Choose your top 5 albums by The Cure

[u2popmofo]

And I suppose that I have already made my feelings known about Seventeen Seconds, but I'll just say again that I think it is their finest work and arguably the apex of post-punk as a genre.

The only Cure albums I've probably listened to more than it are Head on the Door and Disintegration, and that's mostly just because I was young and they were the more popular albums. I'd say Seventeen Seconds has been far and away my favorite Cure album of the last 5 or 6 years. I screamed like a teenage girl on the set of TRL when they played a small Seventeen Seconds set the last time I saw them.

 

[LemonMelon]

I wouldn't call The Head on the Door - a pretty average album by Cure standards in my book - a greatest hits package. Lost of it is 80s Cure cheese at its worst and sounds pretty forgettable. And for an "unpopular opinion", I never cared for Inbetween Days.

Like many Cure tracks, even the highlights are so much better live. A Night Like This gets rid of that cheesy 80s saxophone and becomes one of my favourite Cure tracks in a live setting.

That's crazy talk. I couldn't name a song on there I don't love. It may not be what you listen to the Cure for, but it's an astounding pop record, leaps and bounds above all of their others from that period for its brevity and consistency alone (KMKMKM might come close if you scale it way back, and The Top never would). In Between Days, Push, Close To Me, Six Different Ways, A Night Like This, etc. etc. Great stuff. Not surprised it cracked the top 3.

But that's just, like, my opinion, man.

 

[iron yuppie]

Like many Cure tracks, even the highlights are so much better live. A Night Like This gets rid of that cheesy 80s saxophone and becomes one of my favourite Cure tracks in a live setting.

Yeah, that sax was a questionable inclusion. I believe The Onion's A.V Club had "A Night Like This" on their short list of "great songs tainted by a saxophone."

The unequivocal highlight of Head on the Door for me is Sinking. Some days, I think it is my favorite song from them, period.

 

[djerdap]

It's a pop record alright. Just not in a good way. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, although bloated and overlong, does the job with the pop songs much better and manages to have some more complex musical pieces on it, while making it flow spectacularly well - at least in its 1st half. The highlight of that pop period for me. I hate to use the word "dated", but that is what Head on the Door sounds to me most of the time.

But I do like The Baby Screams a lot.

 

[OpenG180]

Head on the door is one of the best pop albums of all time.

 

[iron yuppie]

The only Cure albums I've probably listened to more than it are Head on the Door and Disintegration, and that's mostly just because I was young and they were the more popular albums. I'd say Seventeen Seconds has been far and away my favorite Cure album of the last 5 or 6 years. I screamed like a teenage girl on the set of TRL when they played a small Seventeen Seconds set the last time I saw them.

There was a very specific time for me when Seventeen Seconds clicked. I was riding in a train across the English countryside to Dover. My girlfriend was asleep, so I was basically just watching these rolling hills and small villages underneath a slate grey sky going past for the duration of the album. And it seemed perfect.

/Sentimentality

 

[u2popmofo]

This is why I usually never participate in these survivor things. "Hey people who love this band, listen to my silly negative arbitrary opinions about your favorite albums and songs!"

 

[djerdap]

This is why I usually never participate in these survivor things. "Hey people who love this band, listen to my silly negative arbitrary opinions about your favorite albums and songs!"

This made me laugh to the point where I would actually want to apologize for my silly negative remarks.

Spoiler

But I'm too much of a cunt for that.

 

[u2popmofo]

I wouldn't usually mind if people just put things like "I feel", "I think", "to my ears", or other similar prefaces to comments to lessen the sting.

 

[djerdap]

But it's non-debatable and irrefutable that I have used those.

Another small Head on the Door endorsement: I agree with iYup that Sinking is a very good closer.

 

[Axver]

Honestly, I've never cared for Head on the Door as an album. I find it tremendously inconsistent. In Between Days, Push, and A Night Like This are personal favourites, but honestly, Close to Me is a very strong candidate for my least favourite Cure song ever.

/unpopular-opinion?

 

[Hollow Island]

The best thing Smith ever did was Blue Sunshine, and that ought to be considered a Cure record. Just one where he wasn't allowed to sing.

Seventeen Seconds
The Head on the Door
The Top
Faith

 

[djerdap]

Why should it be considered a Cure record? It's a different band altogether.

Should Temple of the Dog be called Soundgarden or Pearl Jam? Zwan - Smashing Pumpkins? The Dead Weather - White Stripes? Queens of the Stone Age - Kyuss? Needless to say I'm not following.

 

[bono_212]

Hallow Island, you must never break the chain.

 

[Hollow Island]

Why should it be considered a Cure record? It's a different band altogether.

Should Temple of the Dog be called Soundgarden or Pearl Jam? Zwan - Smashing Pumpkins? The Dead Weather - White Stripes? Queens of the Stone Age - Kyuss? Needless to say I'm not following.

Smith wrote the songs and was to sing it, but he wasn't allowed. The Top is an entirely different band from Wild Mood Swings - it has just as many members in common as the Cure and the Glove do, and the songwriting credits break down in the same way - Smith + (well, the top is just smith).

Zwan should be Smashing Pumpkins, and Corgan has said as much. It had more original Pumpkins then the current line-up does, and just as many as 07-09.

 

[djerdap]

The Glove has another high-profile member that didn't have anything to do with The Cure. Songwriting credits were given to Severin/Smith.

Smashing Pumpkins shouldn't be Smashing Pumpkins now in my mind, but that's a different discussion. You've avoided the other examples nicely.

 

[iron yuppie]

Blue Sunshine in my mind is like a beta version of The Top. They are both intriguing and often rewarding, but neither would rank among my favorite Smith-directed albums, regardless of the Cure moniker being on there or not.

 

[bollox]

Guess I'm the only one who likes S/T . . .

 

[LemonMelon]

Hollow Island was the only one that didn't vote for Disintegration. Why are we speaking to him anyway?

 

[u2popmofo]

Guess I'm the only one who likes S/T . . .

I like it and Wild Mood Swings more than most seem to, but not enough to include it with the few we need to pick.

With all the Head on the Door mentionings, I'm surprised no one has brought up Kyoto Song, The Blood, and Push. Those are some really strong fan-fave non-single tracks. They play all of them from time to time over the last few tours, Push especially.

 

[Axver]

With all the Head on the Door mentionings, I'm surprised no one has brought up ... Push.

In Between Days, Push, and A Night Like This are personal favourites

 

[iron yuppie]

The Blood is awesome. Love that flamenco guitar.

 

[Danny Boy]

The Blood is awesome. Love that flamenco guitar.

I actually like the video with the flamenco dancers, but I think it was made by the label without the band's involvement or blessing.

 

[djerdap]

Guess I'm the only one who likes S/T . . .

I enjoy Lost, Labyrinth, The Promise and Going Nowhere. The rest I can go without ever listening again.

 

[bono_212]

End off the World is one of my faves by the band period.

 

[LemonMelon]

I like it and Wild Mood Swings more than most seem to, but not enough to include it with the few we need to pick.

With all the Head on the Door mentionings, I'm surprised no one has brought up Kyoto Song, The Blood, and Push. Those are some really strong fan-fave non-single tracks. They play all of them from time to time over the last few tours, Push especially.

Oh, I definitely mentioned Push a page back. I'd mention it again, but it's already been brought up.

Alt.end is a pretty decent song from the s/t, but eh.

 

[bollox]

I enjoy Lost, Labyrinth, The Promise and Going Nowhere. The rest I can go without ever listening again.

Real talk, all underrated tunes. I think the album would have been much stronger minus the poppier songs which were admittedly not up to par.

 

[Hollow Island]

The Glove has another high-profile member that didn't have anything to do with The Cure. Songwriting credits were given to Severin/Smith.

Smashing Pumpkins shouldn't be Smashing Pumpkins now in my mind, but that's a different discussion. You've avoided the other examples nicely.

I don't see why the profile of the other member should impact how the project is seen. If Reeves Gabrels plays on the next Cure album should it not be called the Cure?

Every Cure record aside from the Head on the Door has songs credited to all members, but Smith has said 80% comes from him, and I don't think Blue Sunshine is any different.

I understand why it wasn't called "The Cure" (two pals, not Lol) but given how it fits in perfectly with Japanese Whispers and the Top, how the Cure at that time didn't have anything close to a set line-up, and how Smith was supposed to sing it, I consider it to be a Cure record. I can respect how one wouldn't, though. It has a different name and singer.

The other examples were of collaborative super groups (Crooked Vultures) or unions of two bands with fixed line-ups (Temple of the Dog). The Vultures could have been QUOTSA, since the've had a lot of line-up changes. The Cure was neither of those things.

 

[djerdap]

Dude, it's not a Cure album. Case closed. The end.

Oh, and The Glove basically is a supergroup, so the analogy fits like a glove.

Spoiler

I'm sorry for that pun, I had to.

 

[bono_212]

As I recall, Temple of the Dog existed before the bands the singers later became famous for, no?