The Cure - 4:13 Dream
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Free Music Notes for 4:13 Dream
Free Music Review: 4:13 Dream
Hit: 5 Stars
Excellent album!!! Top favorites are: This. Here And Now. With You., It's Over, Sirensong, and Scream. I would highly recommend album!!!Free Music Review: Back to the 80s
Hit: 5 Stars
Has a classic sound to it and a very dreamy kind of sound... beautiful. At the same time, different.Free Music Review: Diverse
Hit: 4 Stars
I would categorize cure albums according to some general rubrics.
Neo-Punk/Post-Punk - Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don't Cry
Post-Punk Gothic - Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Pornography
Diverse Alternative - The Top, Head On The Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Wish, Wild Mood Swings, 4:13 Dream
Darkwave Gothic - Disintigration, Blood Flowers
Cure Heavy/Post-Punk Revival - The Cure
Now the album reviewed falls into their largest and toughest category. The Cure are pretty much known within the music industry to be one of the most prominent `goth' bands we have had thus far, and the records they made in their post-punk gothic and darkwave gothic modes are generally their most liked. But Smith and his friends have always been capable of so much more than their signature gothic sounds, and done some incredibly diverse work, but it seems to always be hit or miss. Among their diverse works, Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and Wish are generally regarded as among their finest albums, while the Top and Wild Mood Swings are generally panned as being among the worst of the Cure's records.
I'll tell you that this disc is in that category of diverse records where the songs oscillate between the upbeat, aggressive, downtempo, ethereal, and depressing. It's going to be one of those albums where we are just not going to be able to predict whether the fans will like it or hate it or whether every individual fan will have his own unique taste for it. Robert Smith himself said at one point that this album was going to be like Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, but that was a while ago when he was having different ideas of how the record would be mixed, whether it would be a double CD, etc. Honestly I personally think the final product is a lot more like Wish. Kiss Me was a lot more extreme in its engineering, utilizing large brass sections for some songs, tremendous keyboards and synthesizer work, and heavy mixing on all instrument tracks to create music that is just about impossible to replicate live without a lot of technology. Like Wish and WMS, 4:13 Dream sounds like 4 guys jamming out with their standard instruments. The drumming particularly is very acoustic and potent on 4:13 dream, and the bass has both a more raw and yet less prominent place than on some of their more electronically modified stuff, yet there is a much more sophisticated harmony than the earlier albums up to Kiss Me. I would say that this record could really be considered a sister to Wish and WMS, with 4:13 Dream and Wish vying for the title of prettiest sister. What I am telling you is that I think that 4:13 dream ranks up there with one of the most hailed Cure records, but it fits in a category that fans have had mixed reactions to.
The record really fits nicely in almost exactly the same style as Wish and WMS, but it is not treading old paths. There are some strong influences of the style that they started with their last record, The Cure. I know that record was generally not hailed as their finest, but you have to admit that it was one of the most original and vibrant records the band has made in over a decade, with it being tough to believe that a bunch of 40-year old men could jam out a record like that one with so many modern post-punk revival and indie hard rock influences on the band, creating an incredibly unique record. I personally liked that disk, though most fans were not too impressed. But when you listen to songs off 4:13 Dream such as The Real Snow White, or also Switch, or the Scream, you see how they have taken that new hard-edged sound and incorporated it into songs that fit really well with the remainder of the record.
In essence, I would say that 4:13 Dream is probably the most diverse album the Cure has ever done because it was not only made as a conscious attempt at diversity, but it came on the heels of the last album (The Cure) which was the most ambitious departure from their previous work that the band has attempted up to this day. So after trying to recapture their most popular sound (Disintigration) with Blood Flowers, and trying to tread completely new ground with The Cure, they now seem to be giving us a record that samples the broadest range of their diversity. They really could not get more eclectic than this without hiring an orchestra.
After all this writing, I think I could really only hope to succeed at confusing you and saying that you will just have to buy the record for yourself to determine if you like it. My only prediction is that if you can forgive them for WMS and the Top, and if you think Kiss Me and Wish are their best work, you will like this record. I'll also say that this is a GOOD diverse record. So if you loved Kiss Me and Wish, but you CAN'T forgive them for the Top and WMS, I think you'll still like this record. Now I myself agree with the majority of the fan base that the Top mostly sucked, but I kind of liked WMS. So I am just very very pleased with 4:13 dream.
One of the best things about it is that they sampled their diversity without just rehashing old sounds. After being together for so long and then putting out Blood Flowers, which was a great record but really not a new record with new sounds, and then after putting out The Cure, which was a wonderfully new and progressing record that was not all that well received, and then hearing from Smith that he was trying to go back to Kiss Me style sounds, I was really thinking that the cure had pretty much exhausted their potential for moving forward in their sound and were just going to go back to rehashing their old sounds. Well, this album just keeps enough energy from The Cure to sound like Wish while sounding like a totally new record in its own rite. There are a few observations I can state about the record: It is comfortingly familiar in many ways; it is refreshingly new and unique in many ways; the record just sounds good. They succeeded in their goal.
I'm not going to say that this is a new Disintigration. But I am glad it isn't. It's an extremely strong record. Not the strongest, but extremely strong. Four Stars.
Free Music Review: Good tunes; horrible audio quality
Hit: 4 Stars
When Porl Thompson rejoined the Cure a few years ago, he rejuvenated the band by bringing a sense of new energy and enthusiasm to the live shows. He even seemed to regenerate the interest of Robert and company and even managed to help expand the ever-questionable future of the Cure. Not only did it renew the interest of the fanbase but it also provided us with the hope that a new album would recapture some of that Cure magic that made us fall in love with them in the first place.
Fortunately, that magic reappears instantly within the first few seconds of the opening track. With it's mark tree chimes and the lengthy instrumental introduction to Robert's soft-spoken vocals, Underneath the Stars combines all the elements of the trademark Cure sound. Some may even be surprised to learn about the song's rough beginnings, which took place in an early instrumental demo for the Wish sessions. Nonetheless, it's easily the best song on the album and it's not difficult to see why. The first single taken from the album, The Only One, is vintage Cure pop with some pretty exciting lyrics to boot. It's basically a reworking of the song High off of the Wish album, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The rest of the songs are pretty much hit and miss, although there are more hits than misses. Sirensong and The Perfect Boy are fun, romantic pop while The Hungry Ghost and The Scream are a bit darker in tone and more serious. The second single, Freakshow, is quite an adventure even for the Cure. Switch features Porl's wah-wah guitar but it's a bit redundant since we've already heard it before on the b-side All Kinds of Stuff. The Real Snow White and Sleep When I'm Dead are interesting at first listen but eventually falls flat over the long haul. The exciting and energetic It's Over completes this 4 star album. With the exception of Underneath the Stars, nothing on 4:13 Dream can be labeled as classic. But the majority of the songs are very good and enjoyable. Fans who fell in love with the band with albums like The Head on the Door and Wish will surely enjoy these songs.
While the tunes themselves are good, the audio quality of the album is horrible and leaves a lot to be desired. It's one of the worst CDs I've ever heard -- and I've heard many over the years. This is surprising, especially coming from Robert Smith who's built a reputation for releasing some excellent sounding records over the years. I would have a hard time believing that even he is satisfied with the uneven sonic mess that is 4:13 Dream. Robert's vocals are not only unclear at times, but also hard to hear when it's mixed underneath the instruments (the most obvious example of this is on the b-side Down Under). During numerous times, Porl's playing gets drowned out by all the other instruments. You can hear him making some interesting noises in the background, but what exactly he is doing is unclear. Jason's drumming on the album is sometimes buried underneath the layers of noise. Most surprisingly is Simon's bass which is muddy and is not mixed low enough to begin with. Unfortunately, the LOUD and compressed mastering done by Brian Gardner doesn't help matters at all and only contributes to the problem. At the end of the day there's not much dynamics left in the mix and there's too much compression on anything you can name. As much as I'd love to see the Mixed Up and Wish remasters out later this year, perhaps Robert should get to work on making 4:13 Dream at least somewhat listenable.
Free Music Review: More ups, downs, and wild mood swings on this solid 13th album release
Hit: 4 Stars
After a whole two years of speculation, rumours, and even promises from Robert Smith himself, '4:13 Dream' finally sees an official release three days prior to Halloween in 2008 (Cure fans might remember the original promised Halloween 2006 release date for this!). Before focusing on the album itself, fans of the group have traveled a frustrating journey of delays, setbacks, and false rumours. In its inception, this thirteenth album was promised by Smith to be a 30-song double-album priced competitively (much like what The Clash did with their double albums in the early 80s). There were even promises of a bonus disc full of Robert Smith remixes at one point. As late as the summer, this was paired down to an 18-track 80 minute album. When the track listing was finally announced as a 13-track, 52 minute album, no doubt some fans were disappointed.
With that said, the 52 minutes of music included on this new album follows a tested Cure formula of schizophrenic changes in sounds and moods; the downright suicidal 'The Reasons Why' and the upbeat dance-rock of 'Freakshow' placed back to back being the perfect example. The main differences between this album and 2004's rather bland self-titled is the renewed sense of energy and cohesion the band displays, most likely sparked by the return of stalwart, Porl Thompson to guitar duties. Even the gorgeously melancholy 'Underneath The Stars' has a barely-contained energy under its languid surface. 'Sirensong' is easily one of the prettiest, lightest Smith compositions since who knows when, with its echo-filled slide guitar and bright major key melody. With closer 'It's Over' (originally titled 'Baby Rag Dog Book' during the U.S. tour) Smith and company forsake the usual gloom and doom album finale for a raucous heavy rocker more along the lines of 'Shiver And Shake' than 'Sinking' or 'Untitled'.
The album's biggest flaw is perhaps its lack of committal to sonic diversity. While in mood, this album is very Cure-like, sonically it is a bit flat; a characteristic shared by 2004's self-titled release. As pleasant as 'The Only One' is, haven't we heard this before? 'Sleep When I'm Dead' was a live fan-favourite on the tour, but is now a bland album track stuffed towards the end of the playing order. The Cure didn't make their money on mid-tempo guitar rock, like the rather dull 'The Real Snow White', but with more iconoclastic and adventurous material far reaching in scope. For the group to be playing with this much energy is great, but Smith's biggest strength is the ability to throw the listener a curveball in the middle of the album to change the pace a bit. The material picked for this release feels a bit "safe" overall. Pleasing, but safe nonetheless.
'4:13 Dream' on its own merits is a solid album but, for the group who wrote the book on alternative rock, falls just short of its ambitions. Smith has mentioned a possible second album made up of the darker songs culled from these sessions (with his track record though, don't be surprised if that takes a good, long time, as most fans are still waiting on the 'Disintegration' remaster as well as 'In Orange' dvd release). We should be thankful; however, that a group who's been around for 30 years is still putting out albums of this quality.