The Cure

SPECTACLE REPORTÉ AU 14 MAI 2008

The Cure est l'un des groupes britanniques les plus adulés des dernières décennies.

Le groupe entamera sa tournée aux États-Unis aussitôt qu'il aura donné la touche finale à son 13e album, le premier avec du matériel original depuis 2004. Il a été enregistré en Angleterre avec le producteur Robert Smith, et sera lancé au Suretone/Geffen Records cet automne.

Dirigé toujours par le chanteur/guitariste Robert Smith, le groupe The Cure comprend les membres de longue date: Simon Gallup (bassiste), Jason Cooper (batteur) et, de retour dans le groupe pour une 3e fois, le guitariste Porl Thompson.

Invités spéciaux : 65daysofstatic

NEW DATE ON MAY 14^TH 2008
Special guests : 65daysofstatic

The Cure est un groupe de rock et de new wave britannique, formé en 1976 à Crawley (West Sussex), qui a marqué les années 1980 et 1990. La formation actuelle est composée de la figure historique du groupe : le leader Robert Smith (auteur, compositeur et chanteur), de Porl Thompson à la guitare, Simon Gallup à la basse et Jason Cooper à la batterie.

D'abord nommé Malice en 1976, puis EasyCure en 1977, The Cure voit officiellement le jour par la suite, en 1978. Le trio est composé d'amis de lycée de Crawley (dans le Sussex), avec Michael Dempsey à la basse, Lol Tolhurst à la batterie et Robert Smith à la guitare et au chant. C'est Robert Smith, qui écrit toutes les paroles et la plupart des musiques du groupe. L'originalité du premier 45 T Killing an Arab, inspiré du roman L'Étranger d'Albert Camus, assure un début de notoriété au groupe grâce notamment aux fanzines alternatifs. Ils sont rapidement signés par Chris Parry, ex-manager des Jam, qui crée pour eux le label indépendant Fiction Records, auquel ils resteront fidèles de nombreuses années.

The Cure est considéré avec Bauhaus et Siouxsie & The Banshees comme une influence majeure du mouvement gothique, même si Robert Smith s'est toujours moqué ironiquement de ceux qui le classifient dans cette mouvance. Leur style musical inimitable, le développement d'ambiances atmosphériques sombres, claires-obscures et/ou mélancoliques longtemps absentes du rock depuis la fin du rock progressif, ainsi que leur son de guitare particulier, le look et la personnalité "lunaire" et fragile de Robert Smith, influencent plusieurs générations de musiciens.

Après un premier album au son post-punk très minimaliste, Three Imaginary Boys (1979), The Cure produira successivement trois albums plus sombres : le très atmosphérique mais encore relativement pop Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981), plus gris et désespéré, et le fulgurant et définitivement noir Pornography (1982), qui évoque pêle-mêle la mort, le suicide et l'introspection. Pour les amateurs éclairés de Cure et les critiques rock qui n'ont pourtant pas toujours plébiscité le groupe, Pornography est un chef d'œuvre absolu et inégalé, qui atteint d'ailleurs le Top 10 en Angleterre. La tournée qui suit la sortie de cet album se révèle pourtant éprouvante, en effet le climat mélancolique qui entoure les shows de la formation anglaise depuis quelque temps déjà y atteint là son paroxysme, et beaucoup pensent (dont Smith lui-même) que Cure n'y survivra pas. Ces trois disques représentent d'ailleurs ce que l'on appelle la "Trilogie glacée" du groupe.

The Cure opte alors en 1983 pour une tournure musicale plus légère (certains diront de "survie" pour le groupe), d'abord avec trois singles à succès (Let's go to bed, The Walk et The Lovecats) plus "abordables" venant contrebalancer l'ambiance des trois précédents albums. Puis toujours en 1983, R. Smith explore de nouveaux horizons, plus expérimentaux et psychédéliques, qui annoncera la suite de ses aventures. Il conçoit au côté de Steve Severin, bassiste de Siouxsie and the Banshees, un concept au nom de The Glove (nom inspiré par un personnage du film Yellow submarine des Beatles). Ils sortent quelques singles, et un album Blue Sunshine. Robert Smith profite aussi de son temps libre pour devenir le guitariste officiel de Siouxsie and the Banshees : il enregistre avec eux le live Nocturne filmé au Royal Albert Hall de Londres, puis l'année suivante l'album studio Hyaena.

Pour ce qui est de Cure, avec de nombreux changements de line-up, des disques plus pop apparaissent : The Top (1984) et surtout The Head on the Door (1985), ce dernier coïncidant avec l'explosion de leur popularité en Europe - et notamment en France - et leur succès grandissant aux États-Unis mais aussi en Australie (où le groupe jouit déjà d'une belle notoriété depuis quelques années), grâce à l'impact international des 45 tours In between days et Close to me. Titres que l'on retrouve, entre autres, sur la compilation parue en 1986 en forme de bilan après presque dix années d'existence, qui s'intitule Standing on a Beach (et Staring at the Sea pour sa version CD à la liste des morceaux légèrement différente). Et pour l'anecdote, c'est aussi à cette même époque que le look à la "Cure" fait nombre d'émules parmi les fans un peu partout sur la planète, un look particulier fait de coupes de cheveux hirsutes et de tenues vestimentaires à l'avenant, qu'arbore le groupe (et notamment Smith) depuis quelques années déjà...

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, double album aux sonorités plus variées, suit en 1987, c'est encore un grand succès, qui les fait définitivement connaitre aux États-Unis. Notamment grâce aux tubes Why Can't I Be You, et surtout Just like Heaven basé en réalité sur un instrumental, amené à être un générique, que Smith et ses acolytes avaient composé quelque temps plus tôt tout spécialement pour et à la demande de l'émission "Les Enfants du rock", diffusée sur Antenne 2 (future France 2) au début et au milieu des années 80, et qui a toujours soutenu le groupe.

L'album Disintegration en 1989 marque un retour à une musique plus sombre et mélancolique, rappelant la période 1980-1982 de la formation anglaise. Sur cet album, le son Cure se déploie : longs morceaux mélancoliques, son de guitare inimitable (mais souvent copié), utilisation de basse à 6 cordes, arrangements subtils. Les 45 tours Lullaby et Lovesong connaissent un grand succès dans les classements internationaux, notamment pour la dernière chanson citée qui se retrouve classée #2 aux USA, faisant de l'album un des grands succès de Cure dans ce pays. Suit alors une tournée mondiale (le "Prayer Tour") de longue durée dont l'ampleur et l'intensité restent encore gravées dans de nombreuses mémoires, et constitue pour beaucoup l'une des meilleures prestations publiques de Cure.

Après un disque de remixes plus ou moins bien accueilli par la critique, le groupe revient trois ans plus tard avec l'album Wish qui se retrouve respectivement classé dès sa sortie #1 au Royaume-Uni et #2 en Amérique (même si en France, le succès est pour la première fois depuis plusieurs années, moins marqué). Après ce triomphe, suit une période plus incertaine durant laquelle le groupe, en perpétuelle évolution au niveau de son effectif, semble connaitre une pause dans sa notoriété, tout en gardant son immense cortège de fans fidèles répartis aux quatre coins de la planète. Ainsi l'album Wild Mood Swings en 1996, relativement expérimental, faible et décousu rencontre un succès mitigé. Mais Bloodflowers marque le retour du fameux "son Cure", celui de Wish et de Disintegration. D'ailleurs, Robert Smith présente cet album comme le troisième d'une trilogie comprenant Pornography et Disintegration. A noter que cet album est le plus calme du groupe.

Le dernier album paru, The Cure en 2004, ouvre la porte à un son plus dur et à une inspiration puisée dans le rock indépendant. Des chansons délirantes ("Alt.End", "Taking Off", "Before Three", "I Don't Know What's Going On") y côtoient d'autres violentes ("Us Or Them", "Lost", "The Promise"), dépressives ("Going Nowhere", "Anniversary") ou psychédéliques ("Labyrinth") . Ce disque renoue avec le succès à grande échelle des deux côtés de l'atlantique où l'album se classe sans souci au Top 10.

Rétrospectivement et à ses débuts, The Cure devint rapidement un des fleurons de la new wave britannique tendance mélancolique, avec Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees , (groupe auquel Robert Smith a contribué en tant que guitariste en parallèle de The Cure), Joy Division, Echo and the bunnymen, Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears (à leurs débuts), New Order, etc.

Réduit à un projet solitaire depuis une dizaine d'années et ayant subi plusieurs changements de line-up, pour certains le groupe devient un prétexte aux compositions plus ou moins inspirées de Robert Smith. Cependant, durant les trente dernières années, The Cure a su explorer avec une étonnante vitalité des univers différents (cold wave, indie rock, noisy pop, pop, goth rock, prog rock...) tout en développant sa personnalité et son originalité (incarnée exclusivement par Robert Smith).

Le groupe a également influencé de nombreux musiciens et constitue aujourd'hui une référence solide dans le monde de la musique pop/rock.

Actuellement, Cure travaillerait sur un nouvel album devant sortir en fin d'année 2007.

The Cure are an English rock band that formed in Crawley, Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several lineup changes, with frontman, guitarist and main songwriter Robert Smith—known for his iconic wild hair, pale complexion, smudged lipstick and frequently gloomy and introspective lyrics—as the only constant member.

The members of The Cure were barely out of their teens when they first started releasing music in the late 1970s. Their first album Three Imaginary Boys and early singles placed them as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. After the release of 1982's Pornography, the band's future was uncertain and frontman Robert Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had cultivated. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to inject more of a pop sensibility into the band's music. The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States, where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the Billboard Top 40 charts. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world and have sold an estimated 27 million albums as of 2004. As of 2007 The Cure have released twelve studio albums and over thirty singles, with a thirteenth album in the works.

Formation and early years (1973–1979)
The first incarnation of what became The Cure was The Obelisk, a band formed by students at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, Sussex. The band made their public debut in a one-off performance in April 1973, and featured Robert Smith (piano), Michael Dempsey (guitar), Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (percussion), Marc Ceccagno (lead guitar) and Alan Hill on bass guitar. In January 1976 former Obelisk guitarist Marc Ceccagno formed Malice with Robert Smith —now also on guitar— and Michael "Mick" Dempsey —switching to bass— along with two other classmates from St. Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School. Ceccagno soon left, however, to form a Jazz-rock fusion band called Amulet. Increasingly influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure in January 1977. Smith and Dempsey had by this time been joined by Lol Tolhurst from The Obelisk on drums, and new lead guitarist Porl Thompson. Both Malice and Easy Cure also trialed several unsuccessful vocalists before Smith finally assumed the role of Easy Cure's frontman in September of 1977.

That year, The Easy Cure won a talent competition with the German label Hansa Records, and received a recording contract. Although the band recorded tracks for the company, none were ever released. Following disagreements in March of 1978 over the direction the band should take, the contract with Hansa was dissolved. Smith later recalled "We were very young. They just thought they could turn us into a teen group. They actually wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused." Thompson was dropped from the band that May, and the remaining trio (Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey) was soon renamed The Cure by Smith. Later that month the band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex which were distributed as a demo tape to a dozen major record labels. The demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, who signed The Cure to his newly formed Fiction label —distributed by Polydor—in September 1978. However, as a stop-gap while Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor, on December 22, 1978 The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" on the Small Wonder label. "Killing an Arab" garnered both acclaim and controversy: while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is actually based on French existentialist Albert Camus' story The Stranger. The band placed a sticker label that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue on Fiction. An early NME article on the band wrote that The Cure "are like a breath of fresh suburban air on the capital's smog-ridden pub and club circuit" and noted "With a John Peel session and more extensive London gigging on their immediate agenda, it remains to be seen whether or not The Cure can retain their refreshing joie de vivre."

The Cure released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979. Due to the band's inexperience in the studio, Parry and engineer Mike Hedges took control of the recording. The band —particularly Smith— were unhappy with their debut, and in a 1987 interview he admitted that "a lot of it was very superficial – I didn't even like it at the time. There were criticisms made that it was very lightweight, and I thought they were justified. Even when we'd made it, I wanted to do something that I thought had more substance to it." The band's second single "Boys Don't Cry" was released in June. The Cure then embarked as the support band for Siouxsie & The Banshees' Join Hands promotional tour of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Netherlands between August and October. The tour saw Smith pull double duty each night by performing with The Cure and as the guitarist with The Banshees when John McKay quit the group.

The Cure's third single "Jumping Someone Else's Train" was released in early october 1979. Soon afterwards, Dempsey was sacked from the band due to his cool reception to material Smith had written for the upcoming album. Dempsey joined the Associates, while Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) from Horley post-punk/New Wave band The Magspies joined The Cure. The Associates toured as support band for The Cure and The Passions on the Future Pastimes Tour of England between November and December —all three bands were on the Fiction Records roster— with the new Cure lineup already performing a number of new songs for the projected second album. Meanwhile, a spin-off band comprising Smith, Tolhurst, Dempsey, Gallup, Hartley and Thompson, with backing vocals from assorted family and friends, and lead vocals provided by their local postman Frankie Bell released a 7 inch single in December under the assumed name of Cult Hero.

Gothic phase (1980–1982)
Wary due to the band's lack of creative control on the first album, Smith exerted a greater influence on the recording of second album Seventeen Seconds, which he co-produced with Mike Hedges. Seventeen Seconds was released in 1980 and reached #20 on the UK charts. The album single "A Forest" became the band's first UK hit single, reaching #31 on the singles chart. The album was a departure from The Cure's sound up to that point, with Hedges describing it as "morose, atmospheric, very different to Three Imaginary Boys." In its review of Seventeen Seconds the NME said "For a group as young as The Cure, it seems amazing that they have covered so much territory in such a brief time." At the same time Smith was pressed concerning the concept of an alleged "anti-image". Smith told the press he was fed up with the anti-image association that some considered to be "elaborately disguising their plainness", stating "We had to get away from that anti-image thing, which we didn't even create in the first place. And it seemed like we were trying to be more obscure. We just didn't like the standard rock thing. The whole thing really got out of hand." That same year Three Imaginary Boys was repackaged for the U.S market as Boys Don't Cry, with new artwork and a new tracklist. The Cure set out on their first world tour to promote both releases. At the end of the tour Matthieu Hartley left the band. Hartley said, "I realised that the group was heading towards suicidal, sombre music—the sort of thing that didn't interest me at all."

The band reconvened with Hedges to produce 1981's Faith, which furthered the mood of misery present on Seventeen Seconds. The album hit #14 on the UK charts. Included with cassette copies of Faith was an instrumental soundtrack for Carnage Visors, an animated film shown in place of an opening act for the band's 1981 Picture Tour. In late 1981, The Cure released the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes". By this point the somber mood of the music was having a profound affect on the attitude of the band. The Cure would refuse requests for older songs in concert, and sometimes Smith would be so absorbed by the persona he projected onstage he would leave at the end in tears.

In 1982 The Cure recorded and released Pornography, the third and final album of an "oppressively dispirited" trio that cemented the Cure's stature as purveyors of the emerging gothic rock genre. Smith has said during the recording of Pornography he was "undergoing a lot of mental stress. But it had nothing to do with the group, it just had to do with what I was like, my age and things. I think I got to my worst round about Pornography. Looking back and getting other people's opinions of what went on, I was a pretty monstrous sort of person at that time." Gallup described the album by saying "Nihilism took over [. . .] We sang 'It doesn't matter if we all die' and that is exactly what we thought at the time." Parry was concerned that the album did not have a hit song for radio play and instructed Smith and producer Phil Thornalley to polish the track "The Hanging Garden" for release as a single. Despite the concerns about the album's uncommercial sound, Pornography became the band's first UK Top 10 album, entering the charts at #8. The release of Pornography was followed by the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, where the band finally dropped the anti-image angle and first adopted their signature look of big, towering hair and smeared lipstick on their faces. The tour also saw a series of incidents that prompted Simon Gallup to leave The Cure at the tour's conclusion. Gallup and Smith did not talk to each other for eighteen months following his departure.

Increasing commercial success (1983–1988)
With the departure of Gallup and Smith's work with Siouxsie & the Banshees, rumors spread that The Cure had broken up. In December of 1982, Smith remarked to Melody Maker "Do The Cure really exist any more? I've been pondering that question myself [. . .] it has got to a point where I don't fancy working in that format again." He added, "Whatever happens, it won't be me, Laurence, and Simon together any more. I know that."

Parry was concerned at the state of his label's top band, and became convinced that the solution was for The Cure to reinvent its musical style. Parry managed to convince Smith and Tolhurst of the idea; Parry said, "It appealed to Robert because he wanted to destroy The Cure anyway." With Tolhurst now playing keyboards instead of drums, the duo released the single "Let's Go to Bed" in late 1982. While Smith played the single off as a throwaway "stupid" pop song to the press, it became a minor hit in the UK, reaching number 44 on the pop charts; but was a big hit in Australia, reaching #15. It was followed in 1983 by two more successful songs: the synth-based "The Walk" (UK #12), and the jazz-influenced "The Lovecats," which became the band's first UK Top 10 reaching #7. They released these studio singles and their b-sides as the compilation album Japanese Whispers, designed by Smith for the Japanese market only, but released worldwide on the decision of the record company. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie & the Banshees, contributing his writing and playing skills on their Hyaena and Nocturne albums, as well as recording the Blue Sunshine album with Banshees bassist Steven Severin as The Glove.

In 1984 The Cure released The Top, a generally psychedelic album on which Smith played all the instruments except the drums –played by Andy Anderson– and the saxophone –played by returnee Porl Thompson. The album was a Top 10 hit in the UK and was their first studio album to break the Billboard 200 in the U.S. reaching #180. Melody Maker praised the album as "psychedelia that can't be dated," while pondering, "I've yet to meet anyone who can tell me why The Cure are having hits now of all times." The Cure then embarked on their worldwide "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and producer-turned-bassist Phil Thornalley on board. Released in late 1984, The Cure's first live album, Concert consisted of performances from this tour. Near the tour's end, Anderson was fired for destroying a hotel room and was replaced by Boris Williams. Thornalley also left due to the rigors of the road. However, the bassist slot was not vacant long, for a Cure roadie named Gary Biddles had brokered a reunion between Smith and former bassist Simon Gallup, who in the meantime had been playing in the band Fools Dance. Soon after reconciling, Smith asked Gallup to rejoin the band. Smith was ecstatic about Gallup's return and declared to Melody Maker, "It's a group again."

In 1985, the new lineup—Smith, Tolhurst, Gallup, Thompson, and Williams—released The Head on the Door, an album which managed to meld the melodic and pessimistic aspects of the band they had previously shifted between. The Head on the Door reached #7 in the UK, made the Top 20 in several European charts and in Australia, and was the band's first entry into American Top 75 at #59, a success partly due to the international impact of the LP's two singles, "In Between Days" and "Close to Me". Following the album and further world tour, the band released the singles compilation Standing on a Beach in three formats (each with a different track listing and a specific name) in 1986. This compilation made the US Top 50, and saw the re-issue of three previous singles: "Boys Don't Cry" (in a new form), "Let's Go To Bed" and later "Charlotte Sometimes". This release was accompanied by VHS and LaserDisc called Staring at the Sea, which featured videos for each track on the compilation. The Cure toured to support the compilation and released a live concert VHS of the show, filmed in the south of France called The Cure in Orange. During this time, The Cure became a very popular band in Europe (particularly in France, Germany and the Benelux countries) and increasingly popular in the U.S., where the closing date of their tour in Los Angeles resulted in tragedy when a fan committed suicide by stabbing himself to death as the band took the stage.

In 1987, The Cure released the double LP Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which reached #6 in the UK, the Top 5 in several European countries and #35 in the US (where it was certified platinum), due to the combination of the band's rising popularity and the success of lead single, "Why Can't I Be You?" (Top 30 hit in UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, etc.). The album's third single, "Just Like Heaven" was the band's most successful single to date in the US, being their first to enter the Billboard Top 40. After the album's release, the band embarked on the successful Kiss Tour. During the European leg of the tour, Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform so Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him.

Disintegration and worldwide success (1989–2002)
In 1989 The Cure released the album Disintegration, which saw a return to the dark imagery of earlier releases. It became their highest charting album in the UK to date, entering at number three and featuring three Top 30 singles in the UK and Germany ("Lullaby", "Lovesong" and "Pictures of You"). Disintegration also reached an impressive number twelve on the US charts (with four Top 75 singles), where it had a lengthy run, and greatly increased their popularity in the United States. The first single stateside, "Fascination Street," reached number one on the American Modern Rock chart, but was quickly overshadowed when its third US single, "Lovesong," reached number two on the American pop charts (the only Cure single to reach the US Top 10). By 1992 Disintegration had sold over three million copies worldwide.

During the Disintegration sessions, the band gave Smith an ultimatum that either Tolhurst would have to leave the band or they would. In February 1989 Tolhurst's exit was made official and announced to the press; this resulted in Roger O'Donnell becoming a full-fledged member of the band and left Smith as The Cure's only remaining founding member. Smith attributed Tolhurst's dismissal to an inability to exert himself and issues with alcohol, concluding, "He was out of step with everything. It had just become detrimental to everything we'd do." Because Tolhurst was still on the payroll during the recording of Disintegration, he was credited in the album's liner notes as playing "other instrument," however it has since been revealed that he contributed nothing to the album in either performance or songwriting. The Cure then embarked on the Prayer Tour, which saw the band playing stadiums in America.

In May 1990, Roger O'Donnell left the band and was replaced by the band's guitar tech Perry Bamonte. That November, The Cure released a collection of remixes called Mixed Up. The album was not well-received and quickly slid down the charts. The one new song on the collection, "Never Enough", was released as a single. In 1991 The Cure were awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Band. That same year Lol Tolhurst filed a lawsuit against Robert Smith and Fiction Records in 1991 over royalties payments, and claimed joint ownership of the name "The Cure" with Smith; the verdict was handed out in September 1994 in favor of Smith. In respite from the lawsuit the band returned to the studio to record their next album. Wish reached number one in the UK and number two in the US and yielded the international hits "High" and "Friday I'm in Love". The Cure also embarked on the "Wish Tour" with Portsmouth's Cranes and released the live albums Show (September 1993) and Paris (October 1993). As a promotional exercise with the Our Price music chain in the UK, a limited edition EP was released consisting of instrumental outtakes from the Wish sessions. Entitled Lost Wishes, the proceeds from the four track cassette tape went to charity.

In the years between the release of Wish and the start of sessions for The Cure's next album, the band's lineup shifted again. Porl Thompson left the band once more during 1993 to play with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Bamonte took over as lead guitarist. Boris Williams also left the band, and was replaced by Jason Cooper (formerly of My Life Story). The album sessions began in 1994 with only Smith and Barmonte present; the pair were later joined by Gallup (who was recovering from physical problems), and Roger O'Donnell, who had been asked to rejoin the band at the end of 1994. Wild Mood Swings, finally released in 1996, was poorly compared to previous albums and marked the end of the band's commercial peak. The first two singles, "The 13th" and "Mint Car" both fared modestly on the UK singles chart and the US Modern Rock chart, however the next singles, "Gone!" and "Strange Attraction" were not successful. Early in 1996 the Cure played festivals in South America, followed by a world tour in support of the album. 1997 saw the release of Galore, the follow-up to The Cure's multi-platinum singles collection, Standing on a Beach. Galore contained all of the Cure's singles released between 1987 and 1997, as well as the new single "Wrong Number," which featured longtime David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Gabrels also accompanied the Cure on a brief American radio festival tour as an onstage guest guitarist for "Wrong Number." In 1998 The Cure contributed to the soundtrack album for The X-Files: Fight the Future as well as the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses, with their cover of "World in My Eyes."

With only one album left in their record contract and with commercial response to Wild Mood Swings and the Galore compilation lackluster, Smith once again considered that the end of The Cure might be near and thus wanted to make an album that reflected the more serious side of the band. The Grammy-nominated album Bloodflowers was released in 2000 after being delayed since 1998. The album was, according to Smith, the third of a trilogy along with Pornography and Disintegration. The band also embarked on the nine-month Dream Tour, attended by over one million people worldwide. In 2001 The Cure left Fiction and released their Greatest Hits album and DVD, which featured the music videos for a number of classic Cure songs. The band headlined twelve major music festivals that year, in addition to playing several three-hour concerts during which they performed the albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entireties on back-to-back nights at the Tempodrome in Berlin. These performances were released as the Trilogy DVD in 2003.

Recent years (2003–present)
In the spring of 2003, The Cure signed to Geffen Records. In 2004, The Cure released a new four-disc boxed set on Fiction Records titled Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years). The set includes seventy Cure songs, some previously unreleased, and a 76-page full-colour book of photographs, history and quotes, packaged in a hard cover. The album peaked at #106 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The band released their twelfth album The Cure on Geffen Records in 2004, which was produced by nu metal guru Ross Robinson. It made a top ten debut on both sides of the Atlantic in July 2004 and debuted in the top 30 in Australia. To promote this album, the band headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on May 2. Between July 24 to August 29, The Cure headlined the Curiosa concert tour of North America. The concert had two stages and featured a lineup, including Interpol, The Rapture, and Mogwai on the main stage and the supporting bands such as Muse, Scarling. and Melissa Auf Der Maur on the second stage, hand-picked by Smith himself. While attendances were lower than expected, Curiosa was still one of the more successful American summer festivals of 2004.

The band was awarded the MTV Icon for 2004. The ceremony included performances of Cure songs by the bands AFI ("Just Like Heaven"), blink-182 ("A Letter to Elise"), Razorlight ("Boys Don't Cry") and the Deftones ("If Only Tonight We Could Sleep"), and was hosted by Marilyn Manson. Smith subsequently included songs by AFI, Blink 182 and the Deftones in his set-list whilst presenting a special John Peel evening session on BBC Radio 1, shortly before Peel's death.

In May 2005, Roger O' Donnell and Perry Bamonte left the band. O'Donnell said Smith informed him he was reducing the band to a three-piece; O'Donnell only found out about the band's upcoming tour dates via a fan site and added, "It was sad to find out after nearly 20 years the way I did but then I should have expected no less or more." The remaining members of the band (Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper) made a few appearances as a trio before it was announced in June that Porl Thompson would be returning for the band's 2005 summer shows, including their set at Live 8 in Paris on July 2nd. Later that year, the band recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Love" for Amnesty International's charity album Make Some Noise. It is available for download on the Amnesty website, while the album has been scheduled to be released on CD in 2006. In 2006 The Cure appeared at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 April 2006, on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust. It was their only show through to the end the year. In December a live DVD, entitled The Cure: Festival 2005 including 30 songs of their 2005 Festival tour was released.

The Cure have been writing and recording material for a new album since 2006. Recent reports confirm it will be a double record, with a projected October 2007 release. Smith stated "What will probably happen is that a double album will come out like a limited edition, mixed by me, A single-disc version, which I assume will be primarily chosen by the label, might get mixed by someone else in order to have a different thing. There's a concern Cure fans will feel like they have to get both, but the fact is, I've agreed to sell the double version at a single-album price, because I feel that strongly about it."