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

AJD vs ACoF

"Snow in Summer" is one of my favorite Cure songs.

lol apparently I did do an "all b-sides" poll

WILL THE MADNESS NEVER STOP??? (The Cure B-Side poll)

Probably my favorite Cure era. I agree the B-Sides are all great. It was a very prolific and creative time for them.

heh, the all b-sides poll is too broad! just kiss me. I feel they kinda point the way towards disintegration.

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was an album that came out just as the CD became 'the format' that really worked with the extra time. This and Staring/Standing on a Beach were all over the place when I was a freshman in college.

It's kind of weird to see "Torture" or "All I Want" with no votes, but there is so many really good songs on this CD, it's not hard to see why it might not get a vote. It's a cool song.

except ironically Kiss Me didn't fit on a CD so they left Hey You!!! off

.. because that was the "title" track, sort of.

Somebody should do a poll of the Kiss Me b-sides, which were all completely great. The vinyl version of this I bought came with a bright orange third disc of all the b-sides, and I listened to that way more than the actual album! A Japanese Dream, Breathe, A Chain of Flowers, Snow in Summer, Sugar Girl.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, 13 June 2011 19:51

I went through a period of listening to the orange vinyl b-sides disc more than the album.

except ironically Kiss Me didn't fit on a CD so they left Hey You!!! off

― reallysmoothmusic (Jamie_ATP), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 09:06

and left "Fight" on it for some reason...

just listened through and even fights not THAT bad - how'd they do that? can't believe i hadn't listened to this in so long, every song on the album deserved a vote.

i'd dare say it's sign o the times good, all eyez on me good, exile on main street etc etc good some artist/bands just go through a period where they couldn't play a crap note if they tried. every b-side they recorded around this period was awesome as well

yeah, from 1985 to 1989 they could do no wrong.

I started listening to "The Kiss" to make a point about The Cure on another thread and I think I'm basically just going to play this entire album through

Wisdom.

we did a "favorite KM^3 side" poll, didn't we (ps: the answer is 3)

oh man "One More Time" is just so great, how he slides from his howl into his falsetto

I got into The Cure via 'The Cure In Orange' and the 'Standing On The Beach' compilation, so when I was initially buying and getting into Cure albums, I investigated everything from the beginning up until 1985 first and then everything else afterwards... this would have been in around 2000, so 'Bloodflowers' would have just been released or being close to being released.

As a result, I've always kinda had a preference towards The Cure's work from Three Imaginary Boys up until and including The Head On The Door. I like Disintegration, but I've always felt its CD configuration to be a touch overlong and have always preferred to listen to it in its vinyl/cassette incarnation (which admittedly is quite a long album in itself). Wish, too, I've always felt could do with a bit of a trim.

With Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, I know that excess is the point, but I've always felt that it would have been of great benefit to the best of the material here if it had been condensed into something a little more easier to digest, like The Top or The Head On The Door. Problem is, I've attempted to scale this down into a single many many times, drawing up loads of different tracklistings and I can never quite make up my mind. So it's an album that I end up dipping in and out of, rather than listen to as a whole. I'm not one of these people that dislikes double albums either: I can listen to all two hours of Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and enjoy the ride completely. I just don't think The Cure are much good at making long albums.

i think this is a good time to post this, though i don't agree with all of it:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/125241-masters-of-the-form-the-cure-1987-kiss-me-kiss-me-kiss-me

and one of the comments:

kafka

the amazing thing about the cure’s popularity is that they never had a publicist or someone from a record company whos job it was to get them publicity. They didn’t want publicity. I think Robert Smith would do a couple interviews every album release and that was it.

I worked at elektra in the 80’s and 90’s and the feeling was - these guys are weird - the lead singer wears lipstick (that was really weird back then) So we just left them alone. They made the record label loads of money because no money had to be spent to promote them - they had their fan base and it was a cult phenomenon

1 year ago

i think the Cure just had too many ideas around this time that this album had to be a double. they could have made a even better record if they replaced a few songs with some of their amazing b-sides from this era. it could have been another classic. i think i like this album more than The Head on the Door but not positive about that statement.

Yeah, I can completely understand why this album ended up being a double. Not to knock the core trio of Smith/Gallup/Tolhurst that made the Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography trio of records (not forgetting, of course, Matthieu Hartley on Seventeen Seconds also), but with The Head On The Door, I think that for the first time in the bands lifetime, The Cure had a line-up which could pretty much turn their hand successfully to all styles of Cure music. Not to mention that they gelled into a pretty damn impressive musical unit, and of course they looked the part too (I could never have imagined Phil Thornalley as a long-serving member of The Cure, really, whatever his production, writing and playing skills). With all of this in mind, I think it's natural that they would have wanted to see how far they could go with this line-up, and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me ended up being the result.

I really would have loved to have seen what kind of album that line-up circa The Top (Smith/Thornalley/Thompson/Tolhurst/Anderson) would have made if they'd made another album. A lot of other Cure line-ups seem to have a 'defining' album to them... whether it's the Smith/Gallup/Tolhurst trio that made Pornography, the Smith/Gallup/Thompson/Tolhurst/Williams five-piece that made The Head On The Door, the Smith/Gallup/Thompson/O'Donnell/Williams line-up that made Disintegration (bit of a one-album wonder, that line-up), or even the Smith/Gallup/Bamonte/O'Donnell/Cooper line-up that made Bloodflowers... but that 1984 line-up just seems to be, like, lost in the mists of time...

So, following my recent relisten of Head on the Door, I tackled the mighty KMKMKM next. I enjoyed it a lot more overall, I think it hangs together as a coherent album better than Head... despite being so much longer, and the highlights are many and continue to reveal themselves anew despite the fact I must've heard the album hundreds of times now (The Snakepit and Torture in particular stuck with me on this listen). I still have my criticisms: the weakest moments for me are gathered near the end of the record - I could do without One More Time, The Perfect Girl and A Thousand Years - but Shiver & Shake and Fight help pick up the slack somewhat. Boris Williams is a monster drummer and his presence is sorely missed. Though I'd been forewarned about the relative weakness of the bonus disc on the reissue of Kiss Me, I found the early instrumental demos pretty fascinating listening (if not something I expect I'll return to very often).

It's funny, I love the 1980-1984 run so much that I struggle to identify a weak moment on any of those records yet I can quite clearly pick what doesn't work for me out of the 1985-1992 material despite thinking that period represents the band at the height of their powers. The good bits are frequent and astonishingly good however so I guess it all evens out.

(slight clarification)

"Boris Williams is a monster drummer and his presence is sorely missed."

These days, you know what I mean.

I am posting under trying circumstances (er, small children yanking on my arms/ability to form coherent thoughts).

I worked at elektra in the 80’s and 90’s and the feeling was - these guys are weird - the lead singer wears lipstick (that was really weird back then) So we just left them alone. They made the record label loads of money because no money had to be spent to promote them - they had their fan base and it was a cult phenomenon

I remember Robert Smith complaining in the 80s that the Cure were sent on long and far-reaching tours (Japan, Australia/NZ, Latin America etc) because the record company had worked out that music fans in those countries love any group that visits there and become devoted record-buyers - and only the Cure was prepared to do it.

Of course, you can never trust what he says in interviews.

It's always nice to read someone love 1980-1984, as to my ears the band were still purging the glum stuff that they would integrate more successfully starting in 1985.

huh interesting record company perspective. I interviewed Robert in 1984 and 1986, don't remember any reluctance or difficulty, guess I got lucky. Remember him as thoughtful, cooperative. '84 interview (for Star Hits) took place in a Boston area laundromat while he washed his clothes!

well he's mainly notorious for telling outright lies in interviews

I could do without One More Time, The Perfect Girl and A Thousand Years - but Shiver & Shake and Fight help pick up the slack somewhat.

I would turn that sentence on its head. Fight, in particular, is a terrible song.

as to my ears the band were still purging the glum stuff that they would integrate more successfully starting in 1985.

otm. I'm not entirely averse to the early stuff but it gets kind of repetitive and tiresome - they became much more interesting when they decided to broaden the palette (and be goofy/funny)

otoh they needed Seventeen Seconds and Faith to create "Sinking," for which I'd trade almost anything on those albums.

Whenever i listen to "Kiss Me..." the album-ending Fight leaves its resonating notes echoing in silence. I love the unresolved flavor of this coda and i usually sit quietly for a few minutes thinking, "damn, that's a great album.... i really want to play it again... but what if i do and i don't feel the same when the album ends the second time???" Fight is the perfect ending to a nearly perfect album that always leaves me wanting for more -- maybe it should have been a triple album (however, the available b-sides indicate they pretty much emptied the hamper on this one).

as to my ears the band were still purging the glum stuff that they would integrate more successfully starting in 1985.

otm. I'm not entirely averse to the early stuff but it gets kind of repetitive and tiresome - they became much more interesting when they decided to broaden the palette (and be goofy/funny)

― Οὖτις, Friday, June 5, 2015 12:20 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

totally. the more paisley pop/bedroom orientalist the cure are, the more I like them

yeah we all like dirges about slaughterhouses (hey, who doesn't) but the fuzzy surrealist tinkertoy pop songs are more fun

that Lol interview linked in the head on the door thread (but dating from KMKMKM era) is awesome and endearing, he talks about their love of exotic synth presets

I love that kinda shit, love hearing what gear was used etc.

B-sides/extras from this era include:

A Japanese Dream
Breathe
A Chain of Flowers
To The Sky

...so I disagree with bodacious ignoramus pretty vehemently re: "emptying the hamper"

I really love "Catch", the sustained violin drone makes me think of "Sunday Morning".

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.

― i'm shy (Abbott), Wednesday, February 18, 2009 3:56 PM (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LOL I did this too, at age 16, but with Rembrandt Pussyhorse. Also it was on my walkman + headphones and not audible to the dentist. It was kind of perfect for tooth drilling.

4 tracks as b-sides is not enough; and likely left aside intentionally for single and 12-inch sales

that's why they're B-sides.

'A Chain of Flowers' is really one of their best songs ever.

I think "Breathe" is pretty astonishing.

maybe it should have been a triple album

there was a triple album version on orange vinyl with all the b-sides on a third disc, so

i thought that orange extra lp was mostly live -- no?

Nope.

http://www.discogs.com/Cure-Kiss-Me-Kiss-Me-Kiss-Me/release/1738471

But all of that material was made available on the box set.

You're thinking of a VHS, not an LP.

The Top has its critics, but this to me is The Cure's first ropey album - and even then it's only ropey because the nature of the double album has allowed the inclusion of a handful of less than great tracks. I'd put this down as my least favourite album of theirs that they put out in the '80s, actually, while still being above pretty much everything from Wild Mood Swings onwards.

Maybe one of the tracks from the Orange LP is strong enough to make the cut, but these orphans are mostly half-baked or remixes that bring nothing new to the original tracks. So, i still contend that they did indeed empty the hamper.

I remember when this record came out that i was so poor that i had to choose between the double LP + Orange or the cassette -- i chose the cassette because i didn't have easy access to a turntable and just couldn't tolerate any delay in listening to it. The summer of '87 had this one on heavy rotation.

does anyone else find this album uncharacteristically lazy on a lyrical level?

Compared to Wild Mood Swings or (as much as I enjoy it) Bloodflowers? No.

he walked out of her house
And looked around
At all the gardens that looked
Back at her house
(Like all the faces
That quiz when you smile... )

And he was standing
At the corner
Where the road turned dark
A part of shiny wet
Like blood the rain fell
Black down on the street

And kissed his feet she fell
Her head an inch away from heaven
And her face pressed tight
And all around the night sang out
Like cockatoos

"There are a thousand things" he said
"I'll never say those things to you again"
And turning on his heel
He left a trace of bubbles
Bleeding in his stead

And in her head
A picture of a boy who left her
Lonely in the rain
(And all around the night sang out
Like cockatoos)

favorite section of this record rn is "like cockatoos" -> "icing sugar"