Well....I just sat through the entire The Cure Festival 2005 DVD and thought I would rate it song by song for you all... I'm not sure that you're dying to hear what I think but this may be an interesting topic for others to comment on:
Some of these are comments, some are initial feelings - others are feelings at the end of the songs..you get the idea...
01. Open - this is missing "something". I really think this needs another guitar...I miss the little guitar bits that make this song one of my top 10
02. Fascination Street - Pretty Damn Good
03. alt.end - Great. This version opened my ears to this song. Especially the bassline.
04. The Blood - ACE!!
05. A Night Like This - I've never really liked this song.. and this version shows me why. This sounds bland. The sound of the "lead" in the original sounds dated and here the whole thing does nothing for me. Shame because in the context of THOTD it works for me...
06. The End Of The World - COOL!
07. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep - Porl on the acoustic!! Magic!!
08. The Kiss - Garage. Imagine Nirvana playing this song...
09. Shake Dog Shake - Hot Dawg, Hot!!
10. Us Or Them - Nasty, tasty goodness...What's with Robert's eyes at the beginning....
11. Never Enough - ROCKIN'!!!!
12. The Figurehead - Majestic.
13. A Strange Day - The Bass is ACE!!!
14. Push - Fun!! See Robert & Porl chatting away. Later on in the song there's a "perfect boy-band shot" where you can see from right to left the head of Simon's bass, the head of Robert's guitar and the head of Porl's guitar all lined up and "dancing" together. Hilarious...
15. Just Like Heaven - I thought this would suck as I am so over hearing it. But this electric version ROCKS!!
16. In Between Days - see 15. Just Like Heaven + Porl's keyboard sounds on guitar are perfect.
17. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea - See 01. Open.. Something missing again. Dunno what, but there's a hole. No amount of Porl smashing the life out of his guitar for the solo will make it right for me...don't get me wrong that was a great solo, the whole band is excellent in this, there's just a little something niggling away at me here....
18. The Drowning Man - See 12. The Figurehead
19. Signal To Noise - COOL! FUN!!
20. The Baby Screams - He's right: I "couldn't ask for more..."
21. One Hundred Years - Captivating. Maybe it was the lights - I doubt it though..
22. Shiver And Shake - Frantic, Frenetic, Fantastic
23. End - Average @ best. See 01. Open and 17. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
24. At Night - Loud, Quiet, Loud = TOPS!
25. M - @ first I hated the M solos on this tour, now I like..
26. Play For Today - Who needs keys when you have this audience??
27. A Forest - 3 Piece, 4 piece, 5 piece or 6 piece. This song will always be amazing.
28. Plainsong - No keyboard required. A fresh interpretation. Get over it.
29. Disintegration - Captivating, even with the wrong words and a couple of bum notes....
30. Faith - Jaw-droppingly good. Has there ever been a bad version of this song.. Awesome, truly Awesome. Shame about the picture though...
Credits - Creepycool
There you have it: My humble opinion.
All comments, questions, insults and compliments welcome!!
It's funny you're mainly reviewing the 'audio' part of the dvd (with the versions of the songs). By habit I suppose. ;)
On the first viewing, I didn't like the dvd very much. But then it grew on me. Here are some thoughts :
I think it's a shame they chose Open from Istanbul at the beginning of the dvd. I don't like too much the way it's filmed. So it's hard to get into the mood right away. Then Fascination Street video is quite awful with all these video layers and effects added... Fortunately, it improves with the songs and the fact that there are lots of different views and different image quality that change on each song makes the whole thing quite dynamic in the end (as opposed to the same 10 cameras and a repetitive film). I quite even like the far away camcorder shots. The sound is great as you said.
The highlights for me are :
A Strange Day (way better than Trilogy !!!!), Push, The Drowning Man, 100 Years (fantastic really), At Night, Faith. These are really making the purchase of this worth it.
There are less interesting things but overall it's a good release in my opinion. I'm glad to own it. :rocker
yeah point taken. i realised later on that even though the release is a video, I mainly commented on the audio... :oops: i guess though that the reason for this is that for me the change in line-up drastically changes the sound of the band, - of course it changes the look of the band, but that's not what I listen to...
overall i was surprised by all the crazy effects and stuff, mainly because Orange and Show were such picture perfect and clear vids... i would have preferred just plain images rather than all the effects used but then i'm sure that there are people out there who love all of the different vids.. I guess if it was up to me, i would have done it differently but then again the credits of the vid don't say "Robert Smith & Javier" :cry:
this dvd is a complete waste of time and money!
i saw a few tracks last week. i had to stop watching it cos i couldn't stand it. (http://www.my-smileys.de/smileys3/tv_horror.gif)
it's the first cure item i'm not interested in. i won't buy it - not today, tomorrow or whenever. and i'm glad that my girlfriend won't give it to me as a christmas gift cos she also dislikes it. :smth001
for me it's some kind of a sad documentation of how the cure became live - boring, spiritless, no magic anymore. :smth015
the technical side of the dvd is also no masterpiece (but fits very well to the cure 2005/06). i think everyone with a little bit experience and tmpg dvd author can make it.
the changes of the location during a song, the additional mixed in applause, the changes of the aspect ratio and plainsong as an encore - very embarrassing. :smth011
but if you like it enjoy it! ;)
just finished watching the dvd and ....
i don't care if they put the songs in the wrong order ("plainsong" as encore)
i don't care if they've added some (or more) overdubs
i don't care that they change the location during the songs
i don't care if they didn't use keyboards
yes they should have included "10.15" and "killing an (whatever)" but ...
i think this is a perfect example of how a live-dvd should be:
rough, not perfect but catching all the exitement a cure-concert is all about
i've seen them many times since 1980, there may have been better concerts but they've aged (as we all do) and they are still doing great shows and this dvd shows them at their best nowadays
i love it, i enjoy the sound and i hope everyone who loves the cure will enjoy it too
curiosa :rocker
ps: keep checking http://www.audiri.com/seconds/
Quote from: cult_hero on December 02, 2006, 13:35:51
for me it's some kind of a sad documentation of how the cure became live - boring, spiritless, no magic anymore. :smth015
I'm sorry you think that. I agree everything they played wasn't absolutely perfect but in my opinion there are nice moments on the dvd. As I said, I didn't like it right away. I hope your girlfriend will find another nice gift for you then. :)
As for the magic on stage, if I wanted to be extreme I'd say that a lot of it had gone since 1990... I think I watched "Show" like 2 or 3 times, some European 1996 shows (towards the end of the tour) were lousy and very boring too, without mentioning the 1998 disaster. On the new dvd, you can see Robert and Porl enjoying themselves really. It's better than posing and feeling nothing while playing.
The video effects are quite decent most of the times. 8) I like the ones on 100 Years and At Night (the discoloration at some point). I still think the end of FS is a bit too much and dislike A Signal To Noise (ugly). But it's interesting and gives a lively side to the image. But maybe in a few years time, these will be seen so incredibly old fashioned... :lol:
Quote from: Descent on December 02, 2006, 22:47:32
...without mentioning the 1998 disaster.
i'd rather watch e. g. bizarre 1998 10 times in a row than just one more track from the 2005 tour. ;)
maybe my girlfriend will donate me a t-shirt with porl on it? (http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/552/waahsa9.gif)
too much colour..
i still complain about the ac3 stereo soundtrack, it´s hard to get it sound right
on a stereo system, pcm soundtrack would´ve been better
it´s a psychedelic rock group, not the beatiful sadness goth group
call it a sacrilege then
i like it
-bw
I don't own the Festival DVD -- yet! -- so I can't comment on the video, and I can't comment on most of the songs. I can comment on Plainsong. I've got a copy of this (which I'll be deleting when I've got the DVD, in a week or so) and I have to say that I loved it. It's bolder and more daring than anything the Cure has done since Wild Mood Swings. It's not technically perfect, but I think it's damned cool to hear the guitar playing the keyboard bits. I can't help but smile like an idiot when I hear it, because I immediately think, every time, "This is it. This is the Cure that I love." I love Bloodflowers, I very much enjoy The Cure, but neither of those records were very adventurous. Plainsong is, and I love it to death for that.
That is all.
eh Be! I find that this dvd is simply well, it shows what are ' THE CURE' now, a group which makes sing the guitars and they do it well!!!! on the other hand I think that only one concert would have been better than this compilation of images but the group wanted to pay homage to the fans who moved for them..... the manner of filming the images are surprising at the beginning but remain cool!!!! the return of PORL is beneficial for the future of the group (especially on scene) this object is simply essential for us the fans.......
:smth001 :smth001 :smth001
Quote from: cult_hero on December 03, 2006, 12:42:11
maybe my girlfriend will donate me a t-shirt with porl on it? (http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/552/waahsa9.gif)
:lol:
can someone tell me what song is used at the title screen? i just remember think "ahh yes ___ is a great track, i need to d/l it for my cure compilation"
Quote from: farquad92 on December 09, 2006, 22:07:11
can someone tell me what song is used at the title screen? i just remember think "ahh yes ___ is a great track, i need to d/l it for my cure compilation"
play for today...
*copies and pastes nausearockpig's song list*
*hopes he doesn't mind*
Well, this is my first post here on the boards, so...hello and here is goes.
01. Open - Sounds good, considering it's missing the 3rd guitar, perhaps they should have used a different version - their performance of this song at Live 8 sounded really good...
02. Fascination Street - Sounds pretty good, Porl's guitar needed to be slightly louder though IMO.
03. alt.end - I didn't really care much for the last Cure album, but this version is really nice.
04. The Blood - Wow. Porl totally owns those leads. I cringe at the thought of what they would have sounded like if Bamonte had tried to play them.
05. A Night Like This - Pretty good, the performance was tight.
06. The End Of The World - See #3.
07. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep - Nice. Porl making some sweet sounds on the acoustic...
08. The Kiss - I liked it, but since there were no keys, Porl's guitar should have been louder.
09. Shake Dog Shake - Best sounding live version since In Orange.
10. Us Or Them - This one has yet to grow on me...
11. Never Enough - Tight as hell. Nice. Porl even manages to change his outfit WHILE he plays :-D
12. The Figurehead - So, so good. Very moving...
13. A Strange Day - see #12.
14. Push - This is the best version I have EVER heard of this song (aside from the studio version) - I've seen them play this song with the previous line-up, and Perry's guitar never sounded quite right to me...
15. Just Like Heaven - Porl doing all of the keyboard parts PLUS his guitar leads? Oh yes.
16. In Between Days - Keyboard? What keyboard?
17. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea - Pretty sweet. Porl's guitar sounds completely otherworldly.
18. The Drowning Man - Everything they play from the 1980 - 1982 period just completely shines. Awesome.
19. Signal To Noise - I always liked this song, so it's even better with Porl...
20. The Baby Screams - YES!
21. One Hundred Years - See #12 again...so amazing.
22. Shiver And Shake - So, so much goodness...I'm starting to repeat myself.
23. End - It's good. They're definitely feeling the music. Although I do wish Robert would sing "Please stop loving me" instead of "......Stop loving me".
24. At Night - See #18.
25. M - See #18 again.
26. Play For Today - Oh yeah, this version of the Cure is such a dull live act :roll:, that's why they can move an entire audience to sing a keyboard melody - and in key, no less.
27. A Forest - I've heard many, many versions of this song. This one is one of the best.
28. Plainsong - SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I really can't understand the hate. Smith's 6 string bass sounded a little "floppy", but I bet you this one sounded f*cking huge in the ampitheatre/stadium/wherever. It sounds pretty full on the DVD to me.
29. Disintegration - Good. I was hoping that Porl was going to be playing the verse riffs, but then Robert saved it for the end.
30. Faith - Of all the times I've seen them, I have never seen them play this one in person, and the only other times I've heard or seen a live version is on the In Orange film and on some bootlegs from 1981. And this version is just as amazing as the one on In Orange. This is the only time in the entire DVD where I was annoyed by the camerawork/effects. Breathtaking scenery though, it's just that I didn't need to see just that for the entire song :-D
So yeah, The Cure sound vibrant and energetic once again. I'm so happy that the sense of urgency and importance that has been lacking since 1995 has returned to their music - Jason Cooper even sounds like he's finally found his pocket. I am overjoyed that one of my absolute favorite bands of all time feels this important to me once again, as I really did stop caring after the last album.
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52Porl even manages to change his outfit WHILE he plays :-D
:-D so how come some people still keep saying he's boring? :rocker
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52
04. The Blood - Wow. Porl totally owns those leads. I cringe at the thought of what they would have sounded like if Bamonte had tried to play them.
:?
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 17, 2007, 04:25:59
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52Porl even manages to change his outfit WHILE he plays :-D
:-D so how come some people still keep saying he's boring? :rocker
lol Got me....I think he brings a nice energy back to their stage performance. Now there's someone besides Simon that's moving around instead of just standing there, and all of them look like they're actually enjoying themselves.
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 17, 2007, 04:25:59
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52
04. The Blood - Wow. Porl totally owns those leads. I cringe at the thought of what they would have sounded like if Bamonte had tried to play them.
:?
AFAIK, The group never played The Blood when Bamonte was the primary guitarist, and from everything I've heard and seen, whenever it came to doing one of the leads that Porl would have usually played, Bamonte's were slow and lazy versions of them. Now, I thought that his performances for Disintegration and Pornography on Trilogy were good, but I really think that was only because they probably really, really, really rehearsed the hell out of those songs - but when it gets to Bloodflowers, I just got bored - there was no energy behind it (but that last part wasn't just him, it was the entire group). And during the Trilogy version of The Kiss (which is really really good) I am still trying to figure out what exactly Bamonte was doing on that song - he had a slide on his finger, but it looked to me like he was just standing there.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion. :-D
i gave the dvd as a present for my best friend's birthday and i glimpsed over it: I got goosebumps and started crying on a strange day - i loved it so much. first time in years i did not keep my eyes only on simon but was fascinated to have a look at porl. compared to him, robert bored me just a bit. drowning man was very intimate - i was very looking forward to see the visuals of one of the songs i love live best. electric version of just like heaven thrills me.
effects were awful from time to time and looked so cheap. but hey, another memory of their berlin concerts beside trilogy. I have to admit as well: i don't miss perry ...
Hey tram71,
You say the line-up with Perry as guitarist never played The Blood, but in fact they actually did play it about 20 times on the 1996 Swing Tour.
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52
04. The Blood - Wow. Porl totally owns those leads. I cringe at the thought of what they would have sounded like if Bamonte had tried to play them.
They did indeed play The Blood several times on the Swing Tour. If I recall, there was really no lead at all. :lol:
Yeah, I don't miss Perry as a guitarist. He could be their keyboard player again, though. Not that he was incredibly talented at it, but at least he didn't play a tambourine on stage. :-D
In fact the 1996 Swing Tour is the most The Blood has ever been played on a tour, 19 times :
16/12/1996 Birmingham
10/12/1996 London
30/11/1996 Stockholm
25/11/1996 Essen
23/11/1996 Hamburg
21/11/1996 Munich
19/11/1996 Stuttgart
17/11/1996 Prague
16/11/1996 Vienna
15/11/1996 Katowice
13/11/1996 Berlin
12/11/1996 Hannover
09/11/1996 Gent
05/11/1996 Rennes
03/11/1996 Toulouse
01/11/1996 Zaragoza
30/10/1996 Barcelona
28/10/1996 Marseille
27/10/1996 Geneva
Quote from: bomber2007 on January 24, 2007, 00:31:31
Hey tram71,
You say the line-up with Perry as guitarist never played The Blood, but in fact they actually did play it about 20 times on the 1996 Swing Tour.
In fact the 1996 Swing Tour is the most The Blood has ever been played on a tour, 19 times :
16/12/1996 Birmingham
10/12/1996 London
30/11/1996 Stockholm
25/11/1996 Essen
23/11/1996 Hamburg
21/11/1996 Munich
19/11/1996 Stuttgart
17/11/1996 Prague
16/11/1996 Vienna
15/11/1996 Katowice
13/11/1996 Berlin
12/11/1996 Hannover
09/11/1996 Gent
05/11/1996 Rennes
03/11/1996 Toulouse
01/11/1996 Zaragoza
30/10/1996 Barcelona
28/10/1996 Marseille
27/10/1996 Geneva
INFO PWN3D
...as far as I
knew of. :D I stand corrected. I'll just say that I'm happy that they didn't play it when they came to Detroit during that tour. (And from what it looks like, they didn't even play it at all on the US leg of their tour.)
Quote from: lostflower4 on January 24, 2007, 03:39:26
Quote from: tram71 on January 17, 2007, 00:53:52
04. The Blood - Wow. Porl totally owns those leads. I cringe at the thought of what they would have sounded like if Bamonte had tried to play them.
They did indeed play The Blood several times on the Swing Tour. If I recall, there was really no lead at all. :lol:
Yeah, I don't miss Perry as a guitarist. He could be their keyboard player again, though. Not that he was incredibly talented at it, but at least he didn't play a tambourine on stage. :-D
Here's the thing with Perry - he was great at making wild noises and doing real cool lazy sounding guitar parts, but when it came to taking on parts that Porl did live, they just fell flat (I've seen the Cure three times, all of them with Perry as the primary guitarist). His playing only really worked when he was providing the additional guitar.
As far as his keyboard playing goes, I never had an issue with it. And I'd just like to mention that Porl is quite the keyboardist as well - I watched a superb live version of "Bananafishbones" from "The Tube" TV program circa 1984 last night on YouTube. Quite good IMO.
And if Perry didn't even attempt the lead on "The Blood", well...I'll give him credit for knowing his own limitations :-D
I have a very good feeling with this dvd... may be because I feel that the band have a real fun and more power with this 4 members formation... and yes, Perry is not Porl, he was sometime anoying with his noise, and he is not good at keyboards either but he contributed to the cure for some great shows and albums... and I am very thankfull for that... Now a new cure is up !!! have fun in 2007 !!!
for info about songs played duriong tours, there is a great tool on the net : have a look, you can find a large database of shows, sonngs, covers etc... etc...
for the blood example : http://www.foreverdrowning.net/archive.php?tri=1&id=37
http://www.foreverdrowning.net
i always liked perry a lot as a personality in the cure so i was a bit sad to see him go.
but what comes to musicianship, i think he was ok as far as he was more or less sort of "back-up guy", as long as he played some parts that didn't involve improvisational techniques and so on. he pulled it off ok but was never really brilliant. for instance, 'from the edge...' was never the same after porl left. that's why i think he was even somehow better with keyboards, even though he was somewhat more clumsy there at the same time... but it worked ok in the overall context, despite his limitations. as a guitarists he could never really contribute that much since it would have craved a different approach than what he faced with the keyboards.
the main reason i've been happy to see porl back is because i think with him some "hope" of improvisation and experimenting, some surprise factor might return to the cure, at least partially. because honestly, the band has more or less abandon that ever since wish tour, the songs have been more or less the same - and it wasn't always like that. for instance, as brilliant as some dream tour performances are they are still pretty much the same songs performed in a similar manner from one show to the next... and so one can't help starting losing some of the interest, maybe.
there's not guarantee that porl will change that, he's not a magician or a miracle worker - but at least he brings one element back into the cure that has been missing. getting rid off the keyboards for a while can also contribute to the same goal. it forces the band to look for some other ways of presenting the songs, to rearrange them again, to find something new there.
at least i hope they'd work towards that. we'll see, i suppose...
m
I was very sad to see both Perry and Roger ousted. I think I miss Roger's keyboards more than Perry's guitar, though....
I liked the DVD althogh they definitelty shouldve played some songs from Bloodflowers.
Although I think Perry was good in the studio(39 and Bloodflowers have great solos on the album) whereas he isnt that great live, like 39's solos just sucked on Trilogy...
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58
I liked the DVD althogh they definitelty shouldve played some songs from Bloodflowers.
Although I think Perry was good in the studio(39 and Bloodflowers have great solos on the album) whereas he isnt that great live, like 39's solos just sucked on Trilogy...
I can't be sure of this, but methinks that most of the guitar work on Bloodflowers was Smith. It wouldn't be the first time he's done all of the guitar work for an album.
Robert verifiably did the solo in-studio for Bloodflowers and said that Perry didn't even play at all on a few tracks. Robert also said that all of the solos were his. He jokingly said it was this way because he wanted to win a guitar award with Bloodfowers.
So, yes, Robert did almost all of the guitar-work on Bloodflowers, with Perry not playing at all on some tracks. And I do love the guitars on Bloodflowers.
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58
I liked the DVD althogh they definitelty shouldve played some songs from Bloodflowers.
YES they should have! Not a single one on the DVD!
A Bloodflowers song hasn't been played live since 6.9.2004 Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico. I think Porl must dislike Bloodflowers or something. Robert's always spoken very well of it, and he even called the title track the song that is most representative of The Cure on MTV2 a few weeks ago.
So thanks, Porl, for liking Signal To Noise, but I want some Bloodflowers!
Quote from: tram71 on January 24, 2007, 23:11:58
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58
I liked the DVD althogh they definitelty shouldve played some songs from Bloodflowers.
Although I think Perry was good in the studio(39 and Bloodflowers have great solos on the album) whereas he isnt that great live, like 39's solos just sucked on Trilogy...
I can't be sure of this, but methinks that most of the guitar work on Bloodflowers was Smith. It wouldn't be the first time he's done all of the guitar work for an album.
I just popped in Trilogy...if you thought the solos on that version of 39 sucked, you'll have to blame Robert - Perry wasn't playing them...he was just doing additional stuff.
And FWIW the only song that does it for me on the Bloodflowers section of the Trilogy DVD is "Bloodflowers" - and even then it sounds like Robert's running out of steam - nowhere near the amount of emotion that he put into the studio version.
Quote from: Bloodflower on January 25, 2007, 00:35:54
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58
I liked the DVD althogh they definitelty shouldve played some songs from Bloodflowers.
YES they should have! Not a single one on the DVD!
A Bloodflowers song hasn't been played live since 6.9.2004 Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico. I think Porl must dislike Bloodflowers or something. Robert's always spoken very well of it, and he even called the title track the song that is most representative of The Cure on MTV2 a few weeks ago.
So thanks, Porl, for liking Signal To Noise, but I want some Bloodflowers!
Yeah, I wouldn't mind hearing the title track with the new lineup. The rest though...just leave it be. Although, now thinking about it, I wouldn't mind hearing Porl's interpretation of "Watching Me Fall" either, as when I was watching the Trilogy version I kept thinking "this would rock so much harder if Porl were playing the leads...."
I, too, would like to hear Porl play Watching me Fall, but really I'd just like to hear the Cure play Bloodflowers songs again in general. They don't have to be specialised Porl-versions, I just want to hear some Bloodflowers.
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58Although I think Perry was good in the studio(39 and Bloodflowers have great solos on the album) whereas he isnt that great live, like 39's solos just sucked on Trilogy...
That's because Robert played them on the album. 8)
I bet Perry accounts for no more than 2% of all guitar work you hear on a record.
Quote from: lostflower4 on January 25, 2007, 14:38:42
That's because Robert played them on the album. 8)
I bet Perry accounts for no more than 2% of all guitar work you hear on a record.
oh,i didn't know this thing...is it really so?
Even during the older stuff with Porl, I've heard that Robert does most of the guitars on the albums. He probably did most of the keyboards too, and who knows what other instruments...
In the most extreme example, The Top was just Robert and Andy.
i knew about "The Top" , but not about the rest :-D
well, thank you for the information :)
I knew, or guessed, these things, but, Caley, you should write a book. I'm very frustrated by the lack of quality Cure-biographies....
Quote from: Bloodflower on January 26, 2007, 00:09:56
I'm very frustrated by the lack of quality Cure-biographies....
'ten imaginary years' should have been updated years ago! how long must we wait... maybe forever. :(
Quote from: japanesebaby on January 26, 2007, 00:16:15
'ten imaginary years' should have been updated years ago! how long must we wait... maybe forever. :(
It would be "Thirty Imaginary Years" if they released something current today. Will it ever happen? :?
Quote from: lostflower4 on January 25, 2007, 14:38:42
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on January 24, 2007, 22:59:58Although I think Perry was good in the studio(39 and Bloodflowers have great solos on the album) whereas he isnt that great live, like 39's solos just sucked on Trilogy...
That's because Robert played them on the album. 8)
I bet Perry accounts for no more than 2% of all guitar work you hear on a record.
Sweet, I diddnt know Robert could play like that!
Unfortunately I've never been able to get my hands on a copy of Ten Imaginary Years.... I could do with a Thirty Imaginary Years. Definitely. :D
Seriously, though, Curefans should put together as complete a biography as it can. Between the 1011 of us, there is surely enough knowledge of the group....
Let's do it.
I was in Athens' concert and I had an idea about what "Festival 2005" would sound like. The concert was amazing. In fact it was the best Cure I've ever heard live (I saw them in 1995 and in 2002, in Athens too). So I expected a great DVD. And this was great indeed, but just to hear it -not to see it- but i realy don't care about it.
01. Open - Definitely, there is something missing.
02. Fascination Street - Absolutely amazing!
03. alt.end - To tell the truth I don't realy like this song
04. The Blood - Very powerful! Porl in his glory
05. A Night Like This - I think this is the worst version of the song
06. The End Of The World - I didn't quite like this song, until I heard this version. Wow!!! Robert's voice makes the difference
07. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep - Porl is back again!!! I thought that the Trilogy version was the peak of this song. I thought as I said
08. The Kiss - Interesting version. Someone said that Robert may not be the world's greatest guitarist, but he has an evocative, fluid technique. This Kiss proves him right
09. Shake Dog Shake - The best ever version and the best ever Jason
10. Us Or Them - I expected to be much much better live than the album. But it isn't
11. Never Enough - I think that the new album will sound like this. Real Rock!!!!!
12. A Strange Day - This song is the best "field" for this line-up to show the maximum of what they can do. They suddenly do it here, especially Simon
13. The Figurehead - Evocative, sensational, dark as much as it should be, magnificent!!
Simon, you are perfect
14. Moving, cheerful, joyful... Excellent
15. Just Like Heaven - Could it be that this song is heavenly perfect? How can it be so amazing, no matter how it is performed?
16. In Between Days - Very very good
17. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea - Porl's solo is one of the band's greatest moments. I'd heard it live in the concert and I couldn't wait to buy the DVD, in order to hear it all the time
18. The Drowning Man - Oh my God. When I first listened to it i started breathing like the drowning man. Superb
19. Signal To Noise - One of the best moments of the DVD.
20. The Baby Screams - "I don't think it gets any better than this"
21. One Hundred Years - All the Pornography songs are perfectly performed.
22. Shiver And Shake - As high as I might, I can get that high
23. End - It was excellent live but it is not that good in the DVD
24. At Night - TOPS!
25. M - See #19
26. Play For Today - I enjoy the audience more than the song
27. A Forest - Not the best i heard, but still gorgeous
28. Plainsong - It is very interesting, but nothing replaces the keyboards in this song
29. Disintegration - I love this song so much, that I couldn't hear it less than perfect
30. Faith - They played it in Athens at the end. I remember Robert singing and the moon on the top of his head. I couldn't move my legs for an hour. Dreamly... And it's better in the Festival 2005. I think the best Faith ever
In sum this is a great live-piece of The Cure, that proves their grandiosity. No matter if they play their greatest hits or the rarities they are the best band in the world.
Never fade...
Quote from: PAOKCURE on March 08, 2007, 13:37:24
14. Moving, cheerful, joyful... Excellent
Hey me! Wake up!
14. Push - Moving, cheerful, joyful... Excellent
i must be totally slow-witted but anyway, now i know exactly what annoys me most on this dvd:
there are several songs where they use this effect that unnaturally enhances primary colors (like on 'if only tonight', 'us or them', etc.)
it looks exactly like the color distortion you see on so many dvds that have been sourced from all too generated vhs sources, either with far too many analog copies and made with some awfully mediocre vcrs that produced that famous insane color push/separation... that completely out-of-hands kind of enhancement of blue and red - solid blue, solid red areas instead of nuanced or even simply solid black areas. it's exactly the same effect there - but intentionally added... after you watch enough more or less live videos from more or less generated
- and honestly, that's one of the last things i'd hope to see when i put on a dvd/video! you've just seen it too many times, hoping that it wouldn't be there, that it could be removed... although it never can, of course. it's a sign of damage beyond repair. and when you yourself try to struggle towards NOT causing any further damage on your tapes when you're transferring and encoding them, you try to do it with care and make sure no intentional quality loss should occur - and here's someone who wanted to do it intentionally?? it makes no sense....!
really, i can't enjoy those few tracks at all, i get depressed when i watch them, they especially annoyed me for some reason i wasn't entirely sure of... now i know why.
i mean, ok then if they wanted to use some lush color effects, something that was meant to be a bit over the top. but why oh why would anyone want to make a commercial video look like it was a crap quality vhs transfer?? mercy!!
(gaaa! ;))
(or maybe it's a tie: after all, this superb "9th gen VHS and proud of it!" kind of color distortion isn't there on all tracks. and although that makes my blood boil near ridiculousness the strange and annoying way the vocals are mixed completely off is present there on every single track... so, maybe it's a tie.)
You know, i watched this again the other day, and i couldnt agree more, the songs i really hate are the ones with all the added visual effects on them. Its like they went into the studio and were determined to use every damn effect available, the best tracks are those which dont have it, the only exception being At Night.........Faith is an absolute mess, a properly filmed version of that song would have had so much more impact, its seems like they just stuck it on at the last minute.
Plainsong is still rather cringeworthy to watch, but i think Disintegration is actually worse, Porl isnt even playing anything, hes just making a horrible choppy sort of noise on his guitar, which is such a waste when he is supposedly a better guitarist than perry.
But after all the negativity, i dont think its that bad a concert film, it keeps me more interested than In Orange, and some versions of the songs are fantastic - Baby Screams, At Night, A Strange Day, Push, Drowning man, From The Edge....
They're all good versions, i guess the problem with trying new things out is that it is very hit and miss, I think we are certainly more likey to criticise, because weve heard so many versions of the songs and have all got our 'favourites', but after listening to it with a fresh set of ears has really changed my mind.
i don't dislike all the songs with effects, i just cannot stand the ones that have been treated to make them look like they were sourced off from some shit quality 9th gen VHS using some transfer method from dark middle-ages or something. the ones with this particular kind of color-enhancement that strangely mimics such crap quality productions are the ones that i simply cannot stand or enjoy.
i don't think the black&white stuff really works either but it doesn't piss me off like those color-destroyed tracks do.
i can enjoy many of the more or less heavily treated tracks, though.
i guess i've been disappointed by having to watch too many poor quality concert videos in my life, i've just had my share of them by now.
and so if i go and buy an official dvd ijust wouldn't want to see the same sort of destroyed mess again. :?
The visuals of the Festival DVD aren't that great, I agree.... I don't mind the 'effects' as much as others, but then, I tend to listen to the DVD (a friend of mine transferred it into audio) rather than watch it.
I think the performances are substandard, though.... I don't know. There are some that I really like, and some that I really dislike, and some that I think one or two things changed would save it (Push, for instance, is slaughtered by the vocals for me, as is Plainsong).
On the whole, it's an average concert DVD compilation; nothing fantastic, but worthwhile nonetheless.
I think we've come to expect a certain visual standard via Orange, Show & Trilogy and clearly this video doesn't have the same visual "standard". I personally don't like what they've done. I was hoping for a more "standard" set of visuals. one where i could actually see the band...
Hey,
The Cure being on tour got me to "dig in the vaults" (remember that show on MuchMusic back in the days? lol) and so today, I rediscovered the live DVD "Festival 2005" :smth020
When it was released, I remember I didn't care much for it... It was following the unreal Trilogy DVD and the minute I reached "A Night Like This" and images got blurry (like in the music video), I totally lost interest in it! But since I saw the same 4-piece Cure a couple weeks back in Montreal, I decided to give it another try and this time, I was blown away!
Instead of watching it, I had the bright idea to put it on and go on with my day, just LISTENING to it and my God... There are UNREAL versions of great songs on that DVD! :shock: I never appreciated how good they were that summer when they played Festivals here and there in Europe.
Robert's voice is strong as ever and Porl's work is really highlighted throughout. Jason and Simon are flawless, as usual. Also, the sound is very high quality. They really seem into the songs, specially Robert. Seriously, I was and still am blown away! If you've made a similar mistake and overlooked that great DVD, go back and watch... no wait... LISTEN to it again!
Highlights: Open, alt.end (surprisingly!), If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, Never Enough, The Figurehead, Push (such an unreal song...), From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (so powerful!), The Drowning Man, Signal to noise (whereas I never really cared for it before), End, A Forest, Disintegration (despite the messed up lyrics... again!) and Faith.
I know that's a lot of highlights but I clearly missed out on this one! It now ranks up there with Entreat and Trilogy in my heart! I will definitely rip the audio so I can listen to it in the car, on my iPod, at home or in my sleep!
Just felt like sharing this today... ;)
Thanks Fantac!! I must admit I often put Trilogy on and listen to it while I'm just doing stuff around the house, but haven't done that with Festival 2005 for quite some time (Festival 2005 used to be a fave for me to listen to while getting ready to go out but I haven't done that for ages). So, after reading your post earlier today, I put Festival 2005 in the DVD player, turned it up and went about my day...and you're right - complete bliss!! :rocker
Now, unlike others, I've actually always thought Festival 2005 was a great DVD - both in sound and vision. Not as absolutely brilliant as Trilogy granted, but still a great DVD. For me I think it's the energy the current lineup bring to it.
Unfortunately though, I've found I often forget about this particalr DVD..So thanks for reminding me!! :smth023
I managed to get a hold of a flac recording of this
so I could listen to it on a CD rather than watch it
This resulted in me loving it! I concur!
Versions of songs such as Figurehead are fantastic
Quote from: DroidAKov on May 25, 2008, 19:36:35
I managed to get a hold of a flac recording of this
it's not difficult to rip the audio from the dvd for one's own purposes. but to my knowledge this is not worth the trouble with the festival dvd, because the festival dvd has
compressed audio (AC3!), and not lossless PCM audio (like for instance on 'trilogy').
are you sure your flac copy isn't actually lossy? because every festival dvd rip would be lossy... or you received your flac copy from some secret, hidden source?
:?:
It's no biggy really though, as Festival is actually a really bad dvd anyway (audio & video).
Waste of money IMO.
:smth011
Quote from: Steve on May 25, 2008, 21:07:55
It's no biggy really though, as Festival is actually a really bad dvd anyway (audio & video).
Waste of money IMO.
:smth011
Well, I don't think its a great dvd but not really bad either. Sound perhaps isn't stellar but certainly very listenable. It would have liked it better if was one entire concert but it does have a good mix of songs. Definitely worth the ten bucks i paid for it...
Mine was a gift.
I wouldn't have paid money for it TBH.
Aspect ratio?.....hello....?
Very mediocre performances. :roll:
What on earth were they thinking?
I'm an old Festival 2005 apologist. I liked it when I first got it and I like it still. I thought Plainsong was daring and brilliant when people were calling it the worst thing The Cure had ever released.
It's definitely inferior (and by quite some margin) to Trilogy, but that applies to a lot of great things. Consider Festival 2005 as simply a soundboard recording and it stands better than the only other soundboard recording we have from the festival tour.
By no means brilliant, by no means their best live release, but you rubbish it like it's Wendy Time chopped into bits and played backward underwater, Steve.
(Actually, that might sound interesting. Something Wendy Time on its own does not.)
I've never had a problem with it. I think it's good, though not great. Never really understood why people are so hard on it.
Quote from: Bloodflower on May 26, 2008, 00:23:13
By no means brilliant, by no means their best live release, but you rubbish it like it's Wendy Time chopped into bits and played backward underwater, Steve.
(Actually, that might sound interesting. Something Wendy Time on its own does not.)
Now that's is one hell of a comparison!
Well I'm about half way through and wishing I saw this thread when I started... right now I will just say about Festival - Simon OWNS!
Shake Dog Shake seemed kind of week but The Figurehead is inspired!!
In my opinion they should have just reissued Show or Orange on DVD. Instead of bombarding us with this mediocre DVD. They're past their prime as a live act.
Quote from: The Figurehead on June 13, 2008, 23:18:57
In my opinion they should have just reissued Show or Orange on DVD.
Orange on DVD would be awesome!! They can send me the masters, I'll do it for them for free! :D