In addition to the de rigeur remastered album, Robert Smith has culled through his home library to collect a full disc worth of unreleased demos, alternate versions and even four previously unreleased songs. Accompanying that, is a third disc consisting of a live performance of the album in its entirety from 1989, the year it was released, as well as a first-hand account by Smith of the period it was recorded and a slew of never-before-seen pictures. Be still, my dark, teenaged heart.
Best of all, you don't have to wait -- or pay -- to see and hear at least some of this material. Right now, the Cure has a fancy wesbite set up that includes a decent sampling of this material.
Not everything works (in particular, one of the music players seems to be broken and another doesn't go live until next week) but there's plenty enough there -- some of which won't even be on the upcoming reissue -- to keep a Cure fan from having to do much work today. That includes everything from Smith's account of how he almost died recovering the unfinished lyrics from a fire to a collection of videos from the album.
The full set will be released as a three-disc set in the US on June 8 for $40, or $20 for digital download. You can also pick up a double-disc vinyl of the original album for $25.
