 "The Cure Join The Dots B Sides and Rarities 1978-2001" | 2008-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By joannaepley |
Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001
The Cure's B-Sides and Rarities will definitely be a cherished box set for die hard Cure fans. However, if you aren't familiar with Robert Smith and his quirky, lovable dramatic self, in listening to this four cd box set, you will experience a beautiful journey into the amazing multi-faceted side of Smith's brilliant psyche.
The box set comes with a four cd compilation accompanied with a colorful and beautifully designed book that reads the history of the last 20 years of music in which The Cure has created. In listening to the compilation, you will travel with the band from their early, visceral hard hitting punk inspired days, to the beautiful tapestry of love songs and introspective lyrics prolifically written by Robert Smith.
The first cd punches in with the b-side of "Killing An Arab", 10:15 Saturday Night, and makes you laugh at the fast paced Rockabilly inspired "Pill Box Tales". If you haven't heard the early Cure's dynamic punk, even at a young age, vividly executed, I highly recommend it. You will notice the influence of Bowie, Hendrix, and the pre-punk 60s juxtaposed with the clean, ethereal sound that remains a theme throughout the band's history, drawing you into the darkest period of the band's musical caravan. The b-sides of the album
"Disintegration", the climax to following albums "Faith" and "Pornography brings the somber B-side to "The Walk" which is entitled "Just One Kiss", and contrary to this, the b-side of "The Lovecats" entitled "Speak My Language which is a jazzy, light hearted number.
The 2nd cd brings you to the years of albums such as "Galore" and "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me". The Dizzy Mix
of "Just Like Heaven" is a stripped down version of the flawless single. And Smith does three renditions of "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors. The b-side of "Just Like Heaven" is "Snow in Summer", yet another heart felt love song that, as most of these b-sides, was an intentional match for the released single.
Venturing into the greater 'poppy' years of the band's work, the third cd will give you b-sides from the album "Wish" and "Wild Mood Swing such as the beautiful love song b-side to the single "Friday I'm In Love" entitled "Halo" and "Ocean", a soft introspective love song that is the b-side to the swanky single "The 13th". In this, Smith's subtle humor is apparent, revealing that his dark side isn't the only impetus behind his music.
Cd four there is a delightful and reflective b-side to the "Ambient Mix-B-Side of Gone! and Strange Attraction" entitled "This Is A Lie" which is a favorite of mine. Fans will definitely enjoy "The Oakenfield Mix" of the melancholy "Out Of This World" which was never released. This cd also has the acoustic mix of the head nodding "Maybe Someday" which derives from the 2000 album release "Bloodflowers".
If you are a die-hard Cure fan, this will be a delightful addition to your collection, and something that will be listened to frequently as well as a beautiful coffee table display. To the ones that know Robert Smith as the goth, gloom and doom king, it will give you a fresh perspective on the complex artist and his articulately written gift of intellect and music that he brings to the table. This will definitely be a regular play list on my own ipod. |
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 "Nicely handled compilation" | 2007-07-18 |
| - Reviewed By ndynamite |
"Join the Dots" is a long overdue compilation from the post punk/goth pioneers. This isn't really a surprising set, clearly being what it claims to be, a compilation of b sides and rarities. Pretty much everything is here. Only completists will previously have everything on here, which have been available on various singles, soundtracks, or collected on various bootleg compilations.
What is remarkable about this set is the quality of the output presented here. Robert Smith's remarks in the opening of the liner notes strike a chord when he says he always hoped to hear another version of the band he was listening to at the time on the b side. If your curious how a true a statement this is, listen to several tracks on the first disc, notably the Exploding Boy or A Few Hours After This to hear the Cure in full experimental mode, fooling around with a grandiose sound listeners would become more familiar with on later recordings.
There are many moments on here that find the Cure outshining the respective albums that these bsides support. To the Sky is one of the most remarkable songs they've recorded while the Wild Mood Swings era bsides are better than anything off of that album.
This is overall a great set. Aside from a few throaway remixes, it's solid. The Cure are one of the few bands (along with the Pet Shop Boys and until recently Depeche Mode) who have put as much care into the b-sides as they would on the a-sides, really giving something extra to their fans. Fantastic set. |
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| "A musical gem-chest is finally unlocked..." | 2007-02-20 |
| - Reviewed By palamite |
It has been a long-held belief by many, if not most, Cure fans that Robert Smith often chooses to hide away the most beautiful of his works, striking them from the track lists of the "official" Cure albums, and placing them instead elsewhere (usually, in difficult-to-find places.)
"Join the Dots: B-sides and Rarities" fuels that belief even further, as nearly any listener could tell from the very first playing of the compilation. Essentially, this 4-disc set is Robert's way of finally unlocking the stored-away gem-chest of beloved yet elusive material, which many fans had for years been hoping would be opened.
The strongest sections of this compilation are definitely the second and third discs. Why so many of these songs were never A-sides is a mystery known only to Robert and to God.
Among the very greatest works on "Join the Dots" - which happen to also be among the very greatest Cure songs ever made - are:
Breathe
A Chain of Flowers
Snow in Summer
To the Sky
Signal to Noise
Waiting
2 Late
This Twilight Garden
Home
Halo
A Pink Dream
Fear of Ghosts
Also notable are Burn, More Than This (which is not, as some erroneously think, a Roxy Music cover), the Exploding Boy, Coming Up, and Out of Mind, among a few others.
The Dizzy Mix of Just Like Heaven also proved to be quite nice, however it would have been preferrable to include the much more scarce (and better) Extended Dizzy Mix of the song, in my opinion.
All in all, this compilation is one of the very best bets for Cure fans, along with Disintegration and Wish. It could also combine well with Greatest Hits.
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| "Amazing Collection of B-Sides" | 2006-08-25 |
| - Reviewed By ecu_grad |
From the saturnine appearance of Robert Smith it looks like he's spent the better part of his career wallowing in self pity with very little time to put out a prodigious library of music. Maybe he is depressed but he isn't lazy. His work ethic is clearly shown in this dazzling collection.
Made up of b-sides covering over 20 years Follow the Dots never disappoints. The material is strongest at the beginning but song quality never falls off precipitously. It's amazing that this is all B-side material!
I give it the highest possible rating! |
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| "Exhaustive." | 2006-08-24 |
| - Reviewed By mikestack |
An exhaustive overview of pretty much all b-sides and rarities by the Cure during their tenure on Fiction Records (1978-2001), "Join the Dots" is a critical collection for fans. Around five hours of rare Cure music is contained within the four CDs of the set, and while some of the material left out can be annoying (more on that in a minute), this is a superb resource for any of us who try and gather the entire output of a band.
The set runs chronologically, providing a fine overview of the band's career as much as anything else. The Cure always seemed to fill their b-sides with interesting material, from the early days (jaunty, clean tone punky "Plastic Passion") to much later (the absolutely superb "Sugar Girl"). Like many bands, in teh '90s the Cure became involved with tribute albums ("Purple Haze") and soundtracks ("Burn", "Dredd Song"). Some great performances ended up on these, "Burn" in particular from the Crow is highly regarded, and while there are bound to be some things you won't care for (for me it's the occasional 12" remix and some of the b-sides that just sound incomplete and unmemorable like "Halo"), it'll be someone else's goldmine.
The only really noticably missing stuff on here are the a-sides-- "Killing An Arab", "Charlotte Sometimes", et.al. While these have all been released in one fashion or another, it'd be nice to see all of them collected in a convenient (and remastered!) package as some of them never ended up on albums.
Per usual good boxed set standards, the entire set has been rematered-- it sounds great, crisp and clear with an opportunity to really appreciate the subtleties of the pieces, and includes extensive liner notes about each disc and a detailed discography.
I can't imagine anyone but a real diehard of the band would want this, but for those of us who fall in that category, "Join the Dots" is a great set. Recommended. |
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 "Go to Napster and buy the whole thing for $10" | 2006-04-12 |
| - Reviewed By creepingdeath12 |
I really really love this album. With that said, you must be wondering why I'm giving it 3 stars. Well ... the entire first disc of b-sides is amazing, while the other 3 quickly dive from "ho-hum" to the point where you're scrapping the barrel for good tracks.
... AND this would have gotten 5 stars if it were the first (essential) disc for only $10. After breaking the first disc, I pondered whether or not to buy the whole thing new. And then I found it on Napster for $10; think of it as a "great b-side album from 3IB - Head Cure + 3 bonus discs."
Yay! |
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| "its a shame it had to come to this." | 2005-08-18 |
| - Reviewed By sebasto20002002 |
| well,here it is.the box set tying up all the loose ends.all the unreleased b-sides to the dozens and dozens of cure singles are here.for years,the cure always put out a unreleased b-side on all thier singles to dupe thier cult like fans into forking over more cash.so,in order to keep it straight,you had to basicly glue yourself to mtv for decades and harass the guy at the record store to know when they were coming out.i guess they made enough money off of us and now theyll quit screwing with us and give it all up.ok,theres many things that make this box set cool.1-every b-side since 1978.2-new versions of old singles.3-all thier songs from movies.i will go over them now.before i do,ill tell you all the albums this encompasses.1978-boys dont cry,1980-17 seconds,1981-faith,1982-pornography,1983-japanese whispers,1984-the top,1985-the head on the door,1986-standing on the beach[now only available as staring at the sea],1987-kiss me kiss me kiss me,1989-disintegration,1990-mixed up,1992-wish,1993-show,1993-paris,1996-wild mood swings,later yet-galore,blood flowers and greatest hits.theres also a robert smith composed orchestra album where they play thier great ones.ok disc one includes a few oldie remakes like 10:15 saturday night and plastic passion.theres also the old b-sides from thier career from 1978-1986.any true cure fan has already heard much of this on the standing on the beach album.disc 2 gets into the 1987 and on b-sides.theres a alternate version to hey you and just like heaven.the just like heaven one is good.its a bit lighter than the one on kiss me kiss me kiss me.theres also 3 versions of the doors song "hello i love you".disc 3 continues with the b-sides.i belive they omitted the b-side to "apart" which was play for today.theres a remix of thier good one called doing the unstuck from wish.the purple haze remake of the hendrix tune from a jimi comilation album.the song from the movie the crow called "burn".its pretty good also.disc 4 has the later than late b-sides.theres a new wrong number.theres even an acoustic take on a song!theres also a redid a forest.so thats the rundown.i think it sucks that we have to spend so much money supporting this band that craps all over us.they couldve saved us a shedload of money by simply putting the b-sides on galore and releasing a rarities album.even those 2 discs wouldnt cost as much as this one.bot to any real and true fan it is but a drop in the bucket. |
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| "GO ON NOW...JUST BUY IT..." | 2005-06-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1LTKEEWD61G6F |
| For me, finally having decent versions of "Exploding Boy" and "Breathe" make this compilation worth the price of admission. There are lots of other great B-sides here, but I've been waiting for good versions for these two for years now. I still can't figure out why "Exploding Boy" never made it onto the "The Head on the Door" album. The packaging is also well done. Rhino seems to have a real knack for this. I would assume that anyone who was around during the early days of vinyl 12 inches have their own favorite B-sides. While there are a few things missing, I would still suggest this as an addition to anyone elses collection. For those that are new to The Cure and may not have had the chance to hear these B-sides, you are definitely in for a treat. Again, a solid compilation that is well worth its price. |
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| "Just when you thought it was safe to stop buying" | 2005-06-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3DZ2907IDX7ME |
I read through all the reviews for this CD collection and didn't see much focusing on the songs, so I thought I'd give my thoughts here on songs I liked and why.
Disc 1: 10:15 on a Saturday Night everyone's heard a zillion times, but the original Staring at the Sea mix was very quiet, whereas this one is volume boosted for modern stereos. (Just like all the other tracks on this compilation). Thank you!
Do the Hansa is a funny song poking fun of The Cure's early relationship with Hansa records (as detailed in the excellent liner notes). Another Journey by Train is the standout song on this CD, their first instrumental. Think of the "train tracks" closing sounds from Jumping Someone Else's Train, and you'll appreciate how this track compliments it. Descent is a quiet and moody instrumental, one can feel touches of A Forest in this.
Just One Kiss is a poppy little song that drums like The Hanging Garden, a nice feel. The Exploding Boy is something Robert Smith wrote upon feeling the weight of success, very spritely. A Few Hours After This is an interesting track, although after a few replays the overbearing keyboards get on your nerves.
Disc 2: A common theme on a lot of these tracks (and much early Cure for that matter) is for most of the song to be an instrumental, with Robert's vocals coming in for the latter third of the song. And so it is with many tracks on this CD, such as Breathe and Icing Sugar. Icing Sugar has a guest sax player that really improves the track over what made it onto Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
A Chain of Flowers is a very touching song about a girl's funeral, "please wake up". Robert's guitar is particularly haunting on this one. Sugar Girl is a delight, giving those light melodies that only Robert Smith could pull off. How Beautiful You Are is shorter than the Kiss album version, but it's just a different edit that works fine. To The Sky is just a delight as Robert sets up a hypnotic beat and chorus. Unusual for The Cure, yet beautiful.
Babble and Out of Mind are familiar to those who have the Fascination Street CD single, for some reason I don't like listening to them out of that sequence. 2Late and Fear of Ghosts were also on the Lovesong CD single, nothing new there. The final standout on this CD is Harold and Joe, with vocals reminiscent of Wrong Number and similar light touches.
Disc 3: This CD has some of the strongest tracks of the compilation, making one wonder why a lot of these were unreleased. I think the answer is that Robert Smith is the creative genius who makes these songs, and so he's too close to them or he's played them too many times to like them as much as we do. Be grateful he's releasing them now, they could actually tour off this material if you ask me.
This Twilight Garden opens this CD, alone worth paying for the collection. The stunning Cure "dreaminess", for lack of a better term, is fully in play here. This song just carries you away with its fantasy sound, amazing. Play has beautiful guitar work and thoughtful lyrics (or is that redundant?). Halo, Scared as You, The Big Hand, A Foolish Arrangement follow sequentially, all great to put on your playlist. I love the opening to Arrangement.
Burn of course is from the Crow soundtrack, easily their best soundtrack work next to Carnage Visors (which is on the Faith reissue). It Used to be Me has a great chorus, and a relentless beat that draws you in. Ocean has some nice moments, rather like love poetry set to music as all of Bloodflowers seemed to be.
Disc 4: The weakest CD of the compilation, marking the direction of The Cure as others have noted. This is a Lie is a standout as a thoughtful track, with delightful orchestral arrangements. The remixes of Wrong Number and Forest did nothing for me, although others like them. More Than This is probably the best track of this CD, sounding like a Duran Duran song with Robert Smith dropped in over Simon Lebon. Not a Cure song, which is why Robert left it unreleased, but still a delight to hear him sing and play.
Maybe Someday has a delightful opener and great vocals by Robert, again, why was this not the main single of his newer work? That's the curse of the creative genius, they make great stuff and then run with something else. But we get to hear it now("someday..."), so everything's okay. Signal to Noise acoustic is a nice bonus that was apparently left off the Acoustic CD that comes with special versions of the Greatest Hits collection. Nice to get a bonus to that CD, which in itself is a treat.
I shelled out the money for this collection on a lark and have not regretted it. There is a ton of new stuff here, especially for those of us who don't have 100+ maxisingles like some Cure fans. This collection will give many many listenings of great music, for any sort of Cure fan.
I must make a regretful announcement for those considering spending the money on this collection. A few months after this hit the shelves, they issued two-CD remasters of Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography. I have listened to all three remasters in great detail, and the songs that others lament are not included on Dots are largely on these releases. Sad to say, the additional songs on those three reissues are priceless and amazing, buy them too.
That's a lot of new Cure to have to pay for, but Dots and the Three reissues for their early albums are worth every penny. They are a delight, thank you to Robert Smith and his bandmates for being such prolific musicians. Even their "rejected" material is better than what most bands put out. |
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| "Through the Looking Glass" | 2005-05-04 |
| - Reviewed By adjrichardson |
Robert Smith has expressed his appreciation for well conceived B-Sides. He has said that he respects bands whose catalogue of B-Sides offer a rare glimpse, a different side, that is just as incredible as the A-side songs. I could not agree with Robert Smith more. B-Sides from respectable musicians are never the left over, mediocre "filler" songs that didn't make it on an album - they are a necessary shadow to a given album.
When you hear the B-Sides that The Cure produced, it is apparent that Robert Smith took his B-Side work very seriously. If you had been a Cure fan and not heard the majority of B-Sides before, it was once acceptable, considering it once took some effort to get hold of most - but now, with the release of Join the Dots, there is no longer an excuse. Having these B-Sides is crucial to rounding out any collection of the Cure's music, to get a complete and accurate portrayal of their incredible legacy.
Analogy time: If the Cure's music were a movie, not having the B-Sides would be like watching 3/4 of the movie screen. Some of the very best moments take place on that 1/4 of the screen that you are missing.
These B-Sides are that crucial. If you are a cure fan and have not heard them, go get this box set and step through the looking glass. Although there will be some songs that dont make the grade, you will gain a whole new appreciation. Enjoy. |
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