The Head on the Door (13 Aug 1985)

Ah, what can I say about one of my most favorite Cure albums. From the cover to the music this album is quality through and through. One may notice that drums play a more significant role in this album. This is most likely due to the entrance of one of the best Cure drummers of all time, Boris. This album is more evolved than The Top especially toward their pop sounds. Now having said that they experiment a bit more with pop songs that are morose which will become very important over the next several albums.

The Head on the Door is the first in a series of the most important Cure albums. Let's remember that after this comes Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me then Disintegration, which is then followed by Wish. The Head on the Door is the last album that is covered via Staring at the Sea (or Standing on a Beach depending on the medium). Wha't strange about that is this album is a definite turning point from The Top to Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. The band again explores some different styles here from latin, middle eastern, and asian; sometimes all in the same song. Also on this album is the classic Close To Me. If there is another song in the universe that is even remotely similar to this song please let me know as I have not found it and couldn't even imagine it. The album ends with Sinking which is lyrically and musically fitting for the last track. Arguably this one could have ended up on Disintegration If you were listening to The Top and wondering, where the heck is this leading us, this is it.

Very High Points: Close To Me, Kyoto Song, Blood, Six Different Ways, A Night Like This

The Top (22 May 1984)

Let's face it, the cover says it all for this album. At first listen you will find this album psychadelic to say the least. Some suspect this album was born out of one of the heaviest drug storms The Cure was ever in. Now, having said that this album to a seasoned Cure fan means much more than a drug induced exploration. Instead the band explore many different styles here from the ethereal "Dressing Up" to the hard edged "Give me it" which on the fan site someone wrote: "THIS SONG IS SO VITRIOLIC. IT MAKES ME WANNA
PUNCH MY TEDDYBEAR!" I most certainly agree, watch out Teddy.

The Top is one of the most debated albums in the band's catalogue some claiming it as the best and some the worst. Let's not forget some of the songs on this album which are fantastic, most notable Caterpillar and Shake Dog Shake. In my opinion you can scarcely call yourself an admirer of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me if you don't adore Caterpillar! The Top basically is the band polishing off a variety of their styles, which they move forward with, before carrying on to create their masterpieces (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me; Disintegration; Wish) Personally I feel that you can connect any of their albums back to this one. It is virtually the epicenter of their whole catalogue which makes this album very important to explore and understand as a "true" Cure fan.

"High" points : Shake Dog Shake, Give Me It, Dressing Up, Caterpillar

Wedding Location

 

Japanese Whispers (12 June 1983)

When I had the idea of listening to the Cure's albums back to back I hadn't expected to gain such a new look on one of my most favorite Cure albums. Unlike the previous albums Japanese Whispers does NOT start where the previous one left off. Japanese Whispers and it's predecessor are not even remotely the same. There are a couple moments that echo it but these are fleeting.

At first pass it was awkward listening to this album after the very heavy previous three. It took me a couple of attempts only to realize that this is a pop album. In fact if you compare this one to Three Imaginary Boys you are more able to get a feel for The Cure's pop skills, which are good and only get better from here. It seems as though after this album the band go back and forth between very poppy songs/albums to more melancholy ones. It makes sense to me that this album was one of my favorites when I was younger when pop music was all I really had the capability to appreciate. After all, how can a 14 year old appreciate an album like Faith? And if they could, you should probably keep a close eye on them. The previous album reviews have been more looking back i.e. Faith made sense because of it's predecessor. Japanese Whispers turns things on it's head because it makes you look forward for what's next. The Top and Head on the Door are such fantastic albums and most certainly continue where this one leaves off.

One thing I now notice about The Cure's music is it is timeless. None of this stuff sounds dated at all. It always has it's own space which is truly remarkable. It blows my mind that this is the stuff I was listening to at 13 and I can still listen to these albums and they are great now when I am 29!

High Points : Let's Go To Bed, Just One Kiss, The Walk, Lament, The Lovecats

Again the whole album is grrrreat.

Pornography (4 May 1982)

Listening to this album seems like so much is happening lyrically and musically that it demands a second listen before you are done with the first song, which is one of the most strong openings The Cure have done on an album; One Hundred Years. In typical Cure style they have started where they left off on Faith, which was highly somber and brought you into a more panicked and tense atmosphere. This is the soundtrack to post armageddon with many people strewn about on the blood soaked soil. The cover fits this album perfectly. Again, in typical Cure style, they jump ahead musically in this album by a huge amount. It almost seems at time that this album is simply another layer of keyboards and guitars over the sound that was used in Seventeen Seconds and Faith. Up until this point the bass lines have been very important and in this album completely suport it like a pillar. This album would be a mere shadow of itself without Simon (the only original Cure member still standing aside from Smith of course).

Certainly this album is one of the most important in The Cure's discography. In fact it was one of the 3 chosen for the trilogy show. The lyrics in this album are severly disturbed and penetrating. "Leave me to die, you won't remember my voice" is truly haunting. While some are self referential, "Give me your eye's so I may see, the blind man kissing my hands". Smith really shows off his lyrical power in this album. In fact, this album is so thoroughly developed in all directions that it makes Faith look like an opener for it, GASP!

Most Cure fans immediately compare this one to their epic Disintegration. While Disintegration is most certainly more developed it isn't as focused as this album. After all, Lovesong derails the whole album while that never happens in this one at all not even close so don't even think about it. Many speculate that this album is the one that launched The Cure into the goth scene or maybe the other way around. Smith has stood by his belief that they never set out to be a goth band so I guess it is probably more the inverse where the goth scene more or less latched on to them.

High Points: One Hundred Years, Short Term Effect, Siamese Twins, Strange Day

Faith (14 April 1981)

So it seems now that the Cure have linked their albums together end to end. Faith picks up on the gloomy trend where Seventeen Seconds left off and takes it to a soft and highly gloomy place. Like Seventeen Seconds this was one of the later albums I bought. I was always curious as to what the image on the cover was and had many theories. Faith is deliberately funeral themed. Consider the track titles after all: Drowning Man, Funeral Party, etc... The sound is also soft save "Doubt" which picks things up a bit and is arguably misplaced on this album. I had remembered reading that this album was written/recorded after "someone" close to Robert Smith had passed away. The image on the front is actually of the church where the funeral was held for this someone. Robert Smith was eventually married at this very church.

This album is incredibly tight musically and all the songs fit together so very very well, again with the exception of "Doubt". I would classify this album as one of the best from a consistency standpoing and flow from song to song. As a teen this album was majorly lost on me. Listening to it today it makes for a much much larger impact. I am considering listening to this album back to back with Seventeen Seconds Happily Ever After style.

High Points : All Cats are Grey, Funeral Party, and Drowning Man

Seventeen Seconds (22 April 1980)

It would be hard to imagine how a band would transition from Boys Don't Cry to Faith. The Cure did exactly this with Seventeen Seconds. However, this is hardly just a transition album. Many die-hard Cure fans list this as one of their favorites of all time. I would agree totally. The jump in musical maturity from BDC to Seventeen Seconds is huge. In listening to this album you can see where the band is headed both lyrically and musically. Some of these songs could have existed on BDC while some most certainly could have landed on Faith. Personally I find this album leaning more toward the sound of Faith but balanced nicely with more up beat ones the keep the album moving. The Cure had release Happily Ever After in the US which was Seventeen Seconds and Faith on one album. I had searched endlessly for this album as a teen but to no avail. As I gathered Cure albums through my younger year, Seventeen Seconds was one of the last albums I purchased, which was strange as A Forest is one of my favorite songs. This was a big mistake and upon purchasing it I played it over and over and over again.

High Points of the album : Play for Today, A Forest, and M

Boy's Don't Cry (5 Feb 1980)

It's hard to classify this one as an album, that is if you consider Three Imaginary Boys to be an album. Why? This is due to the fact that these albums have basically the same songs on them save a few new ones on Boy's Don't Cry; most notably the title track. They did leave some of the songs from Three Imaginary Boys off of it and in my opinion they were the right one's to leave off, can anyone say "Meathook" which doesn't even feature Smith on vocals. This album has a slightly more pop feel and Jumping Someone Else's Train is superb. Certainly a must have for any self respecting Cure fan as it is a nice transition to Seventeen Seconds, but more about that later.

Three Imaginary Boys (5/8/1979)

On their current website The Cure lists this as their first full length album. I always love to listen to a band's first album as it is oftentimes the most untarnished representation of what they originally intended to sound like. This album is no exception. It is the most stripped down of them all containing simply drums, guitars, bass, and vocals. This album gets experimental in some areas pushing boundaries into sounds that were kept going forward while also exploring some that were abandoned (Meathook, So What, etc...)

This album serves as the foundation for Cure albums going forward feeling much like the hot sand in between your toes when you first go to the beach at first and then leading you to the track Three Imaginary Boys which sounds most familiar. Three Imaginary Boys is clearly the start of a thread that winds its way through all of their albums. Of course we will see about that as we stroll along through all of them.

The high points of the album: 10:15 on a Saturday Night, Grinding Halt, Fire in Cairo, and of course Three Imaginary Boys

Link to this album info: Three Imaginary Boys