I'm voting for the Caterpillar, to make up for the lack of votes here. And because it's my favourite.
― nate woolls, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 08:38 (sixteen years ago) link
It was between "Jumping Someone Elses Train" and "A Forest" for me, so I voted "Jumping" and almost immediately regretted my vote.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 08:46 (sixteen years ago) link
voted for "Primary" because that the song that kind of stood out just a little more than all others on the compilation. "10:15 Saturday Night," "The Caterpillar" and "A Night Like This" were all right there as well.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 09:04 (sixteen years ago) link
This was the first Cure LP (cassette, actually) I ever bought, and it's still my favourite.)
I choose "Caterpillar" - which I also woulda voted for it in Nate's previous Cure poll. Unless I voted for "Killing An Arab" instead.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 09:20 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm torn between "Boys Don't Cry", "Jumping Someone Else's Train", "The Lovecats", "The Caterpillar", "In Between Days" and "Close To Me".
If "Grinding Halt" and "M" had been singles / on the album, they'd be in that list too.
― Stewart Osborne, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 09:33 (sixteen years ago) link
"Let's Go To Bed". Rather easily when "Friday I'm In Love" or "Just Like Heaven" aren't options.
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 09:57 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm with Geir!
I love that song.
This was the first Cure LP (cassette, actually) I ever bought
Me, too, although my sister bought it, not me. I associate this strongly with getting a walkman for the first time.
These four weren't on the cassette or the LP when it was originally released, though.
10:15 Saturday Night Play for Today Other Voices A Night Like This
And the b-sides were!
B1 I'm Cold B2 Another Journey By Train B3 Descent B4 Splintered In Her Head B5 Mr Pink Eyes B6 Happy The Man B7 Throw Your Foot B8 The Exploding Boy B9 A Few Hours After This B10 A Man Inside My Mouth B11 Stop Dead B12 New Day
13-year old me thought they were well weird.
― Jamie T Smith, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 11:17 (sixteen years ago) link
This was one of the 1st couple of CDs I ever bought. I had a dubbed copy of it when I was 14, that probably was my introduction to the Cure, although I bought Boys Don't Cry on cassette around the same time. I'd probably go for Charlotte Sometimes.
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 11:20 (sixteen years ago) link
The original vinyl didn't feature "A Night Like This" or "Other Voices," if memory serves.
Amazing collection. Hard to choose, but must go with "A Night Like This."
The cassette version with the b-sides was priceless.
― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 11:57 (sixteen years ago) link
"Staring at the Sea" was the VHS collection.
Which had great sound quality.
Amber and Alice love "A Forest", "Love Cats", "Inbetween Days" and "Close to me"
Me, I'll pick "Inbetween days" cause I always do.,
― Mark G, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:03 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, the video collection was great. The songs were interspersed with home movie footage of them messing around in motorway service stations. Must've watched it about a thousand times.
― nate woolls, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:09 (sixteen years ago) link
That's not out on DVD is it? We literally watched that EVERY day when I was in college.
― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:10 (sixteen years ago) link
All together now:
Oom DO DO Oom DO DO Doodoo do do Doodoo do do Doo Dooo do.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Also the name of the CD edition. "Standing On The Beach" was the album version and, I believe, didn't contain non-singles such as "Other Voices" and "A Night Like This".
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Agreed, great introductory comp. Loved it when I was a teenager. I voted "Primary"; "Charlotte Sometimes" would probably be next.
― Joe, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 12:45 (sixteen years ago) link
Also my first introduction to the cure. Could this be the greatest compilation ever? I say yes, and my vote went to Charlotte Sometimes--the song evolves.
― valoss, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
I can't separate my feelings for this collection without mentioning the B-sides on the cassette. About half don't do anything at all, but I appreciate them in context: in high school this is what pop music should have sounded like .
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
'Friday I'm In Love' is one of the worst songs in the history of humanity.
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 16:34 (sixteen years ago) link
No clear winner for me, but I went with "In Between Days", which is, aside from "Just Like Heaven" my favorite of their pop moments. Otherwise I would have gone with "A Forest" or "Close To Me" or maybe "Primary".
to Alfred: at my Atlanta-area high school, this is what pop music sounded like, for better or for worse (race matters etc.).
― Euler, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 16:38 (sixteen years ago) link
i totally forgot about the bsides...mr pink eye made us endlessly happy.
i had both video sets, and man i forgot about all the fun between videos. i lent them to a friends boyfriend about8 yrs ago...of course that dude never returned them.
― bb, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 17:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Haha funny how many people went thru adolescence with this comp as a beacon. I dont know what makes it so great, maybe the sheer wtf-ness of switching from charlotte/hanging garden to LGTB/lovecats in an eyeblick.
― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago) link
you just summed it up nicely.
― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:20 (sixteen years ago) link
The only comp that had a similar impact on my adolescence – and employed a similar switch from darkness to light – was NO's Substance.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:22 (sixteen years ago) link
ha, OTM
― HI DERE, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Geir Hongro OTM (hahaha) about "Let's Go to Bed" -- that's an absolute gem of a song, and easily my second favorite on here... there's not a bad song on this, honestly.
― stephen, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:38 (sixteen years ago) link
I went with A Forest, though I'm partial to a lot of it, particularly "Killing An Arab." What's interesting for me is that when I moved forward from the compilation to buying the albums they were culled from, it often seemed they were composed of filler . . . plus the couple songs that had been collected on Staring at the Sea
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me though it was released after SATS seemed particularly egregious in this regard, two LPs of mostly filler, "Why Can't I Be You?" "Just Like Heaven" plus boring odes of navelgazing misery like "The Snakepit" or whatever.
That The Cure had enough great songs to make Staring At The Sea at all is pretty impressive, but their legacy beyond that one record is pretty thin for me.
― SecondBassman, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:56 (sixteen years ago) link
not OTM
― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 22:33 (sixteen years ago) link
so basically, you just dont like the cure much...
"icing sugar"?, "like cockatoos"?
― bb, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 22:49 (sixteen years ago) link
not OTM-- baaderonixx, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:33 PM (2 hours ago) so basically, you just dont like the cure much... -- bb, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:49 PM (2 hours ago
-- baaderonixx, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:33 PM (2 hours ago)
so basically, you just dont like the cure much... -- bb, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:49 PM (2 hours ago
To convey a more balanced impression, I should have mentioned that I think Head on The Door is pretty great all the way through also, but beyond that, I'll stay with what I've said.
The idea that The Cure were a great singles band doesn't seem to me to be that outrageous . . . . I'm supposed to like Pornography all the way through?
To say I don't like them much discounts how much I do like--to take only the most apparent example--"A Forest." Shit, I even liked that "Trees" remix--and I always hate remixes.
― SecondBassman, Thursday, 6 March 2008 00:53 (sixteen years ago) link
weren't these the b-sides to the "concert" cassette?
― nicky lo-fi, Thursday, 6 March 2008 04:06 (sixteen years ago) link
No.
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 07:19 (sixteen years ago) link
the cure have the rare virtue of not only being a fantastic singles band, but also having 5 or 6 records that are fantastic all the way through.
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 6 March 2008 07:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Their first 8 albums are pretty fantastic all the way through, and Wish isn't too shabby either.
― nate woolls, Thursday, 6 March 2008 08:27 (sixteen years ago) link
"Jumping Someone Elses Train"
― latebloomer, Thursday, 6 March 2008 09:01 (sixteen years ago) link
x-post
I've always found it pretty hard to get all the way through <i>The Top</i>, but I'd otherwise agree with this sentiment.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 6 March 2008 09:03 (sixteen years ago) link
The Top is their best album. It needs its own thread.
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 10:38 (sixteen years ago) link
imo, Wish is secretly the 3rd or 4th best Cure album
― stephen, Thursday, 6 March 2008 20:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Wish is alright but kinda contains the seeds of everything that would be wrong with the Cure from then on, IMO
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah - the b-sides only came on the cassette version and now, of course, all compiled in the "Join the Dots" box.
Very cool.
I thought "New Day" was about as super cool as it could get
― christoff, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:11 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm supposed to like Pornography all the way through?
oh man
The only Cure album I won't defend to ridiculous lengths is Wild Mood Swings.
― HI DERE, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:15 (sixteen years ago) link
i have always been so so baffled by love for The Top, which seems to have plenty of boosters on ILM despite being mostly a dreadful mess.
Pornography, on the other hand, deserves the praise it gets.
― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh man, this comp is so good. Was actually listening to it just the other day on a long drive to the Twin Cities. I voted for "A Forest."
― jaymc, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Back in the day, I would have said 'A Forest' or 'Charlotte Sometimes' but the one I jones for the most from this comp is 'Play for Today'.
― Michael White, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:32 (sixteen years ago) link
The only song on here I would never vote for as the best song on the album is "The Caterpillar".
― HI DERE, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Haha I'm tempted to vote for tha
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:37 (sixteen years ago) link
... that one, but I think I'll just go for Charlotte Sometimes
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Or maybe Other Voices, but it feels like cheating.
I'm pretty awed btw that they play that song on their current tour
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 6 March 2008 21:43 (sixteen years ago) link
I'd vote for "Caterpillar" but, you know, IBD!
I do have the cassette somewhere...
― Mark G, Friday, 7 March 2008 09:14 (sixteen years ago) link
I had the VHS at one point, but I let a friend borrow it and never got it back. Curses!
(Oh well, I don't even have a VCR anymore)
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 7 March 2008 09:27 (sixteen years ago) link
What an album, my god.
A Forest for me. But it almost doesn't matter what wins, they're pretty much all perfect.
OTM - well, slightly OTT, but FIIL is certainly the worst Cure single. Ugh.
― Mark C, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:04 (sixteen years ago) link
and that was their last proper "hit"...
― Mark G, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:06 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm supposed to like Pornography all the way through?oh man
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:07 (sixteen years ago) link
Are those deluxe reissues worth getting?
― nate woolls, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Sound-wise definitely. Bonus stuff-wise, probably not if you're asking this question.
― baaderonixx, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah it's the sound I was thinking about more than the bonus stuff.
― nate woolls, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:31 (sixteen years ago) link
"Friday I'm In Love" can't possibly be the worst Cure single ever when "Mint Car" and "Strange Attraction" are out there.
― HI DERE, Friday, 7 March 2008 13:47 (sixteen years ago) link
IMO the deluxe reissues are not really worth getting for the bonus tracks, apart from the Three Imaginary Boys one, and maybe the Seventeen Seconds. I think there were some plans to reissue the albums remastered without the bonus tracks - those may be worth buying, I don't think it's worth paying £18 for a remaster with a load of live/demo stuff that you're not going to listen to more than once.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 7 March 2008 14:27 (sixteen years ago) link
IMO everything up through Pornography is worth getting for the bonus tracks; past that point it's really for completists (ie, ME) only.
― HI DERE, Friday, 7 March 2008 14:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Actually in terms of bonus discs, my fave by very far is 'The Top' one. I don't remember much of the Porn and Faith ones.
― baaderonixx, Friday, 7 March 2008 16:14 (sixteen years ago) link
This. My opinion hasn't changed since '92. But:
Wish The Top is alright but kinda contains the seeds of everything that would be wrong with the Cure from then on, IMO
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 7 March 2008 16:15 (sixteen years ago) link
wrong
― baaderonixx, Friday, 7 March 2008 17:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― ILX System, Monday, 10 March 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
"Charlotte Sometimes" with an honorary mention to "Play For Today".
― Lostandfound, Monday, 10 March 2008 01:09 (sixteen years ago) link
A Forest
― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 10 March 2008 01:36 (sixteen years ago) link
That too.
― Lostandfound, Monday, 10 March 2008 04:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Not a bad top five, even the lots of gray part.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
This is nerdy but I'm going to program my CD player to play the poll results in ascending order, ending with "A Forest", and see how that works out. I love almost all of these songs.
Votes for every single song.
― Z S, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 00:39 (sixteen years ago) link
I think "A Night Like This" might have gathered a few more votes if not for the invention of the saxophone.
― Z S, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 01:17 (sixteen years ago) link
A Forest is my least favourite of all these. I think I've been scarred by sitting through 25 minute live versions.
― nate woolls, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 08:19 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I'm a bit puzzled by these results. Only one vote for "Night Like this"?; OTOH, it's nice to see how evenly spread the votes are.
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 08:40 (sixteen years ago) link
"Night Like this" one vote saxophone
― Z S, Tuesday, 11 March 2008 21:11 (sixteen years ago) link
'a night like this' is beautiful and magnificent. even the sax sounds alright in it.
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 13:32 (sixteen years ago) link
and 'other voices' is right there at the bottom too? i prefer it to 'primary' as far as the represented tracks from faith go.
― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 12 March 2008 13:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Didn't most people have the cassette of this at the time? Which wouldn't have had the non single tracks like PfT, OV and ANLT on it. Anyway the B sides on the cassette version are better. 'A Few Hours After This' number 1 forever in an alternative universe.
― flowersdie, Thursday, 13 March 2008 10:37 (sixteen years ago) link
I certainly did. I think I played the video more though.
The next video on tried to repeat the informal approach with bits of "video diary" between, but they made the mistake of making them too long, and, well, dull.
― Mark G, Thursday, 13 March 2008 10:40 (sixteen years ago) link
I didn't bother 'cos I already had all the singles (and had probably taped most of the videos off the telly!)
― Stewart Osborne, Thursday, 13 March 2008 11:38 (sixteen years ago) link
I had the cassette forever precisely because of the B-sides.
― HI DERE, Thursday, 13 March 2008 12:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah - same as 'Concert'
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 13 March 2008 13:26 (sixteen years ago) link
Is this the first album tracks poll where every song got a vote?!?
― zaxxon25, Thursday, 13 March 2008 17:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Everything got a vote on the Portishead S/T poll, didn't it?
― HI DERE, Thursday, 13 March 2008 18:09 (sixteen years ago) link
still the best comp
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 22 June 2017 19:14 (six years ago) link
or single disc best of, whatever
It covers the best era of the band, too. 1978-1986 > 1987-1993 > 1994-present.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Thursday, 22 June 2017 19:21 (six years ago) link
pretty much.
― yesca, Friday, 23 June 2017 03:10 (six years ago) link
One for the 'posts out-of-context' thread
― Mark G, Friday, 23 June 2017 07:17 (six years ago) link