatest hits.theres also a robert smith composed orchestra album where they play thier great ones.ok disc one includes a few oldie remakes like 10:15 saturday night and plastic passion.theres also the old b-sides from thier career from 1978-1986.any true cure fan has already heard much of this on the standing on the beach album.disc 2 gets into the 1987 and on b-sides.theres a alternate version to hey you and just like heaven.the just like heaven one is good.its a bit lighter than the one on kiss me kiss me kiss me.theres also 3 versions of the doors song "hello i love you".disc 3 continues with the b-sides.i belive they omitted the b-side to "apart" which was play for today.theres a remix of thier good one called doing the unstuck from wish.the purple haze remake of the hendrix tune from a jimi comilation album.the song from the movie the crow called "burn".its pretty good also.disc 4 has the later than late b-sides.theres a new wrong number.theres even an acoustic take on a song!theres also a redid a forest.so thats the rundown.i think it sucks that we have to spend so much money supporting this band that craps all over us.they couldve saved us a shedload of money by simply putting the b-sides on galore and releasing a rarities album.even those 2 discs wouldnt cost as much as this one.bot to any real and true fan it is but a drop in the bucket.Free Music Review: Everything for the Cure Completist!
Hit: 5 Stars
Like Robert Smith himself, I always listened to the B-sides first. It was there that you found out what a band listened to, where there influences were, what new directions they were considering. The singles you could hear anytime on the radio. The B's, though, that's where you got the real treasure.
My favorite Cure song has always been "I'm Cold", which I heard for the first time on the B side of the Standing on the Beach cassette tape in the early 80's. It's still my favorite. This one song mixes all the great things about The Cure into one perfect package. Technical effects, strange melody and off-kilter harmony, the slightly out-of-tune sounding guitar which somehow worked just right, and the tendency to add layer upon layer upon layer to a song. This song describes the whole box set, really. There is experimentation from the late 70's (10:15 Saturday Night, from Three Imaginary Boys), extended instrumental cuts (Another Journey by Train), psychedelia (Mr. Pink Eyes) and unabashedly cute little injokes (Do the Hansa). And that's just the first disc.
The other three discs include extended and dance mixes of singles from their 25 years of music, soundtrack singles from movies like The Crow and Judge Dredd, and covers, including Doors and Jimi Hendrix tracks done over in the Cure's inimitable style. The set is rounded out with cuts from overseas and limited edition pressings of later albums.
Nothing in this set is typical, and that's just fine. Not everything works, as you might expect from songs that weren't chosen for albums over the years. The commentary is very good at exploring what Smith and others in the rotating door roster of The Cure were thinking when a particular song was made, and there are things to make you smile throughout the booklet. All in all, one of the best rarities collections of any band, since The Cure obviously did exactly what they wanted when they wanted to, and took chances where other bands would not. I admit to being partial to the older stuff, as I am when listening to their albums, but there are gems from all periods of the band's evolution, and enough to make any fan listen for hours on end. Highly recommended.