The Cure is bombarding us with disposable product: There's Show, the soundtrack from the film of its Detroit stop on the '92 Wish tour; Side Show, an EP of five live tunes not included on Show, and Paris, a different li... more »ve set recorded in Europe. Considering that much of its reputation rests on Tim Pope's visionary videos, Show (the movie) is a dreadful bore, concentrating exclusively on the band performing, much like Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii. The soundtrack is just as tedious, skimping on the catchy hits ("Friday I'm in Love" is here, but not "The Love Cats") and dwelling on droning mood pieces such as "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea." Show is for the devoted only, while the other discs are for those devotees who actually go out in public dressed like Fat Bob. --Jim DeRogatis« less
The Cure is bombarding us with disposable product: There's Show, the soundtrack from the film of its Detroit stop on the '92 Wish tour; Side Show, an EP of five live tunes not included on Show, and Paris, a different live set recorded in Europe. Considering that much of its reputation rests on Tim Pope's visionary videos, Show (the movie) is a dreadful bore, concentrating exclusively on the band performing, much like Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii. The soundtrack is just as tedious, skimping on the catchy hits ("Friday I'm in Love" is here, but not "The Love Cats") and dwelling on droning mood pieces such as "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea." Show is for the devoted only, while the other discs are for those devotees who actually go out in public dressed like Fat Bob. --Jim DeRogatis
athanasius@hotmail.com | South Africa | 05/15/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I am usually a gentle person, Jim DeRogatis, but I put it to you that both you and your egotistical, mean-spirited, pseudo-sophisticated criticism of great art will rapidly be forgotten by History, whilst great musical masterpieces like 'From the edge of a deep Green Sea' by The Cure (To name just ONE amongst NUMEROUS lovely songs that you have trashed), will be remembered and treasured by other human beings for a long long time. Time is the best proof of quality, and the Cure's marvellous music will continue to soar, conquering time and transcending place, long after your petulance is no more...why a great site such as Amazon pay you good money is quite beyond me..."
Indisposable Live Cure
Hapworth | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | 02/26/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I kind of agree with the reviewer above about Show--it's definitely a piece of Cure product. But I disagree with him about Paris. Paris, thank God, is Robert Smith's acknowledgment to Cure fans, a live record of the lesser-known, mostly early songs. I've always enjoyed Cure concerts because Smith never forgets to devote a significant portion of the set to older, gloomier, punkish material--the very material that sends some fans (like me) screaming, and sends other fans (the teeny-boppers or newly-converted) absolutely confused. Thus, Paris marks the first legitimate live release of classic Cure material"
The Cure delivers live on PARIS
David Susnjara | 01/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Cure's PARIS was the band's second live album release in a two month span in 1993. Talk about prolific. Talk about overkill. Talk about capitalism. While SHOW spotlighted more recent Cure material, the bulk of PARIS (taped in 1992, guess where?) spotlights the Cure's earlier, less radio-friendly days. Sparkling renditions of songs like "Charlotte Sometimes" and "The Figurehead" only go to show that the Cure can do it all. Not to completely alienate recent pop fans, PARIS also contains sparkling renditions of the Cure's first big AOR hit "Lovesong," plus the Kinks-like "Catch," and the gem "Letter To Elise." Half the original proceeds from royalties of PARIS were donated by the Cure to the Red Cross in support of international relief work. For a bunch of gloomy guys, that was a helluva nice gesture."
Excellent Live CD
kate | Jx, MI USA | 10/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Paris is a wonderful live album. Anyone who enjoys The Cure as well as people who have never heard The Cure before, will want to enjoy this cd!"
If I could only give it more stars...
Kelly McCain | Baltimore, MD USA | 04/10/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This live album is flawless. It is by far, better than I've ever imagined live albums could endeavor to be. Let me give you an example. "Play For Today", off of "Seventeen Seconds", was an okay song. Nothing to jump up and scream over though. Good enough to go on the mp3 player, but not enough to play constantly or anything. Well, I decided to go ahead and listen to it on Paris, just for the hell of it, since everything else was so great.
The live version of this song absolutely kills the original!!! I was blown away when I heard the sheer magnificence of this performance. It was darker, more grandiose and more complex, just absolutely stunning.
"Dressing Up" is also breathtaking, and this was a song that I already loved.Ditto for classics such as "The Figurehead"...if a song like "Play For Today" can be turned into a masterpiece, then what do you think that the greats sound like?"