
Cure for Pain is a most unlikely artistic breakthrough from a thoroughly unlikely band. Fronted by saxophone and two-string slide bass guitar, Morphine earned a modicum of critical praise for their prior recording, Good, but Cure for Pain has a harder edge and a distinctly bigger sound. "Buena" urges the listener, with singer and bassist Mark Sandman's best come-hither baritone voice, "closer to the front of the stage," and then "Candy" tells a love-lost story that could come right out of Tom Waits's book. But for all the strange possibilities inherent in a guitarless band that plays off their singer's wry lyrics, Morphine's sophomore effort shows their versatility, their ability to be a rock band in a very unrock, rolling-baritone-saxophone way. Alas, singer Mark Sandman perished in action on an Italian stage on July 3, 1999. --Andrew Bartlett
- "Dawna" – 0:44
- "Buena" – 3:19
- "I'm Free Now" – 3:24
- "All Wrong" – 3:40
- "Candy" – 3:14
- "A Head with Wings" – 3:39
- "In Spite of Me" – 2:34
- "Thursday" – 3:26
- "Cure for Pain" – 3:13
- "Mary Won't You Call My Name?" – 2:29
- "Let's Take a Trip Together" – 2:59
- "Sheila" – 2:49
- "Miles Davis' Funeral" – 1:41