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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Cure
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 44 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Geffen
Release Date: 29 June 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
The follow-up to 2000's 'Bloodflowers' sees Robert Smith & co. working with metal producer Ross Robinson (Limp Bizkit, Korn) for the first time (and apparently, he ate up so much of the recording budget that they couldn't afford an album cover artist).
Also By This Artist: 4:13 Dream Bloodflowers Join The Dots: B-Sides And Rarities, 1978-2001
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Guardian
Strikes a near-perfect balance between the various facets of the band's history.
Read Full Review >Uncut
This is a thrilling album, one that contains an extremity of sound and emotion that's unlikely to be matched by anyone else this year. [Album of the Month, Aug 2004, p.90]
Playlouder
Keep giving it a whirl though and it becomes something rather exquisite.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
There are entirely too many nods to the past for this album to be a fresh start, yet it refuses to slip comfortably into place in their catalogue.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Startling from the first listen... the band are heavier, more menacing, more rhythmic than ever. [19 Jun 2004, p.55]
Rolling Stone
The new album is their most adventurous and passionate since Disintegration.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
This is a much better effort than anything they've done in quite some time.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
It's not a perfect record, but "The Cure" does achieve something quite remarkable and unexpected. It leaves you looking forward to their next one.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
Brighter than Bloodflowers, denser than Wish, The Cure presents Smith as a wild-haired sorcerer's apprentice, conducting another mad symphony of infatuation and angst.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Invoking Disintegration is ridiculous, but The Cure is remarkably more thrilling a listen than the band's most recent guitar-heavy predecessors.
Read Full Review >Filter
Strangely timid in both its production choices and songwriting. [#11, p.92]
Entertainment Weekly
As with Prince on Musicology, Smith allows the Cure's current lineup to become his own tribute band. [9 Jul 2004, p.86]
Los Angeles Times
The lyric invention of past Cure albums is missing, but the pop transcendence emerges in fits.
Read Full Review >Spin
If The Cure feels like a recapitulation of the band's career, it's because they've recorded songs very much like these before. [Aug 2004, p.103]
E! Online
It's hard to imagine a set of songs that better reflects every phase the group has navigated through its turbulent career.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Not the fresh start the band truly needed, The Cure at least succeeds in validating the current lineup of the band, as it is a compelling reminder of what made the Cure so great for so long.
Read Full Review >Mojo
The recorded-live-by-candlelight performances documented herein aren't short on the kind of clamorous foreboding and twisted pop nous a fan of Disintegration or The Head On The Door might hope for. [Aug 2004, p.87]
Flak Magazine
If approached with a substantial amount of skepticism and wariness, The Cure is not a complete disappointment. In fact, it's often surprisingly good and sometimes even great.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Much of The Cure slogs along at the same churning, monotonous pace, and Smith, rambling in a croak-shout variation of his normal singing voice, does the material few favors.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The Cure have become journeymen, for better and worse, turning out well-crafted music that's easy to enjoy yet not all that compelling either.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
This is The Cure sounding a lot like The Cure. Never a bad thing, just a familiar one. [Aug 2004, p.107]
Drawer B
Cure fans are certainly used to Smith’s voice being high in the mix, but on this record it can be overwhelming and stifling.
Read Full Review >Blender
They come off more than ever like a caricature. [Aug 2004, p.130]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 44 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jonathan E gave it a1:
I am a die hard Cure fan, I love everything they've done including (Wild Mood Swings). But this album was a huge disappointment. It's the absolute worst Cure album ever. After the brilliant beauty of "Bloodflowers" I was expecting something great. Instead we got...this atrocity. Thanks Ross Robinson.
tom pupet gave it a10:
brilliant
Jon D gave it a1:
Not a single stand out track, the few listenable songs are only decent and teh rest is just awful. The tracks are terribly written, the first 2 songs on the CD are 80% intros, they just build up to something and that something never comes. It was almost impossible for me to listen to this cd seriously it was so awful i really couldnt, it gets a 1 because if not taken seriously then you can laugh at how terrible it is.
Sebastian gave it a7:
“The Cure” = 7.7, and NO I didn’t get this score from Pitchfork, I did my own test, it’s quite easy. [You rate each song from the album out of a score of 0.5 to 5, and then you add them all up, divide the amount by the number of tracks on the album, then times it by 2.] This is my least favorite Cure album, and I'll tell you why. North America got the stupid track listing, while the UK and Japan got 2 to 3 extra songs which are PURE brilliant. This = very lame, I want Robert Smith to reissue this album with the UK track listing which he said himself feels is the correct track listing that goes for this album.
aaron w gave it a0:
A little late on reviewing this, but it's started to bug me a bit, even in 2006. My god, what happened? people ask. I will tell you what happened to this record: Ross Robinson. Evidently, Robert Smith, instead of producing the album like he always used to, decidedly to hand pick a new producer to give the Cure a new sound and perspective. They just so happened to choose a guy who's claim to fame is producing Korn, Slipknot, and Limp fucking Bizkit. Why, Robert? Why??? And it shows, my friends. This is absolutely the worst Cure album I have ever heard. This is coming from somebody who actually really liked Bloodflowers and Wild Mood Swings ("Want" is probably the quintessential Cure song for me, and the closer is phenomenal, so stop bitching.) But no fear! It seems that Robert has gotten his shit together since firing two of the band members and getting Porl Thompson, the guitarist for the Cure during their glory days. He will be producing their new album. Hopefully, mundane and trite shit like their self-titled will be a brief stain on an otherwise amazing career.
David B gave it a10:
A splendid album!!!
Davis W gave it a7:
I love the Cure and I enjoy this album although I don't find myself listening to it all that much. I guess they just don't sound like they used to, but I'm still glad that they're around keeping it real.
