Disc of the day
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
Features Disc of the day
The Cure
Faith
(Fiction, 1981)
The original grey album.
This Christmas we have been advised to think ‘Winter’ for Disc of The Day. So, snowy concept albums? Frosty electronica? Warm, snugly ‘60s crooners? Well, you can take the girl out of suburban gothdom… but my imagination leapt to The Cure’s bleak ’80s trilogy: 17 Seconds, Faith, Pornography. The chilliest of the three, 1981’s Faith starts in church with Holy Hour’s slurry, distorted bass reflecting the druggy mire that slowed much of the album’s recording sessions, with Robert Smith’s internal conflict of beliefs played out in the pews. This is no candlelit midnight mass to warm the soul, and Smith’s inherent convictions offer cold comfort. Grief abounds on Faith. Now just the trio of Smith, drummer Lol Tolhurst and bassist Simon Gallup, all three had lost or were losing loved ones at the time and feelings of despair and abandonment are raw, particularly on the self-explanatory The Funeral Party, Other Voices, the harrowing title track and Drowning Man (Robert: “I was waiting for the vocals to start, forgetting that I was the singer…”). Only on the urgent Primary does the pace pick up to above funereal, but it’s no less pessimistic in its unpicking of a long-term love (Smith being, famously, the most happily married man in rock, who to this day insists on playing the romantic Eeyore). But even at their most hopeless The Cure inspired devotion from their fans and certainly the forlorn vocals bought out the mothering instinct in this alienated teen. The deluxe, stocking-filler version includes the Carnage Visors soundtrack and a CD of 1980/81 rarities. Brrrrr!
Jenny Bulley
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 30/12/2008
Further Listening
The Cure – Pornography [Deluxe] (Fiction)
Joy Divison – Unknown Pleasures (WEA)
Portishead – Third (Universal)
Previous Disc of the day
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Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
6:00 AM GMT 20/11/2009
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-
Isley Brothers - The Brothers: Isley
The Cincinnati siblings bed into their heavy period.
6:00 AM GMT 18/11/2009
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Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land
The trumpeter's most soulful excursion entrances MOJO messageboarder.
6:00 AM GMT 16/11/2009
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Primary, such an awesome track. "The innocents of sleeping children...". Faith is an excellent album, dark but excellent. Timeless masterpiece
Posted by Gav Cheal at 10:58 AM GMT 30/12/2008 Report Abuse
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