We are still waiting for the next studio album from the band of Robert Smith possibly released this year, and I say possibly because with The Cure you never know. Meanwhile the group continues to grow its catalog, this time with a double live album. The performance took place in the Bestival, Isle of Wight festival which was held on September 10, this time with the novelty of the Roger O'Donell's return to keyboards and Porl Thompson's departure from the line-up.
The album opens with "Plainsong" as its mythical album "Disintegration" (1989). What comes next is a true classic theme carouselmemorable songs that are a fundamental part of the music of the last three decades. The bulk of the repertoire are his best pop pillars, covering practically his entire extensive discography and leaving for the end his darkest themes belonging to his most sinister albums.
However with this album something contradictory happens to me. On the one hand, the repertoire is of tuition, but on the other hand the sound is too austere and does not do justice to the richness of nuances of The Cure's music and that is where this live show pales. It seems that we are listening to demos of future songs if not because we hear noise from people in the background.
It is precisely the roger's return, with his return to keyboards, which saves a large part of the songbook by providing details that we had not enjoyed live for a long time, especially bright in your contributions to "A Forest", "The Walk", "In Between Days", "Let's Go To Bed", "Just Like Heaven" or in the pleasant return to the setlist of the psychedelic "The Caterpillar".
In short, a fundamental live album for fans and the uninitiated, but which is far from being a representative sample of what The Cure can convey in their intense live shows.