Morphine - Cure for Pain (CD)

Cures What Ails You

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Mar 24, 2007

Pros: Somber, but refreshing

Cons: Sandman's death in 1999 ended the band, and the story

I hate to pigeon-hole my music collection at home, but it seems to have the guitar, bass and drum rock formula well-covered, minus the occasional foray into piano, keyboards or turntable elements. Anything that deviates from this equation, and still moves me, is more than welcome on my CD racks. That is where "Cure For Pain" comes in.

Other than one track (that I can think of off-hand), there is no guitar anywhere on this album. The horns used in lieu of them provide so much more than the melody for Morphine, it provides an almost haunting environment, which makes the band such a refreshing change. The rhythm section is strong, low and able, and gives every song the spine it needs to not only stand, but stand up straight and tall. The only way I can think of describing this is as jazz while taking downers, but it avoids an obnoxious bout of crying in your beer. "Candy" and "Mary Won't You Call My Name?" hold the album's sad vibe while almost sticking a flirtatious toe in the pop pool, and "Thursday" is a dark but wistful retelling of a tale of infidelity. The dual personality of the dark verses and bright chorus of "Buena" always gets my toe tapping.

"Cure for Pain" is my spotlight track. The song about addiction is both confession and vow musically as well as lyrically. While it moves you as a complete piece, I would get just as much out of it as an instrumental.

The passing of band founder and songwriter Mark Sandman in 1999 means that the story is over for Morphine, but at least this piece of immortality remains. I consider it my cure for the musically mundane.