Product Description

This new edition brings The Cure's story right up to date to include details of Robert Smith's personnel changes and the band's 13th studio album. Author Jeff Apter traces their roots from middle-class Sussex documenting in detail their gradual rise to fame. This work details the full story of Robert Smith's defection to Siouxsie and the Banshees and his drug problems. Compiled from dozens of interviews, including exclusive discussions with co-founders Lol Tolhurst and Michael Dempsey and various members of the band, this work includes many photographs and a comprehensive discography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49937 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Author
I've just received the following from Lol Tolhurst, one of the co-founders of the Cure: I waited many years for my side of The Cure story to be told and I am immensely pleased and relived that it has finally been reported in such a honest and reasonable manner. The Cure was (and still is to a certain extent) a very big part of my life and it was important to me to have my part of the story conveyed accurately without any bitterness or resentment because ultimately I am both humbled and grateful by what we did and I continue to be proud of that achievement. I cannot imagine how hard it is to get close enough to your subject to see the real story but I think you have done it admirably. Thank you for telling the true story.

About the Author
Jeff Apter spent five years as Music Editor of Australian Rollilng Stone and has been writing professionally for 20 years. He is a contributor to Vogue and GQ magazines and also writes for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Bulletin and Australian Hi-Fi. His music books include biographies of Jeff Buckley, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, No Doubt and Dave Grohl - all published by Omnibus Press. He lives in Sydney with his wife and children.

Customer Reviews

A good read but..
..is this guy American? with regular references to 'chilly London' and mistakes such as suggesting Hugh Cornwell was the bassist with The Stranglers (JJ Burnel was, Hugh was the lead vocals/guitar) I recon this guy wasnt around during the history of punk and post punk goth. He also references to another The Cure book throughout this one, and says nothing about Parry leaving management of The Cure. That said it was a good read and good reference to the videos and the songs themselves.

Worth a read but less than balanced
This book is written in that readable, rock-biog style, and is pretty informative about the first ten years of The Cure - particularly if you don't know anything about them/haven't read Ten Imaginary Years. It's clearly heavily reliant on interviews with Lol Tolhurst and (original bassist) Michael Dempsey however, which makes it rather partisan, and means that the years after 1989 are suddenly dealt with in a rollercoaster, very US-centric way.

Cure obsessives will spot inaccuracies throughout, and there's a surprisingly negative attitude towards most of The Cure's music. Album after album is described using all the old `funereal' and `dirge-like' clichés, even the soaring `How Beautiful You Are' being described as `pedestrian'.

The book is also very much written as the story of Robert Smith; key long-termer Porl Thompson barely figures after his early stint in Easy Cure and Simon Gallup's contribution and story is only touched on (he is dismissed as "clearly not the most nimble-fingered bass player" and his Wish tour breakdown gets less than a page).

So if you love your Cure, you'll look down your nose at this a bit I think, but otherwise it's a useful and compelling introduction - particularly if you came to them late.

Should've been five, but...
I have now read this book twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times, apart from some minor and niggling mistakes. Principle amongst these was the mis-naming of AFI's 'Sing The Sorrow' as 'Sing The Silence' and some others mentioned in other reviews. Also, the author seemed to be struggling with a restrictive word count as the first few albums get majorly dissected while the later stuff seems to be only skimmed over. Besides this, the story was interesting, funny and heartrending in places, and the author seemed to know his stuff and have had access to several of the key players. The book is not 'authorised' by Robert Smith and I think it is stronger for it, revealing a complex figure, ruled by his ego, yet still with enough humanity to keep musicians returning to his fold time and again. All in all a fascinating read, and a worthwhile entry into the Cure bibliography.