Album Review: The Cure Songs of a Lost World

[@TheVinylDen]

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[@arnelg67]

The songs on this album touched my soul. I think the older you are the more you can relate to the aspect of lost loved ones and how life changes you facing the emotions that come after.

[@johnmalone8790]

Great album and a fantastic review, mate 👍

[@Violette-k1w]

SHOCKING OF BEAUTY !!!! I'M SHOCKED !! Songs of a lost world is absolutely BEAUTIFUL ! The CURE KING 👑 OF ROCK ! BEST BAND IN THE WORLD ! 🖤🤍🤎 🎧👍🏻

[@mmess65]

No doubt the Album of the Year 2024🖤

[@TheVinylDen]

It's definitely up there for me. We'll have to see where it lands in my top 10 of the year.

[@saranoelle3927]

Can’t wait to hear it! Thanks for this review.

[@RyanField-vl5vi]

The only point I disagree with is when you said that all their albums of the last few years have a common tone throughout. I actually think with the exception of bloodflowers, the newer albums have been stylistically all over the place. I’m refreshed to hear an album that works as a whole start to finish. I think it’s a good thing when an album has a cohesive vibe. Yet I think this album also explores several different aspects of The Cures sound. I really like it! It’s grown on me a lot. I agree best since Wish. Hard to compare to older stuff because it is so different. I think this album finally establishes the band’s identity in the 21st century. So in that respect it’s only really comparable to Bloodflowers. But whereas Bloodflowers felt like the band was trying really hard, this one is back to feeling effortless.

[@mapndo2337]

It's better than wish

[@karenglenn6707]

It just shows how different people are, Fragile Thing I loved the first time I heard it along with Warsong, which for me should be longer. The whole album is just wonderful, and it was worth the wait. Endsong is stunning!!

[@MrRacine67]

For me this album is near perfect. Melancholic, dark, and nostalgic in the best sense possible.

[@davidtaylor6663]

I am long time The Cure fan since 1987. I think the new album is excellent and with multiple listenings will become a The Cure classic. Nice review.

[@TheVinylDen]

It's gotten better each time I've listened to it so far.

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

Love the Cure but there's only so much sad old bastard music I can take. I'll be listening to this on Spotify if I feel the need.

[@JimmyV1530]

this is definitely an album that is great & enjoyable to me, when listened to from start to finish. Two 👍👍

[@emmanueltanguy4670]

You have a CD of Green Day in your living and you dare talking music on KZbin ? o_O

[@FinsFanKingsFan]

I been a CURE fan for over 43+ years (age 11) my whole life in Goth/ Post-Punk / New Wave music it revolves around THE CURE. This album ranking is in my top 8. #1 Faith (81){my very first album at 11} #2 Songs Of A Lost World (2024) #3 Pornography (82) #4 Disintegration (89) # 5 Bloodfowers (2000) #6 Seventeen Seconds (80) # 7 Kiss Me X3 (87) #8 The Head On The Door (85). #9 to 14 are #9 Wish (92) #10 Three Imaginary Boys (79) #11 The Top (84) #12 4:13 Dream (2008) #13 The Cure (2004) #14 Wild Mood Swings (96). Thanks!

[@richardwalley2862]

If your looking for a audiophile version none of the versions are this. The 2LP version is the best one on vinyl

[@TheVinylDen]

I just wanted the best sounding version available, and after reading reviews on the other pressings it seems like the consensus is the half speed master is the best way to go.

[@AlexanderG-mi7ip]

I don't find the album convincing, for me it is sort of 'Bloodflowers Part Two', but I completely agree with your ranking of it...

[@TheVinylDen]

I think there's definitely some similarities between SOALW and Bloodflowers (probably because of Paul Corkett's work on both albums), but the quality of the new tracks are a lot better IMO.

[@amerigoormea]

@@TheVinylDen Yes, definitely there are similarities due to Corkett. I like Bloodflowers more though, because it's rawer and somehow unhinged, with more emotional urgency. This new Cure album is kind of a flat listening experience for me. And I find it "sad" in a generic way, like a lot of contemporary mainstream pop on the darker side. Strings and keyboards, I am sorry to say, sound a bit like "Starbucks goth" to me. But then, I am a fan of post-punk Cure, I love their more visceral work, with more minimal, tribal rhythms (Lol is an underappreciated drummer/percussionist). I find the rhythms on this album predictable and uninteresting. SOALW is a good album, but not great for my ears. And it's obviously a mainstream record, which in itself is not a bad thing (there is a lot of mainstream music that I enjoy) but MY Cure are the more underground band of Faith, Pornography, the Carnage Visors soundtrack, etc. Maybe I am stuck in the 80's, when I first started listening to them. Although, when I saw them in Rome in '89 they were definitely not underground anymore, but still "alternative". Even Wish was still alternative, and even if a bit too pop and upbeat for me, the shoegaze-y sound and songwriting were incredible. I find SOALW songwriting uninspired. I feel that today's Cure are too comfortable, too easy on the ear, too smooth. Just my honest opinion. If people love this album, more to them. I wish I could enjoy it more. I just don't. I still bought it though, because The Cure will always always in my heart, even if the post-punk band that I started loving in my teens will never come back. Listening to SOALW makes me sad, not because of the emotional impact of the music, but because it makes me realize that things that one loves disappear, and if they come back they are not the same anymore, but only a faint reflection of what they used to be. It Can Never Be The Same (The music of The Cure). Just my opinion, just my ears.

[@AlexanderG-mi7ip]

@@amerigoormea I agree. Instead of being dark, the album is rather dull. By the way, the 'Starbucks goth' expression hits the nail on the head...

[@samborn7120]

I loved Wild Mood Swings and BF. I am a fan of the changes with this band. 👍 The Cure self-titled produced by Ross Robinson was a total failure in my opinion.

[@spiffy8576]

I actually like Wild Mood Swings better than Bloodflowers. Want, Mint Car and Jupiter Crash are better than 90% of Bloodflowers and I like that album especially the title track Bloodflowers.

[@mapndo2337]

Theyve never really typically had photos of the band on original releases....

[@CupofCloud]

in a number of areas in the album it reminds me of Wish…probably because of the distortion

[@Watcher4111]

No, best cure album since 2000

[@bryanmcfadden4071]

The Cure livestreamed this whole album on KZbin and was my first time listening to it through and it flowed really well for 16 years and his loss of his brother

[@mapndo2337]

AND HIS MOTHER AND FATHER

[@mapndo2337]

Alot of people have suddenly turned into sound engineers... so impressive to hear everyone is such an expert.....so many 'this album is unlistenable' ok great then go back to your fooking foo fighters...🙄

[@curly_wyn]

Yeah? Because production and mixing can affect the way you hear the album. And, it’s good to know what you’re talking about when it comes to that. Sorry you don’t like that, but you can knock it off with your anti-intellectualism.

[@Cureboy1]

I love all Cure albums apart from 4:13 Dream. Impossible to rank apart from Disintegration #1 they all interchange. Yes, even Wild Mood Swings is a great album and I stick by it!

[@CupofCloud]

i think wild mood swings is way too underrated

[@mapndo2337]

9/10😎💀🖤👁💋

[@spiffy8576]

It’s definitely their best since Bloodflowers. I have to give it more time to see where it truly ranks but it’s easily better than the 2004 self titled record and 4:13 Dream in 2008.

[@andrewcrow1031]

Been a fan of The Cure for over 40 years and Songs of a Lost World is definitely the album of 2024, but I wouldn’t put it at their best. 1. Disintegration 2. Bloodflowers 3. Songs of a Lost World ❤ to you all.

[@DesolateSolitude]

Pornography (1982) & The Head on the Door (1985)

[@DesolateSolitude]

Too bad the cd is a Digisleeve. I still bought it though…

[@TheVinylDen]

Digisleeves are the worst!

[@DesolateSolitude]

@TheVinylDen - indeed. The latest Tsjuder album was a Digisleeve and that really sucks. I always have spare jewel cases so I can properly store my discs.

[@stevencrash]

I have both the black vinyl version and the white, and sadly they both sound like trash. Even after ,ultiple and thorough cleaning they are noisey and unlistenable. I'm glad your copy sounds great, a lot of folks on Discogs are complaining about the sound quality. Biovinyl...?

[@TheVinylDen]

I undertand why artists and labels are looking to move to products like ecomix and biovinyl, but IMO it's not worth it if the sound quality is subpar. It defeats the purpose.

[@fredriktrensare343]

Buy a new pickup.

[@curly_wyn]

No, it’s not. Not a good album at all, and I can’t believe everyone’s sucking it off so much. It was a big disappointment.

[@YvesFOLLET]

I’m sorry but SOALW is a 11/10. Easy.

[@dudefelix]

How can we say if a particular album from this or that band is the best or one of the best of their career? Each album has a creative process, a different time and space and different circumstances, vital, emotional influences have a powerful influence on any creative process (except in Reggaeton, which is garbage no matter how you look at it). It is hard to compare "Three Imaginary Boys" with "Songs of a Lost World" (for example) they are different times, even they are not the same, they have changed and evolved (for better or worse, that is irrelevant, they have changed) But there is no doubt that, in any case, "Songs of a Lost World" is absolutely a masterful album.

[@TheVinylDen]

Music is always subjective

[@fredriktrensare343]

Way to much lousy synth-strings and crappy high school student piano intros. I love the cure since 92 ish. This is one of the more boring one in their catalogue.

[@jamesbaker1891]

The cure sucks

[@AlainMartin-e6i]

40 ans de carriere ducon ca te va ?

[@karenglenn6707]

So just move along mate and shut up. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@seekah1]

Keep trolling yer ass, good job!

[@kissterio]

It seems that people on Discogs are particularly unhappy with the 2LP half-speed edition, saying it's the worst among all the vinyl versions.

[@TheVinylDen]

I’m not sure what their complaints are, my copy sounds flawless and doesn’t have any of the sound issues I see other people having with the 1LP versions. It doesn’t sound muffled, flat, distorted, or overly compressed.