The Cure - Deluxe Edition CDs
Today, Elektra/Rhino Records released "Deluxe Edition" reissues of the second through fourth Cure albums. Those are Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981), and Pornography (1982). Each one is a 2-CD set containing a remastered version of the original album plus a bonus disc containing bonus tracks selected by Robert Smith (mostly consisting of live, demo, and alternate versions of songs from the album). It makes sense that the three of them were released in one day; those albums are considered an unofficial trilogy of downbeat works, each one darker than the previous one.
Elektra/Rhino recently gave the same treatment to the first Cure album, Three Imaginary Boys, from 1979. That album was technically unavailable in the U.S. until then; the American version was titled Boys Don't Cry, and contained a few different songs. I wonder if Smith and the record companies plan to continue reissuing the Cure's albums in this format. Their next two full-length albums were Japanese Whispers (1983) and The Top (1984), both of which are currently out of print in the U.S. It's hard to believe there could be enough bonus material to complement these two albums in such a way, but I could be wrong. Heck, there was actually a 4-CD box set of Cure B-sides and rarities recently issued (titled Join The Dots), so there seems to be a bottomless well of Cure rarities that can be unearthed.
Of the three Deluxe Editions released today, the one I find most interesting is Faith. That contains the Carnage Visors EP at the end of disc one. That consists of a single 27-minute instrumental that was recorded to accompany a short film that the brother of bassist Simon Gallup worked on. It's an absorbing mood piece that was previously only available in the U.S. as part of a double-length cassette version of Faith. It's nice to see it available on a CD. Also, the Faith reissue contains the non-LP single "Charlotte Sometimes", which is otherwise only available on the Staring At The Sea singles collection.
Rarebird's Cure Reviews
http://rarebird9.net/cure.html
Elektra/Rhino recently gave the same treatment to the first Cure album, Three Imaginary Boys, from 1979. That album was technically unavailable in the U.S. until then; the American version was titled Boys Don't Cry, and contained a few different songs. I wonder if Smith and the record companies plan to continue reissuing the Cure's albums in this format. Their next two full-length albums were Japanese Whispers (1983) and The Top (1984), both of which are currently out of print in the U.S. It's hard to believe there could be enough bonus material to complement these two albums in such a way, but I could be wrong. Heck, there was actually a 4-CD box set of Cure B-sides and rarities recently issued (titled Join The Dots), so there seems to be a bottomless well of Cure rarities that can be unearthed.
Of the three Deluxe Editions released today, the one I find most interesting is Faith. That contains the Carnage Visors EP at the end of disc one. That consists of a single 27-minute instrumental that was recorded to accompany a short film that the brother of bassist Simon Gallup worked on. It's an absorbing mood piece that was previously only available in the U.S. as part of a double-length cassette version of Faith. It's nice to see it available on a CD. Also, the Faith reissue contains the non-LP single "Charlotte Sometimes", which is otherwise only available on the Staring At The Sea singles collection.
Rarebird's Cure Reviews
http://rarebird9.net/cure.html
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