Cuckoo

I did not give Curve their just due back in the 1990s and that's a shame. They are a nexus between shoe-gazing Brit-pop, industrial, and electronica; three genres of music that were becoming increasingly mainstream then. Fans of Alanis Morissette and Garbage will feel at home with Curve. Think Republica, but less rave-y. Unfortunately for me, college radio had all of these groups, artists, the more commercial offerings of the previously mentioned genres (and then some) on endless, robotic rotation ad nauseam.Fast forward through the decades and I'm on a 1990s kick. While revisiting bands like Republica, Ruby, and Garbage, I pull out my old copy of Curve's debut, Doppelganger, and the EP collection, Pubic Fruit. My curiosity led me to Amazon and purchasing the sophomore album, Cuckoo, in expanded form with a second disc. I do not regret it.The opening track, Missing Link comes out hard like gangbusters. &#@%! It rocks!!! Then, they bring you down slowly, but Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia never bring it down to Trip-hop nodding tempo. They keep the mix dense and interesting. Their sound is really full. Think of Butch Vig's Garbage meets Republica and maybe some of Automatic/Honey's Dead era Jesus & Mary Chain thrown in.The second disc is a treat, opening with the rockin' Missing Link in its single mix followed by the freaking gnarly On The Wheel (did Sonic Youth stop in for a visit?). The next four songs are okay and provide for a little winding down. Then, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame; perhaps you've heard of him) and producer Flood provide their "Screaming Bird Mix" of Missing Link. The Future Sound of London follow with a somewhat chilled out remix of non-album track Rising followed by the Drum Club's TB-303 acid-laced mix of another non-album track, Half The Time. Original mixes of the two non-album tracks conclude the second disc of goodies.So, why only four stars? I don't give four stars often and reserve such a rating for things that are personally exceptional. As mentioned previously, radio and MTV (ugh) to lesser extent ruined a lot of good music with overexposure. Lastly, the album, like its contemporaries is too well produced like the harbinger of modern, over-compressed swill lacking in harmonic variation. Fortunately, this release rocks.

This reissue is nice to have for the amount of b-sides/remixes/unreleased tracks added to the package, the only minor quibble is the remastering seems a little overly compressed but not enough to make it unlistenable. Nice to have back in circulation again!

Curve were such an incredible group and this LP really makes a case for how influential they were on Garbage (a way more pop version of the same sound, to my ears). And as a live unit they were devastating. But this issue on vinyl sounds mushy and not loud enough. Same problem with Doppleganger. Perhaps remastering at 45 and pressing on double vinyl would have helped. Seem to remember the CDs sounded terrible too (but that is my general opinion of the sound of most CDs) so perhaps they are just crappy recordings but somehow think these deficiencies could have been corrected during mastering. While the sound of the band is claustrophobic the mastering makes it sound too distant and it loses punch.

I have enjoyed this Expanded Edition of Cuckoo from Curve. This album is bit rougher (musical style) than their debut album Doppelganger, but I like it all the same. I highly recommend this album for any and all Curve fans.

Good item, good quality vinyl. The record itself is one of my favorites.

This CD is one of my favorites of all time!

Beautiful reissue, the package arrived very soon.

Curve never disappoints

Their first full album, Doppelgänger from 1992, was already so good but Cuckoo is an improvement in every way. Songs are darker and the production is amazing. This remastered version is a must have for fans of Curve. Buy it if you can!

Curve is one of those bands that not many people know, but those people who know them, love them. Great to be still able to find this on vinyl. Shipping was pretty slow due to Covid (almost 8 weeks to Canada from the UK) but worth it as Rarewaves' prices are good

I played it and I like it.

Thanks for getting some of these rare records in to Canada.

One of the best albums of the 1990s (up there with Violator), this has had a fairly subtle remastering which is only really evident in the fractionally longer running times of some tracks - but the original mix was fine, and a few extra seconds here and there don't hurt. For many the big bonus will be a full extra CD of b-sides and remixes which only obsessives would have collected... OK, I'm one of them, but it's still handy to have them all in one place. Get it while you can.