Underachiever: Robert Smith
December 6th 2008 16:32
Formed in 1976 in England as the Easy Cure, Robert Smith's band has endured for three decades. As one of the original post punk groups, Smith and company had a chance to make their mark. Sadly, the Cure have never lived up to their initial promise; their legacy will forever be saddled with half-baked albums and a revolving door of faceless members-- popularity in America aside.
Before they descended into droning tunelessness, the Cure made a trilogy of strong albums. Starting with 1980's Seventeen Seconds, Smith directed the then-novel gothic rock sound of the band into a taut, ominous soundscape. If they were derivative of Joy Division, that was sort of the point; however the Cure, with their makeup and teased hair, could attract teenage girls (and their purses) to the post punk scene. Contrieved, perhaps. Yet Smith, along with Peter Hook-inspired bassist Simon Gallup, recorded songs like "Primary" that had enough melody and commiseration to inspire a large cult following. 1981's Faith and 1982's Pornography completed the solid LP trio and marked the peak of the Cure's creative streak.
As the Cure became more popular--especially in the United States--the consistency of their albums became an afterthought. A singles compilation released in 1986 vaulted the group onto the U.S. charts; from that point, Smith seemed only to care about making hit singles and not cohesive LPs. A brief period of radio success was thereby followed by lineup changes (guitarist Porl Thompson came and went three times) and records that ranged from uninspired (Wild Mood Swings, 1996) to dreadfully droning (Bloodflowers, perhaps the dullest record of 2000).
Robert Smith is unlikely to return to early-80s form. As I write this, the Cure have released 4:13 Dream to critical and commercial yawns. Yet their 1980-82 works are well worth owning, musically recorded proof that some bands are better left underground rather than venturing into the harsh light of mainstream radio.
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