The Cure hit their stride some time in the mid-1980s. Since then, their music has been inconsistent at best. They are a band I’ve always tried to love, but for some reason or another the albums fall short of expectations.
While early albums like Boys Don’t Cry (1980), Faith (1981), and Pornography (1982) were decent I can’t say much for disappointing releases including The Top (1984), Mixed Up (1990), and Wild Mood Swings (1996). The Cure is at about fifty percent as far as releasing vaguely palatable music. The band still is making music and moody, gloomy, and all around dull (at least in my opinion) frontman Robert Smith is still around. The Cure definitely makes pop music albeit brooding, atmospheric, eerie, and ominous. Indeed it is this combination that often rubs me the wrong way. I don’t mind pop being dark, but I do mind it when it seems like the band is a one trick pony. The Cure may have the capability to create a different sound, but none of that matters when the frontman takes himself so incredibly seriously.
One rare moment of lucidity came on 1992’s Wish with the uncharacteristically upbeat and sarcastic Friday I’m in Love. The song connected with an audience which usually rightfully discarded the band as drab and depressing. There’s only so much wallowing I can stand on one album and fortunately the aforementioned hit single breaks up the monotony of Wish. That isn’t to say that the rest of the album is excellent or reflects the direction of that song; it just means I’m a little less annoyed by Smith and company. Maybe that sense of dulled aggravation is what helped to propel the mediocre release to the band’s highest chart success to date (#2 on The Billboard 200). The world may never know.
The general direction of Wish is unsurprising. Dave Allen’s (Depeche Mode, Charlatans UK, Psychedelic Furs) production is boring and the songs mush together save for a few exceptions. The sound is unusually accessible but the songs are still surrounded by depression. Open is the first song to really go nowhere. It also opens the album. Mid-tempo, bland, repetitive, and sterile it sucks up nearly seven minutes of time. The melody is at first interesting, but as it continues it becomes obvious that the guitars and drums do the exact same thing over and over again. Smith’s colorless vocal delivery doesn’t do anything to improve the product. I’m similarly unimpressed by the hit High. It somehow managed to land atop the Modern Rock charts despite the lack of direction or dynamics. The plucked guitars do nothing when set aside the problematic vocals, but I do have to admit that I get a child-like kick out of this verse:
And when I see you kitten as a cat (meow!)
Yeah as smitten as that
I can't get that small
The way you fur
The how you purr
It makes me want to paw you all
And when I see you happy as a girl
That lives in a world of make-believe
It makes me pull my hair all out
To think I could've let you leave
Wish plods along through another lackluster song Apart and finally lands on a winner in the form of From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea. The melody is upbeat, the arrangement is interesting, and the delivery is even a little energetic. However, The Cure’s propensity to equate drama with length really bogs the otherwise decent song down. This is one example when brevity could have definitely improved the end product. Unfortunately, any ray of hope I had is smashed into tiny little bits by Wendy Time which pairs the depressed pop with a funky seventies R&B sound. It’s quite simply one of the most ridiculous and unnecessary things I’ve ever heard—then again, I have learned to never be surprised by what The Cure puts together.
The pair of Doing the Unstuck (a modest, “upbeat” song) and hit Friday I’m in Love definitely help Wish to be a bit less awful. In particular the short, sparkly Friday does great things for me. I’m certain it was recorded somewhat in jest. Heck, Smith even speaks how every day of the week is bad save for Friday. Along side claps, a fast pace and tidy melodies it is hard to even be irritated by the vocals. This is definitely a high point of Wish. Unfortunately, the album disintegrates into bland nothingness from this point forward.
Trust is something of a ballad. The predominant instruments are the strings and piano with only occasional help from a drum or guitar. Unfortunately, the opening is much too long and by the time Smith finally intervenes I’ve already grown tired of the sluggish and plodding song. A Letter to Elise is a bit better than the rest of the junk toward the end of Wish. It is a simple pop track with a sparkling melody. Unfortunately it (like so many of The Cure’s songs) is ruined by the five plus minutes run time. Spiraling out of control, the band then releases a trio of unfortunately tired songs unto the world. Cut, To Wish Impossible Things and the aptly titled End are all examples of why I so dislike so much about this band. The songs are unnecessarily dour and the production is generic. Wish may have yielded one or two (or three) hits but I still am unimpressed.
There are much better and somewhat worse albums out there from The Cure. I can’t say that I’m completely nauseated by Wish, but I also can’t say I’m thunderstruck. It is a middling album at best and for me still another reason why the British band has yet to connect with me (and probably never will).
Rating: 2.5/5 stars (rounded down)
Track Listing:
01. Open
02. High
03. Apart
04. From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea
05. Wendy Time
06. Doing the Unstuck
07. Friday I’m in Love
08. Trust
09. A Letter to Elise
10. Cut
11. To Wish Impossible Things
12. End
__________________________________
Related Reviews:
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.