Author Archives: Olivia

Albums Of 2011-Part 1.

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I’m getting this out of the way now because it means I can edit this to high heaven and pretend I never missed a record out. I’ll change my mind and probably lose sleep over this. I don’t sleep, so that’s bullshit isn’t it. This year, musically, has been awesome. Aside from music, it’s been fucking awful. But that’s just my personal perspective. I don’t like to moan and bitch about shit I can’t do anything about because it just frustrates me. If I could make people I care for and love alright, I would. But I can’t. That itself has made this year borderline SHIT. Also, if I wake up on my birthday this year and I am not a Superhero, I will be pissed off. I’m aiming to be Psylocke or Wolverine. My obsession has been spiriling out of control for a long time. The older I get, the more convinced I am that I am a Superhero. Fuck it, maybe we all are. Deep down.

I suppose  I better get on with this seeing as I have no chance of sleeping. This isn’t going to be in order. I dislike order, I welcome chaos.

Originally I was going to list 10 albums and bang on about them, but I thought better of it. Instead, I’m going to ramble on about as many albums as I can in different parts, because it gives me the ability to rant more.

The Horrors-Skying: If it possible to love an album likea child, then that’s how I feel about this record. What pissed me off the most about this was people who thought that The Horrors sounded like fucking Simple Minds on this record or that the band only started with Primary Colours. Piss off you uneducated shitstain of life (I’ve drank wine, potty mouth ahoy!) The Horrors started in 2005/2006. There was an EP, then Strange House came out. Their debut LP was beyond stunning. It was full of agressive garage rock sounds that just shattered your skull and shook your weary bones. If you dismissed this record and judged them by how they looked- then I hope you feel foolish and stupid. You missed out on something well and truly wonderful. Right, so Skying. Skying is perfect. Everything about this record is mind-blowing and earth-shattering. It’s like looking into the eyes of someone you adore (and they adore you too) and feeling so at peace, that nothing can touch you. The build up in Endless Blue is so good. It is full of euphoric sounds that make you feel you are entering another dimension. A lot judge The Horrors as being a dark, depressing band. Those that do this are obviously missing the point. Skying is pretty upbeat and just so ethereal. It gives you something no other band could. It makes you feel so open and hopeful. It is a truly wonderful album and easily the band’s best. Although I still hold Strange House so dear to my heart. You cannot expect a band to keep making the same record over and over. This is why I love Horrors, they are not afraid to push boundaries and make music that sounds so unreal, you have to slap yourself a few times because you cannot believe what you are hearing. Best British band? Damn right they are.

The Kills-Blood Pressures: I have no idea how I’m going to do this without becoming a mess. This album kept me sane, there’s no doubt about it. The album was released when I was not at my best, maybe I never am. Maybe that’s what keeps me going. Blood Pressures kept that part of me going that didn’t want to keep going. Every track on this record means the world to me. I adore every single song. I’ve loved Alison and Jamie since the very start. I own every record, and every single one has given me the same feeling. The feeling that, you know, it’s totally okay to be a shaking wreck or a bit mean. It’s okay to like the dark side, it is okay to question everything and everyone. It’s okay to be by yourself. The record just made me feel okay. Did it change things for me? In short, yes. I have played this record whilst making journeys that broke my heart. I’ve played this record when I didn’t know what to do with myself; when I had frustration and fury fidgeting in my mind. It’s basically my crutch. It kept me going and gave me some strength to carry on. Every single song is just perfect. Alison’s voice on The Last Goodbye breaks my heart every single time I play it. The line, “How can I rely on my heart, if I break it, with my own two hands.” Is EASILY my favourite lyric of the year. If I was ever asked to use a lyric to describe me, I’d probably us that. The beautiful Baby Says has the same vibe as a song by the Velvet Underground. It’s perfect. The Kills aren’t a band that you can casually stick on in the background. They are a band that make you fucking feel something so raw inside. It makes you feel like that, you just have to get up and do something. I don’t know what. They just give you this energy that makes you fight everything off until the bloody and bitter end. It’s soulful, it’s blusey, it’s punk, it’s raw. It is everything.

Zola Jesus-Conatus: When I played Stridulum II for the very first time last year, I nearly gave myself third degree burns because I was cooking as I was playing it. My attention was all on Nika’s delicate and haunting voice. Conatus basically had the same effect. I played it and I couldn’t focus on anything. I could’ve been looking at something mesmirising, but I would’nt be able to focus. All my thoughts and energy would be on the record. Conatus,to me, is just a wonderful work of fragile art. It shows just how vulnerable the human soul can be. All too many times we are told to be strong and to just deal with it. You know what? Sometimes you can’t be strong, sometimes you just have to let go and lose yourself. Personally, I think that shows greater strength. Nika is only 22 years old, and she is making works of art that someone like Chris Corner or Lou Reed would make. Her music makes you see everything in a different light, that’s why I love her. Her music is dark and intense- two things that I love about music. If it dark and makes me feel creeped out; I will fall in love with it. There’s something so enigmatic and captivating about her music, it is truly divine. She makes you feel things you probably should be afraid to feel, but isn’t that what music should be about?

The Weeknd-House Of Balloons: I have no idea if I am impressed easily or not. I guess with music it is hard to move me. With people? There’s been very few who have amazed me, I could give you names; but I’m not that kind of person. I heard of The Weeknd last 2010. What You Need was the track I remember listening to on YouTube. I’m a huge fan of R&B, but the good stuff. Think artists such as Jodeci, Aaliyah, SWV, Ginuwine- that kind of feel you know? Along comes The Weeknd and I feel like I’ve been taken into a different universe. When Timbaland and Missy produced Aaliyah’s second record, One In A Million they made this sound that was so futeristic and powerful. You were unsure if anything could be like this again. Move on well over a decade, and you still question if a sound can be created like that again; that makes you feel so strange inside. It makes you turn to jelly and you love it. The Weeknd’s music is just mind-blowing. He’s done this all by himself, the last installment in his trilogy is due soon. I’m so excited about it. Thursday is an amazing mixtape, but House Of Balloons just blew me away. What did it for me was his sample of Siouxsie’s Happy House. As someone who has a massive obsession with Siouxise, I was unsure about this. I had nothing to fear at all. House Of Ballons/Glass Table Girls became one of my favourite tracks of the year. The album is just in a different league of its own. The Weeknd is on a different level, no doubt. This is how R&B should be sounding. Fuck it, it’s how music should be sounding. It should be pushing the listener and making you feel things so deep inside of you that you don’t know what to do with yourself.

I know I rarely sleep, but I’m going to try sleep and think of more albums to continue with tomorrow. I’ll probably be pissed off if this disturbs my slumber and I turn my laptop on at 4am with the urge to write. It happens a lot, I just learn to fight it.

Florence And The Machine-Ceremonials.

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Whatever I write about this record will not do it justice. Whatever I write will NOT make sense. I’ll end up ranting. If I was you, I wouldn’t bother reading this. It honestly is the safest thing for you to do. I know I never make sense and I write a lot of bullshit, but it is going to get worse as I listen to this record. That’s your warning. It’s the only one you are going to get.

So with that, I shall start. I’m not sorry for anything outrageous I may write.

Sometimes the second album can be a pain in the nips to write can’t it, especially when you one of the world’s greatest current female artists. But let’s be honest, anyone who thought Florence couldn’t give us an album that is of the same calibre as Lungs is a bit of a dick. By bit, I mean a lot. Just look at the talent she has. There’s no way in hell that she couldn’t make an album as amazing as Lungs- maybe one better. Lungs has a lot of emotional value to me. It came out when I was at one of the shittiest times of my life, but that album got me through. As did my best friend (HIYARRRRRR!) combine the two- and you now have one stable human being.

I know I said like an hour ago Summer Camp’s album is my favourite record of the year but I have decided that I am allowed to have more than one. Ceremonials is my other favourite record of the year. Why? Oh as if that requires an answer.

Florence Welch isn’t just a singer/song-writer. She’s a poet. Read her lyrics, and you’ll see that the way she words things and the words she uses are so carefully put together and well thought out- just like a true poet. A romantic poet. There is so much darkness and romanticism in her lyrics; that is one of the fundamental reasons as to why I fell in love with her music 4 years ago in my room at University. I remember that day more clearly than most. It was like something clicked in my brain. It’s totally okay to embrace the darker side of things and let it lure you in.

Favourite track so far off the record has to be Breaking Down. I love the way she whispers the verses. I love how vulnerable this song is. Fuck, the whole record is a body of fragility and purity. I’m the same age as Florence, it blows my mind to know this. Actually, I think my favourite could be Lover To Lover.

Lover To Lover has this MASSIVE 60s soul anthem feel to it. Think Aretha Franklin- go with that..do you hear it? It’s so bloody soulful. This is THE ONE. Look, if you want your soul saving or that heart of yours fixing get involved with this record. Actually, Lover To Lover has that euphoric build up in it like Marvin Gaye’s Heard It Through The Grapevine. Seriously, it is passionate and so FUCKING euphoric. The whole record makes you want to pull a mental face out of sheer bliss then hug someone because you are so happy! It doesn’t matter that the lyrics are dark and heartbreaking- it still makes your body feel like it is on fire and that everything is okay in your world.

Going to be slightly personal for a sec. This year has been pretty shite. I don’t need to tell you why, but certain records have done something to me internally and made me feel better about everything. They made it okay for me to allow myself to feel like shit (but not to do it in the eyes of anyone who knows me) and I can safely say that Ceremonials is probably going to go on the list of records that not only improved this year for me; but it’s changed my life a little bit. Her music does that to me. It did it the first time I ever heard her voice and it does it every time I listen to her music. Something takes over all this self-doubt and causes it to fuck off. That’s the power of music. It can make you feel something so ugly and gnarly- but then it just chases it all away. It is the most reliable source of comfort.

Seven Devils is menacing. Seven Devils should scare the shit out of you. Seven Devils is a nightmare. It is perfect. It is dark. Dark and mean- like a recor by The Jesus And Mary Chain. There’s so much death, despair and darkness surrounding this record. It feels like a healing process. I honestly cannot understand how someone could ignore the talent here. Not just on this record, but on Lungs too.  Seven Devils has that haunting feel that Blinding has. It’s probably going to be utterly mind-blowing live.

The drums on Heartlines has literally covered my body in goose bumps. How can something be so bloody perfect? This is beyond words. “But in order to get to the heart,  think sometimes you have to cut through.”  Live by that kids, and you’ll be fine.

Florence’s lyrics have always amazed  from Bird Song to Donkey Kosh- she’s always had this way of making you see things in a different way and approaching certain things in life in (maybe) a better way.

There is a much bigger sound on this record, much grander than Lungs but obviously as gorgeous. I’m not reluctant to love this record as much as I love Lungs. I thought I would be, but that’s not happening. I probably love this record moreand when I can think of something clever to say and how to say why I do- I will let you know. However, I don’t think I’m in any fit state now to even try. This record has well and truly blown whatever is left of my brain. It’s declared a large part of my heart that a person should claim. It’s moved me in some kind of spiritual way. I have no idea what Florence was aiming to achieve with this record, but I think it’s safe to say she has done it. There is nothing like this around at all. Gaga’s prancing around about being a freak, Adele’s still on about her ex- Florence actually has something for you to  listen to and lose yourself in. If you listen to Ceremonials and your body hasn’t trembled or you feel the need to go for a lie down because it is too much to take in- then you’ve not listened to the record properly.

Without sounding like a massive loser, I honestly have no idea what I would’ve done without Florence’s music. Her music has been there for everything- good and bad. They say you should never meet those you look up to or whatever, well- I have and it was the best time ever. I’m not just proud of the fact that I’ve met her, but I’m also proud to be a fan of hers. I honestly cannot understand how anyone cannot be moved by this record. It should spark that flame in your that has been burning out for some time. It should make you want to do something, anything. Fuck…it doesn’t matter. It is a masterpiece.

Ceremonials is a ritualistic piece of art. It feels like one huge prayer or an outer body experience. It feels like you are leaving yourself and finding another part of you as you listen to this record. Leave My Body is the standout track that makes you feel this way. “I’m gonna be released from behind these lines. And I don’t care whether I live or die. And I’m losing blood, I’m gonna leave my bones. And I don’t want your heart it leaves me cold.”

I hate everything I’ve written down, but the point is- this is one of the best records of the year and on Monday you NEED to go out and buy it. You know, it may not change your life but you need it in your record collection. Just listen to it. Turn your phone off, sit in the dark and listen to this record. Close off the world and just give yourself over to Ceremonials for an hour or so. Maybe have it on repeat for about 5 more listens. Maybe more than 5. I have no idea what to do with myself now I’ve heard this. Will anything mean as much? I guess I’ll just have to wait until album number 3.

“But with all my education, I can’t seem to command it. And the words are all escaping, coming back all damaged. And I would put them back in poetry,if I only knew how. I can’t seem to understand it.”

Summer Camp-Welcome To Condale.

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Welcome To Condale? More like…WELCOME TO THE BEST ALBUM OF 2011. Seriously, I wasn’t going to allow myself to love analbum this year as much as The Horrors, The Kills or Florence- but I’ve decided that I have far too much love to go around to limit myself to one record. What I mean is- I lied. All those times I claimed to have found the best record of the year-I lied. Until RIGHT NOW. I can safely say not only have Summer Camp put out the best album of the year but it is also the best debut album of the year.

If you’ve been daft enough to read anything I’ve written or if you know me (I’m sorry) you will have probably had me tell you that I Want You by Summer Camp is the best thing to have happened this year. Since February I have played it every day. It’s taken over my life. Well, not as dramatic as that but I do love the song a hell of a lot. It’s about how love should be. Is it a stalker song? I don’t think it is, but I can see why someone would think that. Personally, I think it is the best song to have come out this year. I’ve spent most of this year listening to a lot of records. Some have made me nauseas, some have made me happy, some have made me weep- but NO song apart from I Want You has made me feel so stupidly happy. I have no idea what it is. It’s the music, Elizabeth’s voice, the lyrics, the production- EVERYTHING. I love when the drums kick in and the synths just blow your mind. I’ve written about this song so many times and I can sense I’m going to go off on one if I don’t move onto a different song.

The album opens with their last single, Better Off Without You. It’s my favourite “fuck you, you’re a massive wanker” song of this year. I like songs that tell someone to sod off in a roundabout way. Probably because I’m too much of a coward to do it myself. Not that I need to right now, but you know what I mean. I love how the intro sounds like something from an awful 80s film. I’m not dissing the song. You know those awful 80s films that you have to watch because they are so bad- they are good? That’s what I mean. I’m giving a compliment, I’m just making a massive mess out of it. In short, Better Off Without You sounds very 80s and is bloody brilliant. I probably should’ve said that in the first place.

I want to draw your attention to Jeremy’s vocals on Brian Krakow. They are amazing! I love love LOVE this song. Basically, how I feel about I Want You- every song on this album makes me feel. It is that AMAZING. I cannot praise this record enough, I really can’t. During my last two years of Uni I was a huge fan of Jeremy’s music. I thought it was so heartfelt and passionate. A fantastic musican with a lot of heart and talent for him to be part of my favourite band of 2011 (and part of 2010) is just mind-blowing. I think it is safe to say that Elizabeth and Jeremy are the best duo around (this doesn’t include The Kills because I’m mentally married to Alison.) Their voices work so bloody well together, it’s just perfect. Perfection does exist, you can find it on this record.

Oh look, I seem to have gone back a few tracks and I’m listening to I Want You again. It’d be rude to skip this song.

This album was funded from the Pledge Music site. Jeremy and Elizabeth made stuff, sold the stuff to then make this album. Everything from demos to brownies to a gig in your home was part of the pledge. Is this the future of how all records are going to be made? Possibly. It’s a bloody good way of doing it. It means the artists get full creative control and can make the music that they want and not have some chubby boss in an ill-fitting suit telling them what to do.

I have been looking forward to this record for so long. I don’t get excited about much. Well, music wise I suppose I do. More than one should I guess, but I’m not sorry. I don’t know what I was expecting from this record. I knew it was going to be a solid record, but I honestly didn’t expect every single track to make me feel so fucking happy and just want to hug someone. I do like a good cuddle, but you know what I mean. The drums, the guitars, synthy things- it is all perfect. There are some sad songs on this record but the music just makes you ignore that. The lyrics are ridiculously brilliant. They don’t need to write pretentious bull-turd to make a point or to make you feel what they are singing. “This house isn’t big enough for the both of us.” such a beautiful line, taken from Losing My Mind. Another favourite. Their vocals sound so beautiful together on this record.

I love Summer Camp (the track) and the intro has a wonderful “YOU CRAZY BITCH!” sample from a film on the intro. This is another reason as to why I love the duo. They use brilliant film samples in their music. It makes you feel really part of the record. Sometimes artists create amazing music, but you cannot feel part of it. Summer Camp don’t do that. You feel like you are living in Condale in this record. You feel like you know Brian Krakow. We probably know someone like him don’t we. A brilliant name too. Very 80s German porn star-ish. I’m joking….or am I?! 😉 When a band have a song named after the band, it is always amazing. My only reference to this are Summer Camp and Warpaint. Oh look, two of my favourite bands. I’m biased, don’t judge.

Nobody Knows You is wonderful. I honestly feel like a massive wanker picking apart the songs and telling you about them. Can’t you just go out and buy the record on Monday? Go on. Do it. Go to your local record shop and buy this wonderful work of art. It is truly a masterpiece.

It is hard to believe that this is their debut full length album because it sounds like something a band well into their career would make. I’m not just saying this because I love the band I lot. If I thought the record was toss- I wouldn’t write over a thousands words telling you about why it is amazing. Welcome To Condale makes you feel like you are living in the 80s. Hopefully not wearing neon legging and a shellsuit/tracksuit jacket. Actually, I hear wearing that whilst listening to this record gives it a different vibe. Go try it. I won’t tell anyone. Don’t send me a photo.

Their new single, Down is UHHHHHHmazing. Have you seen the video? Do you want to? Of course you do. It’s directed by Chris Boyle and it’s probably the best video if the year.

I don’t think I’ve ever written this much about a record before, maybe it’s because I’ve never heard anything like this before. It is truly wonderful. I don’t care if you hate synths or anything that sounds a bit 80s- I’m like that. I’m not really a huge fan, but fuck it- Summer Camp do it in a way that deserves your attention. So, on Monday I want you (see what I did!) to go out and buy Welcome To Condale. Then I want you (I’m not sorry) to send the band a nice message on Twitter telling them you love the record and it is the best thing you’ve heard all year. Can you do that? Good. Oh and make sure you go see them on their UK tour in a few weeks.

Elizabeth, Jeremy; THANK YOU for this wonderful record. It is obvious how much love and hard-work has gone into this record. It is truly mind-blowing.

 

John Peel.

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Everyone has that one person who makes them realise what they want to do with their life. Everyone has that one person that just instils something in them that no one or nothing else ever can. This doesn’t have to be someoneyou’ve met; it can be anyone. A musician, an author, a superhero(they exist, do not question it). It can be anyone.

Mine is John Peel.

Does anyone remember when Radio 1 used to be good? I do. I remember listening to Steve Lamacq in the evening and getting into Mogwai for the first time. He got me into a lot of bands. But then there was John Peel. The man responsible for my heavy eyes and educated ears. The man responsible for me struggling to get up for school the next day because I hid
under the duvet with my ears pressed against the radio listening to his show. This man got me into so many artists ranging from Captain Beefheart to The Fall to The Jesus And Mary Chain. John Peel made me realise that I had to be a Music Writer. I don’t have the voice or talent for radio, who knows if it lies within Music Journalism but he made me want to go for it.

Two years ago I was lucky enough to meet one of John Peel’s close friends, Andy Kershaw. I was working in HMV at the time and I held up the queue by talking to him for ages. We spoke about John Peel and The Clash. He was just a loving, genuine soul who I wish I could’ve met.

They say music died the day he died. I think I have to agree. Radio has gone downhill since he died. There is a lack of passion and knowledge amongst presenters. They play the same song every half hour and inform you about Lady
Gaga’s favourite biscuit. I don’t care about that. I want to hear music. I want to hear a DJ play it at the wrong speed just like JohnPeel used to do. I want to hear a DJ ramble on about the history of the band before he/she plays it. I don’t want the record to be cut off before the end. Or talked over. The qualities John Peel had were extremely rare-nobody else has possessed them since. I doubt they ever will.

His presence in the music industry was so vital. His charisma was just beautiful. He wasn’t pretentious oik who claimed to know everything about music. He was a just a person who was passionate about music.

He died in 2004, two years before I went to University but he died at the point where one has to decide what they want to do with their life. I was told by various teachers that I couldn’t be a Music Writer as it wasn’t a stable career. Since when has being stable been appealing? I don’t want a job where I am doing the same thing every single day. I don’t want 9-5. I don’t like the idea of that at all. I cannot settle in one place, because I know that there is something bigger and better
out there. Never limit yourself. I worked my arse off to get myself into University. It paid off, well- I don’t have a paid job now but I get to write about Music every day and find new bands to write about. My passion for music all came from John Peel. I will always be forever in debt to him. Of all the people in the world, him and Lester Bangs are the only two I have ever wanted to meet. Imagine sitting down with those two and just talking about music for hours and hours. It’d be inspiring.

I think my most treasured possession is my CD of John Peel’s Festive 50 from the year I was born, it has The Smiths on the cover. It is one of the most important things I own.

Every single time I hear Teenage Kicks I get a bit teary eyed, and I then smile. I cannot listen to it without thinking about John Peel. I hear bands that are around now and wonder if he would enjoy them. I reckon he would’ve loved Warpaint and Zola Jesus.

There is a quote by John Peel that is just so beautiful and so true :

“There’s always the possibility that you’re going to come across a record that transforms your life. And it happens weekly. It’s like a leaf on the stream. There are little currents and eddies and sticks lying in the water that nudge you in a slightly different direction. And then you break loose and carry on down the current. There’s nothing that actually stops you and lifts you out of the water and puts you on the bank but there are diversions and distractions and alarums and excursions which is what makes life interesting really. It’s fantastic.”

That quote just sums up exactly how I feel about music.

I could write thousands and thousands of words as to why I love him and always will- but his passion for music was the main reason. He knew so much, and because he knew so much- I wanted to know everything I possibly could about music. Personally, I can safely say that John Peel was the greatest teacher I ever had.

John was buried on my birthday, and every year since I shut off the world and play Teenage Kicks in honour of him. This year will be no different.

So thank you Mr. Peel. Thank you for giving me purpose, ambition and heart. John, this is for you:

“I just want to hear something I haven’t heard before.”

The Cure-The Cure.

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This album shits on Bloodflowers. I could’ve written that better, but I decided not to. I’m rebelling against my own intelligence and way with words (do I even have a way with words?!)

This self titled album shows that The Cure still have “it.” Whatever IT may be, The Cure posses it. This record has the charm, the feel, the sound, everything that you associate The Cure with. I remember seeing the video to Taking Off and feeling EXACTLY like I did when I first heard The Cure when I was a baby. For a band to make you feel the same many years on, well, it really does prove that they are one of the greatest around. I’ll go on some more about this specfic track shortly.

The album was produced by one of the best producers around, Ross Robinson who has worked with bands such as Deftones, KoRn, Slipknot and Machine Head. Now, if you listen to this album you will notice that compared to previous releases it sounds heavier. I suppose that is a given considering they worked with a brilliant Metal producer. The general feel of this album is heavier than previous releases, and it works. It just shows how amazing the band are and that they can still be as relevant now as they 20 years ago. Not many can do that.

Okay so back to Taking Off. This song makes you want to lose yourself in the eyes of someone you adore. I know it’s an easy thing to do, but it’s a hard thing to wan to do. This song makes it easy for you to do so. Like a lot of songs by The Cure, it is romantic. However, unlike most tracks by them it is quite cheerful. For a heavy album, this is one of the most uplifting tracks on the record.

Although probably not worth listening to, many critics praised this release. We all know that a fan knows a band better than a critic do’t we. To be honest, I fail to see how anyone could possibly say anything bad about this record. Like I’ve sai before, you cannot expect a band to keep having the same sound over and over. The Cure have been going since 1976, they will never sound like how they did at the start ever again- which is a good thing. A band needs to change. A talented band will embrace that.

I adore (I Don’t Know What’s Going)On. Robert Smith sounds so lost and hopeless on this track. The total opposite of songs such as Taking Off. We’ve all been there. You like someone, they turn out to be a tit and you have no idea what the hell is going on with them or you. This songs makes you picure Robert stumbling along a street in a daze questioning what is going on. You’d probably follow him wouldn’t you? It’s okay, I probably would too.

The Cure-Bloodflowers.

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I guess Bloodflowers isn’t really as strong as previous albums by The Cure but it still has that dark and sombre feel to it that makes you realise exactly why you love The Cure. It’s not a patch on Seventeen Seconds- but I’m only saying this because that album is my baby. I love it like a parent loves their child. In my opinion it’s probably The Cure’s best album, but hey- doesn’t mean I am right.

Bloodflowers only has 9 tracks and it is regarded as the final part of The Cure’s trilogy. Robert Smith has said many times that Bloodflowers, Pornography and Disintegration define The Cure the best. Do you agree? Do any of their albums actually define The Cure? It’s personal opinion I suppose. For me, I’d say Faith and Seventeen Seconds.

For most, Wild Mood Swings didn’t sound like your typical album by The Cure. There aren’t as many keyboards on this record, which is why it is easy for one to assume that The Cure went back to their roots with this record. The drunken guitar sounds, the morose vibe, dark lyrics. When a lot of bands last as long as The Cure have, some may assume that it is difficult for the band to stay as creative as they used to be; and for the band to still be interested and most of all passionate about creating new music. With The Cure it is evident that they are, some may see Wild Mood Swings as a brief halt in their career but they picked themselves up with Bloodflowers. I personally love Wild Mood Swings, but I can see why someone wouldn’t enjoy it as much as previous records by the band.

If The Cure were a season, they would be Winter. Robert Smiths lyrics feel like a cold, dark day; the streets covered in snow. Everywhere is desolate. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but it’s quite comforting. This is evident on songs such as Watching Me Fall: “There’s a thin white cold new moon and the snow is coming down. And the neon bright Tokyo lights flicker through the crowd. I’ve been drifting around for hours and I’m lost and I’m tired.” It’s just such a beautiful song. Oh and it lasts around 11 minutes.

Aside from one track (There Is No If….) all the tracks on this record last well over 5 minutes. As someone who loves song that last over 5 minutes, this album is pretty much perfect. Most tracks have this wonderful euphoric feel to it. Some stay the same, some build up. It is a beautiful record and you can easily see why it is part of the Trilogy of records that best define The Cure. It may not be their best album, but they will never create a record like Faith again. I’m glad they won’t. It wouldn’t be right if they kept making the same record over and over. That’s why they have lasted so long, because they change but still keep the same dark feeling to their sound.

The Cure-Wild Mood Swings.

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Apart from A Forest, there is one song by The Cure that means everything to me. Everything could possbily be an understatement. Treasure is found on Wild Mood Swings, an album by The Cure that is stupidly overlooked. So what if it isn’t as good as previous releases (Fuck that, it’s actually amazing.) The tracks on this album are just as heartfelt as the others before; you cannot deny that. Treasure will always mean the world to me, for so many reasons. Reasons that I cannot put into words, reasons that I don’t like; it’s just such a special song to me. I love it far too much. It is such a frail and heartbreaking song. I reckon the best ones usually are.

Sadly, the band rarely (if ever) perform tracks from this album live- along with The Top. If I ever witnessed Treasure live, I think every single part of me would just metaphorically break and I’d need a cuddle. I wouldn’t be able to cope with anything again.

Wild Mood Swings is the first record without Boris Williams and Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup was taken ill(but later joined the group for recording)- so the record was mainly Perry Bamonte and Robert Smith. It was also the first record drummer, Jason Cooper appeared on. Oh, and Roger O’Donnell came back for this record too!

Although this record wasn’t as popular as previous, Robert Smith has said it is one of his favourites by The Cure. Is he being sarky or does he mean it? Who knows. I like to think he means it. Just because I want someone other than myself to love this album.

It isn’t a dark as the other records, it does have a strange sound to it. It doesn’t really have that Goth vibe to it that we’ve come to know and love The Cure for. But so what? You cannot expect a band to make the same record over and over. It’d be boring and the band just wouldn’t evolve. If you’re a creative person, you don’t ever want to repeat yourself do you? There would honestly be no point.

The lyrics are quite woeful, and there’s one track that isn’t your typical morose track-Gone! is quite a postive track. Baically telling the listener that no good is really going to come from staying in bed and doing nothing all day. Ahh..you say this Robert, but sometimes lying in bed and listening to music is the best thing in the world! But seriously, in all honesty it’s an uplifting track that anyone who feels a bit shit should listen to. In fact, just give this record some well deserved attention and TLC. It needs it. It’s a bloody fantastic record.

 

The Cure-Wish.

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Artwork is a big deal for me. The amount of times I have held a record in hands and just gawped at it for hours is mental. I’m surprised I’ve never been thrown out of a record shop for just holding records and staring at them. You know how you get those people who read magazines in shops and don’t move for ages? I’m exactly like that with records. Do NOT ever go with me when I want to go into a record shop- I won’t leave for at least an hour and I’ll have some kind of breakdown trying to choose what I want. I battle with my wants and needs when in a record shop. This leads me onto the artwork for Wish, The Cure’s ninth album. The artwork to this album is one of my favourites of all time and EASILY my favourite of The Cure’s.

Wish was the last album to feature Porl Thompson and Boris Williams. However it isn’t all too bad; Wish was the first record by The Cure to go to number 1 in the UK! HURRAY! (And the first record Perry Balmonte featured on.) Obviously I believe all their other records should’ve gone to number 1 but that’s just my delightful biased opinion coming through again. Yes, this is the album that posses one of the most famous songs by the band, Friday I’m Love. Yes it’s a good song; but the band have so many songs- this doesn’t even touch on how amazing the band are. If you’re one of those who only know The Cure for Friday I’m In Love then please go listen to Faith, go listen to Seventeen Seconds- just go back and listen to all their records. You will find there are better songs than Friday I’m In Love.

The album starts with the amazing, Open. “I really don’t know what i’m doing here. I really think I should’ve gone to bed tonight.” This line sums up exactly how I feel when I go out at night to shitty clubs that play shitty music. Seeing the same faces trying to go home with anything that (possibly) has a pulse. It means nothing to me, I cannot relate. The music I hear, the atmosphere- it doesn’t move me. It’s such a beautiful song, if I had to have an anthem- it’d be a strong candidate I think.

To Wish Impossible Things is probably my favourite track off the album. The title alone if beautiful, the song is just heartbreaking. I love songs that just rip you apart inside. I love being able to see the beauty in painful lyrics. There’s something about it, quite hard to put it into words. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy happy songs. But you can find joy in anything. To hear swuch sadness in a song just moves me in a btter way; it’s like inspiration in a way. It’s okay to feel like cack sometimes. Don’t be afraid. That said, I don’t walk around feeling sorry for myself and whinging about life. Far from it. Just because I wear black all the time doesn’t mean I’m miserable and hate everything. Most think I do, but they’re twats who don’t know me. Not all fans of The Cure are miserable fuckers.

Like most records by The Cure, Wish has a comforting but sad feel to it. Love, longing, despair- it’s all evident on this record; and most records by The Cure. It’s just another record by Robert Smith and his lads for you to lose yourself in. That’s what The Cure does. They enable you to discover parts of yourself and just totally lose yourself in the music. You need to do that, letting go isn’t a bad thing. Ever. Don’t ever think it is.

The album closes with End. Another painfully gut-wrenching song by the group. It has such a hopeless feel to it; “I think I’ve reached that point
where giving up and going on are both the same dead end to me.” Anyone who has ever felt so fucking low will understand this statement more than they wish to. It’s a horrific feeling, but everyone experiences it at some point in their life. For some, it lasts longer than it does for others. You just have to find that wee bit of courage and strength to pull yourself through. “Please stop loving me, I am none of these things.” It’s just so upsetting, but again- we’ve all felt that way. It’s such a sad end to the album, but it’s such a fantastic song. You cannot fault it.

Wish, is one of their strongest albums, in my opinion. Everything about it is just beautiful from the artwork to Robert’s voice. They say that good things come to those who wait, I think they waited long enough for that number 1 record.

The Cure-Disintegration.

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Although he was credited on the album, Lol Tolhurst didn’t play on this record. Robert Smith returned to taking halluciongenic drugs. Could they actually make a solid record with all this going on? In short, yes. Fucking hell, yes. Disintegration saw the band return to that wonderful dark and gloomy sound that caused you to fall in love with them years before. Well, it depends on your age really; but you know what I mean.

The album opens with Plainsong and posses a beautiful line at the end of the song, it causes your heart to ache. But you resentfully smile because you can think of someone who you can easily associate it with. That’s the pain of relating to a song so much isn’t it. There’s always someone you can associate it with. Thankfully I cannot associate anyone with this song. Other songs by The Cure, I probably could. But I do my best not to, I don’t want someone to ruin what this band mean to me. So yes, the line is: “Sometimes you make me feel like i’m living at the edge of the world.”  It’s such a gorgeous line. What’s so stunning about this lyric is that you can takew what you want from it. The person can make you feel like you’re on the edge of the world because they make you feel so shite you want to just jump off a cliff OR they make you feel nerous, on edge; but in a good way. Their presence makes your stomach flip and nothing can compare to it. Personally, I take the latter meaning. There’s no better feeling. The Cure can teach y0u everything you need to learn about love.

Pictures Of You will always be one of the ultimate songs by The Cure. It is so woeful and loving at the same time. You ache with Robert as he sings this treasure of a song. Is it about death or is it about the love of your life leave you? Both are about loss, so I guess the general meaning is loss. We’ve all looked at the photos of the one we are fond of, wishing they were there; but they are gone. Long gone, and it kills. You think you cannot possibly go on; but you can. You will and you do. It’s okay.

The video to Lullaby scared me for so long, but I used to be so engrossed by it; I just had to watch. The song is creepy but that’s why you love it. You love the way Robert Smith whispers each word. It freaks you out by no part of you wants to turn it off.  The lyrics are so poetic, if you just look at the lyrics; it just reads like a Romantic piece of poetry. The imagery is so beautiful, the pictures it conjures up in your mind is just enthralling.

There’s a track on this album that just tugs at my herartstrings and takes over, just everything really. It’s seven minutes of perfection. Homesick. I hate where I grew up. Going to University was the best thing I’ve ever done (for the sake of my own mental health!) Obivously it’s proved useless in the job area as I don’t have one. Homesick just defines how I feel about where I grew up. All my family are here, and yes it’s bloody difficult living in a different country, far from them- but when I come back I feel no connection to this place. There’s a line that just sums it all up: “Cling to me so just one more just one more go. Inspire in me the desire in me to never go home.”  I don’t want to leave England to go back home, I need to be inspired to not do so. Thank you Robert Smith. You just want something or someone to mean enough to keep you away from the place you don’t want to go.

Disintegration wasn’t well recieved by critics but hey- what do they know. As a fan, I can safely say it is a bloody good record. How could you not? Maybe I’m just a biased fan, but when you truly love a band. I mean truly, truly love them; everything they do is perfect and means the world to you because it is the band that saved your soul. It is the band that wrote the songs that saved you and comforts you to this very day. No other band will ever mean as much. They could change their style and make an obscure Opera record; but you would still love and adore them with everything you have. To me, that’s what being a fan is about. Feeling every song, every lyric, every note to the very core of you.

The Cure-Kiss Me,Kiss Me, Kiss Me.

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I guess writing about every album by The Cure is getting easier. I mean, it’s not exactly a chore to listen to every album by your favourite band is it. If anything, this making me truly appreciate the band even more than I already do. Every listen just makes me realise how important this band are to me. Maybe I’ll always be some silly lost cause, but The Cure make that burden easier to carry. There is nothing better than discovering different layers to the songs you love, the meanings behind the songs you love and what a band went through with each record.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is probably the album that launched The Cure into the mainstream. Personally, it should’ve been the first album that did this. However, people are cack at times and they take a while to realise what they have don’t they. The albums opens with the euphoric and fucking gut wrenching The Kiss. If I could see The Cure perform any song live, it would be this one. Oh and of course A Forest. I love how wonderfully dramatic The Kiss is. A fantastic opener to the album. I think if this was the first record someone ever bought, it would just change their life in ways they couldn’t ever imagine. Like, nothing before is better and nothing after would have any worth. It just has that feel to it that cannot be found anywhere else.

One thing that annoyed me about this record is that Hey You was taken off the original release. It was placed on the 2006 edition, but it honestly should’ve been there the first time around. It would’ve just sounded so perfect.

I love how this album just makes you want to grab the person you are fond off and kiss them. However, if I was to do that to the person I like, I think she would probably call me a freak and tell me to fuck off! Oh well. It’s just such a bouncy, happy record. Quite like The Head On The Door, of course you have the dark moments but the music is just so wonderful and uplifting. It gives you that feeling that makes every part of you come alive. That’s what music should do.

One of the saddest things about this record is that it is pretty much the last one without the wonderful Lol Tolhurst. Is that loss evident in the releases after? Well, that’ll be something I’ll have in mind as I write about the albums after.

Everyone loves the tracks such as Catch, Just Like Heaven and Hot!Hot!Hot! but honestly, every single song is worthy of loving as much as those three. Every track is just beautifully astounding. There’s this wonderful atmosphere it posses that is found if you look beyond some of the dark lyrics, but to be honest it is possibly their most upbeat album (lyrically and musically.) When Robert sings “Hey!” Hey! Hey!” on Hot!Hot!Hot! it just fils you up with so much excitement. It’s just a stunning and exciting record from start to finish. You just have to play it over and over again; one listen isn’t enough. It stays with you forever. You build emotions and memories around it.

One song that always stands out for me has to be The Perfect Girl. I may act like a dickhead at times but I’m a stupidly romantic bugger at heart; and this song just sums it all up. I just adore the lines, “You’re such a strange girl. I want to be with you.”  It’s just a beautiful song. My favourite off the album, and one of my favourites by the band. It just makes you think of someone who amazes you, and wanting to be near them. It’s a delicate and happy song. I just love it to pieces.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is yet again, another album by The Cure that just owns your heart.