Showing posts with label The Cure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cure. Show all posts

Music of Our Years

So Semester 1, Year 1. Long road ahead and makes you a bit nostalgic thinking about the end of high school again. Well one of the most important things coming from school that I brought through with me was my music. Yeah, people say that I am a purist. It's true though. I love music and love to go back to the roots of popular music back in the 1920s. I love the crackle at the sound of the old LP's, 45's and 78's. Might not appeal to what everyone else is looking for in a record but that authentic, pure sound that sends you right to their living room or recording studio makes me shiver with excitement every time I put the needle on. It's time to look back at the most important music that I can take with me through university. Plato once said, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” I can't think of anything better to describe the impact of music on my life. Music makes you cry, laugh, think and dance. For those that appreciate great music as much as myself, I'm sure they would agree with me that there are two kinds of people in the universe - lyric people and melody people. Quite simply, lyric people are those that always grab the record sleeve once they open their new vinyl or CD and read deep into the poetry before them. On the other side, all melody people need is a tune to dance or sing to, and we all know these kind of people. I can't help but always point all the good and bad things that have happened to me back to The Cure. The band from Blackpool, whom have passed through the cold age of UK post-punk into Gothic and alternative rock have endured the test of time, still going strong after 37 years. Robert Smith and company manage to bring out every emotion through their huge discography of work, from happiness to depression and everything in between. You only have to look at a few different songs to see how good The Cure is. I always fall back to the 1989 record, Disintegration, and in particular the track Prayers for Rain; quite possibly the saddest song recorded by the group. Yet, you only need to look 24 month prior to this record to witness their most "poppy" record to date and the regular radio hit Just Like Heaven () and then you really understand how brilliant The Cure really is. They got me through a lot of hard times and kept the good times going for even longer. Do you have a band or artist that got you through your life (so far)?

Top 10 Albums (for a Desert Island)

So, a few months ago I had a conversation with a close friend about something similar to this, with the 10 albums that I would take on my deserted island. These are in no particular order.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Pixies - Doolittle
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Cure - Disingtegration
Pink Floyd - The Wall
The Runaways - The Runaways
Journey - Escape
NOFX - Punk in Drublic

Disintegraton - Deluxe Edition

The Cure - Disintegration... THE PUFF...

Deluxe Edition - Polydor/Universal

Date : 24th May 2010



Three-Disc Deluxe Edition Produced & Compiled by Robert Smith, Including a Remastered Version of the Original Album, plus Unreleased Songs, Demos, Out-takes and Live Performances.



The Cure’s eighth studio album, released in 1989, is the dark tour de force Disintegration.


Following on from 1987's outstanding Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me release, and spurred by the hits “Lullaby”, “Fascination Street“, “Lovesong” and “Pictures Of You”, the album quickly became the group’s most successful yet, with sales topping more than 3 million, as the band sold out stadiums and arenas around the world.



Polydor/Universal reissues this landmark album, remastering the original, adding a disc of unreleased out-takes and demos, plus a third disc that contains a live performance of the entire album recorded in 1989 over 3 nights at Wembley Arena, London, the European climax of the The Cure's global ‘Prayer Tour‘. This Deluxe Edition comes with a 20 page booklet containing previously unseen pictures and art, as well as lyrics and an in depth overview of the period by the band's founder Robert Smith.



Robert Smith compiled, produced, and supervised the mastering of this three-disc collection, which covers the evolution of Disintegration, from demos and rehearsals to studio and stage. The first disc contains newly remastered versions of the album’s original 12 tracks.



Gathering 20 unreleased tracks, the second disc trawls through Smith’s home recordings to find early instrumental demos of fan favourites “Pictures Of You”, “Prayers For Rain” and “Fascination Street.” The Cure can be heard rehearsing and arranging various instrumental versions, including ”Homesick”, “Closedown” and “The Same Deep Water As You”, as well as playing studio out-takes of several other tracks, including “Plainsong”. The disc also contains four unreleased songs: “Noheart”, “Esten”, “Delirious Night” and a cover of Judy Collins’ “Pirate Ships”, the latter a solo performance by Smith that was recorded for, but ultimately not included on, Rubáiyát, a 1990 album celebrating Elektra Records’ 40th anniversary.



For the final disc, Smith remixes and expands Entreat, a live album recorded in 1989 at Wembley Arena. Entreat Plus combines the original’s eight tracks, remixed with the four 'missing' songs to create a complete contemporary live version of Disintegration.



Comments Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai: “Disintegration by The Cure is one of the greatest records of all time. It has the feel that only a tiny amount of albums have, that it exists completely in its own universe, immune to context or fashion. I literally cannot imagine the band members in a room playing these songs for the first time, its as if they've always been there. From stunning opener “Plainsong” through to “Untitled”, it is unrelentingly beautiful and achingly sad. Disintegration is a simply wonderful record.”

DISINTEGRATION: DELUXE EDITION

Disc One: Remastered Album

01: Plainsong

02: Pictures Of You

03: Closedown

04: Lovesong

05: Last Dance

06: Lullaby

07: Fascination Street

08: Prayers For Rain

09: The Same Deep Water As You

10: Disintegration

11: Homesick

12: Untitled

Disc Two: Rarities (1988 - 1989)

01: Prayers For Rain – RS Home Demo (Instrumental)

02: Pictures Of You – RS Home Demo (Instrumental)

03: Fascination Street – RS Home Demo (Instrumental)

04: Homesick – Band Rehearsal (Instrumental)

05: Fear Of Ghosts – Band Rehearsal (Instrumental)

06: Noheart – Band Rehearsal (Instrumental)*

07: Esten – Band Demo (Instrumental)*

08: Closedown – Band Demo (Instrumental)

09: Lovesong – Band Demo (Instrumental)

10: 2 Late (alternate version) – Band Demo (Instrumental)

11: The Same Deep Water As You – Band Demo (Instrumental)

12: Disintegration – Band Demo (Instrumental)

13: Untitled (alternate version) – Studio Rough (Instrumental)

14: Babble (alternate version) – Studio Rough (Instrumental)

15: Plainsong – Studio Rough (Guide Vocal)

16: Last Dance – Studio Rough (Guide Vocal)

17: Lullaby – Studio Rough (Guide Vocal)

18: Out Of Mind – Studio Rough (Guide Vocal)

19: Delirious Night – Rough Mix (Vocal)*

20: Pirate Ships – RS Solo, Rough Mix (Vocal)*

* Previously Unreleased Song

Disc Three: Entreat Plus

01: Plainsong*

02: Pictures Of You

03: Closedown

04: Lovesong*

05: Last Dance

06: Lullaby*

07: Fascination Street

08: Prayers For Rain

09: The Same Deep Water As You*

10: Disintegration

11: Homesick

12: Untitled

* Previously Unreleased Live Performance

Sainthood - Tegan and Sara


Tegan and Sara, those two Canadian identical twins whom have joined the indie-pop cruise around the music world release their 6th LP amd om the outset it promises to be an excellent transformation from Under Feet Like Ours back in 1999. The twins have joined forces, once again, with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, Chris Walla, on their development from teenage indie rock to a more adult music scene as they delve into darker and deeper subjects, yet still revolving around their common themes through their songs over the last 10 years - love and relationships. Over their 10 years of experience in the music industry, they are the hidden pioneers of indie rock and pop and now have grown into their own, after the hit album in 2007, The Con. Upon witnessing the surge to success of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Fever to Tell and It's Blitz, Tegan Quin and identical twin, Sara Quin, release their own record to mark the sudden mainstream popularity of indie rock and pop.


As producers tell fans that they should be prepared for a new and radical change from vintage Tegan and Sara, even more so that when The Con was released, this is supposedly the first record where both Tegan and Sara have written the album in unison. However, this does not seem to be the case with 2009's Sainthood. Fans have acknowledged the two distinct composing styles of Tegan and Sara; either siding towards Tegan's pop-oriented songs with a major focus of lyrics or Sara's deeper and more complex compositions, both musically and lyrically. This seems to be a constant throughout Sainthood as well, yet their content in different from their origins and for the better, especially in the mainstream music industry that the majority of society lives in, making it a more accessible record than previous ones.


Sainthood opens with Arrow, and is distinctively a Sara track with the opening synth lines. It provides a deeper and more 'adult' opening for an album with the repeating metaphor, 'feathers of an arrow' and truly sets the tone for Sainthood and their path to 'perfection'. Yet, Tegan still steals the majority of the album with her radio-friendly tracks as she writes those nice power-pop tracks with the ease of listening and mainstream popularity. Hell becomes the first single off the record, and the other obvious Tegan tracks would likely follow including In Directing, The Cure; Tegan's tribute to the Cure, which mimics the keyboard lines from their 1989 album Disintegration and the track Lovesong, and the new-wave/power-punk influenced track - Northshore. Nonetheless, Sara's musical talent is still clearly evident on Sainthood, with more probably would be the second single on the record - Alligator and a wonderful outro to Sainthood, the 1-2 punch of Sentimental Tune and Someday. This finale of the record shows glimpses of what Tegan and Sara would be like if they wrote together, yet this may dishearten hardcore fans, who want songs of the past. But, Tegan and Sara have taken the other path of the Y-intersection, into the future and as they reach 10 years writing and performing in the music industry and hitting their mid-30s soon, truly have shown the maturity to write an excellent album as a whole, while still writing about love, sex and relationships and still keeping in touch with fellow indie-pop stars, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.


8/10

Plane Mix

I have just been there and back from AMUC in Hobart, Tasmania. So, in preparation, I ahve decided to make myself a plane mix although it is clearly biased due to the fact that it is based around the music I have been listening to in the last month or so.

Before I reveal the list, I think we need to examine what would make a good plane mix. So, when I’m on a plane, I end up reading a book; usually on music history and the like. Therefore, it’s usually good to have some good relaxing music  but that needs to be contrasted to the fast rhythm of rock and especially punk rock after witnessing NOFX and Bad Religion.

Pity, but the flight isn’t very long and it was about 100 minutes long so not even two hours so obviously not a huge playlist was chosen and well as a struggle to find good tracks since the music brought was only about 100 GB on my iPod.

1. 3rd Planet – Modest Mouse
2. Mountain Song – Jane’s Addiction
3. Free Radicals – The Flaming Lips
4. Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
5. Clash City Rockers – The Clash
6. Freakshow – The Cure
7. Re-Offender – Travis
8. Downed – Cheap Trick
9. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
10. We Called It America – NOFX
11. 25 or 6 to 4 – Chicago
12. It’s Over – The Cure
13. Run Like Hell – Pink Floyd
14. Jumping Someone Else’s Train – The Cure
15. Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
16. Prayers for Rain – The Cure
17. Warthog – The Ramones
18. Stiffness When Idle – The Replacements
19. The Quitter – NOFX
20. Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
21. Slow Ride – Foghat
22. Ohio – Neil Young
23. Moondance – Van Morrison
24. No Go – The Ramones
25. Just Like Heaven – The Cure

The Cure News

‘DISINTEGRATION’ COMES OF AGE?!!


THE REMASTERED ‘DISINTEGRATION’ ALBUM (21ST ANNIVERSARY EDITION) WILL BE RELEASED WORLDWIDE IN SPRING 2010 ON UNIVERSAL AND RHINO IT WILL BE AVAILABLE AS PART OF A 3CD DELUXE EDITION, AS A SINGLE CD AND ON DOUBLE VINYL THE 3CD DELUXE EDITION WILL COMPRISE:

CD1 - DISINTEGRATION

01 PLAINSONG

02 PICTURES OF YOU

03 CLOSEDOWN

04 LOVESONG

05 LAST DANCE

06 LULLABY

07 FASCINATION STREET

08 PRAYERS FOR RAIN

09 THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU

10 DISINTEGRATION

11 HOMESICK

12 UNTITLED

CD2 - RARITIES (1988 – 1989) ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED VERSIONS (* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SONG)

01 PRAYERS FOR RAIN -RS HOME DEMO (instrumental)-04/88

02 PICTURES OF YOU -RS HOME DEMO (instrumental)-04/88

03 FASCINATION STREET -RS HOME DEMO (instrumental)-04/88

04 HOMESICK -BAND REHEARSAL (instrumental)-06/88

05 FEAR OF GHOSTS -BAND REHEARSAL (instrumental)-06/88

06 NOHEART -BAND REHEARSAL (instrumental)-06/88 *

07 ESTEN -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88 *

08 CLOSEDOWN -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88

09 LOVESONG -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88

10 2LATE (alt version) -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88

11 THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88

12 DISINTEGRATION -BAND DEMO (instrumental)-09/88

13 UNTITLED (alt version) -STUDIO ROUGH (instrumental)-11/88

14 BABBLE (alt version) -STUDIO ROUGH (instrumental)-11/88

15 PLAINSONG -STUDIO ROUGH (guide vocal)-11/88

16 LAST DANCE -STUDIO ROUGH (guide vocal)-11/88

17 LULLABY -STUDIO ROUGH (guide vocal)-11/88

18 OUT OF MIND -STUDIO ROUGH (guide vocal)-11/88

19 DELIRIOUS NIGHT -ROUGH MIX (vocal)-12/88 *

20 PIRATE SHIPS -(RS solo) ROUGH MIX (vocal)-12/89 *

CD3 - ENTREAT PLUS RECORDED LIVE AT WEMBLEY ARENA 1989 REMIXED BY RS 2009 (* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED PERFORMANCE)

01 PLAINSONG *

02 PICTURES OF YOU

03 CLOSEDOWN

04 LOVESONG *

05 LAST DANCE

06 LULLABY *

07 FASCINATION STREET

08 PRAYERS FOR RAIN

09 THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU *

10 DISINTEGRATION

11 HOMESICK

12 UNTITLED

THE SINGLE CD WILL BE THE 12 TRACK ALBUM, AS WILL THE DOUBLE VINYL …AND IT IS LIKELY A REMASTERED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL 8 TRACK ‘ENTREAT’ LIVE ALBUM WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE… THERE WILL BE A LOT MORE REMASTERED CURE STUFF IN 2010… INCLUDING MIXED UP 2… THE CURE @ THE BBC BOX SET… IN ORANGE AND SHOW ON DVD… AND… ONWARDS!