| london pictures & moments 03/12/1981 |
| the drowning man in your house splintered in her head the funeral party primary the figurehead early version/different lyrics charlotte sometimes other voices at night the hanging garden early version/different lyrics m play for today a forest forever one hundred years early version/different lyrics faith some extra lyrics |
| the cure plays london in december 1981... and what an interesting show--the band is obviously in a transitional period, after "faith" and most of the picture tour...and looking/working towards 1982 and what would become "pornography." this recording is quite good, not perfect soundboard or a radio broadcast, but a really good audience recording--sounds solid and has a good mix of highs/lows and different instruments w/vocals... the show starts w/"the drowning man," and that sounds pretty good...the following song "in your house," has a little bit of tape distortion/tonality problem--probably due to the source tape...but it's not overwhelming. |
| the mostly instrumental track "splintered in her head" comes next...leading into "the funeral party." a nice change of mood--very nicely played...a good and propulsive live version of "primary" follows, w/some nice sounding bass/middle sounds--a good mix helps this recording/version along. it's really good...and a very very small trivial note--simon (or perhaps even robert) plays just a small--extremely small and short--little phrase from the cure b-side "descent." what comes next is really cool, a pre-"pornography" performance of what would later become "the figurehead." (two other future "pornography" tracks come later) so this ups the value and coolness factor on this set--kick arse. it's essentially all there except for the lyrics, and the vocal line feels kinda different...it's well-received by the audience as well!! the more familiar "charlotte sometimes" is also played, not bad--a pretty good pre-1983/1984 tour performance by the three piece cure, and a good version of "other voices" comes around soon after... after a live take of "at night," another gem comes around...a pre-"pornography" live performance of what would take shape and eventually become "the hanging garden!" again, like the working version of "the figurehead" that came before--most of the music/feel is there, but the lyrics are different and sketchy. the familiar drum-pattern is a little bit different (using a snare in the mix of drums--a bit like "other voices") but this is really cool and good. robert introduces it as "the hanging garden," and simon actually starts the song alone w/just an aggressively sharp bass line repeated over and over. excellent!! two tracks from "seventeen seconds" are next, "m" and "play for today." both are solid, "play for today" seems to be especially punchy on this night...and then it's right into "a forest," always good and always gets a good crowd reaction--it's pretty solid, and then after simon's last bass notes start ringing across the night, someone (robert, most likely) plays the four synth/keyboard-intro notes of "a forest" again--only to use them as a transition into "forever." a pretty good take of "forever" as well...it takes off and speeds up, w/robert really making a nice and noisy guitar-fuelled racket towards the end--kills!! the encore starts w/the band coming out and robert saying, "thank you...this is called "one hundred years." and the drum machine kicks in w/a familiar sounding beat--an early working version of the future "pornography" lead-off track! excellent!! the lyrics aren't anywhere close to the version that would later appear, and there are some structural differences in the music (the signature "one hundred years" guitar riff is included, but the key-change/middle isn't yet)--but it's interesting to listen to them work on these things in a live setting... a more familiar song closes out the night for everyone, w/"faith." it's got a pretty good mood/atmosphere and robert adds some improvised lyrics towards the end as well, a great way to end a very cool show/recording. this two-disc set is a must-have for curefans, just some really excellent stuff to be found here--early versions of three "pornography" songs, w/some different lyrics...different feels--priceless stuff for fans!! and actually, this is quite good for a 1981 recording as well--it's not radio broadcast quality, or soundboard-direct...but a really kick-arse audience recording w/some great performances =) get this if you can, it's worth your time and effort. |