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Various
Artists: Strange as Angels, A Tribute to The Cure
Buying a tribute album is always a risky prospect. Heck, I already own two Cure tribute albums already, and honestly I dont listen to them much anymore. First I bought the Washington D.C. benefit CD Give Me the Cure that had mostly understated versions of Cure songs. Tuscaderos version of Boys Dont Cry is certainly cute enough, but the world will never know why Jawbox covered Meathook. Then we had one of Cleopatras hundred or so late 90s tribute LPs 100 Tears, which was O.K. I suppose, but something still seemed missing. Well Strange as Angels is finally a tribute album I could probably suggest wholeheartedly to any Cure fan. These versions all seem to be assembled with far more care than the other two LPs. I know none of the bands on here, but it doesnt matter at all. These are talented musicians from around the world that are really striving to build upon the original songs and improve or update them. Mostly the LP has a goth/industrial feel to it, but the subtle electronic drumbeats and synthesizer merge with the proper rock backgrounds to shine up songs like A Forest and A Strange Day quite nicely. Lots of Pornography tracks are used here, which is nice, because as good as that album is, it certainly could use a little shot of adrenaline in parts, and Nerve Exhibit and Astral Grey were happy enough to provide this for us. The Cure appeals to so many music fans that its easy to forget what they actually were. Give Me the Cure was too stripped down to really do the original songs justice; they became fragile and often fell apart. And even though The Cure influenced many industrial artists, they really are and always have been a rock band. The bands here realize this, and the droning guitars opening up The Ahab Rex Trios Cold put most of the electronic songs on 100 Tears to shame. A Russian band called Zalex adds a unique version of Friday Im In Love that offers lots of tempo changes to spice up the somewhat tired refrain of the original hit. Sadly, the bands frontman is said to have died shortly after this recording was made. Then from Canada, you have Purple Car opening up Fascination Street with an odd gospel voice before totally reworking the shell of the song by varying the vocal timing a bit. The whole thing sounds very distorted and succeeds in reinterpreting the song in a novel way. All three tribute LPs I own attempt A Night Like This, but they all come up a bit short. Hearts Fail work hard here, but the vocals just dont mix in right. Nothing can beat the live version on Show anyway, so I dont know why people keep trying. The red badge of courage goes to Ian Lund & Jeff Bruebach for daring to cover Untitled off of Disintegration. Somehow they figured out some of the weird guitar reverb that this song utilizes, and it comes off as a very well done track. There might be three or four songs here that arent terribly useful, but that still leaves you with 13 solid tracks that sound fresh, even to someone like me whos been listening to the same Cure songs for over ten years now. So I congratulate the bands involved here for relighting a bit of that Cure spark in me that has honestly been fading a bit ever since Bloodflowers.
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