I just listened to the audio clips of The Cure's new album '4:13 Dream' and I have to say that its a much needed trip back to the sound I fell in love with over 20 years ago.
I've been a life long fan and have stood by them through the Bloodflowers cd which I thought was complete trash even though it was critically praised and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in 2001.
I first heard of The Cure in the mid 80's when I was a "skater" in high school back when skaters where not as accepted as they are today. The album was 'Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea: The Singles' and I loved it from first sound. I ran out and bought all the other albums I could find. I bought posters, t-shirts, patched and all the magazines I could get my hands on.
I stuck with them and boasted that they were (and still are) my all time favorite band. I still remember listening to 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' for the first time when it came out. I think a total of 2 songs were played on the radio from that album. 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Why Can't I Be you?'
My friend Kris (who was also a die-hard fan) and I would go to Karma records at least once a week to see if there were any good imported cds that we could add to our collection. Had to have it all.
Everything was going great...until Bloodflowers. I was SO excited to get a new cd from The Cure but I almost threw it out. It just didn't have that sound and flow of the band I had grown to love. To me all the songs had the same beat and complete lack of variation. They all sounded the same. I don't listen to it at all.
I debated even buying the next release entitleD 'The Cure'. This album brought the music back to a more familiar sound of The Cure. Even though I only enjoyed about half of the album I still feel it's a triumph over Bloodflowers and put Robert Smith back in good standing with me. I got the sense that he knew his previous cd wasn't up to par compared to his life's long work.
Now that you know where I'm coming from I can tell you that 4:13 Dream isn't the best cd they put out but it's better than the previous 2.
The cd starts with Under The Stars which is a slow song. You either like their slow songs or you don't. I tend to like most of them but why start a cd out with something slow?? The nest 3 songs (The Only One, The Reasons Why and Freakshow) are a more upbeat and have a more classic "The Cure" sound to them. Next is Sirensong, a slower song with the rolling guitar and great lyrics. The rest of the cd is pretty good. Upbeat, diversity, better.
I think I'll buy this cd. It was a much needed improvment over previous cds and gets things back to the way they were.
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