I was so pleased to see The Top mentioned. It really is the first album to exhibit the band’s sonic aesthetic as we know it. Shake Dog Shake, Birdmad Girl and Dressing up are particular highlights.
Probably my favorite album, song for song. Same for "Faith," but that's my favorite of their darker goth era albums. But "The Top" is the best of their more eclectic albums. I see it as the first in a trilogy of "The Top," "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me," and "Wild Mood Swings."
Kiss me 3, is full of fillers, its not coherent, it sounds phony, whithout creativity most of the times, and horrible songs as Hot, Hot, Hot and Fight. The only 2 songs for me that are worth this album are One More Time and Just like Heaven. I know them from the beginning. In bad moments Robert Smith is the Charlatan of New Wave🤥
Growing-up in a rural community outside Kansas City in the 1980s, my classmates listened to Bon Jovi, Madonna and Motley Crue. I was the oddball for liking U2. When I moved into suburban Kansas City, my mom got cable and that was the first time I heard and saw Fascination Street on MTV. I'd heard of The Cure but, I never heard one of their songs. I loved it and bought a used copy of Disintegration, the first and only Cure album I own. I also got into Depeche Mode a year later and bought their Violator CD. After college, I moved to Los Angeles and the radio stations were very friendly to The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Led Zeppelin. They used to have a yearly Depeche Mode convention in Los Angeles. I'm not sure if they still do because I don't live in L.A. anymore. Anyway, my musical horizons expanded greatly particularly when I left The Midwest.
I'm watching this 2 years after you recorded it, and the new album "Songs of a Lost World" just came out. The new songs seem so bleak and have a "King Crimson-y" ominous intensity. Robert is a master for the ages
"The Top" 10 1. THE HEAD ON THE DOOR 2. THE WALK ep ( or Japanese Whispers... technically a comp, but a comp of what? Right, some of the best tracks of The Cure! "Upstairs Room," "The Walk," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "The Dream"!) "The Walk" was a new LP, upon release in '83! 3. SEVENTEEN SECONDS / FAITH (because I just can't truly separate them, they come off as a great double LP - Happily Ever After) 4. DISINTEGRATION 5. PORNOGRAPHY 6. BOYS DON'T CRY ( which is the MUCH improved updated version of TIB on Elektra U.S.) 7. THE TOP 8. WISH 9. KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME 10. SONGS OF A LOST WORLD
This is a great list.Not my exact order but to me these are definitely the 10 best albums.I don't care for the other 5 at all.I know everyone loves faith but I never really cared for it.I think blood flowers is decent.It came out when I was in grade 10,so I heard it many times.I bought the trilogy dvd when it was first released so I watched them play it quite a few times.
Wow, that would be the most difficult task for me. The Cure is my favorite band. Right of the bat, I’d say: 3) The Top-I love the diversity on that record. It’s mostly pop crafted goth, but there are still some heavy gems like Shake dog shake, and the ominous disturbing Piggy in the mirror. Inam also a fan of Andy Anderson drumming. 2) Disintegration-What else can be said about this record? It’s their masterpiece and what brought them to the mainstream. What I appreciate about this record is that for an album that it’s their best selling, it is particularly dark. I always enjoy watching “Lullaby” played on daytime MTV. That video is scar AF. 1) The head on the door-This is a perfect album. Consistent, great songwriting, it flows beautifully, it ends in such an epic way. It’s an album that needs to be listen to from beginning ti end every time.
So good to hear the love for The Top and that video on The Top being underrated is one of my favourite videos about The Cure: such a great album review.
Pornography might be my very favourite album (by anyone). I'm a sucker for 80s goth/post-punk production, so while I've noted the 'sameness' from start to finish, but I love it: the dissonance, the echoing drums, and reverb-heavy, jangling guitar, alongside the wailing, desperate vocals. It's an intense listen, and probably a good start for people coming from metal backgrounds.
Well, this'll be a long "comment" so forgive the breadth. Loved this band immediately. Discovered them in 1983 when I was 17. A friend handed me a cassette version of "THE WALK" EP. Loved every song on it (save for "Let's Go to Bed," which I've never really liked very much) Bertha BUTT..."everything else" on THE WALK is utterly fantastic! For me, truly some of the greatest CURE is there: "The Dream," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "The Walk," "The Upstairs Room," Just brilliant throughout. So it was love at first listen and that EP with it's cool black "FLY" cover, has never gotten old on me. That said, it is an EP, so let's call it a very serious honorable mention. And I can't say "Japanese Whispers" because that also includes a few lesser, quasi-goofy tracks and the cover art is nowhere near as cool as "The Walk" Anyway...for me, the best CURE (even though "Disintegration" is an awesome epic, and I do like "Wish" quite a bit too..well, syrupy single notwithstanding) will always be 1978-1985. So here are my Top 3, along with reasons below 👇 1. SEVENTEEN SECONDS (1980) Honestly love all the albums from '78-'85, but this one almost sentimentally ranks highest for me because, even though it's not technically as epic, inventive or fleshed out as other greats, it still comes off as the 'purest' version of The Cure. A kind of perfect sweet spot between early punk influenced hits and the later, more funeral dirgy slabs (which really started kicking into gear on the subsequent "FAITH" LP in '81) Obviously, SS might a bit to simplistic or, I dunno, "reclusive" for some, but it's the record (meaning --full proper album--) that first made me realize that this group would be with me for the rest of my days. *I just wish this one included "Primary," as well, which is an absolutely killer upbeat single from the otherwise slow, misty and eerie "Faith.") In a perfect world, I'd love to say "Happily Ever After" for this slot, as that would give me both SS & Faith (i.e. the purest Cure) Highlights from 0:17 ---> A Forest, Secrets, M, Seventeen Seconds, Play For Today, In Your House. 2. THE HEAD ON THE DOOR (1985) Absolutely brilliant album from start to finish. Here, we have the most "realized" CURE. I must've played this record 600 times from 1985-1986. Some of my fave Cure cuts here too: "The Blood," "Kyoto Song," "A Night Like This," "Sinking" Overall, the true breakthrough album featuring big hits, "In Between Days" as well as the creepy, infectious, sort of 'more bouncy pre-cursor to Lullaby', "Close To Me." "Screw" could've been an interesting (at least video) hit as well. side note: The color blue 🔵 within the black, really does match up so perfectly with this album 3. BOYS DON'T CRY (1979) superior US version of TIB, including the killer singles/b-sides, "Plastic Passion" "Killing an Arab," "Object" "Jumping Someone Else's Train" & the title track. This "comp" version of TIB just plays back better. Almost like an early greatest hits. And it's just catchy as all get out! -- Any true, original Cure fan understands and remembers waiting patiently for "Subway Song" (the last track of side one) to fade out and lilt away to nearly nothing before ..... 🤯 *Not to mention singing out the letters of "Fire In Cairo" F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O!!!..... *So there's three. It's hard for me to not include "THE WALK" EP because I love it very dearly, but again, it is an EP, so consider it an A+ bonus selection! Also, I really love "THE TOP" (1984) -- this is the Cure's most bizarre and wildly unpredictable album. And on the strength of three really great tracks ("Shake Dog Shake," "Bananafishbones" and "The Top") I wish I could include it. A very unique, psychedelic and affecting LP. Ending with the exhausted drop...of the top. "PORNOGRAPHY" (1982) is surely a dark epic in the Cure canon. Not to mention, a classic example of quality, highly involving (near scary) Gothic rock of the early 80s. And then the excellent "DISINTEGRATION" (1989) which is a bit like "Head on the Door," in that it was kind of a "second breakthrough" album. I mean, KMKMKM featured those couple of big sugary hits, but as an album, "Disintegration" completely overpowered it as a late-era defining statement of the genre. There is a slight, "slow moving samey-ness" to it and since it runs just about 70m, that might normally be an issue. But the quality of the songwriting is top shelf, the performances are stellar, and you do get a few disparate, more energetic or strangely unique numbers like "Lullaby" (which was an instant fave for me), "Fascination Street" and their brilliant, emotionally captivating hit "Love Song" to sort of break that up that 'deep ocean samey-ness" a bit. Obviously, this album belongs on any "best of Cure" list. So it's another one I love quite a bit. And there was much excitement in purchasing it at Strawberries Records in 1989. ----> Finally, to "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" (a still quasi off putting album title that you could only decide on after establishing a strong fan base) Okay, since this one came up several times... I think, for a lot of core fans, the arrival of KMKMKM brought a bit of a push back (at least concerning "the hits"..many of the album tracks were still pure, intoxicating Cure) but in general, it might've just signaled some "all too delightful, sugary pop leanings" (later cemented with 'Friday I'm in Love') that kind of smacked directly against so much of what we loved about the band in the earlier years. This is not to say I don't like "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" (I do, and over the years even more), but I could never rank it up at the top there with the albums that preceded it, or "Disintegration." This one's a bit like Kiss - "Unmasked" or post Ricky Wilson B-52s for similar reasons. Anyway, I remember how I felt then, when KMKMKM came out. Liked it okay, but didn't 'love it' like the others. And that opinion has never changed. It's a good record. --Still have my like new double vinyl with the hype sticker and all. And those center labels are very cool too. I just prefer the more primal, darker and to an extent (with that seminal Happily Ever After '80-'81set) simpler Cure. But maybe it's because I'm a guitarist too, and those earlier albums are also a bit more guitar centric in different ways. Even when they got a little more Siouxsie (eg "Hanging Garden," "Charlotte," etc.) it was all still more guitar laden than what it felt like it was becoming in '87. Also, my all time fave artists are DAVID BOWIE, BLACK SABBATH ('70-'83), AC/DC ('74-'83) LED ZEPPELIN (esp. the more eclectic "III" through "Presence" era) + The Cure, and those obviously represent a place where a lot of legendary guitars and drums live and still inspire. So its not to say that good pop oriented (albeit more edgy) songs didn't happen before that KMKMKM album, they def did (and hey, "Just Like Heaven" is a wonderful pop single) but I'd have to say that many Core-Cure lovers might like "Shake Dog Shake" more. And at the time, they certainly didn't want to already start saying goodbye to the kind of stylistic efforts that made the band so attractive to begin with. Such as these dark, catchy killer gems below (all of which that helped create such fervent support of the band, well before KMKMKM, inadvertently or not, brought in the regular Top 40/MTV set) : "Faith," "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "M," "The Blood," "Killing an Arab," "Primary," "A Forest," "One Hundred Years," "The Top," "Secrets," "Charlotte Sometimes," "Kyoto Song," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "Seventeen Seconds," "The Hanging Garden," "A Night Like This," "Other Voices," "The Dream," "Three Imaginary Boys," "Shake Dog Shake," "In Your House," "Sinking," "The Walk," "Bananafishbones," "Close To Me," "Plastic Passion," "The Upstairs Room," etc. In the end, it's the above songs that are much of the reason I love THE CURE. And I'm still, at some point, going to make my marvelous, career overview box set of the band. I've had the title for years now...."I WANT TO BE OLD" (1978 ---
In the 80s, I mostly overlooked The Cure. Sometime in the 90s I started to pay closer attention. Now they are in my top ten all-time favorite bands. Here are my three album picks: 1. Disintegration 2. Seventeen Seconds 3. Pornography My honorable mention is Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
When the notification poped up on my phone I thought: "I bet Grant and Andy will be on board for this one". My top 3 (which can change any given day). 1-The Head on The Door / 2-Disintegration / 3-Wish. In the 80's, Pornography used to be my number 1. It's way easier to say the ones that don't make my Top 3 (anything after Wish). They're not bad albums, but they can't cut the mustard (Echo & The Bunnymen reference). Cheers!! Great show, great insights. Andy's comment on The Top was spot on. I go as far as saying that Robert became the singer that he is on the Glove project. Though, for contractual reasons, he was not aloud to sing on that project. But The Glove demos (released on the deluxe edition) have him sing all the songs. And it was there that he found his ultimate singing voice, hence The Top being the album where Robert put it all together.
@@AgentBeans Talking full records, those are the only albums they made that are perfect from start to finish imo. Of course they wrote a ton of other great songs but i don't find the records great as whole.
Cool video, everyone. The Cure is a band I used to hate, until I got a little older. I still am a noob with them, but I picked up the Faith album a few years back, and actually liked it. Been debating on which one to get next.
My 2 and 3 which I really enjoy are Disintegration and Head on the Door, but my favorite is Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me because it surveys the full spectrum of musical landscapes from the intense wah wah guitar in the opening Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me laced with profane lyrics to the tongue in cheek zany humor in Why Can't I Be You, the romantic dreamscape mixed with melancholy longing in what I think is the Cure's most beautifully melodic song, Just Like Heaven. It also has the fist pumping defiance of Fight and the disorienting Snake Pit with what seems to be a disorienting but intriguing twist of eastern mysticism.
There is something about Seventeen Seconds that I love because it’s a portend to everything that The Cure become. I can’t not hear that in every song on this album.
My top three Cure albums consist of one album that I can still listen to daily, after decades, and two others that I love almost as much, but which are not daily listens, due to sheer heaviness of mood. My number one, "The Head On The Door," is one of my favorite albums by *any* band of *any* genre. I love "Pornography" and "Faith" almost as much, but they are so dark and melancholy that I can't listen to them every day.
We did a Ramone regular contrarian episode last year, I love Ramones totally dont mind talking about them, my favorite stuff is the first 4 albums, with handfuls of good tunes after that
Great discussion and analysis! And thank you for the education. I only own Boys Don't Cry, Disintegration, Wish, and Show so I really appreciated the discussion about the albums between Boys Don't Cry and Disintegration and the later ones as well. Thanks!
Well there are two natural goth trilogies. First one is Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. The other being also Pornography, Desintegration and Bloodflowers. Or you could choose 3 of their more poppy albums like Head in the Door, Wish and wild mood swings. You also can go with the epics like Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me and Desintegration. Their first album and The later "The Cure" albums are also unique, one is a post punk masterpiece and The Cure is one of their heaviest albums. I think The Top is also a heavy post punk album. If you choose the heaviest ones those could be Pornography, The Top and The Cure. My personal favorites might be the first one, Kiss me and Desintegration. And my second choice would be the first goth trilogy, but every Cure album is unique.
For me #3 is Head on the Door, just a masterwork of beautiful songs and stunning arrangements, #2 is Faith one of their truly 'gothic' albums and the poetry, weaving basslines and melodic drumming do it for me, it is gloomy but not oppressive #1 is Disintigration just epic and easily the best, as well as the first one that I got, and an album I play all the time and have for 30 years. Honorable mention is Show, which is a great live album from the Wish tour, and it is mostly the songs of Wish, but the mix on the Wish album is very dry, but the live album appropriately adds drama and life to all the songs, and again is an album I often put on.
The Cure always had great B-Sides. I agree! If it counted as an album, the Standing On A Beach/Staring At The Sea compilation was my favorite! It was the cassette only version. Side A was all of their early singles, and the B-sides, of course, were all on side B. I grew to prefer Side B over time. Official albums I have to say 1. Faith 2. The Top 3. Disintegration
Great topic. I am 50yo and although I have always been a metalhead, I love equally the 80's newwave music. And The Cure were a big part of it. I can pick any 3 from the 80's era. I kinda like "Wish" but cannot stand anything after. Now, they need to freaking release The Cure Show on DVD/BluRay !
In no particular order. Kiss Me, Disintegration and Pornography. Shout out to seventeen seconds, Head on the Door and Bloodflowers. New album really getting up there too.
Difficult for me to put in order because they change depending on mood.My top 5 in no particular order.The Top,Pornography, Head on the door,Disintegration and Seventeen Seconds.
I never understood The hate for The Top.Shake dog shake,Bird mad girl,the wailing wall,Piggy in the mirror,Bannafish Bones and The Empty world are all great songs.
My favorite 3 Cure albums are: 3. Faith 2. Seventeen Seconds 1. Pornography The rest of their discography doesn’t do it for me. After Pornography it got too poppy and happy sounding. The lyrics revolved largely around romance which I couldn’t get into though I will say Disintegration was a solid album besides love song (I hated that song lol). But yeah Pornography is my favorite from them and A strange day is the best song on there. Kind of a spiritual successor to “A forest” in many ways.
@@ToddEvans1964 My favorites as well. Two of the best songs in their catalogue. Also Mint Car was one of the first songs that really got me into The Cure when I was a teenager.
Watching the excellent panel discussion between Reed, Todd and Grant at the following address (th-cam.com/video/bcNOl0xr-n0/w-d-xo.html ) made me aware of this Contrarians discussion which I also found very enjoyable. Thanks for doing it.
Pornography #3 - Disintegration #2 - Head On The Door #1. The BEST lineup is Robert, Simon, Porl, Boris and Lol/Roger...all during the greatest time of their career.
Japanese Whispers is better than The Top. Faith is better than Porngraphy and Disintegration. Wish is better than Disintegration. 4:13 Dream is better than Bloodflowers. Songs of a Lost World is better than Disintegration.
Whilst I appreciate The Top, it does feature one of the worst Cure songs of all time and a couple of very average songs, so no way is it top 3 for me. Good video.
These videos are so interesting to listen to, but not at all interesting to watch. So when you hold up a record and start talking about it without saying the title, we don’t know what you’re talking about.
Glad to see some love for “The Top”! Definitely in my top three. Such a weird, dark, psychedelic album. It is truly unique in their catalogue.
I was so pleased to see The Top mentioned. It really is the first album to exhibit the band’s sonic aesthetic as we know it. Shake Dog Shake, Birdmad Girl and Dressing up are particular highlights.
Probably my favorite album, song for song. Same for "Faith," but that's my favorite of their darker goth era albums. But "The Top" is the best of their more eclectic albums. I see it as the first in a trilogy of "The Top," "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me," and "Wild Mood Swings."
The Top side 1 is ok, but side 2 falls apart after the opener the Caterpillar
Kiss me 3, is full of fillers, its not coherent, it sounds phony, whithout creativity most of the times, and horrible songs as Hot, Hot, Hot and Fight.
The only 2 songs for me that are worth this album are One More Time and Just like Heaven.
I know them from the beginning.
In bad moments Robert Smith is the Charlatan of New Wave🤥
@frankpas3963 Piggy in the mirror is great,as is Bananna fish bones and the empty world.
Growing-up in a rural community outside Kansas City in the 1980s, my classmates listened to Bon Jovi, Madonna and Motley Crue. I was the oddball for liking U2. When I moved into suburban Kansas City, my mom got cable and that was the first time I heard and saw Fascination Street on MTV. I'd heard of The Cure but, I never heard one of their songs. I loved it and bought a used copy of Disintegration, the first and only Cure album I own. I also got into Depeche Mode a year later and bought their Violator CD.
After college, I moved to Los Angeles and the radio stations were very friendly to The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Led Zeppelin. They used to have a yearly Depeche Mode convention in Los Angeles. I'm not sure if they still do because I don't live in L.A. anymore. Anyway, my musical horizons expanded greatly particularly when I left The Midwest.
I'm watching this 2 years after you recorded it, and the new album "Songs of a Lost World" just came out. The new songs seem so bleak and have a "King Crimson-y" ominous intensity. Robert is a master for the ages
OMG! It was KYLE who said that Disintegration is the best album ever, not Cartman! How could I get that wrong?!
That‘s what I thought, too! 😄
Shame shame shame
Please don't do anything drastic! It was an easy mistake! Anyway, loved your contribution to the show.
"The Top" 10
1. THE HEAD ON THE DOOR
2. THE WALK ep ( or Japanese Whispers... technically a comp, but a comp of what? Right, some of the best tracks of The Cure! "Upstairs Room," "The Walk," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "The Dream"!) "The Walk" was a new LP, upon release in '83!
3. SEVENTEEN SECONDS / FAITH (because I just can't truly separate them, they come off as a great double LP - Happily Ever After)
4. DISINTEGRATION
5. PORNOGRAPHY
6. BOYS DON'T CRY ( which is the MUCH improved updated version of TIB on Elektra U.S.)
7. THE TOP
8. WISH
9. KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME
10. SONGS OF A LOST WORLD
This is a great list.Not my exact order but to me these are definitely the 10 best albums.I don't care for the other 5 at all.I know everyone loves faith but I never really cared for it.I think blood flowers is decent.It came out when I was in grade 10,so I heard it many times.I bought the trilogy dvd when it was first released so I watched them play it quite a few times.
Wow, that would be the most difficult task for me. The Cure is my favorite band. Right of the bat, I’d say:
3) The Top-I love the diversity on that record. It’s mostly pop crafted goth, but there are still some heavy gems like Shake dog shake, and the ominous disturbing Piggy in the mirror. Inam also a fan of Andy Anderson drumming.
2) Disintegration-What else can be said about this record? It’s their masterpiece and what brought them to the mainstream. What I appreciate about this record is that for an album that it’s their best selling, it is particularly dark. I always enjoy watching “Lullaby” played on daytime MTV. That video is scar AF.
1) The head on the door-This is a perfect album. Consistent, great songwriting, it flows beautifully, it ends in such an epic way. It’s an album that needs to be listen to from beginning ti end every time.
So good to hear the love for The Top and that video on The Top being underrated is one of my favourite videos about The Cure: such a great album review.
Pornography might be my very favourite album (by anyone). I'm a sucker for 80s goth/post-punk production, so while I've noted the 'sameness' from start to finish, but I love it: the dissonance, the echoing drums, and reverb-heavy, jangling guitar, alongside the wailing, desperate vocals. It's an intense listen, and probably a good start for people coming from metal backgrounds.
Total metal for me in the eighties and got into the cure in early 90's..3.kiss me 2.disintegration 1.wish
Well, this'll be a long "comment" so forgive the breadth.
Loved this band immediately. Discovered them in 1983 when I was 17. A friend handed me a cassette version of "THE WALK" EP. Loved every song on it (save for "Let's Go to Bed," which I've never really liked very much) Bertha BUTT..."everything else" on THE WALK is utterly fantastic! For me, truly some of the greatest CURE is there: "The Dream," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "The Walk," "The Upstairs Room," Just brilliant throughout. So it was love at first listen and that EP with it's cool black "FLY" cover, has never gotten old on me. That said, it is an EP, so let's call it a very serious honorable mention. And I can't say "Japanese Whispers" because that also includes a few lesser, quasi-goofy tracks and the cover art is nowhere near as cool as "The Walk"
Anyway...for me, the best CURE (even though "Disintegration" is an awesome epic, and I do like "Wish" quite a bit too..well, syrupy single notwithstanding) will always be 1978-1985. So here are my Top 3, along with reasons below 👇
1. SEVENTEEN SECONDS (1980) Honestly love all the albums from '78-'85, but this one almost sentimentally ranks highest for me because, even though it's not technically as epic, inventive or fleshed out as other greats, it still comes off as the 'purest' version of The Cure. A kind of perfect sweet spot between early punk influenced hits and the later, more funeral dirgy slabs (which really started kicking into gear on the subsequent "FAITH" LP in '81) Obviously, SS might a bit to simplistic or, I dunno, "reclusive" for some, but it's the record (meaning --full proper album--) that first made me realize that this group would be with me for the rest of my days. *I just wish this one included "Primary," as well, which is an absolutely killer upbeat single from the otherwise slow, misty and eerie "Faith.") In a perfect world, I'd love to say "Happily Ever After" for this slot, as that would give me both SS & Faith (i.e. the purest Cure)
Highlights from 0:17 ---> A Forest, Secrets, M, Seventeen Seconds, Play For Today, In Your House.
2. THE HEAD ON THE DOOR (1985) Absolutely brilliant album from start to finish. Here, we have the most "realized" CURE. I must've played this record 600 times from 1985-1986. Some of my fave Cure cuts here too: "The Blood," "Kyoto Song," "A Night Like This," "Sinking"
Overall, the true breakthrough album featuring big hits, "In Between Days" as well as the creepy, infectious, sort of 'more bouncy pre-cursor to Lullaby', "Close To Me." "Screw" could've been an interesting (at least video) hit as well. side note: The color blue 🔵 within the black, really does match up so perfectly with this album
3. BOYS DON'T CRY (1979) superior US version of TIB, including the killer singles/b-sides, "Plastic Passion" "Killing an Arab," "Object" "Jumping Someone Else's Train" & the title track. This "comp" version of TIB just plays back better. Almost like an early greatest hits. And it's just catchy as all get out!
-- Any true, original Cure fan understands and remembers waiting patiently for "Subway Song" (the last track of side one) to fade out and lilt away to nearly nothing before ..... 🤯
*Not to mention singing out the letters of "Fire In Cairo" F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O!!!.....
*So there's three. It's hard for me to not include "THE WALK" EP because I love it very dearly, but again, it is an EP, so consider it an A+ bonus selection!
Also, I really love "THE TOP" (1984) -- this is the Cure's most bizarre and wildly unpredictable album. And on the strength of three really great tracks ("Shake Dog Shake," "Bananafishbones" and "The Top") I wish I could include it. A very unique, psychedelic and affecting LP. Ending with the exhausted drop...of the top.
"PORNOGRAPHY" (1982) is surely a dark epic in the Cure canon. Not to mention, a classic example of quality, highly involving (near scary) Gothic rock of the early 80s.
And then the excellent "DISINTEGRATION" (1989) which is a bit like "Head on the Door," in that it was kind of a "second breakthrough" album. I mean, KMKMKM featured those couple of big sugary hits, but as an album, "Disintegration" completely overpowered it as a late-era defining statement of the genre. There is a slight, "slow moving samey-ness" to it and since it runs just about 70m, that might normally be an issue. But the quality of the songwriting is top shelf, the performances are stellar, and you do get a few disparate, more energetic or strangely unique numbers like "Lullaby" (which was an instant fave for me), "Fascination Street" and their brilliant, emotionally captivating hit "Love Song" to sort of break that up that 'deep ocean samey-ness" a bit. Obviously, this album belongs on any "best of Cure" list. So it's another one I love quite a bit. And there was much excitement in purchasing it at Strawberries Records in 1989.
----> Finally, to "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" (a still quasi off putting album title that you could only decide on after establishing a strong fan base)
Okay, since this one came up several times...
I think, for a lot of core fans, the arrival of KMKMKM brought a bit of a push back (at least concerning "the hits"..many of the album tracks were still pure, intoxicating Cure) but in general, it might've just signaled some "all too delightful, sugary pop leanings" (later cemented with 'Friday I'm in Love') that kind of smacked directly against so much of what we loved about the band in the earlier years.
This is not to say I don't like "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" (I do, and over the years even more), but I could never rank it up at the top there with the albums that preceded it, or "Disintegration." This one's a bit like Kiss - "Unmasked" or post Ricky Wilson B-52s for similar reasons. Anyway, I remember how I felt then, when KMKMKM came out. Liked it okay, but didn't 'love it' like the others. And that opinion has never changed. It's a good record.
--Still have my like new double vinyl with the hype sticker and all. And those center labels are very cool too.
I just prefer the more primal, darker and to an extent (with that seminal Happily Ever After '80-'81set) simpler Cure.
But maybe it's because I'm a guitarist too, and those earlier albums are also a bit more guitar centric in different ways. Even when they got a little more Siouxsie (eg "Hanging Garden," "Charlotte," etc.) it was all still more guitar laden than what it felt like it was becoming in '87. Also, my all time fave artists are DAVID BOWIE, BLACK SABBATH ('70-'83), AC/DC ('74-'83) LED ZEPPELIN (esp. the more eclectic "III" through "Presence" era) + The Cure, and those obviously represent a place where a lot of legendary guitars and drums live and still inspire.
So its not to say that good pop oriented (albeit more edgy) songs didn't happen before that KMKMKM album, they def did (and hey, "Just Like Heaven" is a wonderful pop single) but I'd have to say that many Core-Cure lovers might like "Shake Dog Shake" more. And at the time, they certainly didn't want to already start saying goodbye to the kind of stylistic efforts that made the band so attractive to begin with. Such as these dark, catchy killer gems below (all of which that helped create such fervent support of the band, well before KMKMKM, inadvertently or not, brought in the regular Top 40/MTV set) :
"Faith," "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "M," "The Blood," "Killing an Arab," "Primary," "A Forest," "One Hundred Years," "The Top," "Secrets," "Charlotte Sometimes," "Kyoto Song," "Just One Kiss," "Lament," "Seventeen Seconds," "The Hanging Garden," "A Night Like This," "Other Voices," "The Dream," "Three Imaginary Boys," "Shake Dog Shake," "In Your House," "Sinking," "The Walk," "Bananafishbones," "Close To Me," "Plastic Passion," "The Upstairs Room," etc.
In the end, it's the above songs that are much of the reason I love THE CURE.
And I'm still, at some point, going to make my marvelous, career overview box set of the band. I've had the title for years now...."I WANT TO BE OLD" (1978 ---
In the 80s, I mostly overlooked The Cure. Sometime in the 90s I started to pay closer attention. Now they are in my top ten all-time favorite bands. Here are my three album picks:
1. Disintegration
2. Seventeen Seconds
3. Pornography
My honorable mention is Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
When the notification poped up on my phone I thought: "I bet Grant and Andy will be on board for this one". My top 3 (which can change any given day). 1-The Head on The Door / 2-Disintegration / 3-Wish. In the 80's, Pornography used to be my number 1. It's way easier to say the ones that don't make my Top 3 (anything after Wish). They're not bad albums, but they can't cut the mustard (Echo & The Bunnymen reference). Cheers!! Great show, great insights. Andy's comment on The Top was spot on. I go as far as saying that Robert became the singer that he is on the Glove project. Though, for contractual reasons, he was not aloud to sing on that project. But The Glove demos (released on the deluxe edition) have him sing all the songs. And it was there that he found his ultimate singing voice, hence The Top being the album where Robert put it all together.
haha ya, you were right!! Grant and Andee are always awesome additions to the show! thanks for the comment!
This is right up my alley...I wouldn’t miss it :-)
Pornography, Seventeen Seconds, Faith. The only albums they did that really matter.
@@AgentBeans Talking full records, those are the only albums they made that are perfect from start to finish imo. Of course they wrote a ton of other great songs but i don't find the records great as whole.
Surprised 'Seventeen Seconds' wasn't mentioned at all! It's probably my #1 followed by Disintegration and The Head on the Door.
Definetely my no 1.
M to me is the only weak song.
Cool video, everyone. The Cure is a band I used to hate, until I got a little older. I still am a noob with them, but I picked up the Faith album a few years back, and actually liked it. Been debating on which one to get next.
Thanks for the comment!!
If you liked Faith, I’d say either Seventeen Seconds or Pornography. But Faith is a very unique Cure album.
@@Carlos-xz3vi Thanks, Carlos! I think I'll go for Pornography next time I see a copy floating around.
This was so fun to watch!!!! I wish it lasted longer🎉
My 2 and 3 which I really enjoy are Disintegration and Head on the Door, but my favorite is Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me because it surveys the full spectrum of musical landscapes from the intense wah wah guitar in the opening Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me laced with profane lyrics to the tongue in cheek zany humor in Why Can't I Be You, the romantic dreamscape mixed with melancholy longing in what I think is the Cure's most beautifully melodic song, Just Like Heaven. It also has the fist pumping defiance of Fight and the disorienting Snake Pit with what seems to be a disorienting but intriguing twist of eastern mysticism.
There is something about Seventeen Seconds that I love because it’s a portend to everything that The Cure become. I can’t not hear that in every song on this album.
What is your top The Cure album??
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My top three Cure albums consist of one album that I can still listen to daily, after decades, and two others that I love almost as much, but which are not daily listens, due to sheer heaviness of mood. My number one, "The Head On The Door," is one of my favorite albums by *any* band of *any* genre. I love "Pornography" and "Faith" almost as much, but they are so dark and melancholy that I can't listen to them every day.
I like Seventeen Seconds the most. I have only heard a handful of their albums so that could change in the future.
Nice to see The Cure being featured
Hope more new wave / punk/ goth bands will be coming..
We did a Ramone regular contrarian episode last year, I love Ramones totally dont mind talking about them, my favorite stuff is the first 4 albums, with handfuls of good tunes after that
Interesting choice 'The Top', I like the album but it has been forever since I have spun it, need to change that
Great discussion and analysis! And thank you for the education. I only own Boys Don't Cry, Disintegration, Wish, and Show so I really appreciated the discussion about the albums between Boys Don't Cry and Disintegration and the later ones as well. Thanks!
Well there are two natural goth trilogies. First one is Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. The other being also Pornography, Desintegration and Bloodflowers. Or you could choose 3 of their more poppy albums like Head in the Door, Wish and wild mood swings. You also can go with the epics like Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me and Desintegration. Their first album and The later "The Cure" albums are also unique, one is a post punk masterpiece and The Cure is one of their heaviest albums. I think The Top is also a heavy post punk album. If you choose the heaviest ones those could be Pornography, The Top and The Cure. My personal favorites might be the first one, Kiss me and Desintegration. And my second choice would be the first goth trilogy, but every Cure album is unique.
Agreed Alejandro - people are too quick to dismiss the self titled album!
For me #3 is Head on the Door, just a masterwork of beautiful songs and stunning arrangements, #2 is Faith one of their truly 'gothic' albums and the poetry, weaving basslines and melodic drumming do it for me, it is gloomy but not oppressive #1 is Disintigration just epic and easily the best, as well as the first one that I got, and an album I play all the time and have for 30 years. Honorable mention is Show, which is a great live album from the Wish tour, and it is mostly the songs of Wish, but the mix on the Wish album is very dry, but the live album appropriately adds drama and life to all the songs, and again is an album I often put on.
The Cure always had great B-Sides. I agree! If it counted as an album, the Standing On A Beach/Staring At The Sea compilation was my favorite! It was the cassette only version. Side A was all of their early singles, and the B-sides, of course, were all on side B. I grew to prefer Side B over time.
Official albums I have to say 1. Faith 2. The Top 3. Disintegration
Great topic. I am 50yo and although I have always been a metalhead, I love equally the 80's newwave music. And The Cure were a big part of it. I can pick any 3 from the 80's era. I kinda like "Wish" but cannot stand anything after. Now, they need to freaking release The Cure Show on DVD/BluRay !
#1: Disintegration #2: Pornography #3: Faith or The Top. Saw them on the Disintegration tour and they were MAGIC! Cheers.
Wow! Lucky you! I’d give my left (or right..but not both) nut to see them during that tour.
1 Seventeen Seconds
2 Three Imaginary Boys
3 Faith
Grant is right about The Big Hand.
I really like the song A Forest. The Cure are a band I need to explore more of. I know that Disintegration is their biggest selling album.
My top 3 Cure albums
1 - The Faith
2 - Seventeen Seconds
3 - Bloodflowers
In no particular order. Kiss Me, Disintegration and Pornography. Shout out to seventeen seconds, Head on the Door and Bloodflowers. New album really getting up there too.
3. Songs of a Lost World 2. Faith 1. Wish
1.Disintegration
2.Wish
3.Kiss me....
Todd is spot on with bloodflowers you have to listen to it a few times great album.
Difficult for me to put in order because they change depending on mood.My top 5 in no particular order.The Top,Pornography, Head on the door,Disintegration and Seventeen Seconds.
1. Seventeen Seconds 2 Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me 3. Faith
I never understood The hate for The Top.Shake dog shake,Bird mad girl,the wailing wall,Piggy in the mirror,Bannafish Bones and The Empty world are all great songs.
My favorite 3 Cure albums are:
3. Faith
2. Seventeen Seconds
1. Pornography
The rest of their discography doesn’t do it for me. After Pornography it got too poppy and happy sounding. The lyrics revolved largely around romance which I couldn’t get into though I will say Disintegration was a solid album besides love song (I hated that song lol). But yeah Pornography is my favorite from them and A strange day is the best song on there. Kind of a spiritual successor to “A forest” in many ways.
I agree that with the Cure, their b-sides are often better than the album tracks. Exploding Boy is my favorite.
Exploding Boy is brilliant! (Grant)
I liked this a lot guys
i had to pause this to go watch the Lullaby video
Wish is the Wish version of Disintegration
Wild Mood Swings
Wish
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Wild mood Swings is a contrarian choice...NICE! "Want" is one of my all time favorite tracks!!!
"Want" and "Jupiter Crash" are the Wild Mood Swings highlights for me.
@@ToddEvans1964 My favorites as well. Two of the best songs in their catalogue. Also Mint Car was one of the first songs that really got me into The Cure when I was a teenager.
Watching the excellent panel discussion between Reed, Todd and Grant at the following address (th-cam.com/video/bcNOl0xr-n0/w-d-xo.html ) made me aware of this Contrarians discussion which I also found very enjoyable. Thanks for doing it.
Id have to go
Wish
Kiss me kiss me kiss me
Disintegration
The order 1-3 changes often
More on why The Top is great: th-cam.com/video/W-82x83Cbjo/w-d-xo.html
good b side
BURN off of the Crow soundtrack
My top 3 are: 1. Wish 2. The head on the door 3. Pornography
Pornography #3 - Disintegration #2 - Head On The Door #1. The BEST lineup is Robert, Simon, Porl, Boris and Lol/Roger...all during the greatest time of their career.
Fantastic show love the cure for me disintegration
Pornographe
Head on the door
Thanks John!
The might be giants! 🙂
Disintegration - Pornography - kiss me kiss me kiss me....
Japanese Whispers is better than The Top. Faith is better than Porngraphy and Disintegration. Wish is better than Disintegration. 4:13 Dream is better than Bloodflowers. Songs of a Lost World is better than Disintegration.
South Park reference !🙂
Faith/Pornography/Disintegration. "Doom and gloom" like Bob likes to say:)
B L O O D F L O W E R S .
Whilst I appreciate The Top, it does feature one of the worst Cure songs of all time and a couple of very average songs, so no way is it top 3 for me. Good video.
Disintigration, Faith, Pornography..... brilliant band, at least up til 1992 ; )
These videos are so interesting to listen to, but not at all interesting to watch. So when you hold up a record and start talking about it without saying the title, we don’t know what you’re talking about.
Lame. Not one of these so called fans have pornography in their top 3?!!??
"club america" worst cure song of all time? ever heard "the end of the world?!
Just Say Yes or Wendy Time!
The Cure were garbage except for one song....completely over rated.
The Top. Best album