Despite his sudden departure from the band, bassist Simon Gallup and Robert Smith were able to reconcile their relationship, prompting his return to The Cure in 1984. Smith would be so elated by this that he would comment how the group was a band again. Additional members Port Thompson, and Boris Williams would also join the lineup.
1985's The Head On The Door would become the band's first international success, entering the top seventy-five in the USA, and top twenty in several other countries. It would become their best selling album to date, being certified gold on the BPI and RIAA.
For its recording, Smith took inspiration from Siouxsie and the Banshees' Kaleidoscope, and The Human League's Dare, with a goal of having an eclectic array of sounds and moods in the final production. A sound which critics immediately favored, praising the album for Smith's ability to take The Cure's gloom and doom sound, and make it danceable.
When I read the album title, The Head On The Door, it invoked a dark image. So, it caught me rather off guard when it starts with the peppy strumming of an acoustic guitar, and the upbeat In Between Days. This level of pep is present through the whole album, and can definitely fool you into thinking you're hearing a happy go lucky pop album. That is, until you actually focus in and listen to the words.
For me, The Head On The Door is pure deliciousness. It would be difficult for me to tell you what songs I love versus those I passed on, because I grabbed pretty much all of them. This also excites me all the more for their forthcoming 1989 Disintegration. The bliss has been building and building since The Top, and getting all the more enjoyable with today's Retro Spin.
What I also had to do in retrospect is revisit their 1987 released Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which upon originally reviewing, I was not kind to. I don't normally take the time to listen to an album twice, because that time simply doesn't exist. However, in this case, I made the exception. Unfortunately, it didn't change my opinion of it. Still not a fan of that one.
As for today, The Head On The Door going up against Siouxsie and the Banshees' Tinderbox, The Cure are the clear winners here, and moving on to round two.
Tomorrow, we reset the board, and start over with the Banshees' Through The Looking Glass, which will be up against The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, both from 1987.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS July 24, 1982 |
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