The Cure - Join The Dots (2004)
You can always judge a great band by the quality of their b-sides and rarities and The Cure are no exception. Join The Dots B-Sides & Rarities 1978>2001 The Fiction Years (to go by its full title) was compiled by Robert Smith and contains nearly all of The Cure’s b-sides (excluding some unnecessary remixes) from their time on the Fiction label as well as rare tracks and a few alternative versions across four discs. This box-set is very elegantly packaged, resembling a hardback novel from the outside, containing the four CDs on the inside of the front and back covers and a fascinating 76-page booklet sandwiched inbetween. This booklet contains some rare and previously unseen photos of The Cure throughout the years, artwork from their singles, interesting stories about the songs features in this box-set as well as a nice history of the band.
Whenever I listen to songs from this collection it transports me back to Christmas 2007 when I received this as a present from someone very special, so it has a lot of sentimental value to me as well. If I was to thoroughly review this 70-song collection this would be a very long review indeed so I will just select highlights from it. Disc 1 covers the first ten years of the band from 1978 to 1987 and allows you to trace their evolution from being a youthful post-punk outfit in the late-70’s, through to the dark, atmospheric sounds of their early 80’s period and then on to their more synth-pop years. The nocturnal ’10:15 Saturday Night’ was the b-side from their debut single ‘Killing an Arab’ and also appears on their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. You also have ‘Plastic Passion’ which shows a more punk edge to The Cure and ‘Splintered In Her Head’, the b-side of ‘Charlotte Sometimes’, which indicates the dark and twisted sounds that were to come on Pornography. The real highlight of this disc however is the hook-filled ‘The Exploding Boy’, the b-side of ‘Inbetween Days’, which is as good as any song that appears on The Head On The Door. It’s a song that is definitely up there with the best Cure b-sides.
Disc 2 covers the years 1987 to 1992 and contains some very strong songs. While Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was a solid double album there were still some incredible songs left over from it such as the gorgeously downbeat ‘A Chain Of Flowers’ and the uplifting ‘Snow In Summer’. ‘To The Sky’ appeared on a Fiction compilation in 1989 although was recorded two years previously during the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me sessions. It is a relatively simple yet brilliant song and is very typical of the bittersweet songs that The Cure do so convincingly. ‘Babble’ quite funnily contains some extremely weird keyboard pieces which were apparently played by Boris Williams’ dog while Lol Tolhurst was slumped in a corner too drunk to play his own parts. The outstanding song on this disc is the fantastic ‘2 Late’, the b-side of ‘Lovesong’, and is also a favourite of Robert Smith himself. Robert Smith was nearly sure that this song was going to be a single, but as Disintegration took shape ‘2 Late’ seemingly just didn’t fit in with the overall sound of the album. Although the song still has a bit of a downbeat feel to it, it sounds a bit more up-tempo compared to the brooding songs on Disintegration. Definitely my favourite Cure b-side and perhaps one of my favourite Cure songs.
Disc 3 covers the years 1992 to 1996 and while it does contain some great songs it doesn’t seem to be able to quite stand up to the previous two discs. One thing that strikes you here is that the b-sides from the Wish period seem to be better than most of the songs on Wish itself! ‘This Twilight Garden’ pretty much lives up to its name and invokes a very lonely twilight feeling. ‘Halo’ is another great Cure b-side and shows Robert Smith at his happiest. It is one of the b-sides to ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and pretty much continues on from the blissful happiness of said single. The best Cure song of the 90’s in my opinion is ‘Burn’, which makes an appearance here. This song was recorded for The Crow soundtrack in 1994 and shows a more modern edge to The Cure yet still retains the band’s key traits. It’s quite an excellent song from one of my favourite films of the 90’s. Elsewhere on this disc covers of The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s ‘Purple Haze’ and David Bowie’s ‘Young Americans’ make an appearance. ‘It Used To Be Me’ is the only other real highlight on this disc and shows a more spacier, sparser and uncommercial side to The Cure and still contains some nice downbeat introspection from Robert Smith.
Disc 4 covers the years 1996 to 2001 and highlights on this disc are difficult to note. It mostly contains remixes but some standout songs would be their cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘World In My Eyes’, recorded for a Depeche Mode tribute album, and the previously unreleased ‘Possession’. A slightly disappointing final disc but the first two discs in this collection, as well as most songs from disc 3, certainly make this collection essential for any Cure fan. By listening to this collection from the very beginning through to the very end you can pretty much trace the evolution of The Cure track by track and slowly but surely build up a picture of what The Cure were really about, just like joining the dots as the collection title suggests. But the quality of the b-sides and rarities here can only boost The Cure’s legacy as one of the best bands of the past few decades.