Cure - Join The Dots (B-Sides And Rarities 1978-2001...

	£		23
	$		31

Join the Dots is the first major box-set from The Cure, taking in the whole of their career, but not in an obvious manner like 2001's Greatest Hits (which diluted Standing on a Beach with Galore). It is one for the fans, it works in a completist sense, even if multiple remixes of their Doors cover becomes a bit tedious (the cover versions here aren't too good- a dire Young Americans, & covers of Roxy Music, Depeche Mode & Jimi Hendrix- which only make me want to listen to the original!). But Join the Dots cleans up- I still have the tape of Standing on a Beach, from 1986, with that whole side of b-sides from 1978-1985: I'd buy this box-set for that alone! Due to the epic length, I'll give an overview of each disc:

The first disc is the best, as it is that second side of Standing on a Beach, with additions- from early b-sides (The T-Rexy Plastic Passion; the amusing Do the Hansa & classic track 1015 Saturday Night, memorably sampled by Massive Attack a few years ago)to the tracks found on compilation Japanese Whispers (1983, sounds like The Rapture). The wonderful Lament even comes in its rare 'flexipop' version. Smith embraced psychedelia and b-sides like Mr Pink Eyes & Throw Your Foot are easily as great as their a-sides (The Lovecats, The Caterpillar). The opening disc concludes with tracks from The Head on the Door-era, which built towards The Cure's peak (which has to be 1989's Disintegration). New Day is suitably bleak & sinister & countered by the joyful sound of The Exploding Boy (not unlike some New Order) & the dubious pop of A Man Inside My Mouth. A Few Hours After This...remains my favourite here, pointing to that vast sound in years to come...*****

The second disc is almost as great- though the multiple versions of tracks like Hello I Love You & the pointless remixes of Just Like Heaven & Hey You are ones to program out (the version of How Beautiful You Are just reminds you that it should have been a single...) A Japanese Dream advances on the sound of earlier tracks, while Snow in Summer is as sublime as it's a-side (Just Like Heaven)- a lost classic. & I find it odd that chuff like Icing Sugar & Hey You made Kiss Me... but the more opaque charms of Breathe and Chain of Flowers didn't! Even better are the Disintegration b-sides, from the violent Babble, the poppy 2 Late, the psychedelic advance of Out of Mind & best of all, the bleak Fear of Ghosts- as great as a Disintegration-track like Prayers for Rain or The Same Deep Water as You. The other b-side of note, as we advanced toward the irritating Mixed Up project, is Harold & Joe- the flip of Never Enough and one of Smith's greatest pop moments waiting to be rediscovered...*****

The third disc is noticeably shorter than the first two- & I could live without Dredd Song (from the dire Judge Dredd film), the cover of Purple Haze or the remix of Doing the Unstuck (the original is fine as it is, thank you!). The first six-tracks stem from commercial high Wish (1992), Captain Bob balancing doom rock and perfect pop- the latter is evident with A Foolish Arrangement and the lovely Halo. Play and This Twilight Garden are pitched between the two; the doom rock wins over with one of the best tracks The Cure have done, The Big Hand. Towards the end of the disc we hit on b-sides from the problematic (though not that bad) Wild Mood Swings- & Ocean really should have made the album over a track like Gone or Return... ****

The fourth disc is more completist, perhaps too many alternate versions of tracks/remixes- the Mike Hedges mix of Maybe Someday shows that The Cure could probably still have pop hits, though I still don't get Just Say Yes!!. & like a few Bowie albums (Earthling, Outside), I'm not sure if I like Wrong Number, or just a bit of it- though this is probably down to ex-Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabriel's input here. The versions of A Forest and Out of This World just make me want to listen to the originals, it seems that 13 years later, Smith is still in Mixed Up mode- when the live version of A Forest they were playing a few years ago was as definitive as can be! (the touring line-up who recorded Trilogy are playing some of the best versions of old Cure tracks...). Can't say I'd play disc four very often, but it does tie things up nicely...***

Join the Dots is a great collection that any Cure-head will have to own and it heralds an era where The Cure have found themselves come back into fashion (or just be one of those bands apart from time/vogue who people listen to regardless, e.g. Pink Floyd, Genesis, Can). People are covering The Cure- from Jamie Cullum/Guy Barker's Friday I'm in Love to Tricky's take on The Lovecats to acts sampling songs like 1015 Sat Night & Lullaby. & then bands like Hot Hot Heat and The Rapture, who reference The Cure alongside bands like Gang of Four & PIL. So, it's a good time to remind yourself of their joys, & following this comes a severe reissue programme of all their albums. Hail Captain Bob and his Merry Crew!!!

All comes in BOX SET, hardly used. Perfect condition!