The Cure - Peel Sessions (CD)

All Music Guide

Though it was by no means the greatest John Peel Session that the Cure ever recorded (that honor belongs to their 1981 airing), the band's debut on the show, in late 1978, remains one of their bestloved, as the then allbut unknown quartet previewed four of the songs that knowing journalists had already tagged the sound of "the southern Buzzcocks.Recorded on November 12 for broadcast on December 4, "Killing An Arab" (the group's stillunreleased debut single), "10:15 Saturday Night," "Fire In Cairo," and "Boys Don't Cry" all peeled out of Robert Smith's thenfirm grasp on the mechanics of postpunk power pop, a little rougher and rawer than the versions that would eventually make it onto vinyl, but crackling with precision and energy regardless.Michael Dempsey later admitted, "the...songs captured the spirit far more than the album versions...more like the original demos that had secured our recording contract in the first place, just better quality. All [the] songs in the first...session ...should be seen as the definitive sound of the early Cure." Dave Thompson, All Music Guide Read more Less