Albums by this artist

Bloodflowers (2000)

Galore (1997)

The Cure

Bloodflowers

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» MARK T.R. DONOHUE | STAFF WRITER

The Cure Bloodflowers Elektra, 2000 RiYL: Impossible, as true Cure fans don't like ANYTHING

I've never actually listened to a real Cure album all the way through before now. I have the two greatest hits albums, and I'm pretty firm in my conviction that that's all you really need. Robert Smith and his gang are good for a bit of pop frippery every now and then, and they're a surprisingly potent live band, shuffling their fine singles into a deck of drawn-out gothy numbers for sets that are actually pretty entertaining.

But considering both Galore and Staring At The Sea are about half-filler, and these are the singles compilations, I don't think it's unfair to project that this band's records probably aren't suitable listening for anyone outside of Robert's sloppy-lipsticked, poofy-haired cult.

Bloodflowers is a pretty OK Cure album. It has some nice doomy moments, a lot of gasping, and the guitar doodling on "Maybe Someday" sounds a lot like the guitar doodling on "Just Like Heaven," one of the greatest pop songs ever written. The biggest hit against the record is that nearly every song is pushed up to the six-minute mark, with "Watching Me Fall" an excruciating 11:13. Unlike their live shows, The Cure tend to issue alternately poppy (Wish) and doomy (Disintegration) records, this is a doomy one, which means you will have to dig far to find any hooks on Bloodflowers.

The weird thing about this record is that the least appealing thing on it is the vocals. While Smith's fey gasp is somewhat amusing on bits of pop fluff past like "Boys Don't Cry" and "Strange Attraction," these songs, more My Bloody Valentine than Buster Poindexter, are not calling out for the theatrical approach Robert takes to every line. Smith has done good work in this vein before -- I'm a big "Fascination Street" fan -- but Bloodflowers' tunes are too rounded-out, too bereft of edges to hang on to. Smith's delivery needs defintion set against it to work, and these tracks don't offer any.

Any Cure fan who argues that this record is a return to their roots is fucking wrong, by the way. I've heard the first Cure album, and they sounded like Wire -- overdubless, desert-dry guitars, martial drums, poked bass. The fact is that The Cure forgot what they themselves were supposed to sound like sometime in the mid-'80s, and records like Mixed Up and Wild Mood Swings haven't help them rediscover it.

If Bloodflowers ends up being the last Cure album, as threatened, it won't make too much of a difference -- the collections are already out there, and there's no hit singles to be found on this album, so no amendments need be made. Cure fans will enjoy this record, it's well-made and Smith doesn't break character. Everybody else, no sequels to "The Love Cats" will be found herein. Feel free to stay the hell away.

MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.