Cure - The Cure (CD 2004)

Robert Smith proclaimed that Blood Flowers from 2000 was his last album and that this would be the end of The Cure. With this album from 2004 he broke his promise - fortunately. Because this is above agerage compared to his former productions. It is not as good as 'The head on the Door'(1985) , 'Disintegration' (1989) and 'Wish' (1992) but I think it's much better than 'Bloodflowers (2000) and also a little better than 'Wild Mood Swings'(1996).
During the 90ties and also in this decade we're in now The Cure became a little untrendy. Their first albums were dropped in the early 80ties when this kind of music was really hip. Robert Smith must have looked himself in the mirror during the 90ties and found that his music probably was regarded as too pessimistic, low and depressed out there. I feel that he tried to make some tracks more brighter and optimistic during the 90ties than they otherwise would have been.
With the first tracks on his last album he turns back to much of of his music concept from the 80ties: psychotic paranoias, claustrophobic relationships, 'expretionist music' like paintings made by Edvard Munch or Vincent van Gogh. Further tracks are more like straight rock songs made by the Cure and some of them are very good. But towards the end, with track 12 'The promise', witch is about 10 minutes long, frustration and paranoias are back again.

The best track is #6. 'Anniversary' I think, which sounds like something new, how the Cure could have sounded like if R. Smith had wanted to renew his music more radically and go into the future with new ideas.
I am also very impressed by the production of the record, the sound is very clean and distinct. It's a tidy sound picture and not as it somtimes is with the Cure: messy and oversaturated in the centre, as if too much sound is put into it. I would also like give special regard to the drummer/percussionist Roger O'Donnell. He has the ability to do something beyond what we're used to. He doesn't represent a radical change, but it sounds very right and he seems to fit well to the rest of the group.

So if you like what you have heard from the Cure in the past, this record will not dissapoint you. I think it's even very good, but not excellent. To be excellent the record should have had even more fresh ideas and new creativity. I would also say that with this record R.Smith shows he is much more well and healthy than he tries to make us believe.