With dirgelike jams and a ghoulish, mascara-soaked look, the Cure have long been the reigning kings of mopey, doom-and-gloom rock. But that image only tells half their story. Robert Smith's ever-changing band has consistently cut some of pop's most buoyant, helium-filled singles, starting with late-'70s pop-punk gems like "Boys Don't Cry," an irresistibly catchy tune made odd by Smith's distinctive yowling vocals. Greatest Hits tracks the band through delicious synth-heavy gothic narratives ("The Walk"), quirky and bouncy expressions of desire ("Close to Me'), surprisingly sincere love songs ("Friday I'm in Love"), and grand set pieces ("Never Enough"). These tracks, along with two new songs, including the enticing "Cut Here," make a solid case for the Cure as a fun-loving singles band, showcasing Smith and company at their sunniest. Although it shares 7 of its generous 18 tracks with 1986's Staring at the Sea collection -- including "In Between Days," "Close to Me," "Let's Go to Bed," "Forrest," and the aforementioned "Boys Don't Cry" -- Greatest Hits is the most comprehensive Cure set available (there is also a companion DVD release of videos). As an added treat for fans, the limited-edition version of Greatest Hits includes a bonus CD, Acoustic Hits, with all the songs done "unplugged." With extra helpings of piano and acoustic guitar, these new versions are sometimes even sunnier than the originals; "In Between Days" and "Let's Go to Bed" are brightened by their airy arrangements. Robert Smith clearly had a great time revisiting these songs; no doubt listeners will too.
Rhino's triple-disc 80s Dancefloor: The Collection rounds up 60 post-disco hits from some of the
genre's biggest names, including Ultravox (Dancing with Tears in My Eyes), a-ha (The Sun Always Shines on TV), Howard Jones (Things Can Only Get Better), ...
The Cure were never afraid of artistically defining themselves. They had their own sound, an
eerie glamour surrounding a dark whimsicality, yet fans flocked to them throughout the '80s and '90s. Commercial or cult favorites, they're impressive as being one ...
Knee-deep in angst and rage, the next generation of New York hardcore has arrived with
Sworn Enemy. The Queens-based group might be better classified as the newest addition to the East Coast metalcore scene, which includes many other musically heavy ...
The Psychedelic Furs will forever be one of the '80s' original bands, so their millennium
re-formation was a defining success. Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live celebrates the Psychedelic Furs' classy, cool mix of Roxy Music and the Rolling Stones and ...
Wall of Voodoo's second full-length album, Call of the West, was a noticeably more approachable
work than their debut, Dark Continent, and it even scored a fluke hit single, Mexican Radio, a loopy little number about puzzled American tourists that's ...
When the Cars released their first greatest-hits album in 1985, it was capping a golden
run that culminated in 1984's Heartbeat City, their biggest hit yet. They lasted one more album, 1987's abysmal Door to Door. So, technically, there isn't ...
Felt's first album, 1982's Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty, is skeletal and mysterious, equally influenced by
the intellectual New York City scene of the '70s and the gloomy psychedelia of the '60s while laying out in very clear terms the vision ...
Apart from a 2001 import-only retrospective titled simply Collection, Tracy Chapman has largely ignored the
whole anthology route. Since her remarkable eponymous debut long-player in 1988, the multiple Grammy Award winner has amassed more than enough quality material for a ...
![Title: Acoustic Hits [2LP]](https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0081227935252_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg)
