In the early 2000s, The Cure announced a massive reissue and expansion of their studio albums as deluxe editions. Late December of 2004, Three Imaginary Boys (1979) appeared in stores. The Cure worked their way through the releases in rapid succession. By 2006, Seventeen Seconds (1980) Faith (1981), Pornography (1982), The Top (1984), The Head on the Door (1985), and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) all appeared. Just Disintegration (1989) stood in front of Wish (1992), The Cure album I most connect with. When I read about The Cure’s reissues campaign, the first thing that came to my mind was Wish and what unknown sounds might be on it. That would have to wait.
After Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the reissues slowed down. Disintegration strolled into record stores in 2010. The expanded Mixed Up (1990), a compilation of remixes, finally crawled to the marketplace in 2018. Given that The Cure’s last new studio album appeared in 2008, for years I figured our odds of not getting the Wish expansion were about the same or greater than getting it. Given the current pace, I don’t know when we should expect a reissue of late-masterpiece Bloodflowers (2000), especially since we first have to get through Wild Mood Swings (1996). Let’s hope no one has to make arrangements to have it laid on their gravestone.
Well, at least Wish is finally here and I console myself by saying that I have absolutely no concern that the deluxe edition was rushed and that perhaps advances in technology over the last decade or so mean we get a slightly better version than we would have in, say, 2008. In the twenty-four-page booklet—another plus—of photos and liner notes, Robert Smith says that “In the studio control room, it all sounded excellent . . . but I got too busy sorting out our upcoming concerts to properly oversee the mastering” of the 1992 Wish. He explains that “The levels were all over the place” and “there was hardly any bottom end on there at all.” I can’t say I hear a world of difference between the original version and the remaster (even with headphones on), but perhaps it seems a little sharper and the vocals and various instruments seem to have a little more separation. I don’t know if I am detecting much of anything extra on the bottom end or not. I feel like I pick up a few extra details here and there, but maybe I just think I am supposed to since this is a remaster. Maybe it’s neither better nor worse, but just different in a couple of small ways. The 2022 Wish doesn’t sound like a completely new album, and it doesn’t need to. I’ve never had an issue with the original version.
The only issue listeners might have with this version is that while there is enough room in the set to have included the B-sides “This Twilight Garden,” “Play,” “Halo,” “Scared as You,” “The Big Hand,” and “A Foolish Arrangement,” we only get the demo versions. Yes, we can find those on the Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001 (2004) box set and/or on the singles if you don’t already have them somewhere or another, but it might be nice to have everything in one place, remastered, and adjusted to the same levels and specifications. On the other hand, if the package included them, someone would complain that Smith padded out this edition with music we already have and fuss that we didn’t get obscure/rumored/live tracks X, Y, and Z instead (by the way, the release boasts that twenty-four of its forty-five tracks are unreleased—all of disc two and three tracks of disc three). You can’t win, can you, Robert?
I already have those B-sides, so I think I just hate the idea that someone might not ever hear the studio version of “This Twilight Garden.” In the liner notes to Join the Dots, Smith writes that “it’s one of the best love songs we’ve ever done.” I think it’s the best song they’ve ever done out of everything they’ve ever done. A very close second is “To Wish Impossible Things.” In the Wish notes, Smith says, “It could well be my favorite song on the record.” Somewhere in a parallel universe, The Cure included “This Twilight Garden” on Wish and released “To Wish Impossible Things” as a single that topped the charts. In reality, “Friday I’m in Love” was a global hit and it’s The Cure’s second-highest charting song in the USA and UK. After the first vocal take, “the band knew immediately that we had our ‘radio friendly’ single,” according to Smith. Somehow, he sings apathetic lines such as “thursday / I don’t care about you” about as upbeat as one can.
The second and third discs are why most people will pick up this reissue; there’s a lot here and it’s all worth listening to. The first four tracks of disc two are demo versions with vocals that were eventually completed and released in studio form. If you’ve heard the finished studio tracks for thirty years, you’ll appreciate hearing these variations and their differences. About three-quarters of disc two gives us instrumentals that were never developed into full songs with proper vocals. I’m not sure why you would be listening to this if you did not like Smith’s vocals, but if you are part of some niche Cure fan group that loves the music, but not the vocals, this is your disc. All of the demos on discs two and three are high quality. None of this is, for instance, someone’s single guitar line coming through a practice amp and recorded on a cheap pocket micro-cassette recorder. Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards—they sound like studio tracks just waiting for vocals. These instrumentals point to side avenues The Cure passed by but didn’t take, quick glimpses of streets passed over for Wish. Smith explains that “There were around thirty really good pieces to choose from, and we could have constructed many different versions of Wish” from the revved-up raucous “Heart Attack” to the moody, bass-driven “Swing Change” to the funky, sax-infused “Frogfish.” Wild mood swings, indeed.
Only available via mail order and on cassette, the limited edition Lost Wishes (1993) EP gathered four of these instrumentals. Smith says that “The Lost Wishes tracks were definitely ‘contenders.’” Disc three begins with these tracks. Originally, Smith had the idea of making two albums: Higher would be the heavier but poppier record and Music for Dreams would be slower and completely instrumental. You can hear these two currents running through both Wish and its demos. Disc three finishes with various mixes of Wish songs and a live recording of “End” from Paris in 1992. Two live albums appeared in 1993: Show, leaning more on the hits and recent albums, and Paris, which focuses more on the deeper cuts. Presumably, this previously unreleased version of “End” is from the same shows Paris uses. Is this a preview? Could that mean expansions of Show and Paris are in the works? And could this mean the live version of Show that appeared only on VHS and LaserDisc—I paid someone for an unofficial LaserDisc to DVD transfer—will get an upgraded and expanded release on DVD and Blu-ray? Wishes do come true sometimes it seems. In the meantime, check out the expanded HD rerelease of 1991’s Play Out, a documentary with lots of live segments, that The Cure put out for free in November of 2022.
TRACKLIST
Disc One:
Original Album Remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios
1. Open
2. High
3. Apart
4. From the Edge of the Green Sea
5. Wendy Time
6. Doing the Unstuck
7. Friday I’m in Love
8. Trust (2022 Remaster)
9. A Letter to Elise
10. Cut
11. To Wish Impossible Things.
12. End
Disc Two:
Demos
1 The Big Hand (1990 Demo)
2 Cut (1990 Demo)
3. A Letter to Elise (1990 Demo)
4. Wendy Time (1990 Demo)
5. This Twilight Garden (Instrumental Demo)
6. Scared as You (Instrumental Demo)
7. To Wish Impossible Things (Instrumental Demo)
8. Apart (Instrumental Demo)
9. T7 (Instrumental Demo)
10. Now Is the Time (Instrumental Demo)
11. Miss van Gogh (Instrumental Demo)
12. T6 (Instrumental Demo)
13. Play (Instrumental Demo)
14. A Foolish Arrangement (Instrumental Demo)
15. Halo (Instrumental Demo)
16. Trust (Instrumental Demo)
17. Abetabw (Instrumental Demo)
18. T8 (Instrumental Demo)
19. Heart Attack (Instrumental Demo)
20. Swing Change (Instrumental Demo)
21. Frogfish (Instrumental Demo)
Disc Three:
Lost Wishes / Studio Out-Takes / 12″ Remixes / Live / Rare / Previously Unreleased
1. Uyea Sound (Dim-D Mix)
2. Cloudberry (Dim-D Mix)
3. Off to Sleep… (Dim-D Mix)
4. The Three Sisters (Dim-D Mix)
5. A Wendy Band (Instrumental)
6. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (Partscheckruf Mix)
7. Open (Fix Mix)
8. High (Higher Mix)
9. Doing the Unstuck (Extended 12″ Mix)
10. Friday I’m in Love (Strangelove Mix)
11. A Letter to Elise (Blue Mix)
12. End (Live in Paris, 1992)