Retro Spins: The Psychedelic Furs - Mirror Moves

When Robert Smith of The Cure cites your album as one of his favorites, people tend to take notice.

Reduced to a trio, Richard Butler, John Ashton, and Tim Butler would take a two-year break before returning to the studio to record what would become Mirror Moves. It would turn out to be a good decision, as upon its release, the album would become their second gold certified in the USA.

Mirror Moves features the hits, Heartbeat, Heaven, The Ghost In You, and Here Come Cowboys, all of which would run in heavy rotation on MTV. However, it's safe to say that despite this, their popularity in the UK remained far stronger than America. While the album would peak at number forty-three in the US, it would reach number fifteen in the UK.

The album ditches the post-punk aspect, completely submitting to pop mainstream. While the sound is there, and appealing to my happy synth pop ears, the songs themselves don't deliver.

Things start with the hit, The Ghost In You, which sets a bar that the remaining songs simply can't reach. While over the course of listening to the album, and writing this post, I typed and deleted sentences repeatedly with the word mediocrity in them, that really is the best word to use.

Just as I resolved that Mirror Moves was a one hit wonder, I got to the last three tracks, Alice's House, Only A Game, and Highwire Days, all of which seemed intent on retribution for the album. However, this in turn created a conundrum for me, making me wonder if I simply wasn't paying enough attention to all the other songs.

Perhaps the best way to sum this up is that I'm going to come back to this one and have a re-listen. Until then, I can't say much more.

Despite major success in both the UK and USA, the band has been cited more so for their major impact on other musicians, then their actual hit status. Foo Fighters, Green Day, Pixies, The Killers, and even The Cure have given their praise and appreciation to the band for their influence.

However, this is not the end of the road for the Fur's 1980's discography. Sales wise, it was the last peak before the decline. Chart wise, they had one more major hit to deliver. That story all unfolds with 1987's Midnight To Midnight, which is where I'll pick up tomorrow.

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