The Cure was more commercial than "The Smiths".That said they churned out A LOT of quality stuff....Robert was great and they had their sound....memories of many biodegradeable nights. Now I was fortunate enough back in the day to see the Smiths from the second row at Cullen. M was singing while Johnny Marr was on guitar,and the drummer for ABC was online. ...pretty amazing stuff The Smiths window was much smaller as M went his way but I really believe they were more cutting edge anyway..I see them impacting the scene just as much with less exposure. Over time you could say the Cure has made more money and lasted.Both bands were OK live (or should I say always a good time because of positive attitudes),but as far as live performances,about equal. Morrissey had to do his thing and I really think despite the relatively small span they were together (compared to the Cure)they were very innovative.
I like them both, but gotta go with the Smiths. As Manny alluded, the Smiths never really put out a bad song; the Cure on the other hand have been very uneven. I think the Smiths music has stood the test of time better as well. 'Hatful of Hollow' just keeps getting better and as someone else mentioned, that Johnny Marr can sure play guitar.
I like the Cure. I voted for the Cure. I knew someone would come in here and try to piss on the thread, and then litter with piece of **** bands with youtube clips. (haven't done it yet..)
The Smiths were just a much, much better band. Real guitars. Not strangled ones. Just the ironic mope vox.
I honestly think Morrissey is the greatest singer ever. I haven't seen anyone match him vocally. Plus he's a really swell dancer as evidenced in this video below: <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRbp0ZIehk0&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRbp0ZIehk0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
That's my boy! LEEEEROOOY JENKINS! <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LkCNJRfSZBU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LkCNJRfSZBU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-N6sqdrJzVo&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-N6sqdrJzVo&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
For me it's The Cure -- and it's not even close. Of course, I also think that Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is their final album.
I will say this about The Cure - they have a box set out of B-Sides and rarities called "Join the Dots". That set is amazing!
the only reason I like any discussion of who's better than who in music - music and objectivity don't go hand in hand too well, and its 85% usually not about the music anyways I'm sure there are studies that attempt to quantify music and sound, give it a standard of measure to compare and contrast in a "stats" sense. we all tend to agree whats sounds good, but how come a sound of a guitar is accepted by the masses more than the sound of a banjo or saxophone, what made that happen? anyways... If I had to buy a best-of album I'd buy one from the Cure. instead of pretentious faggy, go with geniune faggy? ...man, thats a another difficult choice on its own
Didn't really want to clutter the archives with a new thread...so I did a search and stumbled across this little gem. lol at FFB dropping the 80's emo bombs on everyone. Anyway...the reason I revived this three year old thread was due to something I heard on Sirius last night. The guy on the First Wave channel said something about a vinyl bootlegged release of previously unreleased demos and instrumentals. So I did a little searching and eventually found download links for this all over the place (torrent and http). Here's the thread where I believe this was originally released... http://forums.morrissey-solo.com/showthread.php?t=112376 I've only listened to the first few tracks, but they sound great. The versions I found/downloaded were at 320kbps...and sound pretty good for a vinyl rip. Oh well...if you can't have the reunion, you might as well enjoy some new (old) sounds from those emo blokes. If you want to search, the album is listed as... "Unreleased Demos & Instrumentals"
Although I like both a lot, I'd have to go with The Smiths - Johnny Marr is an underated guitarist..sure they didn't have the pop success of The Cure..but success is hardly a measure of ability or sound..more like a measure of marketing. Overall, I think The Smiths were much more influential in music as well.
Bob is somewhat underrated as a guitarist as well. He's no virtuoso, to be sure. But even in the beginning...he would sometimes break out of the shell: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uTV3S-eM_Hg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uTV3S-eM_Hg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I listened to The Cure a little bit in high school but didn't admit it to anyone at the time for fear of incorrectly being labeled a "wet-head". For the life of me, I can't see how anyone can stand listening to The Smiths with that wussy singing style Morrisey has. I know the guitar player is good, but I can't stomach Morrisey for more than a minute or 2 without wanting to start taking hostages.
It's three years later and I'm switching from Smiths to The Cure. I must have been real depressed back then What was I thinking? Of course in three years time it could change back.
