Shake POLL Shake: The Cure's "The Top"

I have a distinct memory of the first time I heard "Throw Your Foot"; I was at German camp hanging out with the goth kids at one of our Friday dances and one of the counselors threw it on; everyone I was with went MENTAL and I was like "omg what album is this on, I haven't heard it yet" and they were all "WAHT ZOMG GET STANDING ON A BEACH ON CASSETTE AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME", which I did and now here I am 24 years later backhandedly trying to convince people on the internet that "Lost" and "It's Over" still show that the band hasn't fallen nearly as far as everyone says they have

I'd switch "Dressing Up" for "Throw Your Foot"

yeah I wasn't the only one who kept the SOTB tape for years and for the same reason.

Thinking about where I think this album dips, I've never been a big booster of "Birdmad Girl". It's another song that suffered from me getting an Italian-published lyric book of all of their songs before actually hearing them, causing me to imagine a completely different style for the lyrics and, as a result, making the actual song sound awkward and labored to my ears upon the first time I heard it.

On the flipside, the actual "Piggy in the Mirror" is WAY WAY WAY better than I could have possibly imagined.

Also, I've come around somewhat now but the Robert howl on "Dressing Up" was several steps too far on the side of ridiculous caricature for me for many, many years.

blanking Wish is just foolish IMO; I get why albums after that get blanked even though I generally disagree (the less said about WMS, the better) but Wish pwns

I'm sure you're right tbh, I'd moved on for other stuff (rap! metal! Born Against!) by the early 90s and by the time I gave their newer efforts a listen again (Bloodflowers IIRC) I was like "ok, this band has spoiled." But for me this is also a band who's going to remain forever tethered to very certain occasions & moments in my adolescence, there's sort of no way they can get a fair shake shake shake from grown-up me

I was at German camp hanging out with the goth kids

Jesus Christ Dan so much makes sense now. Sascha and En Esch were the counselors, I assume.

"WAKE UP AND DO THE TOTENTANZ HERR PERRY."

"But it's 3 am."

"WAKE UP!!!"

Wait, what did you think he was saying?

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, June 7, 2012 9:39 AM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had no idea. Something something somtehing something girl. I just made up nonsense sounds in my head. Then one day I was driving and it came on on a mix I was listening to and it just clicked. I do this with lots of songs tbh. Could I look up the lyrics? Sure. Do I? Rarely.

In the best possible way, it's the sound of someone who doesn't know what he's doing. No concept, no unified sound, a single that doesn't represent the rest of the album at all. It's like he just turned on the taps and released whatever came out. Which I think is why he's so dismissive of it and why it falls between the cracks in surveys of the Cure's back catalogue. It's way better than it should be.

Jesus Christ Dan so much makes sense now. Sascha and En Esch were the counselors, I assume.

hahaha there was this counselor named Michael who looked like En Esch; unsurprisingly he was my favorite (also he was an awesome soccer player)

those dances were great; they tried to play as much German music as they could but they all hated most German contemporary pop (this would have been around '88) so we kept getting things like Trio's "Da Da Da" and Nena's "Das Land der Elefanten" (which btw PWNS "99 Luftballoons", everyone should get up on that track immediately) as well as random Scorpions tracks because hey, they were German

Nena's "Das Land der Elefanten" (which btw PWNS "99 Luftballoons", everyone should get up on that track immediately)

Hmm, he's not wrong; this isn't that far from Xmal Deutschland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nevUMEnncwk

At least on the verses -- choruses, rather smoother!

the downside to my German camp experiences is that I still know almost all of the words to Herbert Groenemayer's "Alkohol" by heart ;_;

I get this image of your long-suffering wife sighing as you put on the lederhosen to dance to schlagers once again.

I love that Nena song. My fav Nena song though is Nur geträumt.

x-post - I can borrow my dad's lederhosen and lend them to DJP so we can make this happen.

Yes, he actually has a pair.

omg this thread

I demand BostonSchlagerFAP photos when this happens.

http://besttravelblogevar.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/lederhosen.jpg

You know, we don't have a Nena thread, and this needs to be corrected.

^ They need Tyrolean hats.

OMG OMG OMG please make a Nena thread. TBH I'm surprised I never did.

Done!

Nena

:D

this is by some distance my least favourite pre-wish cure album. and dressing up is my favourite of the 3 songs i like on it. so, in conclusion, i disagree.

^ This guy knows what's up.

bah why don't you marry him, then

;p

http://www.all4humor.com/images/files/Polar%20Bear%20Waltz.jpg

dats us!

This is my favorite Cure album. I wish there were more like it. It also has the absolute perfect cover color pallette for the way it actually sounds.

What are some other records from the era that hit this vibe? In my head I always kind of twin it with Fegmania! and I was just now thinking Fried kind of fits too.

There's a weird Prince flavor too, lurid bedroom slicko psych...

Julian Cope came close.

"bird mad girl" is a pretty special one for me. it's the kind of song i mightn't necessarily give my full attention every time when it's playing, but guaranteed i'll be humming it hours later. i really like "dressing up" too. it's just really slow, droopy and suspended in a unique and wonderful way.

The song on this album that I feel gets overlooked a lot is "Wailing Wall"; it's just to the point in its creepiness in the best possible way, plus those awesome wailing noises...!

Agreed on all that!

omfg why didn't I vote "Piggy in the Mirror"

oh right, because "Bananafishbones" is... wait for it... BANANAS

The song on this album that I feel gets overlooked a lot is "Wailing Wall"; it's just to the point in its creepiness in the best possible way, plus those awesome wailing noises...!

― WHEY AHR MAH DREGUNS? (DJP), Thursday, June 7, 2012 3:34 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I consider 'Wailing Wall' to be one of my favourites and completely agree that it's an often overlooked moment in the Cure catalogue. 'Bananafishbones' is at the other end of the scale for me, personally. It's one of my least favourite Cure songs ever and comfortably the worst track on this record as far as I'm concerned. I enjoy the rest of the material a lot. I've always had a lot of time for The Top, and feel that Robert himself underrates this record as much as he overrates Wild Mood Swings. It's amazing how some Cure fans lump those two albums into the "worst of The Cure" pile, because one record is clearly miles stronger than the other. It's a record that comes with a bit of mystery attached to it, as well, since it's one of those albums that Robert seems to seldom discuss.

For me, this album is an often psychedelic mish-mash of where The Cure had been and where The Cure would go: it's more brightly coloured than Pornography (while still retaining portions of that record's anger), yet not quite as slick as The Head On The Door or Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (although 'The Caterpillar', for one, would have went on either of those albums comfortably). Its confusion and mood swings is part of the appeal of this record for me, almost to the point where I feel it is THIS record that should have been titled Wild Mood Swings, instead of the record that was eventually called that.

This is by far my favorite cure album, and bananafishbones is my favorite cure song, so there you go

this might also be the only time in the history of our adolescence where i think i ended up with a cure album before DJP got his hands on it

happy to see all the love for this album. In my top 5 CURE albums.

I voted for piggy.

It's amazing how some Cure fans lump those two albums into the "worst of The Cure" pile,

from my experience the Cure fans on this message board have far more sense (except for the Disintegration love).

There's a lot of crazy itt.

one of my favorite cure albums, although probably their most hit and miss. top three are the caterpillar, birdmad girl and (surprised at the hating here,) dressing up. i'll vote dressing up because it is just so damn weird. bob sounds like he's going to have an orgasm just thinking about getting his extra big hightops on... and then there's the strange-ass synth bass bopping around in an otherwise dreamy song. and it's incredibly psychedelic. i dunno. if you don't like dressing up, i'd suggest listening again, ignoring the fact that it IS just a tad "dinky." it's a great song, and one of my favorite cure songs, and one i get a hankering for more often than any other.

i do love this album but don't think it touches the Top 5.

i think i'm voting for "Give Me It."

Got to be "The Caterpillar". As for the rest of the album, I admire their ambitions, but I don't see them quite fulfilled.

I love this album and the fact that it's crazy and weird. But most importantly, I just think the songs are GREAT. Having a real hard time picking a favorite. Possibly "Wailing Wall".

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

your dying
for the hope is gone
from here we go nowhere again
I'm trapped in my face
and I'm changing too much
I can't climb out
the way I fell in

so is "the empty world" just a rippling fart for 2:36? It's not among the four or so tracks I kept from this.

it's the one with the fife and drum; it sounds more like a B-side than the actual b-sides.

The imagery in "The Empty World" is fantastic

Like, it seems to be about a little girl playing war games with her toys, but it also kind of seems to be about someone's psychosis causes the apocalypse.

OTM - it's a variant on "Games Without Frontiers"

I've always liked "The Empty World", I don't know why it gets no love. I think Robert's singing really matches the despair of the lyrics.

I'm glad I gave "Wailing Wall" its only vote. Another underrated gem IMO.

"The Empty World" was another song based on the book Charlotte Sometimes.

listening to this right now. they played so many The Top songs in this summer tour, seeing them live this year was one of the few AMAZING things that happened this year.

"This girl has got a smile
That can make me cry
This girl just burns with love
She's burning burning deep outside

Night time night time
Sets my house on fire
I'll turn into the melting man
I'll lose my life
To feel I feel desire"

this results are whacked but i think ILM was in burn out mode from all the Cure polls at the time, we had poll after poll.

after listening right now:

The Empty World >>> Bananafishbones

don't think i would change my vote from up-thread: "Give Me it" but i could see voting differently today. also now one of my favorite Cure albums, never thought i would say that.

I still really love this era and the Japanese Whispers stuff. wasn't it around this time that Chris Parry gave Smith a bit of a lecture/pep-talk about doing too many drugs? the story is in Ten Imaginary Years I think. also isn't one of the songs pitched at slightly the wrong speed and it was sorted out on the reissue?

I love the way the drums are treated on 'The Empty World' ... that cavernous bottom end mixed with the relatively tighter sounding snare.

also isn't one of the songs pitched at slightly the wrong speed and it was sorted out on the reissue?
― piscesx

shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake
shake dog SHAKE

https://img.discogs.com/PCaGgBBXBJ-wAjUumdEXEnx0AhA=/fit-in/599x947/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-387285-1227978226.jpeg.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Grk9uD-cbM

My best image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_WvRGacwQU

it's classic

xpost

and because i was at this fucking amazing show

our version of rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_WvRGacwQU

sorry

"Our version of rock:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgFcfR12HNw

i can't believe how gread this band is and how good, in particularity this album is. last one for my drunk Friday night. my all-time favorite band and it really isn't even close:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNBrJy4Y4dk

bonus, because this is actually a good live, at the time, version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa2Y1H9bIU8