Curepedia – Simon Price – Book Review
by Killian Laher

A number of years ago, Simon Goddard wrote a book entitled Mozipedia, about all things Morrissey.  Now another Simon, Simon Price, has produced a definitive guide to The Cure, Curepedia.  An undoubted labour of love, Price has gone to painstaking lengths to document all the significant information about the Cure and alphabetise it.  The book covers everything from Killing An Arab right up to the teased and as yet unreleased new album, dipping into compilations, cover versions, band members, songs, dreams, drugs and…. hair!  Each of the albums gets an in-depth piece, and all the significant Cure songs are included.  There is plenty of new information here, even for the seasoned Cure-watcher.  The dreaded G word inevitably gets a mention as well.  It’s highly opinionated, see the entry on Ross Robinson for the author’s scathing view of nu-metal.  Indeed 21st Century Cure gets plenty of mention in the book.

The book is a fun one to dip in and out of rather than read sequentially.  For a band that typically doesn’t have a message in their songs, or have a very coherent philosophy there is a lot to dissect here.  A work of extraordinary detail, the book caters for the more casual fan as well as bona fide Curehead, and it shows that there is an awful lot to this band.  If there is a criticism, perhaps some images or photographs would have broken up the text which can be dense at times.  However, it has to be said that the book is beautifully produced, and will look great on any Cure fan’s bookshelf.