Sunday, February 9, 2025

Wishful Thinking: Revising the Cure’s Wish (1992)

Wish never felt quite right to me. It was made by a band at a crossroads, going through changing membership, navigating a shifting cultural landscape, and trying to follow up their biggest and most lauded album thus far. Somehow, the Cure both failed and succeeded. Wish was their highest-charting album yet, with one of their biggest singles, but the album is neither as cohesive as their early 80s gothic classics, nor as consistently high-quality as their bigger late 80s albums.

[Wish.]

The Cure clearly didn’t want to just repeat themselves. They didn’t want to make another album as thoroughly dark as Disintegration. They instead made a relatively lighter, broader, and more playful album, more in the vein of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) or The Head on the Door (1985). But in every direction they explored, some of the results fell flat. They tried to go back to the playful fun of “The Lovecats” or “Six Different Ways”, and they certainly succeeded with “Friday I’m in Love”, but “Wendy Time” and “Doing the Unstuck” are awful. They wanted to rock, and while “Open” and “End” have their share of harnessed aggression, “Cut” is overlong, unexciting, and overfilled with tedious wah-wah guitar. They wanted a few more big, moody pieces, and while “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea” captures that vibe, “Apart” is overblown, maudlin, and unnecessary. The rest of the album is fairly standard pop (“High”, “A Letter to Elise”) and a few bits of delicate beauty (“Trust”, “To Wish Impossible Things”).

What’s most surprising is that all of the period b-sides are good. They’re better than many of album tracks, even. “High”, “Friday I’m in Love”, and “A Letter to Elise” were each released as singles with two b-sides each that have since been gathered up on Join the Dots (2004). “The Big Hand” is a big, brooding song, seemingly about addiction, that was a fan favorite when it was previewed live in 1991. (At the time, it was a surprise that it didn’t make the album or even the first two singles.) “This Twilight Garden” is shimmering and celestial, and the band liked it enough to play it live when I saw them in Austin in 2016. “Halo” is surprisingly poppy. I could go on!


["High".]

So why are there duds on the album if there are such treasures among the b-sides? The band ultimately agreed that the album had its flaws, particularly in the mixing, which led to the live albums Show and Paris (both 1993). And indeed, some of the live versions are marked improvements, in particular “Apart”. Two-thirds of the album reappeared on Show, with two more tracks on Paris. Both live albums are good, but have few surprises. Paris is ultimately slightly better just because there are more subtleties and variations from the original versions. Show is a bit too predictable and by-the-numbers. Of the b-sides, only “The Big Hand” was played live in 1992, and it didn’t make the cut for either album.


["Friday I'm in Love".]

When Wish was reissued in a deluxe package in 2022, I was hoping for a reimagining of the album, or at least a new mix or some deep cuts from the vaults. My disappointments have already been recorded in my brief review. In the end, the only real draws were the Lost Wishes EP, originally a fan club cassette from 1994 that was never reissued, and one instrumental outtake, “A Wendy Band” (seemingly unrelated to “Wendy Time”).

It’s time to reengage with a pastime I haven’t indulged in a while: making my own tracklist for the album I wished existed. (For other examples, see my take on Get Back or The Velvet Underground’s “lost album”). So here’s what I listen to now when I want to get my fix for the Cure circa 1992:
  1. Open
  2. High
  3. The Big Hand
  4. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
  5. This Twilight Garden
  6. Play
  7. Halo
  8. Friday I’m in Love
  9. Trust
  10. A Letter to Elise
  11. Scared As You
  12. A Foolish Arrangement
  13. To Wish Impossible Things
  14. End
If 14 tracks at 70 minutes is too much and you’d prefer to stay closer to the 66 minutes of the original, cut “Play”. It gets a little too close to “Apart”, even if it’s still better. If you insist on 12 tracks, you could also cut “A Foolish Arrangement”. It’s a bit of a retread of familiar territory, although I wouldn’t normally complain.

On the other hand, if you’re craving some more and don’t mind instrumentals, try adding the best bonus tracks from the reissue:
  1. Uyea Sound
  2. Cloudberry
  3. Off to Sleep…
  4. The Three Sisters
  5. A Wendy Band
I love the Lost Wishes songs; I find them all beautiful and better than some of the album tracks. “A Wendy Band” isn’t spectacular, but it fits the vibe, so why not? Of course if you don’t want to restrict yourself to just the Wish sessions, you could also throw in some other tracks from Join the Dots from nearby years. I do love “Burn” in particular.


["A Letter to Elise".]

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

1 comment:

Elden ring runes said...

A great deep dive into Wish—balancing critique with appreciation while crafting a compelling alternative tracklist!