4:13 Dream
After three decades, The Cure’s Robert Smith knows how to make a Cure album. He knows, for instance, it should begin with slow, dark guitar chords that grind into an echo canyon for at least six minutes (“Underneath the Stars”). There should be moments where he moans in existential futility with a heart wrecked by unfulfilled passion (“The Real Snow White,” “The Scream”). He should write a few quick pop songs for good measure (“The Only One,” “The Perfect Boy”). And all of this should be brought together as if Smith has an overall concept or vision that ties everything into one piece. That concept, however, isn’t a literal one. It’s a sonic one. And Smith infuses *4:13 Dream* with a massive sense of grandeur that only he can gracefully pull off without seeming like a megalomaniac. He unites the quick jab of “Freakshow” and the nearly countrified “Siren Song” with the ambient forest ruling “It’s Over,” uniting the different approaches with his eager and yearning vocals that are more playful than ever, reaching a near yodel in the sillier moments. It’s this flexibility that’s enabled him to keep the Cure from going stale after all these years.
The Cure regroup as a four-piece, optimized for a comfortable live-band feel, under the baton of modern rock producer Keith Uddin to attempt to capture a raw, invigorating sound.
It's been more than 30 years since Robert Smith cast himself as new wave's Melancholy Dane, and in all that time—a few half-hearted yawns aside—the song has remained the same: maudlin, yearning, and consumed by adolescent romanticism rooted in wish-fulfillment. While the real Smith is a happily married, financially…
4:13 Dream may open with the doomed romanticism of "Underneath the Stars," but that slow-crawling mini-epic is a feint, momentarily disguising how this is the Cure's poppiest album since 1992's Wish.
<p>Robert Smith writes great pop songs, but can't resist the goth-metal fluff, writes <strong>Paul Mardles</strong></p>
While not offering anything wildly divergent or profoundly groundbreaking, it trumps their 2004 eponymous album.
Why does the Cure have to keep reminding us that they're the Cure?When all was said and done, when the election had ended and all of the rage and...
The Cure - 4:13 Dream review: Classic Cure this is not, but 4:13 Dream is certainly easier to digest than some of the band's previous works.