Cure - Pornography [Deluxe Edition]
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Free Music Notes for Pornography [Deluxe Edition]
Free Music Review: Hear the Depth and Nuance for the 1st Time
Hit: 5 Stars
The question for fans will obviously be, "Do I need to buy this remaster or am I all set with the original?" Unfortunately folks you need to reach for the wallet again. I think that enough has been done here to warrant spending your hard-earned cash... who are we kidding - you don't work that hard. Not only have a load of demos and rarities been included, but the remastering has brought out a new level of depth and nuance that you just couldn't hear before.
Where the original is muddy, the remaster is crystal clear. Of course, one could argue that the muddy production actually helped to create the dense wall of sound that made this album so intimidating in the first place. Well that is true to be sure. However, that's part of the amazing thing about this. In all of the clean-up effort, the opaqueness of the original is never lost. You will still feeel as though you are lost in a forest of despair; the difference now is that you'll be able to tell the difference between the fog and the cobwebs instead of sensing just one hazy mass of white gauze. You can hear how each synth bar decays with time. You can discern the subtle variances between several different electronic string instrument tones that may coexist at the same moment. The effects on the guitar and bass jump off the page now.
Basically either of the upgrades (the new tracks and the enhanced sound) makes the purchase worthwhile. Old fans have no choice. And new fans might as well buy this version as opposed to the original anyway. To heck with freedom of choice - do what you are destined to do and buy, or rebuy as the case may be.
I've tacked on my review of the original here at the end to decribe the music for new fans...
Unquestionably this was Robert Smith's darkest hour. This 8-track release is oppressive in its bleak attack. It deserves 5 stars due to its sheer brilliance and originally; nothing ever sounded like this before or since. But for newcomers reading these great reviews be forewarned - I did not use the word oppressive by accident. Every moment of 'Pornography' is black, despairing and tortured. If you are on the verge of suicide this could be a rope thrown to save you or it could be a mack truck with a plow on the front driving you further over the edge. If you can get past that then what you will find is a stunningly creative album that creates some of the most sepulchral music ever heard.
The band at this time was stripped down to 3 members: Smith on vocals and guitar and keyboards, Simon Gallup on bass, and Lawrnece Tolhurst on drums. Strangely it may have been Tolhurst's lack of musical talent (an issue that would later get him fired) that created much of the atmosphere. The drumming is very flat and mechanical sounding creating an absolutely dead feel throughout; even sound dies as the stick hits the skins. Smith's vocals sound desperate and often deranged filled with lurid, bizzare imagery. Gallup's bass is potent and overwhelming in a style that only he could pull off.
My favorites are "One Hundred Years" with its sense of desperation and unrequited longing. "A Short Term Effect" is saturated with doom as the characters of the song try to laugh in the face of what may come, "Something small falls out of your mouth and we all laugh". "A Strange Day" is angst-ridden but with something bordering on beauty buried deep within. Finally the title track is an complete descent into madness, as the closer on an album like this should be.
One of the greatest black-to-the-core albums ever and arguably the darkest. The Sisters of Mercy came close with the rare 'Reptile House EP', but that work is more of an exploration of drug-addicted frustration where this is just suffocating hopelessness.
Free Music Review: The Cure's high water mark, as far as I've heard
Hit: 5 Stars
Great album by The Cure, and as my title indicates, I believe it to be their high water mark (in regards to the material I've heard by them, though Disintegration is closely behind this).
The drugs that Robert Smith were taking as well as his depression had reached a breaking point when "Pornography" was made.
The more striking songs on this, as well as their qualities, include:
One Hundred Years - Great lead off track for the album, it introduces the bleak and disparaging mood well, especially with the opening lyric "It doesn't matter if we all die". The drum machine used here is kind of dated, but it keeps the beat well enough, and for some reason, I really can't hear Simon Gallup's bass in this song very well. The somewhat unusual but interesting riff is supported by the icy keyboards that give it a great atmospheric. The lyrics are sung by Robert Smith with intensity, and are full of violent imagery, likely describing a war. After the last line, the guitar riff gets higher in notes as it reaches the song's climax.
Siamese Twins - Nice introduction with the bells, followed by a great tribal sounding drumbeat by Lol Tolhurst, then sparse guitar and a steady bassline come in. The lyrics are interesting in that describe sex as a kind of unwanted and forced task, such as with the lyric of "her legs around me, in the morning I cried". The guitar in this is very atmospheric sounding, and adds to the song's overall mood.
The Figurehead - Well-timed syncopated drums start this song off, while the very dark sounding bassline comes in (my favorite of Gallup's on this album), followed by a great riff by Robert Smith. Really, the guitar on this song is my favorite, it's got a great flowing quality to it, and gives the song a very atmospheric quality. The lyrics are hard to decipher - to me they sound like they're expressing the utter pain and hatred for this Figurehead that has given the narrator such trouble. The lyrics end on a note of defeat and surrender with the final line "I will never be clean again". Overall, this is my favorite song on "Pornography".
A Strange Day - My second favorite song on "Pornography". This one starts out with strange piano-like keyboards which segue into more normal sounding keyboards. The audible bass isn't quite as loud as that in The Figurehead, but it keep the beat well, along with the good drumbeat. The textured guitar of this song gives it a great emotional quality to it, and makes it probably the least dark sounding of the songs on here. The lyrics counterbalance this though - they consist of describing the narrator's movement through the sea in order to commit suicide. Probably one of the most depressing songs here, in the sense of lyrics, but still a great song.
The other songs on the album are great too, like the chaos of the title song, and the organ and opening cello on "Cold".
The second disc consists of some great instrumentals that weren't used for the album, some good demos of the album songs that show the songs in their early phases, and some great live numbers. The real standouts here are the "Airlock: Soundtrack", which gives a great feeling of one actually flying a plane or something, and the closer "Temptation Two", which sounds similar to "Temptation" but a bit more lighter and with some strange noises from Robert Smith.
If you like this one, I highly recommend checking out "Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith", as these really complete the gothic trilogy of the early The Cure albums, and show the development towards the sound present here.
Free Music Review: When Rhino puts out a deluxe edition, they always deliver
Hit: 5 Stars
What's the 4-1-1?
Rhino Records have gone into The Cure vaults along with Robert Smith to bring you Deluxe Editions of two of their most memorable releases. Both are remastered and appear on CD for the first time. In addition to the complete albums, each disc comes with a bonus disc of rarities and unreleased material. Seventeen Seconds contains rarities from 1979-1980 and Faith contains rarities from 1980-1981.
Genre
Post-punk / alternative / gothic / rock
The Good
Highlights from Seventeen Seconds
Drab and dreary piano set the tone of the album on the opening instrumental cut "A Reflection". Eerie background tones help underscore the track. "Play for Today is made up of an up-tempo drum beat, glassine-like keyboards, and watery guitar tones. An infectious little guitar hook goes a long way on "In Your House". I would liken the tone of the song to a hazy dream. "A Forest" employs haunting tones and melodies, backed by thought-provoking lyrics. Fuzzy guitar tones and creepy synths dominate "At Night". Seventeen Seconds" sums up the last moments of your life after committing suicide.
The rarities disc contains "I'm a Cult Hero" and "I Dig You" from Robert Smith's side project Cult Hero. It's more hopeful than any of the tracks Smith penned for The Cure. There are two rough home demos, an alternate mix for Three, and live tracks for every song that appears on the album; even a live version of "I'm a Cult Hero".
Highlights from Faith
" The Holy Hour" begins with a rather indulgent bass line. Robert Smith blends in nicely with his clean guitar tones and his trademark tortured vocals. Driving rhythms run rampant on "Primary". The track is more up-tempo than the usual Cure track, but the story being told is no much on the up-side. Percussion accented by warm keyboard tones prevail on "All Cats are Grey". Smith seems off in the distance as he inflicts his eerie vocals. I wasn't really surprised that church organ tones could be heard throughout "Funeral Party". To keep the mood going, Robert sings like his delivering a eulogy.
The rarities disc contains the unreleased tracks "Drowning", "Going Home Time", "The Violin Song", and "A Normal Story", two raw instrumental demos of "Faith", "The Holy Hour" and "Doubt", live tracks of songs from the Faith album to include a ten minute version of "Faith" and a nine minute version of "Forever", the rare single "Charlotte Sometimes, and an alternate version of "Primary" among it's fifteen tracks.
The Bad
Nothing
The Verdict
When Rhino Records puts together a Deluxe Edition, they always deliver the goods. Not only are you getting rare and unreleased material, which is always a plus, but you're also getting to hear the songs at their best possible quality. It's fun to hear how they went to rough demo to final composition. All of the depressing, sad, and heart-broken moments of your youth can be summed up by the latest remasters by The Cure.
Did You Know?
Rhino has also released The Cure's Pornography as a two CD deluxe addition. I would have reviewed it but after listening to these two, I was ready to slit my wrists.
Free Music Review: Review from a "non-Cure fan"
Hit: 5 Stars
Let me sum this album up for all the intelligent people of the world. This is a psychedelic album. This is not "retro" or "gothic" or "emo" or anything else that is commonly used to describe The Cure. I have always avoided this band in some ways because of the ridiculous labels and never heard a Cure album that triggered any interest. If you like good music and haven't listened to the Cure before, then get this album first. It is their best in terms of progressive rock music. Some of this music is as trippy as the newer stuff coming out from underground bands. This album could have been released today and it would be even more successful than when it was originally released in terms of critical acclaim. This album would have been far too futuristic for that period of time and I can see how people tried to pile on this record and discredit these musicians. This was post-punk at its finest and now looks to be some of the best music for tripping...if only those kids in the early 1980s knew what they had. The Cure, The Clash, and U2, among many others, were making protest music in the form of new-wave music...The Clash peaked in terms of creativity in 1980 when they made "Sandinista." Like "Pornography" it was obscene in how progressive it was. Not many people during those times could understand such trippy-space-cosmic-concept-anarchist-drug movement. This band was ripped on just like the Clash was, to make it look like they were just a bunch of sell-outs who created "gimmicky" music. This is not true. These bands created music that others could base their sound around, and now 28 years later, music is finally catching up with the beautiful work from 1982.
This album is amazing. I don't know if it's dark or not...I was too busy rocking out. This is the album I was looking for. Now I hear the Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, and Arcade Fire I heard about. When people used to list "the Cure" as an influence for one of these bands/song writers I was always a little puzzled, but now I see why this band is so great. This album is proof that we need to stop trying to label everything. This album sounds nothing like many people claim...this is space-opera tripping at its finest...and does not feel "gothic" other than in the good way of going back into time. Their is a darkness, but it's monumental and loud. I don't feel depressed when listening to the songs; in fact I feel good. The songs are powerful and confident. None of the songs are extremely melodic, but have great tempos and rythym...subtle melodies. I think this is the best psychedelic album from the 1980s...at least from what I have heard so far. Other gems might pop up, but you never know what the future holds...unless you listen to good music like this, and then you can see because the musicians tell us through these encoded melodies of pychedelic communication.
Amazing album...if you like good alternative music of today, such as MMJ, Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Circulatory System, Neutral Milk Hotel, The National, Broadcast, et al...then get this now.
Free Music Review: I am very happy and excited!
Hit: 5 Stars
So I went to my local independent record store yesterday, looking for something worthwhile. They didn't have the Siouxsie album I was looking for...bummer. As I was about to leave, I remembered hearing about the re-released Cure albums, so I checked and they had all the ones released thus far. Not having enough cash to purchase them all, Pornography in particular seemed to glow magnetically before my lusting eyes. The mastering on the old version sounded pretty flatland, but I usually remedied that by cranking it up so loud it wasn't as noticeable. Well, now I don't have to do that, because the re-mastering is crisp, and beautiful at any volume. I'm listening to it very loud right now, and it's taking me a long time to write this, because the music keeps taking me away to a new strange and exciting world. The musical brilliance of this album is now further complimented, with updated sound quality that offers tons more depth, texture and beauty. First time I listened to this version all the way through, my jaw dropped almost to the floor as I listened. Then I got my old version out and listened to it...and you know what? I was so blown away by the difference in sound quality, I think the old version should re-titled "Pornography, the Un-Mastered version". Old-school Cure fans who are scanning reviews to see if it's worth spending their money on this verson of Pornography, do it soon! Do it now, if you have the time. On this one, it's much easier to hear the changing textures wrap around you like a burning blanket from hell. Hmm, maybe my metaphysical imagery is irrelevant, BUT getting to the point...remember when you first heard Pornography? And you were blown away by it's brilliant intensity, yes? Of course you were! So was I, and now I feel as if I'm hearing the album as it was meant to be heard for the first time. I've only listened to it twice through (third time right now) and trust me, there's a LOT more detail on this album that can be heard on the original. This is what struck me the most. As you might guess, like most Cure fans, I've heard the original Pornography thousands of times, and STILL if I listen closely, I keep noticing sounds that pop up on this re-mastered version that are new to me. On the old version, I noticed that those same parts were either muffled, or buried by the frequencies of other instruments. There's SO much more space and texture here. And the bonus disc? INCREDIBLE! I don't understand why some people have been complaining about it...boo-hoo the audience-recorded live performances don't sound professional enough, blah blah blah. I think they sound bleak and really pretty. I like the stark sound-quality, and really, who cares if it's not perfectly-bootlegged (few, if any, bootlegs are)...we're talking about the masters of mood here! We, fans, got the amazing Join the Dots box set, and now re-mastered versions of early Cure albums with an extra bonus disc? Shame on ye who dares to complain! Well, I am VERY happy with my purchase, and I am very excited about listening to this MANY, MANY more times! Thank you, thank you, thank you.