FEBRUARY

As usual, the band rested at this time of the year. But Robert Smith sang and played on a song with Reeves Gabrels as a thank-you for his work on Wrong Number. The track they had written was called Yesterday's Gone, and it would be released two years later on Gabrels' solo album : Ulysses.

Robert would also make a guest appearance on South Park for US TV cable. He was approached by the creators of the animated show while being in Hollywood, on the previous year, to do the voice over. So he accepted (and became "cool" for his younger nieces and nephews).


MARCH

05th/09th
RAK studios, London
Robert recorded two songs on his own (with Paul Corkett co-producing) : World In My Eyes for a Depeche Mode tribute, and More Than This for the upcoming X-Files soundtrack.

12th/15th
Outside Studio, Checkendon
Mixing the two tracks recorded on the previous week. Roger was called to assist.

The Cure's official website was redesigned (by Roger). Robert had the idea for the imagery based on Mandelbrots. The index page was divided into "new" and "old". The new things there were competitions to win prices ! One of them was about picking up which "poison" each member would drink on stage (Roger-Coke, Robert-wine with orange juice, Jason-water, Simon-Lager and Perry-cider), in order to win a shirt signed by the entire band.


MAY/JUNE

Parkgate studios, Battle, East Sussex, England
The group demo'd 17 songs for a new album with Paul Corkett. They were supposed to record the real thing right after but decided to play live at some European summer festivals with the confessed aim of feeling more cohesive as a group...


JULY

Robert, Jason and Reeves Gabrels founded COGASM (COoper, GAbrels, and SMith) to record a song, A Sign From God, for the Orgazmo's soundtrack (a film directed by Trey Parker - South Park). The catchy tune would be released at the end of the year.

The Cure then embarked on a 13-date festival tour with a repertoire of 37 songs : Killing An Arab, 10:15 Saturday Night, Boys Don't Cry, A Forest, Faith, Forever, One Hundred Years, The Figurehead, A Strange Day, Cold, Let's Go To Bed, Shake Dog Shake, In Between Days, Kyoto Song, Push, Close To Me, A Night Like This, Sinking, Torture, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep,Why Can't I Be You ?, Just Like Heaven, Like Cockatoos, Pictures Of You, Lovesong, Lullaby, Fascination Street, Prayers For Rain, Disintegration, Untitled, Never Enough, From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea, Friday I'm In Love, Trust, Cut, Treasure,Wrong Number.

To be fair, some of the shows were average (this never happened on a regular basis before). The performances lacked of a bit of excitement, all the more that Robert drank more than usual before entering the stage sometimes.


SEPTEMBER

St Catherine's Court, Bath
The recording for Bloodflowers started for real (where they recorded Wild Mood Swings !) but a lot of time was spent trying out the latest recording possibilities and changing the studio set up. So in the end, the room was filled with computers and the group escaped to play at Ray Cokes' wedding in South of France ! A great evening, ending with a party on the beach.


OCTOBER

11th
London, Forum
The Miller beer had asked the group to headline their "blind date" gig in London with Hole as opening act... The main thing about the concert was its secrecy, even the audience (Miller competition winners) didn't know who would play. It turned out as the best show of the year, emotional and powerful as it should be. They played Shiver And Shake as well (a song they didn't try on the past summer).

The band then returned to St Catherine's Court for more recording but realised that the album wouldn't be finished by Christmas, like planned originally. One of the track, Out of This World, completely changed the dynamic of the whole project. So the "dark-electro" tracks (like Possession) were put aside.



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