The Cure是一个伟大的名字，他们拥有“哥特音乐的教父”的美称，从1978年至今的20多个年头里，The Cure始终保持着炙热的音乐创作激情，成为Post-Punk音乐风格的代表。以至于像U2、Nine Inch Nails诸多重量级的选手也受到他们音乐的影响。乐队灵魂人物Robert Smith有着鲜明的另类个性、独特的乐风和他充满焦虑不安情绪的歌声和玄妙变幻的吉他。乐队正式出版发行了近20张专辑。 　　The Cure是一支英国乐队，成立于1976年，原名Easy Cure。乐队自始至终由Robert Smith领导着，走过了艰难的朋克爆发的时代。 Smith 1959年4月21日生于英格兰的布莱克普尔，是乐队的主唱兼吉他手。他的装束十分古怪离奇：涂着深色的眼圈，朱红的嘴唇，爆炸式的头发。另外成员是贝司手Michael Dempsey和鼓手Lol Tolhurst。 1978年乐队同独立唱片公司Small Wonder发行了单曲“Killing An Arab”，单曲引起Fiction唱片公司的注意，而在1979年2月重新发行了这首单曲，同时乐队也正式改名为The Cure。 　　这张专辑的制作人是在新金属音乐圈享有盛名的Ross Robinson，这也让专辑的音乐在形式上或多或少有了向重型音乐的靠近，变得更生猛、更有力，但即使节奏加快，Robert Smith骨子里那种绵延的忧伤却依然在“恶之花”式的美学和“歌特”式的氛围里无法自拨。长达10分钟的“The Promise”里的蛙音踏板倒是能让人回想起“Kiss Me，Kiss Me，Kiss Me”里那种几近绝望的愤怒。而“Us or Them”和“(I Don't Know What's Going) On”最终依然是那永远暗黑无际的“治疗”世界——扭曲的嘶吼，奇幻的迷离。也许，同名专辑本身就意味着一种回归。 　　For a long time, maybe 15 years or so, Robert Smith rumbled about the Cure's imminent retirement whenever the band had a new album ready for release. Invariably, Smith said the particular album served as a fitting epitaph, and it was now time for him to bring the Cure to an end and pursue something else, maybe a solo career, maybe a new band, maybe nothing else. This claim carried some weight when it was supporting a monumental exercise in dread, like Disintegration or Bloodflowers, but when applied to Wild Mood Swings, it seemed like no more than an empty threat, so fans played along with the game until Smith grew tired of it, abandoning it upon the 2004 release of his band's eponymous 13th album. Instead of being a minor shift in marketing, scrapping his promise to disband the Cure is a fairly significant development since it signals that Smith is comfortable being in the band, perhaps for the first time in his life. This sense of peace carries over into the modest and modestly titled The Cure, which contains the most comfortable music in the band's canon -- which is hardly the same thing as happy music, even if this glistens in contrast to the deliberate goth classicism of Bloodflowers. Where that record played as a self-conscious effort to recreate the band's gloomy heyday, this album is the sound of a band relaxing, relying on instinct to make music. The Cure was recorded and released quickly -- the liner notes state it was recorded in the spring of 2004, and it was released weeks later, at the end of June -- and while it never sounds hurried, it never seems carefully considered either, since it lacks either a thematic or musical unity that usually distinguish the band's records. It falls somewhere between these two extremes, offering both towering minor-key epics like the closing "The Promise" and light pop like "The End of the World." It's considerably more colorful than its monochromatic predecessor, and the rapid recording gives the album a warmth that's pleasing, even if it inadvertently emphasizes the familiarity of the material. Which is ultimately the record's Achilles' heel: the Cure have become journeymen, for better and worse, turning out well-crafted music that's easy to enjoy yet not all that compelling either. It's not a fatal flaw, since the album is a satisfying listen and there's also a certain charm in hearing a Cure that's so comfortable in its own skin, but it's the kind of record that sits on the shelves of die-hard fans, only occasionally making its way to the stereo.