What say you about The Cure’s The Top? I find it one of their hardest albums to define. Sort of a Cure unicorn rummaging about in a hanging garden full of amazing albums. I especially like the title track which I think I must of spent most my life skipping over: it’s weird and disjointed then every so often these incredible melodies waft in and just as soon as you get a whiff they are gone… Also, Robert Smith’s singing on the album has a more “natural” feel to me. Hard to describe, really.
It is very disjointed and a sort of stylistic exploration for Smith. Japanese Whispers is a similar excursion but a bit more cohesive for me.
Pornography is still my favorite for the dark tone and lyrical directness of it, but Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me were probably the peak of songwriting for The Cure. True legends.
Well… I can’t really disagree with any of that, although I do disagree about my personal favorites but being The Cure nearly every album up to Bloodflowers (Out Of This World, wow!) has amazing moments although Saturday I’m In Love (gag!) makes Wish hard for me to cue up.
“shake dog shake” and “banafishbones” are two of my absolute favourite songs by the cure, I am more interested in tracks than albums as a hole.
Friday I’m In Love, and yes, that’s my least favorite Cure song.
Shrooms. This is their shrooms album, if i remember correctly reading that years ago. It certainly sounds like it; bit of a mess and large chunks of pretty unlistenable stuff that probably made sense at the time of recording, but with some lovely moments- dressing up, birdmad girl and of course caterpillar are still some of my favourites some 20+ years after first hearing this one. I always view its as a transition album between the minimalist goth-y stuff that precedes it and the colourful pop stuff that followed.
Ha, I read somewhere that they were on acid while recording it.
think that was Pornography
Ah, yes very possible that I remember incorrectly.
I got into it at a young enough age, so I can still enjoy listening to it from start to finish. 
@christianlukegates @aloud Regarding the debate about the use of recreational drugs while recording: it appears it was mushrooms for The Top, LSD for Pornography.
Of this wild and psychedelic period, Robert Smith told The Guardian that Anderson “used to make a huge pot of magic mushroom tea at the start of every day and it just went on from there”.
from https://post-punk.com/the-cure-the-top/ (linked that one instead of the orignal article because it has nice concert photos from 1984)
On the album’s recording sessions, Smith noted “there was a lot of drugs involved”.[9] The band took LSD and drank a lot of alcohol, and to save money, they slept in the office of their record label.[10]
Well, The Top does sound like mushrooms with the “panda bears”, “piggies”, “caterpillars” and “shaking dogs” etc…
I also read not only about the drugs but that they were also watching very disturbing films while making Pornography.
I got to the Cure late (Disintegration era) then went through the back catalogue of course
Got off the train at Wish / Friday …
For sure The Top was the odd one out at that point but I recall really liking it a lot after doing the hard yards trying to “feel” the album.
If I think about bands I’ve loved (many and varied) … the Cure really are one of the absolute gems.
Seen them several times live and they have never disappointed at all … always on form! Large or small venues (and I hate massive venue shows)
Cheers for the NY gig link + pics very cool
I’m so all about Fascination Street. One of my all time favourite tracks. I seen them six times and they never played it. Every time. I hate the cure… I mean I don’t but… It’s a good job they play Lullaby. That baseline kicks on a big arena rig, for sure.
Several reviews on Discogs … I find it hilarious that people still get all het up over an album that is getting on for 40 years old at this point.
I know how difficult it is when The Band You Love apparently takes a different direction to the one you are holding on to in your mind!
… but clearly someone like Robert Smith is a truly great artist capable of many different guises and I don’t think calling out Disintegration or Kiss Me as sell out commercial dross really carries any weight today.
Ok rant over lol
I only managed to see the Cure once on that tour they did like 10 years ago (yikes!) of their first three albums which was amazing. Maybe the Ramones were the only other band I’ve seen that sounded exactly as the records did live. Would love to see them when they come here this summer but I didn’t make the “verified fans presale” and don’t feel like paying $200+ a ticket 
I had Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me on cassette and loved that album to death and the fold out lip art. It was like a “sexy” album for “weird kids”.
the internet definitely would’ve helped me find my people (closest was bulletin board systems) but i imagine having this level of internet as a child would’ve been a lot and not all of it good
I couldn’t agree more… I was on BBSs in youth and never saw anything like what I think you speak which is kinda weird in hindsight. Did you happen to play Trade Wars?
Anyway, I think growing up with the internet as it is now, would of made my childhood less substantial.
Never seen them live but would love to. Seems they do crazy long sets still too!!
Yes, but is it as weird as this one put out by another big name artist?
Definitely their most “psychedelic” album to that point. Also reflective of the influence that the Banshees had on Robert both musically and in terms of how he saw himself as the front man. Touring with them, seeing Siouxsie lead the band night after night and his collaborations with Severin were influential. “Dressing Up” has to be the OG chillwave song of all time. Side note, the demos from The Glove sung by Robert are much better than the actual album. Sad that contractual label obligations didn’t allow Robert to sing on that one.