The good: Sound quality, Video Quality, Performance.... the sets are very good, and the little extras such as the interviews are also quite good. I always enjoy Smith's candor in the interviews. Some of the songs are amazing...Plainsong is just awesome.... 100 Years is Amazing.... and the entire Bloodflowers set is just like I remember in 2000.

The Bad: Some of your and MY favorite songs are performed off key...yes I said it..off key... particularly "Closedown." This is my fav Cure song, and yet the keyboard sample is wrong....it is not even close to the original nor does it sound good. To me that is tragic.....tragic .... I had waited so long to see it live only to be disappointed. I can't imagine why Smith allowed this to go unedited.

6-string problems... the haunting sound of Rob's 6 string has been toned down and muffled throughout...why? I don't know...another strange decision by the band I suppose. If you want to hear it best, get "Show".

Bottom line is Buy it...you'll love it but don't expect perfection.


I'll keep this brief   August 8, 2005
 21 out of 22 found this review helpful

Many reviewers here complain about the boring visuals, the subtle differences in arrangements, and the mix of the songs on this DVD. Bottom line (there's that dreaded bottom line again )this is ESSENTIAL viewing/listening experience of the Cure. The live set of Pornography blows the studio version completely out of the water ( listen to the live versions of these songs on the recent reissue of Pornography and tell me I'm wrong). The Disintegration set is faithful to a fault - I was in Atlanta for the Prayer Tour in 1990 - and I don't hear anything out of place or off key ( as others are saying ) in the performance or the mix. As for the Bloodflowers set, I didn't see the shows, but I can assure anyone on the fence that the live versions here are quite on par with the studio versions. Overall, this is a real treat for Cure fans, the sound mix is fantastic, the visuals are subtle but very effective, and the experience as a whole is the next best thing to "being there." Sure, some songs are performed slower than the original studio versions, some a bit faster, but that's what makes a concert. Enough said. Buy it. Five stars, absolutely.


For Cure fans and newcomers, alike: as good as it gets   July 27, 2004
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

I had an opportunity to see The Cure live during the second date of their Curiosa Festival in Tampa, along with some of the bands they've influenced in the course of the past decade or so. This DVD, recorded in Berlin in November 2002 reflects the current musical state of the band, except that it misses on their latest self-titled album. But for some it may better that way. "Trilogy" presents live versions of three of the band's (arguably) best albums: 'Pornography', 'Disintegration' and 'Bloodflowers', along with an encore set made up of "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" and "The Kiss" (from their 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' album).

This is an essential buy for serious The Cure fans and a highly recommendable live DVD set for the newcomer into the band's music, since it provides the viewer with a complete experience: a very well produced musical recording, along with the visuals of a great show (much like the one you could catch, if you saw them live these days) and a video with excellent direction.


Whoever said the notes were "off key"...   February 20, 2005
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

I want to clear somethng up here. The reviewer below who said that the notes in "closedown" (one of my personal favorites)were "off key" is just wrong, and obviously doesn't understand musical terms. While the notes on the keyboard ARE different than on the album, that doesn't make them "off key" There are many notes that you can use in a scale and still be in key. Being OFF key would mean playing a note OUT of the scale, or one that is not in tune with the rest of the song.
What kind of idiot are you trying to make Robert Smith look like by saying he didn't catch the change in the keys before he could "edit" the video? This is a man who has been writing music professionally for almost 30 years; a man who records, sequences, programs and masters countless numbers of tracks in his own home studio. And you're sitting here telling people that YOU caught an error in HIS music that he let slide? Give me a break.
I know that it can be dissapointing to people to hear their favorite bands play a song differently in a live show when they're so used to hearing it the way they have for years on an album. Sometimes the song just doesn't have the same effect.
But you have to understand, performing a song the exact same way for YEARS and YEARS can probably get very tiring and boring. Musicians sometimes just need to use their creativity and try new things - but that doesn't make playing a different note a mistake.

For the record, the keyboards are also different (on this video and other live performances as well) on other songs including "lovesong"

This video is a MUST HAVE for cure fans. I am going to watch again right now :)
greg


A Perfect Live Cure Concert on DVD!!!   June 2, 2003
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I have Seen the Cure live, I own many of the Cure's live VHS tapes (Show, in Orange, ect) I have all the Cure's CD's, but this DVD is Cure Perfection. Everything the band is about is caught here on DVD, filmed in High definition video and surround sound. This Concert Sounds beautiful but the film work captures the band almost as good as seeing them live, take it from me. They play their 3 darkest and richest albums live in full completion plus two encore songs. This DVD is worth every cent and more. This is a cure fans dream, and anyone else who enjoys high quality emotional, dark, music. There will never be another group like the Cure and this DVD is your chance to see them in all their glory. Enjoy Cure Fans!