The Cure : The Cure

Approaching The Cure requires a healthy amount of faith (no pun intended). The brighter pop gloss of Wild Mood Swings and the wide swing back to epic goth on Bloodflowers no doubt caused an undeniable case of whiplash. But on their follow-up to that 2000 reclamation of their signature gloom, The Cure pare things back dramatically. The songs, on the whole, are shorter than those on Bloodflowers and breeze by with far less fanfare. Largely dominated by uptempo rockers, the album has its share of single-worthy tracks, but still bound by the characteristics of what makes a Cure song a Cure song.

First single “The End of The World” is catchy and benign, though “Taking Off” is where Robert Smith’s songwriting truly begins to shine, while “alt.end” is dense and rocking. Meanwhile, “Anniversary” and “Labyrinth” contain flourishes of their darkest moments, as heard on albums like Faith and Pornography. When the band sticks to the darker material, they’re undeniably in their element, sounding as fresh and interesting as they did when they were still in their twenties.

But they’re not anymore, and as such this curious chapter finds Smith a bit more lyrically rudderless. Some have called this The Cure’s angriest album in a while, which is true to a degree. The guitars are turned up to eleven and Robert even drops the f-bomb a few times. And enlisting production work from Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, At the Drive-In) only bears out this enhanced aggression. Yet a sweet, nostalgic side appears on “Before Three,” the recurring refrain of “I’m so in love” offsetting some of the album’s more overt snarl.

Those who have spent their share of time with The Cure’s music should know by now that this isn’t a comeback but rather the next stage in a continuum. It’s been four years since Bloodflowers, which came out four years after Wild Mood Swings, which came out four years after Wish, which came out three years after Disintegration. And before that, they were at or close to an album a year. But by the standards of the past 15 years, they’re right on time. With their latest, The Cure have proven that they still got it, even if it took a while for it to resurface again.

Similar albums:
The Cure – Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
The Cure – Wish
The Cure – The Head on the Door