Track Listing

1. Boys Don't Cry
2. Forest
3. Let's Go To Bed
4. Lovecats
5. Caterpillar
6. In Between Days
7. Close To Me
8. Why Can't I Be You
9. Just Like Heaven
10. Lullaby
11. Love Song
12. Pictures Of You
13. Never Enough
14. High
15. Friday I'm In Love
16. Mint Car
17. Wrong Number
18. Cut Here
19. Just Say Yes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #425 in Music
• Released on: 2001-11-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
As Greatest Hits--and particularly the busking pavement jazz of "Lovecats"--reminds us, the best Cure singles were very often tangential exercises; halcyon playtime divergences offering a Goth-free contrast to some of the weightier studiousness of some of those early albums. Or, as smudged frontman Robert Smith says of this 18-track collection, "Songs that are sung with a smile." This wasn't always true--witness the refrigerated fogginess of the classic "A Forest", the Blair Witch Project of it's day. What this compilation does is focus attention on the Cure's perennial unpredictability--the nursery school bonkers-ness of "The Caterpillar", the breathless claustrophobia of "Close to Me", the New Order-lite of "The Walk", the brass-section embellished thrust of "Why Can't I Be You". Oddly, chart-wise, the Cure's Lost Weekend began immediately after "Friday I'm in Love", their most ebullient melodic moment and the ultimate clocking-off to kick-those-heels! anthem. But at least the inclusion of two new songs "Cut Here" and "Just Say Yes" (with Saffron from Republica) indicate that the Cure remain a healthy ongoing concern. --Kevin Maidment

CD Description
Career retrospective from the popular British goth rockers.Includes all their hits like 'Boys Don't Cry', 'Close To Me', 'The Lovecats' and 'Friday I'm In Love', as well as a brand new song, 'Cut Here'.

Customer Reviews

Not really for old fans - a good introduction
It's easy to be snobbish about this compilation, but it's important not to forget how many great songs are included on it. If you are already a Cure fan and already have all the songs, then fine. There's probably not much here for you. The acoustic versions of some of the tracks on the second CD don't really merit a second listen, and the four later tracks on the main CD are all below the Cure's usual high standards.

That leaves the listener with 15 tracks of fantastic Cure pop songs, from their punk-pop beginnings in the 70s, right through to the more mature sound of the 90s. If you are new to the Cure, and if you have a liking for whimsical, dreamy guitar-pop, this would be a very good place to start your acquaintance. The two other compilations by the Cure, 'Staring at the Sea' and 'Galore', only cover a small part of their career. This compilation is more of an accurate representation of the band's career so far, even allowing for the fact that it concentrates almost exclusively on their pop singles, as well as for the shocking emission of one of their most beautiful songs, the sublime 'Catch'.

This compilation also hints at the Cure's darker depths, giving you a taste of the moody masterpiece 'Disintegration', with the tracks 'Pictures of You' and 'Lullaby', as well as the skeletal miserablism of early Cure, with the classic 'A Forest'. If you like those tracks, you can explore more by checking out the albums, or if you choose, you could follow the pop route and check out 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' or 'Wish'.

If you are interested in the band and would like to hear some of their old songs, without necessarily wanting to buy all the albums, this would be a good buy.

Something For Everyone
Every rock fan will be able to pick this album up and find at least a couple of songs that appeal to them. Ever a versatile band, Robert Smith's voice and the underlying bass guitar riffs are the only real constants throughout this greatest hits package. 'Never Enough' is pure guitar stomp, 'Lovecats' the grooviest of white jazz, and 'Love Song' the most poignant example of Smith's lyric-writing.

What more can I say that hasn't already been said in previous reviews? Even for established Cure fans, this is a very handy condensed package which I would genuinely recommend to anyone around.

Excellent highlights package of a varied carreer
This compilation offers excellent coverage of the Cure's 23 year career and illustrates that although there are only a few genuine 'hits', there has been ample enduring quality in the bands history to make this a worthwhile venture. The standout tracks are easily apparent, ranging from the quirky alt-pop brilliance of 'Close To Me' to their biggest hit, the anthemic 'Friday I'm In Love' which sounds just as good today as it ever did. Aside from the true 'hits' we can still find real gems in the shape of the melancholic yet heartfelt lo-fi confessions of 'Love Song' and 'Pictures of You' as well as the relatively more upbeat 'Never Enough' (including Robert Smith's trademark squealing). Overall the LP strikes a good balance between the more accessible, yet utterly brilliant pop songs ('High', 'Friday I'm in Love') and the more angst driven tracks off of the less commercial LP's. This is an ideal compilation for new fans of the band and devotees alike, though those who have followed the band for a while may feel these 'Greatest Hits' represent the glossier side of an often darker overall sound.