THE CURE GREATEST HITS ALBUM FICTION, UNIVERSAL RELEASE: NOVEMBER 12, 2001 REVIEW: NOVEMBER 15, 2001

I know many people who would not flinch to give this "Greatest Hits" album ten points out of ten. I have to comment on some things that bug me about it, though, as I am sure this review will bug some of the die hard Cure fans.
First order of business: where are the tracks from "Faith" and "Pornography"!? These are the albums that brought me into the tangled, emotional web that is Robert Smith's self sacrificing lyrics and they introduced me to new forms of suffering. I have a hard time listening to "Cold", for instance, without getting convulsive sobbing tendencies. Raw, undisturbed and hopeless. Come to think of it, these two album masterpieces are the only ones I'm overly excited about, not counting large parts of "Japanese Whispers", "Wish" and "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me".
That is, until "Cut Here", the brand new single, made it to the shops. It can't reach the heights of "Cold", "A Strange Day" or "Faith", but it is surprisingly close. Not in mood, but in pure song and melody strength. The lyrics are more straight forward, yet still handling regrets of love. It's the "Wish" sound with modern electronics around the edges.
"Cut Here" is included on this compilation, as is another new one, "Just Say Yes", which I don't care for at all. It's annoyingly close to some of the most horrible songs on "Wild Mood Swings", that made me reconsider the greatness of The Cure.
Disregarding the new tracks and my objection to the lack of certain songs, there are 18, no wait, 17 great songs on this "Greatest Hits" release. No big surprises though, of course.
I'm lost in a forest. But I have herds of Cure fans with me. Maybe some of them new?

NIKLAS FORSBERG

AD

Click to buy this CD directly: