OCTOBER 1 2008
AMERICANWAY 79
Disintegration
Wish
WildMoodSwings
Bloodflowers
TheCure
KissMe, KissMe, KissMe
1989
1992
1996
2000
2004
1987
Threewords: “Just Like
Heaven.” This song
demands play at every
high school dance and
shoots theCure’s star
to its highest point so
far. “Just LikeHeaven”
eventually becomes
one of the band’smost
covered songs, tackled
by everyone fromDino-
saur Jr. to theWatson
Twins.
Standout Tracks:
“HowBeautiful
YouAre”
“Catch”
“ThePerfect Girl”
“Just LikeHeaven”
“WhyCan’t I BeYou?”
This, the second
album in theCure’s
trilogy, earnsmajor
mainstream success as
alternative radio sta-
tions latch onto singles
“FascinationStreet”
and “LoveSong.” Later,
in an episode of
South
Park
, KyleBroflovski
puts it best, declaring,
“
Disintegration
is the
best album ever!”
Standout Tracks:
“Pictures of You”
“LoveSong”
“FascinationStreet”
“Lullaby”
Smith pens one of
hismore jovial tunes,
“Friday I’m in Love,”
as the band heads in
more of a popdirection
than ever before. This
record remains the
band’s highest-charting
album release (No. 1
in theUnitedKingdom
andNo. 2 in theUnited
States).
Standout Tracks:
“Doing theUnstuck”
“Friday I’m in Love”
“High”
“ALetter toElise”
The group’s self-titled
12th recorddebuts
in the top 10 in both
theUnitedKingdom
and theUnitedStates.
CoproducedbyRoss
Robinson, whosework
is predominately heavy
metal, thewell-received
album is big on guitars
and light on the key-
board, which hadbeen
a common trademark
of past Cure tracks.
Standout Tracks:
“Alt.End”
“TheEnd of theWorld”
“BeforeThree”
“TakingOff”
As the title suggests,
the songs on this
record cover a lot of
ground, creating, in
turn, a very uneven
record. Fortunately,
the band gets back on
the right trackwith its
next album.
Standout Tracks:
“Mint Car”
“ClubAmerica”
“StrangeAttraction”
The final release in the
trilogy spawns amusic
video, filmed inBerlin,
of the bandperforming
live cuts from the three
albums.
Bloodflowers
is the onlyCure release
to receive aGrammy
nomination.
Standout Tracks:
“39”
“MaybeSomeday”
“The Last Day of
Summer”
even further by, beginning lastMay, releasing a new single on the 13th
of everymonth leading up to the record’s dropdate.
Since forming in 1976asEasyCure, thegrouphas soldmillions of re-
cords, released hugely successful singles, and played to packed houses.
Though they’ve changed their lineup as frequently as they have their
onstage looks (frontmanRobertSmith is the loneoriginalmember) and
rumors of a breakup have persisted, the group hasmanaged to soldier
on and build a fan base few bands have been able to match. Theirs is
hardly a career to consider cursed. We look back at their lucky streak
with a complete discography.
him embrace the supposed rift in the generation gap, mixing the finger-plucking
song crafting of his father— alongwith a stark vocal resemblance—with the
sexual funk-soul of ’70s R&B.
Taylor quickly dismisses any father-son musical rift, admitting the two have
bonded since his elementary school days— over Cat Stevens and StevieWon-
der as much as over his moremodern suggestions of AmyWinehouse andMos
Def. No love is lostwithmomCarlySimon, either,
whomTaylor joinedon tour to support her recent
album
ThisKindof Love
. “Sheonlyplaysa concert
if everybody that she knows twists her arm into
doing it,” Taylor says. “We all have to.”
Though Taylor is willing to chat about his
famed family, he’s itching to change the subject to
his current project, which is certainly one worth
talkingabout.
KungFolk
’sgroove-heavybass, slinkyorgans, and spoken-sung lyrics
reflect amoremodern swath of influences thanTaylor’s previous efforts, and this
is his first solo album inwhichhe truly sheds the folk reputationof, well, his folks.
The shift is about control, Taylor says. On prior records, producers and labels
couldn’t grasp his hard-to-classify music style. So he produced
Kung Folk
inde-
pendentlyand then released it onhis IrisRecords label. ThoughTaylor admits the
transition to self-reliancewas tough, he beams about the results: He already has
two additional records complete, and now he’s producingmusic for his friends.
The variedmusic collection celebrated on
Kung Folk
, partneredwith the ease
Taylor exudes throughout the record, results in a smooth listen with hooks that
transcend any pop genre. But for longtime fans of hismother or father who are
surprised by some of Taylor’s frank lyrics in songs like “WickedWay” and “Dan-
gerous Girl,” he offers a sly response. “Maybe I’mmakingmusic for their grand-
daughters,” he says.
