AMG Review of Hypnagogic States

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Priming the pump for their new 2008 studio album, the Cure invite five of their modern-day disciples to remix the first round of singles from their forthcoming 4:13 Dream -- all released during the summer of 2008 -- for theHypnagogic States EP. All the acts here -- Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Jade Puget of AFI and Cure opener 65 Days of Static -- do demonstrate some clear debt to the Cure, which manifests not in a doomy, sultry fashion but oddly, in mixes that are somewhat reminiscent of early-'90s Cure B-sides -- an appropriate enough sound given the ages of the musicians, but not quite the classic Cure that provides their inspiration (although to be honest, apart from parts of MCR and AFI, none of these bands really sounds that much like the Cure, they just like Robert Smith's makeup). As it's glitzy, splashy stuff that only gleams on the surface, it's not going to appeal much to longtime Cure fans -- it sounds more now than they have in a long time, for better or worse -- but it's really not meant for them: it's for the hardcore fans of the remixers, who will now maybe buy the new Cure album because Gerard or Jared remixed a couple cuts from it.