Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001
A testament to the Cure’s explosive creativity,Join the Dotsis also an ode to the band’s remarkable consistency. Spanning the group’s entire career, it’ll keep fans happily burrowing away for hours; days, even. Disc 1 concentrates on Robert Smith’s early growth spurts, when his jerky goth-pop blossomed with depth and savvy. Disc 2 recycles some ofKiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’s motifs (there’s a touch of "A Thousand Hours" in "Breath," for instance), and pays tribute to their early-90sMixed UpMadchester phase with "Harold and Joe." Elsewhere, there are covers of "Young Americans,"Depeche Mode’s "World in My Eyes," "Purple Haze," and three versions of theDoors’ "Hello I Love You," as well as more recent material like an acoustic version of "Maybe Someday" from 2000’sBloodflowers. The handsome packaging features a complete career retrospective partially narrated by Smith himself. As a capstone to a brilliant career,Dotsis a sublime walk down memory lane for tortured hearts and melancholy moods. --Matthew Cooke