Music Banter - View Single Post - 4:13 Dream

FireInCairo · 10-29-2008, 09:01 PM

4:13 Dream - The Cure

1. Underneath the stars
2. Only One
3. Reasons why
4. Freakshow
5. Sirensong
6. Real snow white
7. hungry Ghost
8. Switch
9. Perfect boy
10. This, here and now. With you
11. Sleep when I'm dead
12. Scream
13. It's over

This is my first review so bear with me if I somehow commit a terrible faux pas.

As a long time Cure fan, my expectations of this album were quite low due to their output being inconsistent to say the least since the the end of the eighties.
One thing about the cure that I feel people so often look over in their reviews and assessments of this band, is that they are different things to different people. Their catalogue stretches from the most desperate depression of the dark trilogy (17 seconds, Faith and pornography), to the MTV propelled pop superstars they became with singles like Lovecats, Close to me and Let's go to bed, and then of course the one that combined the extremes providing stately melancholic instrumentation alongside pop gems in Disintegration.
With this album, initially slated to be a double album, they have attempted to make a record which recalls the accessibility of Disintegration - In Robert Smith's words, a completion of the trilogy, best representing the Cure as he prefers them, comprising the aforementioned Disintegration, Bloodflowers and this.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised on my first spin...It has songs, with riffs....and hooks! The songwriting on here is decent, certainly it doesn't stack up to Disintegration or the like, but it most definitely outshines wish, bloodflowers and self-titled.

However, on my second spin, a horrible fact began to sink in...the mix and production is atrocious.
It seems like the Cure have fallen victim to the liberation and subsequent cheesy overuse of either Logic or Protools. Everything is swamped in about 15 tracks of guitars and sounds, and that is in the 'quiet' moments.
Added to this is the compression, it subscribes to that horrible anti-HI-FI trend of over compression that seems to be plaguing almost all modern records. After a while it feels like someone is smashing your head in with an oversized sledgehammer. Also, there is this little buzzing sound that if you're listening isnt wholly attentive sounds like a giant fly buzzing around the studio, irritating. In almost every song there is this little sparkling effect...overused.

The minimalism so inherent in the cure's best work is utterly forgotten here, and the two guitar attack and almost irrelevant bass does not really do their sound justice. It comes across like a standard rock band with the guitars providing complimentary parts and the bass aping one of them. Where are the fender bass Vis and the echoed drums??
They have tried to give the fans what they want with this record, and to a large degree they succeed.
The main signature of the cure, in Robert's voice, is still there caterwauling in fine fashion, even the keys and scales sound the part, but the instrumentation and the production let this release down.
This is a modern pop/rock record and as that it functions well but it is not by any means, a classic cure record.

I'm sure my overall judgement is clear.
Thoughts?

10-29-2008, 09:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
FireInCairo Later on... Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,235	4:13 Dream - The Cure 4:13 Dream - The Cure 1. Underneath the stars 2. Only One 3. Reasons why 4. Freakshow 5. Sirensong 6. Real snow white 7. hungry Ghost 8. Switch 9. Perfect boy 10. This, here and now. With you 11. Sleep when I'm dead 12. Scream 13. It's over This is my first review so bear with me if I somehow commit a terrible faux pas. As a long time Cure fan, my expectations of this album were quite low due to their output being inconsistent to say the least since the the end of the eighties. One thing about the cure that I feel people so often look over in their reviews and assessments of this band, is that they are different things to different people. Their catalogue stretches from the most desperate depression of the dark trilogy (17 seconds, Faith and pornography), to the MTV propelled pop superstars they became with singles like Lovecats, Close to me and Let's go to bed, and then of course the one that combined the extremes providing stately melancholic instrumentation alongside pop gems in Disintegration. With this album, initially slated to be a double album, they have attempted to make a record which recalls the accessibility of Disintegration - In Robert Smith's words, a completion of the trilogy, best representing the Cure as he prefers them, comprising the aforementioned Disintegration, Bloodflowers and this. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised on my first spin...It has songs, with riffs....and hooks! The songwriting on here is decent, certainly it doesn't stack up to Disintegration or the like, but it most definitely outshines wish, bloodflowers and self-titled. However, on my second spin, a horrible fact began to sink in...the mix and production is atrocious. It seems like the Cure have fallen victim to the liberation and subsequent cheesy overuse of either Logic or Protools. Everything is swamped in about 15 tracks of guitars and sounds, and that is in the 'quiet' moments. Added to this is the compression, it subscribes to that horrible anti-HI-FI trend of over compression that seems to be plaguing almost all modern records. After a while it feels like someone is smashing your head in with an oversized sledgehammer. Also, there is this little buzzing sound that if you're listening isnt wholly attentive sounds like a giant fly buzzing around the studio, irritating. In almost every song there is this little sparkling effect...overused. The minimalism so inherent in the cure's best work is utterly forgotten here, and the two guitar attack and almost irrelevant bass does not really do their sound justice. It comes across like a standard rock band with the guitars providing complimentary parts and the bass aping one of them. Where are the fender bass Vis and the echoed drums?? They have tried to give the fans what they want with this record, and to a large degree they succeed. The main signature of the cure, in Robert's voice, is still there caterwauling in fine fashion, even the keys and scales sound the part, but the instrumentation and the production let this release down. This is a modern pop/rock record and as that it functions well but it is not by any means, a classic cure record. I'm sure my overall judgement is clear. Thoughts? __________________ O G MUDBONE: Only You can prevent forest fires. Last edited by FireInCairo; 11-01-2008 at 04:59 AM.