4:13 Dream

4:13 Dream
Studio album by The Cure
Released	28 October 2008
Recorded	2006–2008
Genre	Alternative rock, post-punk
Length	52:28
Label	Suretone, Geffen
Producer	Robert Smith, Keith Uddin
The Cure chronology
The Cure (2004) 4:13 Dream (2008)
Singles from 4:13 Dream
"The Only One" Released: 13 May 2008 "Freakshow" Released: 13 June 2008 "Sleep When I'm Dead" Released: 13 July 2008 "The Perfect Boy" Released: 13 August 2008

4:13 Dream is the thirteenth studio album by English alternative rock band The Cure. It was released on 28 October 2008, through record labels Suretone and Geffen.

Production

The thirteenth studio album by The Cure was originally intended to be a double album; however, frontman Robert Smith confirmed in interviews that this idea was scrapped, despite the fact that thirty-three songs had been recorded.^[1][2] Some songs featured on the album were recycled from earlier album sessions: an example is "Sleep When I'm Dead", which was originally written for the band's 1985 album The Head on the Door.^[3] Smith attested that the album would mostly comprise the upbeat songs the band recorded, while the darker songs may be released on another album.^{[citation needed]}

Promotion

On 6 October 2007, The Cure played the first song from the upcoming album at the Download Festival in Mountain View, California as part of their 4Tour.^[4] The song, "The Only One" (then titled "Please Project"), would go on to be the album's lead single. Following this, the band slowly introduced other songs from the album.^{[citation needed]} In order to finish recording 4:13 Dream by early 2008, they delayed their North American tour by eight months. Later in the tour, the band performed the songs "Underneath the Stars", "The Perfect Boy", "Sleep When I'm Dead", "Freakshow" (then titled "Don't Say Anything"), "The Only One" (then titled "Please Project") and "It's Over" (then titled "Baby Rag Dog Book") at various shows. Although rumored to appear on the album from early reports,^{[citation needed]} another song, "A Boy I Never Knew", was omitted from the final track listing.

On 1 May 2008, The Cure posted a bulletin on their MySpace page in which they confirmed that the album would be released on 13 September.^{[citation needed]} The bulletin also said that the thirteenth day of each month leading up to the release of the album (May, June, July and August) would see the release of a single, including B-sides that would not make the final cut.^{[citation needed]}

The first single, "The Only One", was released on 13 May, followed by "Freakshow" on 13 June, "Sleep When I'm Dead" on 13 July and "The Perfect Boy" on 13 August. On 16 July, Robert Smith announced that the album's release date would be pushed back to 13 October,^{[citation needed]} and in September's place, an EP was released, entitled Hypnagogic States, containing remixes of the four singles from 4:13 Dream. On 21 August the title of the album was announced online as 4.13 Dream,^{[citation needed]} corrected three days later to 4:13 Dream.^{[citation needed]} The official track listing was first revealed on the band's official website on 15 September.^{[citation needed]} Smith also mentioned the "dark album" companion piece, and jokingly stated that he would like to have it released by his next birthday (21 April 2009).^{[citation needed]} On 11 October, The Cure performed 4:13 Dream in its entirety at a free performance in the Piazza San Giovanni in Rome that was recorded for the MTV Live concert series. The album's release date was delayed yet again, and was ultimately released on 27 October.

Track listing

Release

After failing to meet several release dates, 4:13 Dream was released on 28 October 2008.^[5] It debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200, selling about 24,000 copies in its first week of release.^[6] As of January 2011, US sales stand at 93,000.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(69/100)[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B[8]
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	B[9]
The Guardian	[10]
NME	(8/10)[11]
Pitchfork Media	(6.7/10)[12]
PopMatters	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
The Times	[15]
USA Today	[16]

The album so far has a score of 69 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".^[17] While most critics have praised the album as a quintessential Cure record,^[18] others have criticised the album's compression^[19] and its overly comfortable^[20] and lightweight^[21] songwriting.

Personnel

The Cure

• Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, 6-string bass, keyboards, producer, mixing, engineering
• Porl Thompson – guitar
• Simon Gallup – bass
• Jason Cooper – drums, percussion, loops

Additional musicians

• Smud – extra percussion
• Catsfield Sub Rhythm Trio – handclaps

Production

• Keith Uddin – producer, mixing, engineering
• Daren Butler – assistant engineer
• Matt Hendry – assistant engineer
• Simon Wakeling – assistant engineer
• Brian Gardner – mastering

Charts

References

External links

• 4:13 Dream at Discogs (list of releases)