Greetings from the middle of the long
weekend! So far my long weekend has been a triumphant procession of fun
including drinking with friends, lunching with friends, hanging with Sheila and
generally relaxing.
I also took some time yesterday to
do some painting and while I did so I was able to finish listening to my next
album. Here’s what I have to say about it.
Disc 722 is…. Staring at the Sea: The Singles
Artist: The Cure
Year of Release: 1986 but featuring
music from 1979 to 1985
What’s up with the Cover? A craggy old man.
On the original release (titled “Standing on a Beach” the shot is a bit wider
and you can see that he is, in fact, standing on a beach, but my version does
not reveal such secrets. You’ll just have to use your imagination as to what he’s
staring at. (Hint: it is the sea).
How I Came To Know It: I never liked the Cure as a kid,
but when I moved in with my buddy Greg in around 1992 he had this album on
tape, and we played it a lot. When I met Sheila she already owned it (or bought
it soon after I met her) so this copy is hers.
How It Stacks Up: We have three of the Cure’s studio albums, but I’ve
already reviewed all of those. “Staring at the Sea” is a compilation album,
however, so it does not stack up. That would be against the laws of God and man…and
more importantly the laws of the CD Odyssey.
Rating: ‘best of’ albums don’t get rated,
monkey! That’s how it works.
I may have never given the Cure a proper chance if
it weren’t for the first song on “Staring at the Sea.” My distrust of the Cure’s
“sound” was without foundation, but that didn’t make it any easier to shed.
When the Cure was making all of this great music I was into heavy metal and
only heavy metal, and when Greg first introduced me to this album, I was into
Celtic folk music and only Celtic folk music.
Fortunately the album’s first track, “Killing an Arab” was a musical
reimagining of “The Stranger,” which was not only one of my favourite books,
but also written by Albert Camus, who in 1992 had recently blown my mind by
opening it up to Existentialism. All the illogical reasons I had to hate the
Cure up to that point were trumped by my interest in the masterful job of
capturing that detached and amoral moment when the book’s main character, Meursault,
shoots and kills an Arab on a beach because the man’s watch was reflecting in
his eyes.
For a long time I’d just play “Killing an Arab” and then take the tape out, but over the years it
became the gateway to the rest of the album, and I found myself delving deeper
and deeper into it. At every tentative step forward, another great song
awaited.
These songs have a haunting sound that is driven at
every turn by intricate bass riffs. When I found out that the songs were all
written by the drummer and singer, I was shocked. In fact, over the six years “Staring
at the Sea” represents the band had three different bass players – Michael Dempsey,
Simon Gallup and Phil Thornalley. I couldn’t tell you who plays on what song
though – they are interchangeable in their excellence.
Even when it is Robert Smith’s guitar taking the
lead, the notes are so low it still feels like bass. This is bass that serves
the structure of the songs, rather than overpowering it like modern bass does
to a lot of music.
Robert Smith has a great voice for this sound. Sure
he comes off as a moody and ill-humoured Goth kid, but that’s exactly what
these songs call for. And unlike the Smiths, the Cure is able to demonstrate
thoughtfulness without always being depressed about it. It is OK to have
existential angst and all that, but as Sartre would tell you, it doesn’t mean
anything unless you act on it.
“Staring at the Sea” is a bit of a headphones album,
meaning that when the sound gets dispersed into a room it doesn’t have the same
emotional impact, but that’s not a problem. Some things only reveal their
beauty to you when you give them your full and silent attention and Cure songs
fit that bill.
I may never get a bunch of early Cure albums, but
that isn’t because they aren’t great. Instead, it likely won’t happen because “Staring
at the Sea” gives me such joy all on its own. I know this is against my usual
rule of favouring to studio albums, but as existentialism teaches us, you have
to constantly re-evaluate what you want in any given moment. If we didn’t we’d
never get past stupid decisions of our youth, like not giving a great band like
the Cure they chance they deserve.
Best
tracks: Killing
an Arab, Boys Don’t Cry, Jumping Someone Else’s Train, Other Voices, In Between
Days, Close to Me
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