The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me Poll

I've reached The Perfect Girl and this is a super album.

A1 The Kiss 6:14
B3 The Snakepit 6:59
C1 Just Like Heaven 3:30
D3 A Thousand Hours 3:23

On side A, I vacillate between "The Kiss" and "Catch".
On side B, it's "How Beautiful You Are..." and "The Snakepit".
On side C, it is literally all of them. fucking hell
On side D, it's "The Perfect Girl", "Shiver and Shake" and "Fight".

Like Dan this was my Cure gateway, but I gotta admit that the protracted introductions bore me now (Christgau: "Samey samey samey is the strategy--repeat repeat repeat repeat the same four-bar theme for sixteen, twenty-four, forty-eight, sixty-four bars"). I suppose I can defend them as proto-trance or something, but I won't bother, with the exception of "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep," whose Around the World in a Day version of Far Eastern music depends on samey samey samey.

I think the builds of "The Kiss" and "The Snakepit" are flat-out genius, rivalled in their catalog only by "Faith" and "All Cats Are Grey".

I still find absolutely charming their dilettantish approach to "world" music and different styles (fake French accordeons, fake sitars, sloppy funk work-outs etc).

I still think the video to "Why Can't I Be U?" is one of the funniest things ever filmed.

This album is the sound of a band having fun in the studio.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-cure-why-cant-i-be-you/1016802999/?icid=VIDLRV01

lol also why did I go all Prince for a second

with the help of red wine and heaps of drugs.

(xxpost)

I think the builds of "The Kiss" and "The Snakepit" are flat-out genius, rivalled in their catalog only by "Faith" and "All Cats Are Grey".

ooooh boy we're gonna have words (when I've worked out just how many awesome Cure build you've snubbed)

*builds

I'm more fond of "Open" as a, well, opener.

Some of The Cure's great builds aren't at the start of the song, see for instance the build to the second chorus of "The Promise"

looking forward to watching LJ school Dan on the cure

So much wisdom will be revealed.

Even something like "The Caterpillar" (which just came on) has a genuinely brilliant, in fact near-perfect build-up, introducing so many musical and emotional themes with busy percussion, playful piano leads and some dramatic off-kilter strings. It's not quite as spectacular as, say, "The Kiss" or "Pornography" or "Homesick" or whatever, but it further adds to the fact that Smith really knew how to write a motherfukken song, and REALLY knew how to make a song's sound work with its title and lyrical themes.

that should read "MERELY with busy percussion..."

The sounds and themes of a caterpillar.

Yeah, but also themes of doubt, of excitement, of confusion, hesitancy, which all tie in with the song's allegorical romantic purpose. All of these themes are musically conveyed by that 30-second intro.

My brother does an amazing fucking impression of how Robert Smith acts in videos.

yeah dude for practical intents and purposes 30 seconds is not long enough for something to qualify as a build in a Cure song

and both "Faith" and "All Cats Are Grey" are better than "Homesick"

You can have "All Cats Are Grey" any day of the week, amazing song. Not so sure about "Faith" yet. *amends iTunes selection*

When that water-drop sound-effect comes in with the keyboards, it's like the saddest moment in music or something

...and even then, it isn't my favourite track on the album (that would be "The Drowning Man")

No, "All Cats Are Grey" owns that album IMO (altho the segues on the second half are among the greatest achievements in Western music)

whoa

It's definitely up there ALMOST alongside "The Drowning Man" for me, somewhere near "The Funeral Party" in a sort-of tie for second. The organ/piano call and response in the outro as well...oh man.

ENOUGH FAITH TALK, THIS THREAD IS ABOUT KMx3

I think the most underrated song on this album is "The Perfect Girl".

I REALLY liked "The Perfect Girl" on my Big Listen-Through just now

(fwiw, on listening just now, for the first time in a while, it's clear that ACAG is MILES ahead of TFP)

"A Letter to Elise" is an inferior version of "The Perfect Girl."

("The Funeral Party" is my dad's favorite Cure song!)

Also Alfred OTM.

I always felt that "A Letter to Elise" was an inferior version of "Catch"!

It's kind of a cross between the two, isn't it.

"But I used to try to catch Elise
She was the closest thing to perfect to me."

Like Cockatoos, no hesitation

― From Rax to Rich's (jjjusten)

Ditto.

FYI - this is my favorite snow-shoveling album of all time, I habitually pull it out every time we get a snowstorm worthy of sidewalk clearing.

I listened to this album during dental work once. The dentist said I could put a CD on and I was like, "Hey I have one on me!" and it really wasn't the best selection for a soundtrack to teeth drilling.

hahahaha

I think I voted too quickly (for "Why Can't I Be You?") forgetting that I have inordinate love for "Catch."

xxp hahahhaha

Perfect Girl is the weakest song on the album. As a Cure-obsessed teen, my fave would have been 'Snakepit'. 'The Kiss' is a con tender too but I might have overplayed it. Maybe I should stand up for If Only Tonight, which doesnt get enough love on this thread.

Also OTM to whoever wrt 'All Cats are Grey'. The build-up but also the last coda is probably this band's finest achievement.

You guys are all right about this being an amazing album. What's even more impressive (and would make this poll even more impossible) is that the B-sides released during this era were also way up there with what made it on the album. I mean if "Breathe" was on KM3 it would get my vote.
As it is, I'm torn between "If Only Tonight", "Like Cockatoos", "How Beautiful...", and "The Snakepit".

And yes "All Cats Are Grey" is godlike genius.

it really wasn't the best selection for a soundtrack to teeth drilling.

I shudder at the thought of hearing Pornography at the dentist's instead, though.

You'll never watch Marathon Man the same way.

"It is a simple choice between pain and relief...and it doesn't matter if we all die."

I always felt that "A Letter to Elise" was an inferior version of "Catch"!
I always felt Catch was an inferior version of 'A letter to Elise'.

Wow, did I love The Cure. But I loathed this album when it came out and I still do. It seemed to me to sound like the little scraps of multicolored construction paper left over from the grand spectacle of "The Head On The Door." I always thought "The Perfect Girl" was excellent, though. But I am unreliable, I think "The Top" is highly entertaining and it gets no love at all.

Adding another vote to "Just Like Heaven's" landslide. Even with such a great song as "Catch" in the competition, this is no doubt really.

Some of The Cure's great builds aren't at the start of the song, see for instance the build to the second chorus of "The Promise" searing guitar lead in Bloodflowers

Now we're talking!

This is one of my least favourite Cure albums btw. But like most double albums, it would have worked out great as a single one.

I listened to that bright orange 12" of b-sides more than the actual album. Also I really loved the cover art during this era of the Cure, aside from the music. My favorite of all their logos!

Amazed I still have my vinyl copy of this after regrettably purging so many good quality records and CDs during my teen years.

It's my favorite Cure album. I think "A Japanese Dream" and "Breathe" should've been on it instead of "Shiver and Shake" and "A Thousand Hours", but it was an embarrassment of riches really.

hi!

speaking of b-sides that should've replaced lesser album cuts, "a chain of flowers" is actually one of their best songs, full stop.