The Cure dibentuk di Sussex sekitar tahun 1976 oleh Robert Smith (vokal/ gitar), Michael Dempsey (bas), dan Laurence ‘Lol’ Tolhurst (drum). The Cure yang awalnya bernama Easy Cure ini baru mengeluarkan album pada tahun 1979 dengan judul THREE IMAGINARY BOYS yang mendapat acungan jempol oleh banyak kritikus musik Inggris.
The Cure yang meramu Punk Rock, Gothic, dan New Wave pun mulai memasukkan bunyi keyboard pada album kedua mereka yang berjudul SEVENTEEN SECONDS. Posisi keyboardist diisi oleh Mathieu Hartley. Keputusan ini menambah kaya musik The Cure yang mulai banyak dipuji oleh kalangan pers musik Inggris.
Walaupun sudah mengeluarkan 7 album, namun popularitas The Cure di Amerika baru melonjak setalah album DISINTEGRATION yang dilepas tahun 1989. Album ini berhasil masuk 12 besar U.S Charts dan berhasil meraih platinum album.
Musik The Cure sendiri cenderung berwarna suram dengan lirik-lirik yang bernuansa keputus-asaan. Gaya vokal Robert Smith yang mirip tercekik dengan dandanan khasnya akhirnya menjadi trade mark The Cure sampai sekarang.
Setelah berganti-ganti formasi, The Cure terakhir tercatat dengan susunan Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup, dan Jason Cooper dan berencana merilis album ke-13 mereka tahun 2008 ini.
Godfather band Inggris The Cure ini cukup banyak mempengaruhi jagad permusikan rock. Nggak heran kalo hingga hari ini cukup banyak grup band yang menjadikan The Cure sebagai panutan (termasuk gue). Dengan tampang kaya drakula kena anemia ini ternyata makin tua malah tetep aja seger buger oom satu ini (kali karena konsumsinya darah perawan ya?) Meski pucet drakula gitu, Robert tergolong musisi bersih dari drugs (paling beer ama anggur doang). Gitaris yang lebih nonjolin nyanyi pake suara-suara datar dan irit chord (cenderung diulang-ulang) dan gitar dengan sound string ini termasuk panutan tradisi gaya ngegitar post-punk sedunia.
Jauh sebelum jadi bos di Cure, ni orang maen sama icon band goth-punk lain yaitu Siouxsie and the Banshees (selain di the Glove). Di Banshees, Robert main bareng Steve Severin, disini doi masih make gitar Ovation Breadwinner dan flanger tua merk MXR yang saking berisik dan jeleknya, doi pernah sumpah-sumpah nggak mo make alat itu lagi. Tapi akhirnya tetep aja doi minjem flanger punya si John McGeoch (gitaris pertama band ini yang juga pernah main di Magazine, Visage dan P.I.L. ? grup band anak-anak jebolan Sex Pistols). Beberapa tahun kemudian, dia nyoba buat eksplorasi semua distorsi quasi-metal ke gitar string nilon, setelah itu penyesuaian karakter vokalnya yang emang unik dan khas itu, jadinya malah klop abis dan nggak ada yang bisa nyamain.
Dengan senjata gitar tua merk National, Fender Jazzmaster warna putih dan Gibson Chet Atkins warna merah ini, si Robert bersama The Cure malang melintang dari panggung ke panggung lainnya. Gitar Gibson punya Robert ini termasuk gitar edisi terbatas yg diproduksi nggak lebih dari 5 biji, suaranya khas berat tapi hangat khas suara gitar akustik tapi tetep aja bukan suara gitar akustik (kalo nggak percaya sono tanyain ama anak2x Pure Saturday, gimana repotnya ngulik sound kaya gini).
Tapi, selain suara dan kord apa sih yang bikin Robert khas dibanding pemusik lain? Nggak lain dan nggak bukan, ya si Robert ini suka banget ngasih sentuhan jiwa ke lagu-lagunya sehingga audience yang nguping langsung in sama emosi musiknya. Contohnya aja dilagu The 13th, Club America dan Treasure, ni orang sampe begadang dua hari supaya bisa munculin suara bisikan cewek yang mati (hehe? gimana ya?).
Selain Gitar Gibson merah-nya si Robert milih ampli Ampeg combo, Marshall Bluesbreaker dan Vox AC30. Dan gila-nya buat bikin suara wah-wah (dia make wah-wah tua merk Crybaby) di lagu Club America, si Robert ngulik sampe 8 jam buat bikin suara wah-wah-nya jadi khas. Dari jam 10 malem sampe jam 6 pagi baru dah ketemu soundnya plus didukung oleh tiga botol anggur putih dari Australia. Soundnya emang khas tapi berhubung buat tuningnya kelamaan akhirnya doi make Peavey tiap kali manggung.
Separoh Abad Yang Terlewati
Robert Smith mulai mengibarkan cikal The Cure tahun 1976 saat ia tampil di St Wilfrids Comprehensive, di Crawley, Sussex, Inggris. Bersama teman sekolahnya, Michael Dempsey (bas), Lol Tolhurst (dram) Porl Thompson (gitar), Robert yang saat itu masih 17 tahun mengusung nama The Easy Cure. Robert sendiri jadi vokalis sekaligus gitaris di band tersebut.
Dari situ, keempat musisi muda ini lalu mulai nulis lagu sendiri dan merekamnya ke dalam bentuk demo. Dua karya mereka, Killing an Arab dan 10:15 Saturday Night yang diedarkan oleh sebuah perusahaan label kecil tapi ajaib, Small Wonder Records tahun 1978 cukup bikin gebrakan mereka dilirik oleh para penikmat musik. Di tahun yang sama, mereka menyederhanakan nama The Easy Cure menjadi The Cure. Di awal-awal itu si Robert masih ngandalin gitar tua National-nya.
Setahun setelah itu, single mereka, Boys Dont Cry mendapat sambutan yang positif. Menurut pengamat musik saat itu, musik yang diusung The Cure banyak mengadopsi beat British pertengahan 60-an yang diperkaya oleh warna vokal Robert yang unik. Sejak itu, karir The Cure mulai memperlihatkan titik terang. Apalagi setelah terjadi perubahan dan penambahan personel dengan masuknya Simon Gallup menggantikan Dempsey dan Mathieu Hartley (kibor).
Terbukti, musim semi 1980, The Cure berhasil masuk di jajaran Top 40 Inggris untuk pertama kalinya lewat single A Forest. Sementara album keduanya, 17 Seconds, mampu nangkring di Top 20, disini si Robert make ampli merk WEM Clubman, Gitar Jazzmaster putih-nya dan Roland Jazz Chorus 120 Amp. Kesuksesan yang sama juga dirasakan oleh para personel The Cure saat ngelepas album Pornography yang menempatkan mereka sebagai pendatang baru yang patut diperhitungkan di Inggris. Pas album ini si Robert make efek overdrive dan distorsi merk Storm dan Fender Bass VI setelah itu Fender Precision Bass enam senar.
Seperti mengikuti pepatah makin tinggi pohon makin kenceng angin bertiup, karir yang mulai membaik nggak sinkron ama kondisi di tubuh band tersebut. Buntutnya, Mathieu cabut beberapa bulan sebelum pemecatan Simon. Posisi keduanya lantas diisi oleh Phil Thornalley dan Steve Goulding. Pada saat itu, Robert sendiri sempat membantu grup Siouxsie and The Banshees, ngganti-in John McGeogh untuk sementara waktu. Tapi susunan personel itu nggak tahan lama.
The Cure yang akhirnya banyak mencatat single di tangga lagu Inggris macam The Love Cats, Why Cant I Be You?, Catch, Friday Im In Love dan Just Like Heaven sebelum merilis album Wish, sempat masukin Simon kembali di samping Perry Bamonte (kibor, gitar), Porl Thompson (gitar) dan Boris Williams (dram). Menjelang penggarapan album Wild Mood Swings, Mei 1996, The Cure diperkuat oleh Robert Smith, Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Jason Cooper (dram) dan Roger ODonnell (kibor).
Desember 2002, usia perjalanan karir The Cure lewat dari 25 tahun. Selama kurun waktu tersebut, The Cure udah tinggal leyeh-leyeh menikmati kesuksesan yang melimpah dari penjualan album yang sudah lewat angka 27 juta keping di seluruh dunia. Makanya bagi Elektra Records, perusahaan rekaman tempat The Cure bernaung, prestasi itu patut dirayakan. Sebuah album Greatest Hits yang menyuguhkan 18 lagu terbaik mereka pun diluncurkan 13 November 2001.
Tapi benarkah album yang antara lain berisi lagu Boys Dont Cry, A Forest, The Lovecats, Close To Me, Just Like Heaven, Never Enough, Friday Im In Love dan Wrong Number ini merupakan kumpulan lagu terbaik The Cure? Bagi Robert Smith, album tersebut belom mencerminkan apa yang terbaik bagi The Cure.
Komposer, pencipta lagu, gitaris, kibordis sekaligus vokalis The Cure kelahiran 21 April 1959 ini menyebut dua lagu yaitu Lets Go To Bed dan The Walk sebagai karya yang sebenarnya nggak layak masuk di album tersebut. “Keduanya merupakan lagu yang paling jelek di album itu. Soalnya sound keduanya hanya mewakili zamannya. Saya pikir, semuanya harus bisa mewakili dalam kurun waktu 20 tahun terakhir,” tutur Robert kepada Launch.com.
Wajar aja jika Robert kurang puas dengan peluncuran album Greatest Hits ini. Sebab alasannya, pihak perusahaan rekaman lebih mikirin sisi bisnis aja dibanding unsur seninya. Lagian album tersebut diproduksi bukan atas permintaan The Cure. Jadi bagi Robert, seharusnya, Greatest Hits ini nggak dikeluarkan tahun 2001 lalu. Album kaya gini seharusnya diproduksi saat The Cure udah bubar. “Sekarang, kami kan sama sekali belon pensiun,” ujarnya menegaskan.
Meski gitu, demi penggemarnya, Robert nggak anti-anti amat ama proyek perilisan Greatest Hits ini. Karna gimana-gimana juga ia harus tetap ngejaga reputasi The Cure. Buktinya, di album tersebut, ia rela repot nggarap dua lagu baru dan satu lagu akustik (khusus untuk CD) untuk memperkaya materi yang udah ada. “Saya nggak akan membiarkan album tersebut dirilis begitu saja tanpa arti. Dengan masukin beberapa lagu baru, saya juga ingin album ini menjadi sesuatu yang bisa saya banggakan,” kata Robert meyakinkan.
Kini setelah melewati perjalanan karir selama lebih dari 26 tahun, Robert ngerasa sangat bersyukur masih bisa mempertahankan The Cure hingga saat ini. Kendati ia merasa semakin tua, tapi Robert justru merasakan makin menikmati profesinya ini. “Saya pernah nyoba ngerjain hal lain, tapi saya nggak pernah bisa puas,” ucapnya optimistis.
With over 27 million albums sold, The Cure's achievements on every level have been incredible. Yet whereas even the most creative of bands both past and present have invariably completed their best work during 'the early years', The Cure have continued to flourish and grow with every release, continually adding new, unusual and essential chapters to their improbable story.
As the band move into their 3rd decade, they present what is undoubtedly their most powerful work to date, their 13th studio album 'Bloodflowers'. Exhibiting a coherency, intensity and emotional depth that is at times breathtaking, 'Bloodflowers' embodies all that The Cure do best. It is the band at the height of it's powers, and the now 5 year-old line up has developed into what is unquestionably the strongest ever; Cure mastermind Robert Smith (voice, guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Perry Bamonte (guitar), Roger O'Donnell (keyboards) and Jason Cooper (drums).
The album has been co-produced by Robert and Paul Corkett, and is intended as the final part of a trilogy that began with the release in 1982 of the album 'Pornography', and that continued on with the release in 1989 of the album 'Disintegration'. Moving from wistful nostalgia through unguarded introspection, to impotent rage through helpless despair, 'Bloodflowers' is in essence an attempt at resolution. Performed with a musical sensibility that is truly moving, the emotional and lyrical clarity combine to make the listener uncomfortably aware that this could indeed be the oft threatened 'last ever' Cure album...
...It all started in 1976 when Robert, a 17 year old attending St Wilfrid's Comprehensive in Crawley, Sussex, formed The Easy Cure with schoolmates Michael Dempsey (bass), Lol Tolhurst (drums) and local guitar hero Porl Thompson. The 4-piece began writing and demoing their own songs almost immediately, and quickly amassed an impressive repertoire of original material that included such seminal classics as 'Killing an Arab' and '10:15 Saturday Night'.
By early 1977 the fledgling group had won a nationwide 'Battle of the Bands' style competition held by German-owned major label Ariola-Hansa that would have led to the release of a debut single and album but for the doomed nature of the relationship -Hansa saw The Easy Cure as a 'fresh faced' and malleable pop group - but even at this relatively young age, a headstrong Robert had other ideas... Within one unsatisfactory year the two parties had parted company with nothing having been released.
Frustrated but undeterred, in 1978 the 'Easy' was dropped, along with Porl, and an eager trio now known simply as The Cure sent out a demo tape of 4 songs to a number of record labels. A keen response from Polydor A&R man Chris Parry was quickly followed up, and The Cure signed with his new Fiction label that September; it was to prove a lasting partnership - they have been together ever since. Work began immediately on their first single and album, with debut engineer Mike Hedges, and 'Killing An Arab' was released to great acclaim through a deal with 'Small Wonder' records in December.
Re-released on Fiction in January 1979, it was quickly followed by the album 'Three Imaginary Boys', and the strangely beguiling mix of peculiarly obscure imagery and sparsely angular music caused a great deal of controversy and comment. The album kick-started an extensive UK touring period, during which The Cure played with various other emergent bands of the time such as Wire, Joy Division and The Jam. A further two non-album singles, 'Boy's Don't Cry' and 'Jumping Someone Else's Train' were released, as well as a couple of 'sideline recordings' with 'The Obtainers' and 'Cult Hero'. 'Boys Don't Cry', the single, was a minor success in the USA, and led to 'Three Imaginary Boys' being re-tuned and re-named 'Boys Don't Cry'.
This period also saw the development of a long standing affiliation between The Cure and Siouxsie and The Banshees, as within two dates of their support slot on the Banshee's UK tour in late 1979, Robert found himself playing two sets a night, having stepped into the breach for departed guitarist John McKay. At the end of this incredibly hectic period, subtle but irresolvable differences within the band led to the quiet departure of Michael Dempsey.
Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) joined, and in early 1980 the 4-piece Cure embarked on two weeks of studio experimentation. This time with Mike Hedges co-producing, the band decided to explore the darker side of Robert's songwriting, and emerged with the minimalist classic 'Seventeen Seconds'. An album of extraordinary clarity and grace, the distinctive, almost cinematic 'A Forest' became the band's first bona fide UK hit single, and a Top Of The Pops appearance followed. With 'Seventeen Seconds' climbing to #20 in the UK album charts, The Cure set out on an extensive and exhilarating world tour of Europe, the USA and Australasia. Unfortunately, the strains of a frantic year proved too much for Matthieu Hartley, and he was forced to leave the band.
A trio once more, in the spring of 1981 The Cure, again with Mike Hedges co-producing, recorded 'Faith', a mournful, atmospheric album of bleak and barren soundscapes evoking a world of dissolution and fear. The band also finished an instrumental soundtrack for their 'tour support' film 'Carnage Visors'. 'Faith' reached #14 in the UK album charts, and spawned another successful single, the abrasively insistent 'Primary'. The global 'Picture Tour' that followed was an intense experience for all, and by the time the hauntingly beautiful non-album single 'Charlotte Sometimes' was released in October, the band were due a break.
But a break was not on the agenda. Instead, at the start of 1982 The Cure returned to the studio to produce an album, in tandem with Phil Thornalley, that was to be the culmination of their increasingly morbid fascination with darkness, despair and decay. 'Pornography', released in May, was infected with an unrelenting black nihilism, and rather ironically became the first Cure album to break into the UK Top 10 at #9. The 'Fourteen Explicit Moments' tour however, saw the band becoming increasingly more volatile and violent, and by the time 'The Hanging Garden' was released as a single, Simon Gallup had left.
Having pushed himself and those around him beyond the limits of excess, Robert realised it was make or break time, and that the only way to distance himself from all that the group had become was to 'lighten up' again. This he did with the counterfeit cheesy disco of 'Let's Go To Bed', an instant if unexpected pop hit in America! The Cure line-up was still in some disarray - the single was recorded with Wreckless Eric drummer Steve Goulding, Lol Tolhurst having moved onto keyboards - but another key Cure partnership was forged in the making of the accompanying promotional video, and the colourful collaboration with Tim Pope was another relationship that would stand the test of time.
The Cure continued to redefine themselves in 1983 with the groovy electronic dance of 'The Walk' (UK #12) and the demented cartoon jazz of 'The Lovecats', which became the band's first single to claim UK Top 10 status, reaching #7. Robert felt vindicated: he had worked through the rage and despair of 'Pornography', and with the release of these 3 wildly different singles, had effectively turned everyone's perception of The Cure upside down. 1983 was interspersed further with Robert's commitments recording and touring once more as a Banshee, helping write and record their 'Hyaena' and 'Nocturne' albums, as well as completing the 'Blue Sunshine' album as 'The Glove', an experimental project undertaken in partnership with Banshee Steve Severin. The three Cure singles and their B-sides were collectively released as the album 'Japanese Whispers' in December.
In 1984 'The Top' was released, and although billed as a Cure album, in reality Robert played everything on it save drums. The result was a strangely hallucinogenic mix that saw the band drift once more into the UK Top 10, a Top 20 single being achieved with the release of the infectiously psychedelic 'The Caterpillar'. Robert also recorded the Tim Pope single 'I Want To Be A Tree' at this time. With the world 'Top Tour' featuring the live line-up of Andy Anderson on drums, Phil Thornalley on bass and Porl Thompson back on guitar, the band were seemingly once more fully functioning and on their way. But for a number of reasons, come the end of the tour both Andy Anderson and Phil Thornalley had left the band. Boris Williams (drums) and a returning Simon Gallup (bass) replaced them.
This new incarnation started work on 1985's 'The Head On The Door' with enthusiasm, zeal, and a very real sense that 'something was happening'... Varied and diverse, and yet informed throughout with a wonderfully simple pop sensibility, 'THOTD', co-produced with Dave Allen, reached # 7 in the UK. The vibrant hit single 'Inbetween Days' was followed up by 'Close To Me', and another brilliant Tim Pope collaboration, this time featuring the five band members unaccountably trapped in a wardrobe, balanced perilously on the clifftop of the infamous suicide drop Beachy Head!
'THOTD' had managed #59 in the American Billboard Charts, and the accompanying world tour and ever increasing devotion of fans paved the way for the massive success of the impeccable collection 'Standing On A Beach'. Released in May 1986, the title taken from the first line of 'Killing An Arab', it featured all The Cure singles and B-sides to date. Complemented by a video version of the compilation 'Staring At The Sea', these releases, and yet another huge world tour, including the band's first headlining slot at Glastonbury, launched the band headlong into a worldwide 'big time'. The album broke into the US Top 50, and the American media suddenly became fascinated with Robert Smith. One publication labelled him "the male Kate Bush", and when he lopped off his notorious mop of hair in a fit of pique, it made MTV News On The Hour! 'Boy's Don't Cry' was re-sung, re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a year of extensive gigs and festivals was crowned in the August with Tim Pope's celebratory live concert fil
m 'The Cure In Orange', released for cinema and video the following Spring.
In 1987 The Cure brought out an immense and ambitious double album entitled 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'. Lyrically and musically broader than anything they had yet attempted, the greatest strength of the album, once again co-produced with Dave Allen, lay in it's extreme diversity and extraordinary stylistic range, as the band moved effortlessly from dreamlike beauty to nightmare horror. Hit singles 'Why Can't I Be You?', 'Catch', 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Hot Hot Hot!!!' were released, all accompanied by more brilliantly inventive Tim Pope videos. With the arrival of Roger O'Donnell on keyboards, the 6-piece Cure travelled the world from July to December on the wildly successful 'Kissing Tour'.
Berikut ini adalah 30 hal yang tidak pernah kamu ketahui tentang muse, ‘30 Things You Never Knew About Muse’ ditulis oleh Mark Beaumont. Dari bukunya ‘Out Of This World: The Story Of Muse’ sebuah biografi dari band besar Muse.
1. Pada Big Day Out tour Tahun 2004, Metallica mendirikan tenda latihan di sebelah panggung utama, tempat untuk pemanasan sebelum mereka tampil. Muse datang ke luar panggung untuk mendengar Metallica pemanasan memainkan 'New Born’.
2. Menjadi seperti anak kecil - Tingginya 5' 7 "- Matt Bellamy mengambil keuntungan dari tingginya saat perjalanan ke Jepang untuk memiliki kemeja sutera yang dirancang khusus untuknya.
3. Saat tidak aktif di Muse, bassist Chris Wolstenholme adalah drummer di band pub lokal di kota Devon, Teignmouth, di mana dia tinggal bersama istrinya Kelly dan tiga anak mereka Alfie, Frankie dan Ava-Jo.
4. memori awal Drummer Dominic Howard adalah memakai cincin terbuat dari karet di pantai yang bisa meledak. Rancu euy bahasanya, hehee aslinya gini “Drummer Dominic Howard’s earliest memory is of being on a rubber ring at the beach as it burst.”
5. Anggota Band (Muse) adalah pemain poker yang hebat dan pernah mengalahkan Robert Smith dari The Cure dengan mendapatkan segepok uang yang banyak.
6. Setelah Matt terkenal, ia terkejut diberi lukisan dirinya sedang telanjang dengan gambar hati yang menutupi kemaluannya dan dengan gambar gagak di bahunya, adalah fans dari Rusia yang membuatnya, pada kunjungan berikutnya ke negara tersebut dia diberi teleskop astronom ukuran besar oleh orang yang sama.
7. Ketika meminta izin untuk memainkan salah satu organ gereja terbesar di Eropa untuk menyelesaikan rekaman 'megalomania' dari 'Origin Of Symmetry', pendeta di gereja meminta melihat lirik lagunya terlebih dahulu untuk memastikan bahwa mereka bukan sekutu setan .
8. Di Stadion Wembley pada bulan Juni 2007 band ini telah berencana untuk terbang ke panggung menggunakan jetpack, tetapi mereka merasa hal tersebut tidak baik untuk keselamatan Dan safety prosedur.
9. Begitu banyak kerusakan yang dilakukan muse pada instrumen musikdi tur 'Origin Of Symmetry '. band dan kru sepakat menyebut tur tersebut sebagai ‘Origin Of Chaos tour’
10. Sejak pertama kali Muse rekaman Matt tidak pernah membiarkan orang lain selain produser rekaman mendengar dia bernyanyi tanpa iringan musik. Bahkan anggota band (chris dan dom) tidak diizinkan tinggal di studio ketika Matt merekam trek vokalnya.
11. Pada tur Amerika mereka di awal 2005 Muse mengadakan kompetisi dimana penggemar harus memecahkan anagram dari judul lagu baru pada playists mereka, yang akan menuju pesan rahasia dengan sebuah hadiah – yaitu sebuah sepeda yang sengaja ditinggalkan di kota tersebut.
12. vila Matt di Danau Como, Italia pernah sekali di cat untuk Winston Churchill.
13. suatu saat selama proses rekaman, Muse pernah mempertimbangkan membuat 'Black Holes and Revelation' menjadi triple album. Album dengan lagu inti diapit dua keping cakram seperti sandwich antara electronik dan rock eksperimental.
14. Selama 'Black Holes And Revelations’ mereka mulai memainkan lagu-lagu lama mereka dalam versi jazz untuk bersenang-senang dan pernah mempertimbangkan untuk menjadi sebuah band jazz.
15. Bayang-bayang terbang orang di sampul 'Absolution' adalah asli/nyata - direktur seni Storm Thorgerson menolak untuk mengungkapkan bagaimana gambar tersebut diambil.
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