The Cure - The Top

 

After the gloom and depression of "Pornography", the release of the radio friendly singles "Let's Go To Bed", "The Walk" and "The Love Cats", the latter two achieving The Cure's best chart placings in the UK up to that point, at 12 and 8 respectively, I was eagerly looking forward to the release of the next album from the "The Cure". The early release of  the slightly eccentric "The Caterpillar" as the single from the album also boded well. As you can see from the picture, I paid £4.49 for the LP !

Frankly though, I was a little disappointed with "The Top" when it came out, being obviously experimental, and inconsistent in quality. Amongst a couple of gems eg Shake Dog Shake and Bird Mad Girl, there were several mundane, uninteresting tracks, and I rarely played the LP after the initial curiosity had waned. 

With the departure of Simon Gallup leaving just Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst as the official band members, the album lacked the trademark dominant bass lines, and instead headed off in a number of different directions, with a hint of psychedelica, heavy metal as well as oriental/middle-eastern and Spanish influences. Smith's time as the guitarist in the Siouxsie and the Banshees is also evident on the album.

Looking now at the track listing, there are 5 songs I have no recollection of so it will be interesting to see what I think of them now !

If you can imaging The Cure playing a Siouxsie and The Banshees song in the style of heavy metal then you will probably have something like "Shake Dog Shake", which although slightly plodding is quite compelling, and the "Shake Dog Shake" chant stays in the mind.

"Bird Mad Girl" is possibly the best song on the LP being the closest to a traditional pop song and with a rich melody. There is a hint of Spanish guitar but I have no idea what is meant by "I could be a polar bear" !

"Wailing Wall" has an oriental vibe and does conjure up images of being in an Arabian souk, but it is a far cry from "Fire In Cairo" or "Killing An Arab". Smith sings "walking to the promised land", and whilst the song is pleasant enough, he doesn't get there via this road !

"Give Me It" is mess, with shouty vocals, screeching psychedelic guitar, and I still find it to be unlistenable. I hated it then, and I hate it now ! 

In contrast the next song, "Dressing Up", is the complete opposite, with a much slower tempo, a pretty tune and what sounds like a recorder being played along the chiming keyboards. I had forgotten how nice this song was.

Side Two opens with "The Caterpillar", the single from the album. Despite, the erratic, off-key keyboards and violin in the intro, it leads into a gorgeous melody. It's hard not to sing along to "You flicker and you're beautiful, you glow inside my head" and "I'll dust my lemon lies with powder, pink and sweet. The day I stop is the day you change and fly away, away from me"

"Piggy In The Middle" was a pleasant surprise to hear again as I had completely forgotten this one. It's another track with Spanish style guitar and another strong tune.  "Jump with me, for that old forgotten dance, the midnight sun will burn you up".

"The Empty World" was another track I couldn't remember beforehand but I immediately recalled it once it started with its military style drumming, and a jaunty army whistling like keyboard line. Indeed the song includes the line "She talked about the armies that marched inside her head

The LP goes downhill with the final two songs. "Bananafishbones" sounds like XTC on a bad day, whilst even by their standards "The Top" is a slow, tuneless dirge.

In summary, listening to the album again reminded me of several good tracks that had been erased from my memory banks. However, it still comes across as uneven, with three numbers being candidates for any Cure "Worst Ever...." compilation.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Shake Dog Shake
2. Bird Mad Girl
3. Wailing Wall
4. Give Me It
5. Dressing Up

Side Two :

1. The Caterpillar
2. Piggy In The Mirror
3. The Empty World
4. Bananafishbones
5. The Top

Released : 1984
UK Chart Position : 10

Singles :

The Caterpillar ( No 14 - 1984 )

The Cure - Pornography

 

If "Faith", the preceding album, was my favourite all-time Cure album, then "Pornography" was by some distance my least favourite, finding much of it to be totally unlistenable. Whereas the gloom and sadness of Faith was clothed with majestic keyboards, melodic bass and mesmerizing rhythms, much of Pornography was just noise. Only "A Strange Day" was anything remotely accessible, and over time I had found "A Hanging Garden" bearable, as it was included in the "Standing On A Beach" singles compilation. I could just about tolerate "A Hundred Years" and "A Short Term Effect" but I couldn't stand the rest, and now had no idea how they sounded. Nevertheless, it was The Cure's best selling album up to that point, and reached number 8 in the UK album charts. 

This was going to potentially be a tough listen 39 years later.............

Looking at the cover, I can see that I bought the album for £4.39 from Aquarius Records in Cardiff.

The opening line of "One Hundred Years " perhaps sets the tone for the whole album. Robert Smith sings "It doesn't matter if we all die" over pounding drums and a screeching guitar. Nevertheless, the song sounds much better now although it could do with being a couple of minutes shorter. 

The beat on "A Short Term Effect" is almost toe-tapping but this is offset by the guitar playing, which seems to be deliberately off-key and is basically just a nightmarish noise. There is potentially a good songs in there somewhere.

The more I hear "A Hanging Garden" the more I like it but in the beginning I wasn't impressed. The military style drumming gives the song its impetus

Listening to "Siamese Twins" was a total surprise. I had totally forgotten how this sounded. Much slower with the bass much more to the fore than the other songs on the side, and together with the drums and the sporadic chiming guitars it wouldn't be out of place on "Faith".

"The Figurehead" also has a strong bass riff and powerful guitar. More than any other song here, it is probably the most deserving of the tag "Gothic". I could lose myself in Chinese Art and American girls", "I will never be clean again"

"A Strange Day" is the song that "A Short Term Effect" could have been, with a similar bass line but the instrumentation is clear, there is a strong chorus and a great guitar solo. The song also has the strongest melody so it is a little surprising it wasn't chosen as the single from the album.

"Cold" is another slower song and actually includes some keyboards. It was another song I had completely erased from my memory but hearing it now I quite liked it, sounding in parts like a crossover between "The Funeral Party" and "The Holy Hour" from "Faith"

The title track "Pornography" though is just awful, a six and half minute assault on the ears. A mash of noise, the shouted vocal, which only comes in after over three minutes, low in the mix, and a complete absence of tune or melody. 

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by listening to this album again, and it deserves a huge reappraisal. Apart from the dreadful title track, it's actually quite good !

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. One Hundred Years
2. A Short Term Effect
3. The Hanging Garden
4. Siamese Twins

Side Two :

1. The Figurehead
2. A Strange Day
3. Cold
4. Pornography

Released : 1982

UK Chart Position : 8

Single : The Hanging Garden ( No 32 - 1982 )

The Cure - Faith

 

Faith remains my favourite Cure album of all time, and much to the annoyance of my flat mates at University, it was constantly played on my record player after its release in 1981. Whereas they found it gloomy and depressing,  on the other hand, I found joy and cheerfulness from the majestic, beautiful melodies and hypnotic rhythms of the 8 tracks on the LP. The fact that the album cover is grey, with a blurred image of a church is apt, and a strong indication of what you will find on the record. At times it could also be a sound track to a horror movie.

Apart from perhaps "Plainsong" from the Disintegration LP, "The Holy Hour" and "The Funeral Party" are, in my opinion, arguably the finest songs ever recorded by the band whilst "The Drowning Man" is mesmerizing. "Primary" is memorable for the two basses playing the riff instead of a guitar. It is one of the few albums were I can recall all of the songs.

"The Holy Hour" commences with just the bass riff before being joined by the drums and a synthesizer low in the mix. The guitar enters after just over a minute building to a crescendo from which the wailing vocal comes in after over a minute and a half into the song. The track ends with two gongs of a bell just to emphasize the dark, unsettling mood built up by this epic piece of music.

The single "Primary" follows, with the manic two basses generating a totally different pace to the rest of the album, apart from "Doubt",

"Other Voices" returns to the general feel of the LP. Again the bass line dominates over the drums, with the jangly guitar in the background. Smith's sparse vocal conjures up the feeling of desperation and there is a nice ending, with just the drums until an abrupt stop,

In "All Cats Are Grey" the keyboard slowly plays the melody although the bass and drums remain distinctive with a slightly creepy feel to it. The track ends with just a solemn piano playing the main motif. "In the caves all cats are grey, in the caves the texture coats my skin. In a death cell the single note rings on and on and on".

Side two opens with "The Funeral Party" which has a glorious keyboard intro over slow, rhythmic drumming, and like "The Holy Hour", gradually builds into the introduction of the vocal. Again, its eerie but totally suited to the sad atmosphere, It manages to be bleak but uplifting at the same time. The title of the song is very appropriate. "I heard a song and turned away as piece by piece you performed your story. Noiselessly across the floor, dancing at the funeral party".

"Doubt" changes the mood, being the second up-tempo number. Similar to "Primary" but with a guitar instead of the second bass, the anger and hatred clearly come across. "Tear at flesh and rip at skin, and smash at doubt I have to break you. Fury drives my vicious blows, I see you fall but still I strike you".

"The Drowning Man" is another suitably titled song, with the swirling rhythm of the guitar and hypnotic drums painting the picture of struggling to keep one's head above water in the maelstrom of life. "The words all left me lifeless, hoping, breathing like the drowning man".

The final track "Faith" again has the bass as the dominant instrument with the pace and feel of the song being not to dis-similar to "All Cats Are Grey". The intro is over 2 minutes before Smith's sad vocal joins the fray.

Forty years after its release. "Faith" remains a masterpiece and a rarity in that there is not a bad track on the album.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. The Holy Hour
2. Primary
3. Other Voices
4. All Cats Are Grey

Side Two :

1. The Funeral Party
2. Doubt
3. The Drowning Man
4. Faith

Released : 1981

UK Chart Position : 14

Singles : Primary ( No 43 - 1981 )