1/1/1986 Unknown UK Source
The Cure - Staring At The Sea - The Images (Palace 19.95UKP)
Despite the fishy title, this is basically a frolic through the Cure’s history: 13 singles and not singles ranging from "Killing An Arab" in 1978 up until "Close To Me" in 1985. All except three are accompanied by the original vids, and they’re arranged in chronological order, so in the space of one hour Robert Smith changes from a fresh-faced, clean-cut youth into the shambling, unkempt figure of today, which is a bit of a weird "trip" (man). It’s more interesting than the vids themselves, really, as the early ones are a bit boring, although things perk up in 1982 when loony director Tim Pope turns up and starts shoving the group into underwater wardrobes etc. Best of all, though, is the opening film a magnificently woozy, shaky home movie taken by Robert Smith’s dad at Crawley Bandstand in 1977 (When some of the group were still wearing flares), which sums up perfectly the Cure’s surreal strangeness. Perhaps they should give him a job...
