Although he became known as the frontman of Led Zeppelin, one of the bands that was crucial to the evolution of Hard Rock, Robert Plant actually has a very broad musical taste that goes beyond Rock and Blues.
Over the decades, he has remained quite aware of what was happening in the music scene and has shared his opinion on many famous bands, including The Cure, led by Robert Smith.
Robert Plant’s opinion on The Cure and Robert Smith
Robert Plant has been a big fan of The Cure since the band released their first records, having especially praised “Disintegration”, released in 1989, and also picking the track “Lullaby” as one of his favorite songs from the late 80s.
“I love Robert Smith’s beckoning you into his vulnerability. It’s an interesting little world, like H.G. Wells’s History Of Mr Polly,” he told Q magazine in 1990, after listing “Lullaby” as one of his personal favorite songs at the time. “Disintegration” was The Cure’s eight studio album and had other famous tracks like “Pictures of You” and “Lovesong”.
The classic The Cure guitarist Porl Thompson, who was a member of the band from 1983 to 1993 and from 2005 to 2011, had the chance to work with Page & Plant. He once recalled that Plant was a big fan of the Alternative Rock band. “I’d left The Cure to pursue my painting and then suddenly, out of the blue, I got a call from Robert Plant, which I thought was a hoax.”
He continued:
“He was really into The Cure, which I thought was interesting. They invited me up to see if we all got along. It was an opportunity I couldn’t really turn down,” he said in an interview with Contact Music. Curiously, with Thompson in their band, Page & Plant used to cover “Lullaby” during their shows. According to Setlist.fm, they played their own version of the track 50 times in 1995.
It was mainly the only “new” song they played during those shows. Besides Led Zeppelin tracks, they performed old Blues covers and The Doors’ “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”. Porl continued to work with Plant after the end of the duo with Page. He was part of Robert’s solo album “Dreamland”, released in 2002.
The Cure was not the only Alternative/Goth Rock band that the Led Zeppelin vocalist liked back then. As he told Rocksat in 1990, The Sisters of Mercy. “Ah, that’s a pretty deep and meaningful question (What is his opinion on music these days). Well, I’m stuck firmly in the middle of it all, in a coracle with a single paddle. I mean, music today is anything you want. It’s just a matter of taste.”
“I like lots and lots of different kinds of music, contemporary and 30 or 40 years old. I think in some areas, music has lost its way a little bit. (Especially) in the production and the actual sonic quality. But in other areas, it’s doing real fine and it’s alive and well in The Cure and Sisters of Mercy occasionally. Yeah, and there’s even a sense of humor here and there,” Robert Plant said.
The Robert Smith phrase that Robert Plant likes
Plant admires Robert Smith as a musician and songwriter, having liked a phrase by the musician that was once mentioned to him by a journalist. When asked in 2022 if, at his age, he felt like he was too old to be alternative, the interviewer mentioned Robert’s quote: “I am too old to be alternative and too alternative to be old.”
Robert liked the phrase and said: “That’s a very funny saying. Yeah, the thing is that I have no concept of age. I know that I’m not young in my years. But I know that my enthusiasm and my creative powers are stronger than they were for many years. So I can only exist doing what I do if I really am compulsive and if I mean it, if I want it. And I want it badly. I want it because I’m a good singer and I want it because I have something to say. Robert’s (Smith) point is very good and very funny,” Robert Plant told Zanzana (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Although The Cure is one of the biggest Alternative/Goth Rock bands of all time, they started several years before the mainstream success of those genres. The band was formed in 1976 and released their praised debut album “Three Imaginary Boys” in 1979, when Led Zeppelin was still active. In that same year, Smith’s band released their classic single “Boys Don’t Cry”.
Robert Smith has been the only constant member of the band over the past 50 years. Since they were formed in Crawley, West Sussex, England, The Cure have released 14 studio albums. They sold an estimated amout of more than 30 million records worldwide.