From: pkang@acsu.buffalo.edu (Pablo Kang)
Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative
Subject: Re: Cure: I Wish...
Date: 13 Oct 92 04:01:55 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <u882517.718937555@bruny> u882517@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Blos!) writes:
>	As much as people want to be "open-minded" and say that success is OK
>(which it is) and can't understand why getting commercial airplay is anathema
>(which it IS!) the fact remains that the Cure were once a special band with
>intelligent fans, who have now swerved into the tastes of the bland public.

  I don't know if the Cure has swerved into the tastes of the bland public.
  I have friends who _only_ like "Friday I'm in Love" and that's that.
  Nobody--meaning the 'bland' public--bothers to listen to "Open," "High,"
  "A Letter to Elise," "From the Edge...," etc.

  The Cure haven't conformed, they just churned out one poppish tune, and
  it just made it big. Ask any "jump on the wagon" Cure fan, and you'll
  agree that they don't know the other tunes at all.

>Whatever you say, the music commercial radio plays is SHIT and if the Cure
>are making inroads there then that is all the proof of a sad demise that
>you need.

  I don't think any "intelligent" person would assume this. First, not
  _all_ music sucks (though I'll admit most of it does stink), and second
  you can't assume just because the Cure get play time for _one_ song that
  that's proof enough for you that they are in a state of demise.

  Remember, their popularity is probably, if not most likely, not due to the
  fact that they conformed, but rather their longevity, conformity _by the
  public_ to let the Cure be as they are, and/or a few tunes (emphasis on the
  few). If the few songs catch people to listen to the Cure, and then go on to 
  keep on listening to the Cure even further, great.

  For example, U2 and REM. (Old stuff may be great, but so is the new stuff)

>If you've only been a fan since, say, the 90% appaling "Kiss Me
>Kiss Me Kiss Me" then you just won't understand, because the back catalogue
>will always be just the back catalogue to you, and you won't have known
>what it was like when they were important.

  Maybe they just stopped being important to you...but believe me, to some,
  they still are.

>_Disintegration_ was a miracle, a return to beauty I thought had gone
>forever

  _Disintegration_ was not really a return to the 'original sound' of the
  Cure. Listen to early Cure for reference. I agree though,
  _Disintegration_ was beautiful. I found it to be very dramatic, very 
  opus-like. The ethereal synthesizers blasting fully in the background
  adding power to the voice of a single guitar note.

>but _Mixed Up_ and _Wish_
>have continued the saddening process that really started with the singles
>collection.

  I wouldn't really count _Mixed Up_ and the _singles collection_ as part
  of the process. The singles collection was just that, a collection and
  not part of their musical progress. _Mixed Up_ was a remix of their old
  songs, and again not part of their musical progress. Now for _Wish_.
  I wouldn't say that _Wish_ was bad, just rather different. They wanted
  to go back to a full guitar sound...of course MIDI equipment from the
  late 70s and early 80s has changed, hence the different guitar sound of
  the Cure.

--
  The Cure signature is still there if you listen. A paradigm of this is
  "Open" ala "One Hundred Years." Not as emotional, but the central gut
  grunge is there. 

  "A Letter to Elise" ala "Pictures of You." Again, not as emotional, but
  then again "A Letter to Elise" didn't have synths in the background
  covering the _holes_ of "A Letter..." sounding more dry than "Pictures...." 
  
  "Friday I'm in Love" ala "Just Like Heaven." One may argue one is happy, 
  the other sad, but they're both pop tunes...and lyrics are bound to 
  subjective argument.

  "End" ala "Three Imaginary Boys." Both very minor in key. Both very
  dark. One with more MIDI power, the other less.
--  

  Point made is, they're still where they were...difference is time. When
  they started out, they were practically unknown...but with time they
  established their music style and respectability, hence having more
  people buying their albums.

  How can anyone say the Cure has lost it just because of _one_ song?
  That's beyond any intelligent argument. 

  I don't know how it's for everybody, but every album by the Cure took
  some getting used to by me...I think that goes for every band. Sure,
  there are the songs that catch you immediately, but it takes a while to
  get used to a whole album. Same goes for _Wish_. How long has it been
  since the Cure came out with an original album? In that span of time,
  I'm sure that their music has changed a bit...which is what I love
  about the Cure. Again, again I have said it. I'll say it again.
  Listen to all the albums by the Cure, they're all different music-wise.

  If you're bothered by Robert Smith's happy lyrics, well I think it's
  about time. Why not? He deserves it. Kicked the old 'drug' habit.
  He's married, has two children, has success, and knows he can write 
  music. After all the Hell's he's been through, why not?

  In addition, change is not always bad...just different. The Cure's music
  is surely a bit different today, but to survive so many years, you have
  to change. Come on now, you don't expect to listen to the same old album
  every time they come out with a new album, right? Give the boys a break.
  I think they did a good job on _Wish_ and I'm looking forward to many
  others. 

>			Sorry.  That's how it is for me.

  A true Cure fan is just what you define it to be. Some Cure fan's
  are jumping on the bandwagon. Some are just early Cure fan's. Some are
  just late Cure fan's. Some just love the Cure. Their albums are just
  a matter of musical taste...as for me, I think they covered a pretty good
  range of different sounding tunes.

  As always, defending the Cure sound.

pablo  

-- 
___________________________-_ computer science _-______________________________
 v052t9tt@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu    | I just can't stay here every yesterday
 c052t9tt@ubvm7171.cc.buffalo.edu | and keep on acting out the same old way
 pkang@acsu.buffalo.edu           | we act out. - A Letter to Elise <the Cure>
Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative