Best of: Re-mastered/Deluxe Editions

[scatcat]

Which Re-mastered/Deluxe Edition is your favourite ?
Cast a vote.. then please post a reply with the reason why this is the best edition... 

[crowbi_wan]

My vote goes for The Head on the Door.  The original is my favorite album, so why not the deluxe?  The demos are just wonderful and I almost wish some didn't stray as far as they did when it came to to record them for the album.  I absolutely LOVE the demo of push.  It's not as punchy and driving as the album version, nor does it contain any lyrics, but I really like the instrumentation of that version. It was a real treat to listen to when the remaster came out.  Well, it's still a treat to listen to     

[rubcure]

I voted for The Head on the Door; the original was my first album of The Cure and I have good memories of that album!! Plus, the deluxe edition is one of the best!! 

[Sussex]

I go for Faith..

The live version of The Drowning Man is so damn wonderful..but other albums are always ok!

[Steve]

I have to vote for Seventeen Seconds on this one.
I have just listened to it again & every time it transfixes me.
The subtleties in the production are breathtaking imho.
I only hope they do the same (or better) with Disintegration

[scatcat]

i'm a seventeen seconds girl! 

it is raw and I love the punkiness of this album. I love the live versions of Play For Today and A Forest on this album, not to mention 17 seconds. I'm a Cult Hero.. wow!!
my next favourite would be Head on the Door, very close for me to choose..

[Steve]

i'm a seventeen seconds girl! 

Really?...

I'll stop there shall I?

[disintegration]

Faith for me! 

[Cure Freak]

Pornography

[japanesebaby]

My vote goes for The Head on the Door.  The original is my favorite album, so why not the deluxe?  The demos are just wonderful and I almost wish some didn't stray as far as they did when it came to to record them for the album.  I absolutely LOVE the demo of push.  It's not as punchy and driving as the album version, nor does it contain any lyrics, but I really like the instrumentation of that version. It was a real treat to listen to when the remaster came out.  Well, it's still a treat to listen to     

hmm, do i really always tend to dislike the things you like ('last dance', anyone...)? 
because i would have said that i was really disappointed with a lot of deluxe material since there were so many demos included and i just never found anything strikingly interesting there. especially the extra disc of THEOTD, i think i've only ever managed to listen through it once, if i'm really honest.

it's not something i'd vote here as such, but what comes to the deluxe bonus discs alone, then the bonus disc on 'blue sunshine' is the only one i've been listening to a lot - that one i found a real delight, whereas so many others let me down.



*EDIT; voted for 'pornography'. that one was the biggest thrill to me, when i listened through it for the first time.
'faith' and '17 seconds' don't fall far behind but if one has to choose one only...

[iwannashagsimon]

I honestly can't vote for just one.  They all have their good and bad points.  Of course the good points are all those unreleased tracks and demos.  But I think there are too many live recordings included.  I mean, come on, what Cure fan hasn't heard most Cure songs live???   I think they should have left out all the live recordings and added more unreleased/demo tracks.

[japanesebaby]

I mean, come on, what Cure fan hasn't heard most Cure songs live???   I think they should have left out all the live recordings and added more unreleased/demo tracks.

but come on, these are soundboards.... and unreleased soundboards - ehrmm...?

maybe some more unreleased finished tracks would have been nice - but what if there weren't any?
i'd rather have more live tracks than some demos like most of those on the THEOTD which sound like they were recorded with a $2 kids' casio (=they probably even were).
the only thing that annoys me is that the live tracks are excerpts, not complete gigs... you listen to the live tracks at the end of the KMKMKM and you get SO annoyed because you realize it's all you're going to be given... gggrrr!

[crowbi_wan]

hmm, do i really always tend to dislike the things you like ('last dance', anyone...)? 

It's the lyrics that do it for me with that one 

THE CURE
best: the end of the world
worst: the promise

TEOTW is one of the worst Cure songs EVER!  I actually think I'd flip those two around.  Yeah, we do disagree on songs more often than not.  But hey, I've noticed there are some (albeit a small number) we can agree on. 

...some demos like most of those on the THEOTD which sound like they were recorded with a $2 kids' casio (=they probably even were).

Sure, they sound cheap, but I love hearing those home demos.  You get a real sense of how the song was written, before the band and producer's input (similar to the early live versions of songs that would later appear Faith and Pornography).  The finished product is easily superior, as it should be.  For me, it's just nice to be able to hear what Robert had in my before he went into the studio.

@japanesebaby.  Curious to hear what your opinion is on bonus tracks of songs that we had not heard before (Play with Me, for example)?  That particular track is wonderful!  I'm cannot understand as to why it was left off TIB    There's some real shit on that album 

[iwannashagsimon]

maybe some more unreleased finished tracks would have been nice - but what if there weren't any?

With all the songs Robert or the others have written/recorded there has to be more.

[japanesebaby]

maybe some more unreleased finished tracks would have been nice - but what if there weren't any?

With all the songs Robert or the others have written/recorded there has to be more.

but what IF they are not worth it? maybe he already chose what he wants to let out and the rest is not as good (and he knows it)?
what if he had put some extra tracks out and now people would be complaining that they were not so good? maybe wishing that "he should have given us some soundboard live tracks instead"?
maybe "there has to be more" - but maybe it doesn't matter because it wouldn't be worth it anyway.
at least i'd rather have a bunch of quality live performances than some unfinished "half-songs".
and is he still sitting on some unpublished gems? the fact is that we don't know. it could be just crap too. all i'm saying is that we so easily mystify things without even noticing it ourselves. we like to think "oh there MUST be some unreleased treasures there" when we actually have no idea if it's true. but we like to mystify it in our own minds and start believing in it.


i've always felt uneasy about fans wanting to hear EVERYTHING, up to every totally unfinished sketch of a demo. as a musician myself, i tend to think of it this way: if i myself was publishing my own music, i wouldn't want everyone to hear the demos, the sketches: i'd make sure those would never be out there. if and when i had any ambition to my art, i'd make sure that only the best result goes into public - because that's the only thing that matters. and the rest (the sketches, demos): it just wouldn't be any fan's business. period.

some people want to collect every live concert - but that is different than wanting every little demo. because live performances were already MEANT to be public performances in the first place. they were performed in public and that means the artist himself meant them to be heard. that's totally different than some "work copy" of a song he made in his home studio just for himself.