Paris Middletown NY

Paris

The Cure

Fiction / Elektra Records, 1993

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/31/1998

If you've been reading these reviews in alphabetical order,you'll know that I admitted one review ago that I buy some albumson impulse. (What!?! You haven't been reading these in alphabeticalorder?)

When The Cure released their live album Show in 1993, for some strange reason, I felt like I had topick it up. Then, I saw they had released Paris as a companion live album (and, from what I remember,it was supposed to be a limited edition). Well, you can't just buyone album and not buy its comanion, can you?

We'll get to Show one day on these pages. But Paris is an interesting listen; it features Robert Smith andcrew caught between the two worlds of the goth-rock the band lovedand the more sensible melodies of pop music. Thing is, this bandsuccessfully straddles both territories -- and you don't need to bea diehard fan of The Cure to appreciate this music.

The first half of the album features Smith and his bandmatestackling the more cerebral gothic side of their music - this seemsto be the portion of the show that was meant for the long-termfans. Tracks like "One Hundred Years" and "At Night" will not be asfamiliar to those people who only know The Cure from alternativeradio -- but these tracks are so good, they may just inspire somepeople to check out some other Cure albums. (Side note: When I waslistening to this side at home the other day, my 2-1/2-year-olddaughter started dancing to the music - almost Devo-esque, to behonest. It both made me laugh and scared the hell out of me -namely because she's a better dancer at her age than I am at28.)