The Cure (The Cure album)

Production and content

The Cure was co-produced by Cure frontman Robert Smith and Ross Robinson, who has previously worked with bands such as Korn, Vanilla Ice, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, At the Drive-In, Glassjaw and The Blood Brothers. This may explain why the songs on the album are significantly heavier than previous material by the band. Robert Smith has described the record as "Cure heavy", as opposed to "new-metal heavy". According to the liner notes, the entire album was recorded live in the studio.

According to Smith, the official track listing of The Cure includes the closing track "Going Nowhere", which was excluded from North American pressings of the album. Demos of three songs recorded during the album's sessions, titled "A Boy I Never Knew", "Please Come Home" and "Strum", have leaked as mp3 files.

The artwork was designed by Robert Smith's nephews and nieces, who were children, and were unaware that their drawings were to be put onto the album. The drawings were supposed to be of a 'good dream' and a 'bad dream' from each of his nieces and nephews. He put a compilation of the best drawings on the album and then produced it.

Promotion

The Cure is the first record by the band released by producer Ross Robinson's I Am label, with whom The Cure signed a three-album deal. To promote the album, the band appeared at several festivals in Europe and the United States in spring 2004. They also premièred the song "The End of the World" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In the summer of 2004, the band launched the Curiosa festival, where they performed shows across the United States with a number of bands who have been inspired by The Cure, including Mogwai, Interpol and Muse. The band then performed in Mexico, followed by additional festivals and televised performances in Europe, culminating with the end of 2004. By the end of the year, every song from The Cure had been performed live by the band.

Release

The Cure was released on 29 June 2004. It debuted at No. 7 in the United States, selling 91,000 copies in its first week of release, and No. 8 in the United Kingdom. The album also debuted in the top 30 in Australia. It has since sold 2 million copies worldwide. According to Nielsen SoundScan, as of January 2007 American sales stand at 326,000 copies.

Initial pressings included a bonus DVD containing a documentary of the conception of three songs from the album, titled Making The Cure.

Reception

Critical response to The Cure has been generally positive. Metacritic calculated the weighted average score given to The Cure at 75 out of 100. Adam Sweeting of The Guardian described it as a "masterful performance all round", highlighting the songs "The End of the World", "Going Nowhere", "Anniversary" and "The Promise". Rob Fitzpatrick of NME described it as "startling from the first listen. " Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote "it's the grooviest thing, it's a perfect dream", and pointed out the album's highlights as being "Before Three", "Lost" and "(I Don't Know What's Going) On". While stating that "as with Prince on Musicology, Smith allows The Cure's current lineup to become his own tribute band", David Browne of Entertainment Weekly nonetheless concluded that the "newly-vibrant music looks back lovingly as well on a time when Cure songs managed to combine a throbbing, oingo-boingo springiness with the depressive angst of suburban-basement isolation".

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was mixed in his review of The Cure, qualifying it as "the type of record that sits on the shelves of diehard fans, only occasionally making its way on the stereo". Andy Greenwald of Blender felt that the band "come off more than ever like a caricature", writing: "There are a few breaks of sunlight, including the single 'The End of the World' and 'Taking Off,' a strummy echo of 1992’s chart-topping Wish. After that, it's right back into the abyss." The Independent's Andy Gill panned the album as being "just as stunted musically as emotionally, the bleak chordings and grey washes barely differing throughout, whatever an individual song's outlook."

Track listing

All lyrics written by Robert Smith, all music by The Cure (Smith, Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Jason Cooper and Roger O'Donnell).

Bonus DVD

1. "Back On" (instrumental version of "Lost")
2. "The Broken Promise" (instrumental version of "The Promise")
3. "Someone's Coming" (alternate version of "Truth Goodness and Beauty")

Personnel

The Cure

Production