Wild Mood Swings review
Drum Media
THE CURE
Wild Mood Swings
It's been a frustrating four years for most Cure fans since the release of
Wish. Porl Thompson and Boris Williams have left, court battles have been
fought, and the always immediate threat of breakup was on the cards. But
finally we've got something new in Wild Mood Swings.
This record, the band's 10th, is definitely what the title hints at, with
themes as diverse as joyous love, drug abuse, and love gone very, very
wrong. And musically it ranges from the somber to the surreal.
Wild Mood Swings begins with Want, a song along the lines of Disintegration
with its long atmospheric swirling guitar and strings intro before Robert
Smith begins to song desperately about useless hedonism. Club America is a
little lighter but still has that immediate moody edge. And in This Is A
Lie, mood turns to melancholy with somber strings and lyrics like, 'Why each
of us must lose everyone else on the world'.
But with The 13th The Cure snap you out of it, with a lively brass Spanish
rhythm and Smith's vocals gliding all over the place. Strange Attraction is
one of those pure Cure moments of joy and happiness with it's rollicking
keyboard rhythms and Smith's carefree vocal runs about love which eventually
goes wrong with the woman humorously asking, 'Can I use some of your
lipstick'. And in Mint Car, Wild Wood Swings has its Friday I'm In Love,
making love sound perfect with lyrics like, 'The sun is up I'm so happy I
could scream'.
Musically, Gone!, like The 13th, shows The Cure continuing to experiment,
this time with its cool jazz rhythms odd keyboard and muted trumpet solos as
well as staccato vocals from Smith.
But if you know The Cure, you know you can't stay 'happy happy' for the rest
of the album, with Numb's somber portrayal of drug addiction, the sad lament
of Treasure, and the nine minute epic of Bare, which somehow makes you
question those dream-like versions of love earlier on.
After so many albums it's hard for Wild Mood Swings to be particularly
groundbreaking, but it's still a mighty fine record and very much essential
to all Cure fans.
Last Revised: Monday, 15-May-2006 15:00:07 CDT
maintained by: Verdugo