Just in time for its 30th anniversary, the highly anticipated reissue of The Cure’s 1992 album Wish has finally been announced. The deluxe edition of the album will be released this October in a variety of formats, including a 3CD edition that will include the original remastered album, 24 previously unreleased tracks, and the Lost Wishes instrumental EP.
Wish, an album that charted number 1 in the UK, and number 2 on the US Billboard 100, was originally released in 1992 and featured the singles “Friday I’m In Love,” “High,” and “A Letter To Elise.”
The expanded edition of Wish continues The Cure’s campaign of deluxe editions of all their classic albums, following the release four years ago of the remix album Mixed Up, and 12 years after their last studio album, Disintegration, was reissued.
The deluxe edition of Wish is set for release on October 7th via UMC/Fiction/Polydor via CD, deluxe CD, black vinyl, and digitally, with the double vinyl edition to follow November 25th. Additionally, the band will include a replica cassette of Lost Wishes, the rare EP of four instrumental Wish outtakes that have only ever been released as a mail-order cassette via The Cure’s fan club.
The 3CD deluxe edition of Wish will include the original album, newly remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, on disc one.
Disc two features 21 previously unreleased demos, four of which are studio vocal demos from 1990 and 17 instrumental demos from 1991, nine of which are completely unreleased songs.
Disc three includes the Lost Wishes EP, a collection of 4 songs that have never been released on CD or digitally. Also included is the previously unreleased song “A Wendy Band” from the band’s Manor Studio sessions in 1992, a previously unheard mix of “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea,” five 12-inch mixes, and a previously unreleased live version of “End” recorded in Paris in October of 1992.
On developing the songs on ‘Wish’ during demo sessions at The Live House in Cornwall that continued at Farmyard Studios in the Cotswolds. Robert Smith explains: “We got around 40 songs put down during those two sessions,” adding, “We were on fire!”
Listening to the album again in 2022 Smith notes: “There’s a side to the album which I had kind of forgotten, a very gentle, yearning thing which is quite beautiful.
”Trust’ is one of the best things we’ve ever done I think, it’s played with great feeling, and ‘To Wish Impossible Things’ is another gorgeous, melancholic piece… in fact it could well be my favourite song on the record.”
Smith also noted that while the original album “sounded excellent”, there was a glitch that made it onto the final record: “It was too late to do anything about it; the album was out, and we were off around the world again. It has really bugged for me for a very long time.”
During this year’s remastering process, the frontman was given the opportunity to fix the mistake. “It has taken 30 years, but finally, finally my Wish has come true.”
The full tracklist is below. Plus you can listen to “Uyea Sound” (Dim-D Mix) from the Lost Wishes cassette.:
The deluxe edition of Wish is out on October 7th, with the vinyl to follow on November 25th.
Pre-Order here.
DISC 1: Original Album Remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios
1. Open (6:51)
2. High (3:37)
3. Apart (6:38)
4. From The Edge of The Green Sea (7:44)
5. Wendy Time (5:13)
6. Doing The Unstuck (4:24)
7. Friday I’m In Love (3:38)
8. Trust (5:32)
9. A Letter To Elise (5:14)
10. Cut (5:55)
11. To Wish Impossible Things (4:43)
12. End (6:45)
DISC 2: Demos – All previously unreleased versions
1. The Big Hand [1990 Demo] (4:38) [final version on B-side to A Letter To Elise 7”]
2. Cut [1990 Demo] aka “Away” (3:31) [final version appears on WISH]
3. A Letter To Elise [1990 Demo] aka “Cut” (5:01) [final version appears on WISH]
4. Wendy Time [1990 Demo] (5:13) [final version appears on WISH]
5. This Twilight Garden [Instrumental Demo] (3:25) [final version on B-side to High 7″]
6. Scared As You [Instrumental Demo] (2:33) [final version on B-side to Friday I’m In Love 12″]
7. To Wish Impossible Things [Instrumental Demo] (3:33) [final version appears on WISH]
8. Apart [Instrumental Demo] (3:38) [final version appears on WISH]
9. T7 [Instrumental Demo] (2:40) *
10. Now Is The Time [Instrumental demo] (2:20) *
11. Miss Van Gogh [Instrumental demo] (2:48) *
12. T6 [Instrumental Demo] (3:14) *
13. Play [Instrumental Demo] (2:28) [final version on B-side to High 12″]
14. A Foolish Arrangement [Instrumental Demo] (2:28) [final version on B-side to A Letter To Elise 12″]
15. Halo [Instrumental Demo] (3:06) [final version on B-side to Friday I’m In Love 7″]
16. Trust [Instrumental Demo] (4:02) [final version appears on WISH]
17. Abetabw [Instrumental Demo] (2:26) *
18. T8 [Instrumental Demo] (2:17) *
19. Heart Attack [Instrumental Demo] (2:41) *
20. Swing Change [Instrumental Demo] (2:10) *
21. Frogfish [Instrumental Demo] (2:35) *
DISC 3: Lost Wishes / Studio Outtakes / 12” Remixes / Live / Rare / Previously Unreleased
1. Uyea Sound [Dim-D Mix] (5:28 [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
2. Cloudberry [Dim-D Mix] (5:22) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
3. Off To Sleep… [Dim-D Mix] (3:47) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
4. The Three Sisters [Dim-D Mix] (4:12) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
5. A Wendy Band [Instrumental] (3:47) *
6. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea [Partscheckruf Mix] (7:36) **
7. Open [Fix Mix] (6:51) [B-side to High 12″]
8. High [Higher Mix] (7:15) [High 12″]
9. Doing The Unstuck [Extended 12” Mix] (5:54)
10. Friday I’m In Love [Strangelove Mix] (5:29) [Friday I’m In Love 12″]
11. A Letter To Elise [Blue Mix] (6:36) [A Letter To Elise 12″]
12. End [Paris Live 92] (8:38) **
* Unreleased track
** Unreleased version
The concept of a “Christmas miracle” might raise eyebrows amongst those more accustomed to receiving lumps of coal this time…
Death, in literature and myth, has always danced a waltz with romance. It swept Eurydice away from Orpheus’s desperate arms…
He paints on a smile, the pleasure is mutual Attack of denial, be still, it’s only for the wild Bands…
if I could change things I would but it still was your choice hiding making your love look absent as…
I’ve been swimming in an ocean of tears I went swimming in all of my fears And every day is…
Our entire life Was like a spell of beauty and despair This old delusion Hectic with our own selfish thirst…