Cure, The ‎– Join The Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978>2001 The Fiction Years

Some pretty good tracks here, especially the stuff from about 1980 to 1984. These tracks have the same sound as those studio albums, but they aren't nearly as emotionally heavy as the albums tended to be, so they're much easier to listen to. Lots to enjoy on this box.

I always felt that when 'Standing On A Beach - The Singles' was released, the cassette version blew the other available formats out of the water. Side two of that tape complemented all those hits with dark and experimental b-sides. If you were new to The Cure and picked up what you thought was a 'Best Of' of sorts, you got an inside look at why they earned their cult status. Not only did you get a pile of hit tunes but you got access to all those rare singles that serious fans were always after. The CD and LP versions just never delivered the same back story.

When this box set was released, it was as if we could finally add that side two cassette to our CD collections (which was my original motivation for this purchase). Leafing through the book and listening to the development of The Cure's 'throw away' tracks, which they are not, confirms what I felt when I first heard that original cassette. You have your 'MTV' Cure, which delivers smash hits over and over again for the masses (which, let's admit it, is okay), and you have your 'fan dedicated, personal' Cure, which writes all those instrumentals and quirky songs that serious fans can hang onto and call their own. This box set demonstrates that fan dedicated, personal side beautifully and in a very complete way.

If you really only bought their full length albums and the odd single here and there, this box set cracks open that other side. You'll be quite amazed at what you will find.