Designed to appeal to more serious fans of the band, "Join the Dots" is a comprehensive overview of Robert Smith and Co.'s outtake material spanning from the years of 1978 through to 2001. My favorite disc so far, is the first of the 4 disc collection and although a majority of the songs featured on the beginning disc were previously available on the cassette version of the "Standing on a Beach" collection back in 1986, its rounded out by rarities like "Pillbox Tales" and the goofy, discotheque-pop flavored "Do the Hansa" as well as selections that were drawn from the "Japanese Whispers" e.p. in the forms of "Just One Kiss", "Speak My Language", "The Dream" and "The Upstairs Room". As each disc follows chronologically, one finds interesting inclusions of covers of the Doors' "Hello I Love You", Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and Bowie's "Young Americans" as well as cool remixes of songs like "Hey You!!!", "Just Like Heaven"(from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me), "Doing the Unstuck"(from Wish), "Out of This World" and "Maybe Someday"(from Bloodflowers).

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I'm more a fan of early Cure up to "Pornography", although, just because Robert showed a lighter and brighter side on numbers like "A Few Hours After This", "Breathe" and "Sugar Girl", this set also offers some more harder edged and angry material like "Babble", "Out of Mind" and "New Day", which gives a perfect balance of the band's prolific musical qualities. The 4th disc seems to have a preoccupation with "Rave" and "Techno" tendencies on numbers like "Wrong Number", "More Than This", "World in My Eyes" and "Possession" As a result, this compilation lives up to its purpose in featuring outtakes and b-sides exclusively. This is a great set to own if you're a serious fan or admirer of The Cure and Robert Smith, period.

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Rating Grade- A