When a band has a back catalog as deep as The Cure's, they can be forgiven for reaching back and trying to pull elements from their previous offerings into something new. Unfortunately, The Cure ends up creating tracks that sound culled from other albums, but without the energy of previous efforts. Some songs could be on "Disintegration," some on "Wish," some on "Wild Mood Swings," and even some from "The Top." Although the use of modern electronic sounds, guitar and drum treatments valliantly attempt to make this album sound more modern, the result more often sounds grafted on, such as the song "The Loudest Sound" which sounds like a song from Disintegration with a silly techno "pulse" that never stops, and a repetitive modern drum loop, slowed down to the mid-tempo rock pacing the entire album rarely escapes.

In some cases, the synthesis *is* successful. Perhaps the song "Coming up" is the best example of what this album might have been. It has a song structure that recalls "The Edge of the Deep Green Sea," energy and lyrics that hearken back to the punk-pop days of "Play for Today," (at one point, he even toys with using the title lyric), and the deep echoes and production of a modern, dark, heavy gloom rock track. Unfortunately, while this album has all the sonic textures that a longtime Cure fan expects, the truly inspired moments are few and far between.

In the end, it is the lack of energy which keeps this album from really igniting. Very little musicial evolution, the lyrics don't cover any new ground, and there are few catchy or standout melodies to grip the listener. In the song "39," Smith bemoans "The fire is almost out..." Lets hope that if there is another album from The Cure, he can at least find the sparks he conjured up for "Wrong Number."