873 The Cure - Boys Don’t Cry (1980)

 873 The Cure - Boys Don’t Cry (1980)


Compilation Album - Post-Punk




About the Act:

The Cure are a band from Sussex, England with a career spanning from 1979 to the present day. Initially, their label tried to make them into a boy band, but after one album they rebelled and went to a very dark place, becoming one of the seminal bands of the Goth movement. After three depressing gothic albums, they floundered for a while, had some turnover of members, and reinvented themselves. Well, the head of their label persuaded them to have a reinvention. Apparently, to the Robert Smith, their driving force, he was deliberately allowing the band to be destroyed.

It didn't work, instead they achieved a balance between the light and the darkness and generated their own particular brand of Pop Rock that still retained an edge of darkness. They went on to have lots of success with lots of albums. To date they ahve had a total of 13 studio albums.

The central figure is guitarist, singer and songwriter Robert Smith. He has a very distinctive voice, which has a wild sound to it, which suits their style very well.


About the Album:

This album was a compilation of work recorded at the early stage of their career, I understand primarily for US release.


My History with this Album:

None


Review:

Before the Cure were quirky popsters, and before they were a founding pillar of gothic darkness, they were a post-punk band. What does that mean? I'm not totally sure, but they have a kind of punky sound, but without the excesses of punk. This compilation sounds at times like the Boomtown Rats or The Undertones, or even The Stranglers or The Clash, but is still quintessentially The Cure. There's a dark humour at play, and it is far from cookie-cutter. They make good use of limited instrumentation, and create some interesting feels and atmospheres.

The songs are curious at times, they draw you into a variety of slightly twisted urban fantasy, somehow edged with both humour and menace, and yet with an indefinable innocence. How do they do that? It's like Tim Burton aged 12. 

Robert Smith's delivery has a punk (well post-punk) delivery which includes a lack of consideration for hitting the note, and going in and out of speech. 

I like it. It's fun, thoughtful, interesting, and quirky.


7.6/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1jkKKIpXPmCFr7m815t8th

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL31rF8MOA5UsBXOvFUJMlElh4Gi2K7irn

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Don%27t_Cry_(The_Cure_album)



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