The Cure

From the Source

Faith is a brooding and dark album, the third release from uncategorizable rock band The Cure. The sombre mood continues where it left off Seventeen Seconds but this is a more striking and revealing record with Robert Smith's fine, ghost-like vocals contributing a spatial depth. Detailed and thoughtful, the album portrays an emotional tailspin for the band.

This deluxe package contains 15 extra tracks, which includes studio outtakes of 'Primary' and 'Violin Song', instrumental demos including 'Doubt' and 'Drowning', rare live tracks including recordings from Australian gigs of 'Faith' and 'Forever', and best of all, the 27 minute soundtrack composition, 'Carnage Visors'.

The recent change of the band's musical direction into the inky abyss smothers Faith and the indistinct textures of the cover art perfectly capture the gloom within. And yet the absolute intensity of the torpor and the band's mastery of ambience and texture make this one of The Cure's most eerily elegant masterworks.

'The Funeral Party' more than sets the tone, now sounding like a beautiful precursor to Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack and no producer before or since has captured so well the shuddering filigree textures of 'The Drowning Man'.

'Primary' and 'Doubt' are uptempo passionate numbers, keeping the post punk flag flying while tracks like 'All Cats Are Grey' and 'Faith' lay the foundation for the sort of post rock ambience Mogwai and Tortoise would develop a good dozen or so years down the line.

Most of all you come away from Faith feeling all soft, fuzzy and mellow: Marvelling at this small but perfectly formed monument to minimal emotionalism.