The Only One (Mix 13)

The Cure, one of the most revered British bands of the past quarter-century, have unveiled their plans to release four singles, one each month starting May 13th, leading up to the release of their thirteenth studio album, as yet untitled, which will be out on Suretone/Geffen Records September 13, 2008. It will be the band's first album of new music since 2004's self titled album The Cure. Physical and digital singles will be available for purchase in store and on all digital partners.

Why the 13th of each month? The forthcoming album is The Cure's thirteenth studio album... A lucky number indeed!

Led as always by lead singer/guitarist Robert Smith, the Cure line-up comprises longtime members bass player Simon Gallup, drummer Jason Cooper and, back in the band for a third time, guitarist Porl Thompson.

The Cure first formed in southern England in 1976 as Easy Cure. In 1978 the 'Easy' was dropped, and The Cure was signed to the Fiction label. In May 1979 their debut album Three Imaginary Boys was released to great acclaim.

Other landmark Cure albums include Pornography (1982), The Head on the Door (1985), Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987), Disintegration (1989), Wish (1992), Wild Mood Swings (1996), the Grammy-nominated Bloodflowers (2000) and their last full length release, the self-titled set The Cure (2004). 2006 saw the Suretone/Geffen release of Festival 2005, an award winning 5.1 DVD featuring 30 songs, shot by fans, band members and professionals during the summer of 2005's European festival run. Album Description

Too much High, not enough Friday I'm in Love

I like this song much better than "Sleep When I'm Dead" or "Freakshow", but it seems almost as inconsequential as "High". "High" is decent enough, but when it was left off their most recent greatest hits and when I don't hear it live, it's not a tragic loss. But, the singles are always worth it for the non-album B-Sides. Maybe I'll change my mind about "The Only One" after the album comes out. I found "Freakshow" unlistenable until I saw The Cure perform it live, and now it's grown on me--I sort of understand it as "Hot Hot Hot" in the scheme of things, but I still don't think it'll get in the top 2/3 of my favorite songs by the band. July 31, 2008

It's Okay.

It's nice to have Porl back. The guitar riffs are interesting and reminiscent of songs off Wish...but still it mostly sounds like a look back at earlier great stuff except without as much put into it. It's catchy, but the lyrics are reallly cheesy. The B-Side is pretty good, but only about as good as a Wild Mood Swings B-Side. Still had to give it a 4 since I can't help but like anything The Cure does. July 30, 2008

head on a door?

Only one-
yeah yeah yeah sounds like High off of Wish but i think it kinda reminds of something closer to an outtake off of Head on the door (which i think in the end will have more of an influence on the new album than Wish will). Keep in mind every cure record has that one real pop song to catch all the non die hard fans. This is it. Its poppy, the lyrics do get a bit strange but make sense in song structure way.
Ny trip-
This is the weakest of the b-sides, but alright in the end. I think its a fair song and groovy but has too many holes in it for it to work on the album.
verdict-
Buy it if u are like me and love the cure but for the casual fans just wait till the ablum comes out cuz ny trip isnt for the faint hearted fan. July 27, 2008

Derivative, but enticingly bawdy

When I first heard "The Only One" on a live video clip, to say that I was underwhelmed would be well, an understatement. I was downright disillusioned! The Cure's 2004 self-titled album features one of my most cherished Cure pop songs, "The End of the World," which delivered a fresh interpretation of the classic Cure sound. But "The Only One" sounded to me like a redunandant reworking of the done-to-death bright-and-happy Cure sound, and I wanted nothing to do with it. And indeed, when the studio version was released, I became even more distraught, because I thought this was the direction the Cure was headed: the band meekly yielding to what fans wanted (another Wish), rather than bravely delving into newer musical perspectives.

But it took the next single, "Freakshow," actually, to convince me that "The Only One" was, after all, a great song. Not because "Freakshow " is a bad song - indeed, I love it - but because it is a slight departure from what some hold to be the signature Cure sound. And this taught me that okay, it's fine if the band does a bit of Cure-by-numbers as long as they persist in experimenting with other genres as well. After all, The Cure's trademark is daring diversity.

So yeah, "The Only One" finally grew on me, to the point to where I actually love it - almost more than "The End of the World," but not quite. True, it's derivative of songs like "High," and I do love "High," but it also bears its own quirky charms. For one, its lyrics exude less of the woozy romantic sentiment like "High" or "Just Like Heaven"; they start off softly yearning, but soon turn brazenly bawdy.

In a way, the lyrics' erotic edge diminishes the boyish melody, but they are also what give the song a unique stamp: its refusal to cater to childlike notions of romance. Instead, the lyrics assert a bold sexuality; rather than ooze delicious innuendo, they are explicitly lascivious in nature. For some Cure fans, this could be disconcerting - what's a 50-year old man doing meowing about carnal pleasures, usually held to be the sacred province of youth? But for others - the less provincial ones? - it's refreshing, because that is EXACTLY what a 50 year old SHOULD be doing: brashly celebrating life and libido.

Lyrically, too, the song continues the legacy of Seussian-Smith parallels - word-pairing reversals ("slip/slide" - "slide/slip"), whimsical word play ("hazier," "mazier"), pervasive internal rhyme and so on.

"The Only One," like so many Cure singles, is wonderfully infectious and showcases Smith's proclivity for crooning in a higher register to embellish the song's frisky mood.

Indeed, one could charge Smith with overplaying the falsetto flourishes, and perhaps he could rein it in a bit. But then I figure, as long as he doesn't do it on every song, and as long as the flourishes "fit" with what the song is trying to achieve, then I see no harm.

"The Only One " is thoroughly engaging Cure-pop, if a bit derivative. Thankfully there are graphic lyrical twists to keep us indecently entertained.

The b-side, "New York Trip" is an understated piece whose chief allure lies in its meandering structure. Musically it somewhat echoes "Wild Mood Swings," anchored as it is with a mildly groovy beat. The piano, too, is featured nicely, giving the song more melodic import. Lyrically the song sometimes recalls tunes from "The Top," with hallucinatory lines like,

I SWEAR THEY'RE WHALES
SWIMMING DOWN THE LINE
SPITTING MONKEY TAILS...

Other times the lyrics fall back onto overly familiar Cure cliches and don't offer up anything terribly distinctive. But all in all it's a solid song, although to my ears the weakest of the released b-sides. July 26, 2008

Good start

"The Only One" is quintessential Cure pop at its best. If your favorite Cure songs are "High" or "Friday I'm in Love" you won't be disappointed. Robert is in top form vocally and lyrically here which saves it from being just a rehash of previous hits. While really good I think The Cure can do songs like this in their sleep, so I do expect more and thankfully after hearing more new singles and seeing some of the new tour tunes it looks like it's going to be a very diverse album which should give everyone a reason to continue to cheer for this awesome band.

"NY Trip" is just that, trippy. Sounds similar to some of the Wild Mood Swings b-sides which were my least favorite personally with the exception of "A Pink Dream". Once again however I think Robert's lyrics and vocals are still really good here, just wish I could have liked the trippy, psychedelic sound a bit more. July 21, 2008

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