Cure - 4.13 Dream

by Anthony Strutt

published: 8 / 11 / 2008

Label: Suretone/Geffen
Format: CD

intro

Excellent first album in four years from the Cure, but which has to grow on its listener before being fully appreciated

The Cure's latest offering is a double album, but, as a result of their new label falling out with the band already, it is now being delivered in two parts, with the second and apparently much darker part being released next year. This first part still checks in at 52 minutes and begins with ‘Underneath the Stars’, which is massive and haunting in only the way that the Cure can deliver. This opening track is gritty and very moody, setting a tone for what is to follow. It features heavy guitars for over two minutes before Robert Smith’s vocal comes in. This is a song to get lost in, but also sounds very fresh for the Cure, while at the same time also holding an air of the band's classic 1989 ‘Disintegration’ album. ‘The Only One’ was a single and a perfect choice too. This is Cure pop at its best.‘The Reasons Why’ is a very commercial sing-a-long pop song with the best bass line this side of New Order. Despite its upbeat sound, its theme is darker as it is about suicide. It also, in what is a first for the Cure, features backing vocals. ‘Freakshow’ was also a single and is another pure pop number. ‘Siren Song’ is slow and bubbly with a country twang and sounds a lot like ‘This is a Lie’ from the Cure’s 1996 album ‘Wild Mood Swings’. ‘The Real Snow White’ repeats itself a lot with its beefy and gritty guitars, but this is classy Cure with Robert in very tortured mode. ‘The Hungry Soul’ recalls ‘To the Edge of the Deep Green Sea’ from 1992's ‘Wish’, but is a lot more commercial and not as intense. ‘Switch’ is somewhere between Hendrix and the Cure's 1997 single ‘Wrong Number’ in feel, while Robert’s vocal is both lonesome and paranoid. ‘Another single, ‘The Perfect Boy’ is next, but with the tone of what has just gone doesn't fit in too well here. ‘Here and Now With You’, while having a decent enough dark guitar and bass sound, plods along nicely without breaking new ground. ‘Sleep, When I'm Dead’ was again a fine single, but doesn't sit too well here in its positioning on the album. ‘The Scream’ recalls Joy Division and early New Order in its vocals and the way in which the instruments are played. It is one of the bleakest Cure track in ages. The album closes with ‘Perfect, It's Over’, which is angry and heavy in sound and played in a furious manner. A decent album, but one which needs to grow on you first to appreciate its fine fruits.

Track Listing:-

1 Underneath The Stars
2 The Only One (Album Version)
3 The Reasons Why
4 Freakshow (Album Version)
5 Sirensong
6 The Real Snow White
7 The Hungry Ghost
8 Switch
9 The Perfect Boy (Album Version)
10 This. Here And Now. With You
11 Sleep When I'm Dead (Album Version)
12 The Scream
13 It's Over

Have a Listen:-

interviews

Interview (2008)

Anthony Strutt speaks to former and founder Cure member Lol Tolhurst about his sixteen years in the band, and his current group Levinhurst, which will be releasing their third album next year

live reviews

Royal Albert Hall, London, 29/3/2014

Anthony Strutt watches the Cure play en enthralling but massive 45 song set in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London

Fillmore, Detroit, 10/12/2011

Royal Albert Hall, London, 15/11/2011

02, London, 26/2/2009

Brixton Academy, London, 25/2/2009

Wembley Arena, London, 28/3/2008

Royal Albert Hall, London, 1/4/2006

Old Billingsgate Market, London, 17/9/20

Old Trafford , Manchester, 9/7/2004...10/7/2004

Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, 9/7/2004

Hamburg Color Line Arena, 9/11/2002

London Hyde Park, 27/7/2002

features

The Cure (2010)

In our 'Soundtrack of Our Lives' column, in which our writers describe the personal impact of music upon their lives, Tara McEvoy writes about the enduring legacy of the Cure

Trilogy (2003)

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

reviews

Hypnagogic States EP (2008)

Not always very effective latest EP from Cure, which released just before their new album, consists of remixes of the four singles they have released over the last four months

The Perfect Boy (2008)

Sleep, When I'm Dead (2008)

Freakshow (2008)

The Only One (2008)

Taking Off (2004)

The End Of The World (2004)

Cure (2004)