Greatest Hitsthe CureGenre: Indie & AlternativeDescription: Import edition features one additional track Pictures of You. As Greatest Hits-and particularly the busking pavement jazz of Lovecats-reminds us the best Cure singles were very often tangential exercises; halcyon playtime divergences offering a Goth-free contrast to some of the weightier studiousness of some of those early albums. Or as smudged frontman Robert Smith says of this 18-track collection Songs that are sung with a smile. This wasn't always true-witness the refrigerated fogginess of the classic A Forest the Blair Witch Project of it's day. What this compilation does is focus attention on The Cure's perennial unpredictability-the nursery school bonkers-ness of The Caterpillar the breathless claustrophobia of Close to Me the New Order-lite of The Walk the brass-section embellished thrust of Why Can't I Be You. Oddly chart-wise The Cure's Lost Weekend began immediately after Friday I'm in Love their most ebullient melodic moment and the ultimate clocking-off to kick-those-heels! Anthem. But at least the inclusion of two new songs Cut Here and Just Say Yes (with Saffron from Republica) indicate that The Cure remain a healthy ongoing concern.
