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The Cure - Galore (CD)
The Singles 1987-1997
Original 1997 CD Release
OUT OF PRINT!!!
Used CD in GREAT PLAYING CONDITION!!!
Includes CD and all Inserts!!!
CD may have Superficial Scratches that doesn't effect play.
Jewel Case and Inserts have normal wear.
"Galore" is a fine collection of latter day Cure songs with a minimum of
padding. The first eight tracks are from the band's two most popular
albums "Kiss Me, Kiss, Me Kiss Me" and "Disintegration," including radio
hits like "Just Like Heaven," "Pictures of You," and "Fascination
Street." The next two cuts are from the strange "Mixed Up" collection,
including the ace dance floor version of the mid-80s staple "Close to
Me." The album then concludes with a number of songs from the less
successful 90s albums "Wish" and "Wild Mood Swings," including the
band's last big single "Friday I'm in Love." The final song, "Wrong
Number" is the only one that is new to this collection. "Galore" is a excellent
overview of The Cure's long musical history.
Track
listing
1. Why Can't I Be You?
2. Catch
3. Just Like Heaven
4. Hot Hot Hot!!!
5. Lullaby
6. Fascination Street
7. Lovesong
8. Pictures of You
9. Never Enough
10. Close to Me - (Closet Remix)
11. High
12. Friday I'm in Love
13. Letter to Elise, A
14. 13th - (Swing Radio Mix)
15. Mint Car -
(Radio Mix)
16. Strange Attraction - (Album Mix)
17. Gone! - (Radio Mix)
18. Wrong Number
Product Details
- Audio CD (October 28, 1997)
- Original Release Date: October 28, 1997
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Elektra / Wea
The Cure Biography
Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk
rock in the late '70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led
through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born
April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for its slow, gloomy dirges
and Smith's ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the
diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged,
edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As
one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created
towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught
on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end
of the '80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in
its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts
of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable
record-seller rhroughout the '90s, and their influence could be heard
clearly on scores of new bands during the new millenium, including many
that had little to do with goth.
Originally called the Easy Cure,
the band was formed in 1976 by schoolmates Smith (vocals, guitar),
Michael Dempsey (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums). Initially,
the group specialized in dark, nervy guitar pop with pseudo-literary
lyrics, as evidenced by the Albert Camus-inspired "Killing an Arab." A
demo tape featuring "Killing an Arab" arrived in the hands of Chris
Parry, an A&R representative at Polydor Records; by the time he
received the tape, the band's name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry
was impressed with the song and arranged for its release on the
independent label Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry
left Polydor to form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one
of the first bands to sign with the upstart label. "Killing an Arab"
was then re-released in February of 1979, and the Cure embarked on its
first tour of England.
The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary
Boys, was released in May 1979 to positive reviews in the British music
press. Later that year, the group released the non-LP singles "Boys
Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train." That same year, the Cure
embarked on a major tour with Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the
tour, the Banshees' guitarist, John McKay, left the group and Smith
stepped in for the missing musician. For the next decade or so, Smith
would frequently collaborate with members of the Banshees.
At the
end of 1979, the Cure released a single, "I'm a Cult Hero," under the
name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single, Dempsey left
the band to join the Associates; he was replaced by Simon Gallup at the
beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added a keyboardist,
Mathieu Hartley, and wrapped up production on the band's second album,
Seventeen Seconds, which was issued during the spring of 1980. The
addition of a keyboardist expanded the group's sound, was which now more
experimental and often embraced slow, gloomy dirges. Nevertheless, the
band still wrote pop hooks, as demonstrated by the group's first U.K.
hit single, "A Forest," which peaked at number 31. After the release of
Seventeen Seconds, the Cure launched its first world tour. Following the
Australian leg of the tour, Hartley exited the lineup and his former
bandmates chose to continue without him, releasing their third album in
1981 (Faith) and watching it peak at number 14 in the charts. Faith also
spawned the minor hit single "Primary." The Cure's fourth album, the
doom-laden, introspective Pornography, was released soon after in 1982.
Pornography expanded their cult audience even further and cracked the
U.K. Top Ten. After the Pornography tour was completed, Gallup quit the
band and Tolhurst moved from drums to keyboards. At the end of 1982, the
Cure released a new single, the dance-tinged "Let's Go to Bed."
Smith
devoted most of the beginning of 1983 to Siouxsie and the Banshees,
recording the Hyaena album with the group and appearing as the band's
guitarist on the album's accompanying tour. That same year, Smith also
formed a band with Banshees bassist Steve Severin; after adopting the
name The Glove, the group released its only album, Blue Sunshine. By the
late summer of 1983, a new version of the Cure -- featuring Smith,
Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley -- had
assembled and recorded a new single, a jaunty tune named "The Lovecats."
The song was released in the fall of 1983 and became the group's
biggest hit to date, peaking at number seven on the U.K. charts. The new
lineup of the Cure released The Top in 1984. Despite the pop leanings
the number 14 hit "The Caterpillar," The Top was a return to the bleak
soundscapes of Pornography. During the world tour supporting The Top,
Anderson was fired from the band. In early 1985, following the
completion of the tour, Thornalley left the band. The Cure revamped
their lineup after his departure, adding drummer Boris Williams and
guitarist Porl Thompson; Gallup returned on bass. Later in 1985, the
Cure released their sixth album, The Head on the Door. The album was the
most concise and pop-oriented record the group had ever released, which
helped send it into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59 in the U.S., the
first time the band had broken the American Hot 100. "In Between Days"
and "Close to Me" -- both pulled from The Head on the Door -- became
sizable U.K. hits, as well as popular underground and college radio hits
in the U.S.
The Cure followed the breakthrough success of The
Head on the Door in 1986 with the compilation Standing on a Beach: The
Singles. Standing on a Beach reached number four in the U.K., but more
importantly it established the band as a major cult act in the U.S.; the
album peaked at number 48 and went gold within a year. In short,
Standing on a Beach set the stage for 1987's double album Kiss Me, Kiss
Me, Kiss Me. The album was eclectic but it was a hit, spawning four hit
singles in the U.K. ("Why Can't I Be You," "Catch," "Just Like Heaven,"
"Hot Hot Hot!!!") and the group's first American Top 40 hit, "Just Like
Heaven." Following the supporting tour for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me,
the Cure's activity slowed to a halt. Before the Cure began working on
their new album in early 1988, the band fired Tolhurst, claiming that
relations between him and the rest of the band had been irrevocably
damaged. Tolhurst would soon file a lawsuit, claiming that his role in
the band was greater than stated in his contract and, consequently, he
deserved more money.
In the meantime, the Cure replaced Tolhurst
with former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and recorded
their eighth album, Disintegration. Released in the spring of 1989, the
album was more melancholy than its predecessor, but it was an immediate
hit, reaching number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S., and
spawning a series of hit singles. "Lullaby" became the group's biggest
British hit in the spring of 1989, peaking at number five. In the late
summer, the band had its biggest American hit with "Love Song," which
climbed to number two. On the Disintegration tour, the Cure began
playing stadiums across the U.S. and the U.K. In the fall of 1990, the
Cure released Mixed Up, a collection of remixes featuring a new single,
"Never Enough." Following the Disintegration tour, O'Donnell left the
band and the Cure replaced him with their roadie, Perry Bamonte. In the
spring of 1992, the band released Wish. Like Disintegration, Wish was an
immediate hit, entering the British charts at number one and the
American charts at number two, as well as launching the hit singles
"High" and "Friday I'm in Love." The Cure embarked on another
international tour after the release of Wish. One concert, performed in
Detroit, was documented on a film called Show and on two albums, Show
and Paris. The movie and the albums were released in 1993.
Thompson
left the band in 1993 to join Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's band. After
his departure, O'Donnell rejoined the lineup as a keyboardist, and
Bamonte switched from synthesizer duties to guitar. During most of 1993
and early 1994, the Cure were sidelined by an ongoing lawsuit from
Tolhurst, who claimed joint ownership of the band's name and also sought
to restructure his royalty payments. A settlement (ruling in the band's
favor) eventually arrived during the fall of 1994, and the Cure shifted
their focus to the task at hand: recording a follow-up album to Wish.
However, drummer Boris Williams quit just as the band prepared to begin
the recording process. The group recruited a new percussionist through
advertisements in the British music papers; by the spring of 1995, Jason
Cooper had replaced Williams. Throughout 1995, the Cure recorded their
tenth proper studio album, pausing to perform a handful of European
musical festivals in the summer. The album, titled Wild Mood Swings, was
finally released in the spring of 1996, preceded by the single "The
13th."
A combination of pop tunes and darker moments that lived up
to its title, Wild Mood Swings received a mixed reception critically
and commercially, slowing but not halting the momentum gained by Wish.
Galore, the Cure's second singles collection focusing on the band's hits
since Standing on a Beach, appeared in 1997 and featured the new song
"Wrong Number." The Cure spent the next few years quietly -- giving a
song to the X-Files soundtrack, Robert Smith appearing in a memorable
episode of South Park -- re-emerging in 2000 with Bloodflowers, their
last album of original material for Fiction. Designed as the final
installment in a heavy goth trilogy that stretched all the way back to
Pornography and included Disintegration, Bloodflowers was well received
and a respectable success, earning a Grammy nomination for Best
Alternative Music Album. The next year, the Cure closed out their
contract with Fiction with the career-spanning Greatest Hits, which was
also accompanied by a DVD release of their most popular videos. During
2002, they spent some time on the road, capping off their tour with a
three-night stand in Berlin, where they played each album of their "goth
trilogy" on a different night; the event was documented on the home
video release Trilogy.
The Cure signed an international deal with
Geffen Records in 2003 and then launched an extensive reissue campaign
in 2004 with the rarities box set Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities,
1978-2001 (The Fiction Years); double-disc expanded editions of their
earliest albums soon followed. Also in 2004, the band released its first
album for Geffen, an eponymous effort recorded live in the studio.
Heavier but not necessarily harder -- and certainly not gloomier than
Bloodflowers -- The Cure was partially designed to appeal to a younger
audience familiar with the Cure through their influence on a new
generation of bands, many of which were showcased as opening acts on the
band's supporting tour for the album. The Cure underwent another lineup
change in 2005, as Bamonte and O'Donnell left the group and Porl
Thompson came back for his third stint. This new, keyboard-less lineup
debuted in 2005 as the headlining act at the benefit concert Live 8
Paris, then headed out on the summer festival circuit, highlights of
which were captured on the 2006 DVD release Festival 2005. The Cure
popped up on various festivals over the next two years, playing a more
extensive European tour in early 2008, as they completed their 13th
album. Originally conceived as a double album, the record was split in
two prior to its release, with the lighter, poppier material released
first as 4:13 Dream in October 2008.