"My safety blanket"

I can't remember exactly how old I was when I got into The Cure, I guess I must have been about 8 years old. I had The Head On The Door album on record and tape and listened to it religiously. That album was my saftey blanket through some very tough times as a child and to this day, no matter what may be happening in the world, if I put it on nothing matters anymore. I adore them. I haven't heard very much recent stuff but what I have heard I like.

It's not the same but I like that, I like when bands are human and accept change as part of life and incorporate it into their work. It can be difficult if the new music is shit and you love a bands old albums but they are people too, I just see it in the same way as art, some paintings by an artist I will adore, others I dont care for at all but I don't get agitated by it. I still have the record from when I was little put it's all played out and worn.
I think smudgy bob is easily the best.

(From: Kirstin O'Shea, UK)

"Forever"

I recall when my brother (6 years older than myself) brought home with him in the summer of 1987 the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me vinyl a friend hand lent him to tape... (that's how you did it back then) - immediately the songs grew on me but not all of them. Especially the poppy ones.

A few weeks later he brought The Head On The Door album and I kept listening to it through the tape recordings. In early 1989 I got an hold of the Staring At The Sea VHS tape (and copied it...) and then Disintegration was all over the radio....But by this time what excited me the most were their poppy side. The Staring At The Sea pre-83 videos and other bands I began listening from 1988 onwards (Jesus And Mary Chain, Echo And The Bunnymen, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy, Smiths, The Clash, etc) which I think I got into because of The Cure, turned my taste into other sounds...

In 1990 (I was 16 years old) I began buying their back catalogue in CD and I bought the Mixed Up double vinyl when it came out but sold it cheaper two weaks later. I was already a demanding fan.In 1992 Wish was the first album i was looking forward to buy months before it came out. I enjoyed well enough but I was already going into deep gothic rock.I only saw them twice - In their second time in Portugal (July the 5th 1995) and on their last (March the 8th 2008)The first time they came to Portugal I was too young and too unaware... and I never saw them abroad although I was planning on going on the 2000 Dream Tour into Spain but my friends cancelled the trip on the 25th hour...

Nowadays I still worship the old days and Robert means a lot to me. I acknoledge the doors they opened in my head soundwise but their new music does not mean that much to me. (I barely hear their self titled 2004 album). But I'm still following their news, counting the days before a new release and expecting something great... which never happens and I always feel let down.I'm now living with my 14 years long girlfriend which was also an early Cure fan (she was 11 on 1987 when she devoured the Kiss Me album). But she then turned more into a predominent Siouxsie And The Banshees side in 1988... although being an huge fan and follower of The Cure until 1992 (relationship regained in 2000 but lost again until she finally saw them live 2 months ago...) I began a blog titled The Cure - Forever Project in which I plan to post all (?) the different version of their live improv song (Forever).

(From: Luis Oliveira, age 34, Portugal)

"Truly emotional art"

I got into the cure in High School 1997. I started hangin out with some people who were really into it. I had a trip with them one night and they played The Head On The Door, and that was it, I was hooked. From then on I slowly bought every cd. and pretty much became obsessed with them. The darkness, the mystery, their ability to make you feel 10 moods in one sitting. It was an amazing time for me.

Through the years I have gained more respect for them, rather than being completely fascinated by them in the beginning. I am still fascinated, but in a respectful kind of way. Now that I am a little older you realize how human they are, and how those emotions make so much more sense now. I am also an artist and I think that is why I connect with The Cure's music so much, because their music is truly emotional art.

(From: Bbbe Ghor - whereabouts: unknown)

I wish they played England more often

The seeds of my love for the Cure were sewn by a good friend, at the time a schoolfriend, called Alex. We were starting up our own 'band' - I say band but in actuality we spent hours of free studio time noodling with synths and guitar, but i digress. We each made a mix tape aiming to show off our influences and the direction we wanted to head in. His was by far the more interesting.

90% of the tunes contained within the tape have gone on to become favourates of mine and included we The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, Friday I'm In Love, Open and End. It did, admittedly, take me a while to 'get' fat Bob and co. Alex played me a clip of Where The Birds Always Sing from Bloodflowers two days later and I made him yank it right off. Initially I veered towards the more miserable stuff but soon warmed to the charms of Catepillar etc. To this day Wish is still the first Cure cd I reach for but Pornography, The Head... and Faith aren't far behind. I still don't get Disintegration I think it's well overrated.

As for my attitude towards the band today.... I think they've done well to keep their integrity, peers like Echo & The Bunnymen, U2 etc need to take a long dark night of the soul. On the whole however their output has been pretty dire of late. Us & Them is unforgiveable. terrible mess of a song. Alt.End/In Your House is a bit wank but The End Of The World sits happily in my all time top 10 Cure songs. I wish they played England more often and when they do, actually let people outside the fanatics know.

(From: Jonathan Russell, England)

"This band spoke to me"

In 1988, a junior in High School, I was listening to some pretty terrible music. I lived in a small town about an hour outside of Las Vegas, with no record stores or radio stations, so Vegas was the only destination. I would listen to KLUC, a pop/top 40 station, enjoying whatever in the world was in the top 40 then. I don't care to remember- the only acts that really come to mind are Taylor Dayne and The Cover Girls. You get the idea.

I had a friend who was into "weird music." He's the first person I ever reached a different consciousness with, if you understand my meaning. We were out hanging around and messing about, and he gave me a couple cassette tapes to listen to. One was A Momentary Lapse Of Reason by Pink Floyd. The other was The Head On The Door by some band called The Cure. I never listened to Top 40 again. I'd heard the song Just Like Heaven on the radio from time to time and enjoyed it but never really thought anything of the group. I absolutely devoured The Head On The Door, especially Push, and this prompted me to explore their back catalog. I got into all the older albums, and it's like something just clicked: THIS was the band I was supposed to be listening to. This band spoke to me. Their lyrics explained my day to day life. I could believe there was something beyond the borders of this horrible little town I lived in. I could dream again.

Naturally, when 1989 rolled around, I got Disintegration on the day it came out and was lost. It was, honestly, the only thing I would listen to. My friends got tired of me talking about it. I became the absolutely biggest cure fan there was. And it's not like I dressed like Robert per se, with makeup and big hair. I was a pretty normal kid, wearing t-shirts and jeans. I did, of course, adopt Robert's look of baggy sweaters and high tops. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I dressed like that until I was 25. Wish came around and things just continued. This tour was the first time I saw them live, at the Rose Bowl in 1992. I was blown away. I didn't think things could get any better than that. In some ways I was right, and in other ways I was very wrong. When Porl and Boris both left the group, I was crushed. Who was this Jason Cooper character? Why is Roger in the band again? Would Burn be the last great song?

Wild Mood Swings came out in 1996, and though I was into the album immediately, over time I started to think, "Hmmmm...this album is ok. There are some good songs, but wow, there are some terrible ones too. And the drumming's off, and..."But then the Swing Tour hit. The first time I'd seen them more than once, in multiple cities. The best night of my life (up to that point, at least) was in August of 1996 at the Irvine Meadows Ampitheatre. I'd driven out from Vegas with my friend Jennifer, and by some weird freak occurrence, we happened to meet a guy named Stymie who knew Daryl Bamonte. One call and we were on some sort of guest list, and after the show (an amazing show that ended with Faith) we strolled backstage and hung out with THE CURE!!! WOW!!! I talked with Simon for half an hour (coolest guy ever), spoke with Robert about music and laundry (private joke) and was basically in a dream world for two hours. What a night!Of course, time passes, people get older, tastes change. I met my wife in 1997 who immediately asked me, after coming to my apartment, "When are you going to take down these gloomy old Cure posters?"

The band went on hiatus, I discovered other music, and when Bloodflowers rolled around, I didn't even know it was coming out until I saw it at Tower Records. I of course bought it right away, and immediately knew something was wrong. Why was Robert's voice mixed so high? What happened to the lyrics? I saw them on that tour here in Los Angeles, but it was pretty forgettable. They didn't even play Pictures Of You. Right about that time, I discovered A Chain Of Flowers website and started keeping up to date on daily news, etc. Time passed again, and suddenly it was late 2003 and, apparently, the Cure were going to produce an album with...Ross Robinson? And then launch a festival-style tour? What was this?The less said about the 2004, self-titled album the better, as far as I'm concerned. Although there are some good ideas floating around and some decent pieces of music, it is, without a doubt, one of the absolutely worst produced, recorded and mixed albums I have ever heard. Wrong in every single way. I didn't bother seeing them at the Curiosa thing. What was the point?

Now, it's 2008. I've gotten all the re-issues (of course), and I've hunted down and downloaded all the unreleased stuff I could possibly find. I've read the forums on COF and waited patiently and impatiently along with everyone else for any and all news on the new album. I've listened to, and for the most part disliked, the live new songs that were released on Youtube. And I've pretty much lowered my expectations about as far as they can go. Is it because I'm older, and I've changed? Is it because Robert it still writing to some imaginary fan that he thinks only wants a particular type of thing? Is it because he's just lost it? Or is it a combination of all of those? I'm not sure, but I'm not really excited about whatever's going to come out. But I'm going to be at the record store buying it the day it comes out, because that's the kind of fan I am. I'm going to get whatever singles they release. I'm seeing them on May 31 at the Hollywood Bowl, and if I can get tickets to the Shrine, I will. But I won't buy any t-shirts or posters. I need money to eat!

(from: Scott Otto, Las Vegas, US)