What more to want than one of my favorite band of all time's B-Sides and Rarities? Though I've heard and own many of the ones compiled on this collection from collecting the singles when I LOVED them, there's a lot more I haven't heard. It sort of brings back the memories, and the joy with which I used to digest music in the decade of the 80s. Though there are a lot of interesting things to love here, there are some things that leave me feeling a bit "eh".
I think Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was The Cure's defining moment - the moment they reached the peak of their career, the moment America was finally aware of them, and the moment of the tour that I had to do what it took to see them, since I was finally in a country where they were actually touring. So see them I did at the then LA Forum, that summer. 17 years later and I still remember the concert opening: a big screen coming down the stage with the image of an eye, the one and the same from the album back cover, various visual and lighting effects and the rising volume of The Kiss beginning to play. And then in the light of numerous spotlights, Robert Smith emerged on center stage, the hair, the disheveled suit, the white trainers, the guitar, the very image of my worship! How we screamed, how we jumped with joy, how we loved it all. This was what music was all about.
The brilliance of the Kiss Me... album overshadowed all the previous albums (with the exception of a few songs) - dark intertwining with the upbeat dance and poppy numbers - it had it all and was a double album to boot! I played it out all summer long, into the fall and so on until 1989. Along came Disintegration and I was on a downward spiral thereafter, sheer proof that they had made it as people were touting it as a "pop album" - fast forward to 2004 and Pictures of You gets a 30 sec. spotlight in an HP ad. Blech. So much for Robert Smith being listed as one of the wealthiest guys in England on the merit of his music alone.
Don't get me wrong, I still love all of The Cure and Robert Smith, how could I not? How could I not love a guy who gave me an idea of how to dress, do my hair and make up all at once? How could I not love the music that fed me ideas on what other music to like and how to live my life? I will and always be a Cure fan, to the end.
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