WILD MOOD SWINGS (aka the worst Cure album by a country mile)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqowNeWMHA

No, the sad thing is that the B-sides are actually so much better than most of what actually went on the album itself... it's one of the biggest issues Cure fans have with the LP... it could have been so much better!

When I get the CD, I guess I'll take the best three or four tracks from there and combine it with these b-sides and pretend that's the album. . .

Yes, the b-sides for this album are so disproportionate to the album's quality.

I think, of all their albums, only Wish had better b-sides.

Yeah the b sides are better than the album. I don't know what happened with this record; if it was record company interference or just very bad judgement by the band

Ok, so I couldn't resist--already ordered the album so guilt assuaged, I downloaded the album, so I could try to understand.

On (obvious very quick) first listen, it sounds like they'd lost confidence in their dramatic, darker, more aggressive sound; and thought instead they could make an album of "Lovecats" and "Friday I'm in Loves," which perhaps the label liked, and then it all went wrong from there, ending up sounding very 1996 in all the wrong ways. . .

Just based on sounds--on the consistent, foregrounded (at least for The Cure) use of strings--I wonder if they had an entirely different album in mind at first? Almost all of the very good b-sides have this feature, and the few salvageable (though not as strong as the b-sides) album tracks have the same prevalent strings.

That's actually somewhat true. RS had originally conceived Wild Mood Swings to be a more acoustic-based album, which explains the non-album material (see also the "Strings Mix" for 'This is a Lie' which was released as a b-side).

The album's sessions also began with the thought of Simon deciding to leave the group. Subsequently, RS plays bass on a few of the session's tracks. This is all detailed in the booklet notes in Join the Dots.

A lot had happened since Wish - Porl and Boris left, the Lol court case, Gallup was thinking about leaving... The Cure had been a broken band before, but they really struggled through this record. Their stock - in the UK at least - was also the lowest it had ever been. At that point in their career they were seen as being '80s relics.

Ok, so I know it's a bit silly, but. . . I'm loving this collection of songs, as an alternate "could have been" 1996 Cure album. Sequencing, even segues were a breeze, as if these tracks were meant to go together, had they just decided to focus in a little instead of wild-mood-swinging. Threw a little cover art together, nominated one of the tracks as title track, and it came together IMO as an album I think I'd like as much as 'Wish,' at least:

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/folder.jpg?w=800

The Cure - 'This Is A Lie'
'Wild Mood Swings' Reconsidered

01 - Adonais
02 - Jupiter Crash*
03 - A Pink Dream
04 - Treasure*
05 - Home
06 - Waiting
07 - Dredd Song
08 - It Used to Be Me
09 - Numb*
10 - Ocean
11 - Bare*
12 - This Is A Lie (Ambient Mix)

Total Time: 53:43

* From 'Wild Mood Swings'

To me, it kind of sounds like the answer to the question (that probably nobody was asking, but still) "what if The Cure had been a 4AD band". Perhaps shows some belated influence of having Shelleyan Orphan open for them in '89? Anyway, it's really good, IMO.

Cool! I'll make a playlist and try it. Never gave Wild Mood Swings a chance really, but I listened to the orange b-sides album that came with Kiss Me way more than the actual album.

I hate Dredd Song but aside from that, this is the album they should have put out

I've never listened to the WMS b-sides so I'll check those out

as far as I can remember the real highlight of the last few albums was Underneath the Stars

WMS is a really interesting transitional Cure record, in some ways it reminds me of The Top (which is my personal favourite).

I really love the lighter moments like Round & Round & Round, the 13th, Strange Attraction, etc.

That sense of weightless fun is something missing for me from every subsequent album.

'Underneath the Stars', funnily enough, dates from around the time of Wish, I think. Even so, there's tracks on 4:13 Dream I like more, and Wild Mood Swings has its moments too.

B sides from the 'Wish' sessions >>>>>>>> all post 'Disintegration' output (even if they're all a bit on-the-nose!)

Yes, 'Underneath the Stars' was actually a revision of the song 'Uyea Sound' which was recorded during the Wish sessions and got released on the limited cassette only Lost Wishes.

If anybody already owns the music and would be interested in this version (with some segues and stuff), drop me a line and I'll share a link. It's really growing on me--given the consensus (here at least) seems to be that 'Wild Mood Swings' was a swing and a miss, kinda wish they'd put out something like this instead, or also.

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/folder.jpg?w=800

The Cure - 'This Is A Lie'
'Wild Mood Swings' Reconsidered

01 - Adonais
02 - Jupiter Crash*
03 - A Pink Dream
04 - Treasure*
05 - Home
06 - Waiting
07 - Dredd Song
08 - It Used to Be Me
09 - Numb*
10 - Ocean
11 - Bare*
12 - This Is A Lie (Ambient Mix)

Total Time: 53:43

* From 'Wild Mood Swings'

I also made my own version of Wild Mood Swings some years back and it's the only way I've listened to the album ever since. It goes:

01 Want
02 Waiting
03 Home
04 This is a Lie
05 Ocean
06 Jupiter Crash
07 Treasure
08 The 13th
09 Adonais
10 A Pink Dream
11 Mint Car
12 Gone!
13 Trap
14 Numb
15 It Used to be Me
16 Bare

I'm listening to Lost Wishes as I type this and it's absolutely glorious.

Ha I wonder how many people are in the same boat--made an edit, and never went back to the actual album? Hopefully Smith et al wouldn't be offended too badly. . .

I did the same thing with the self-titled 2004 album, as the b-sides from those sessions were a lot stronger than the proper album as well.

'Jupiter Crash' is one of the songs I would cut, tbh.

'Want', 'The 13th' and 'Mint Car' would all be easy inclusions!

I like 'The 13th,' just didn't fit the sound that started coalescing. I'm keeping it as a bonus track "non-album single" hehe.

Want probably fits, but I just wanted to get it down to a shorter run time, had to be harsh. Mint car is fun--another good non-album single for me ; )

Yeah, shorter run time is always good... pretty much every Cure album from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me onwards is far too long, IMO. I've always preferred the vinyl config of Disintegration, for example!

'Jupiter Crash' is one of the songs I would cut, tbh.

You are not in the majority here.

I may very well not be, but that doesn't stop me from disliking the track.

Well, I wrote about four long paragraphs and I accidentally reloaded the page and lost all that I had written.

Basically, I said The Cure and their American label misread the American audience, who they were heavily invested in at the time. They recorded an album that wasn't consistent stylistically, instead dabbling in many very different styles, which is what Smith wanted but not something that is usually well-received. It was an answer to a lot of critics who said the band had grown stale. Apparently, they always had fun playing in private as a band, but had to put on an image they felt obligated to stick to because that is what people expected of them. They finally seemed to be really enjoying themselves in front of an audience around the time Wild Mood Swings was released, though.

The album definitely suffered from an identity crisis. I remember they played Round & Round & Round on an American late-night TV show instead of the singles around that time. I think early on, management had no idea how to advertise the album.

It took me a year to buy the CD (around 1997) and the singles. I hated the album but thought "Treasure" and "Bare" were some of the best songs they had ever written. "Waiting" was good, too.

In retrospect, "Jupiter Crash" is probably one of their most inventive songs, starting with the very non-Cure drum pattern down to the lyrical content. A lot of the album was about going into uncharted territory for the band, which they successfully did. There are references to all of Smith's influences. I always thought the acoustic guitar and strings sections was his attempt at Nick Drake-style songs.

My Wild Mood Swings-era track list would be:

1. Adonais
2. Waiting
3. Numb
4. A Pink Dream
5. Jupiter Crash
6. Treasure
7. Ocean
8. Bare

^^^ that's a great tracklist

Thank you!

That tracklist or "album" should really be called something like "Ocean," because most of the songs' lyrics and sounds have some type of ebbing and flowing imagery, as if the songs are seeping in and out life, like slowly opening and closing your eyes resisting death.

It's the death of a part of oneself and a relationship, in my opinion.

:-)

The actual tour was very good indeed. (As I mentioned, I didn't actually hear the album until some years later, but I had no problem at all seeing them again live.) Loved the broken-down funhouse set. The show I caught

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/1996/irvine-meadows-irvine-ca-7bd7eac0.html

I remember Tommy Vance on VH-1 introducing the video to "Mint Car" upon its release as a single back in '96, and him branding the band as "sad" ...

I'm with Turrican and would totally cut "Jupiter Crash." I am surprised to see it in everyone's revised WMS tracklists. The only good thing I can say about it is it isn't as terrible as "Strange Attraction" - which is just offensively bad. I'd keep:

Want
This Is A Lie
The 13th
Mint Car
Return
Bare

"Mint Car" and "Return" rank among the worst songs The Cure have ever recorded. Also, people are sleeping very hard on "Trap".

'Return' hasn't aged well for me at all, but 'Mint Car' remains giddy fun and 'Trap' rules.

not a Cure fan by any stretch but the top two songs in this poll are among my favourites by them

i mean, why would you hate on Mint Car?

"Mint Car" is an attempt to do wide-eyed, sweet and charming that winds up sounding plodding, trite and overwrought.

works for me

'Want' was on a free cassette with Select magazine back in 1996 and I remember really liking it.

"Want" was a poor man's poor man's "Open" (yes, you read that correctly), and the same goes for "Mint Car" as a concept explored in "Doing the Unstuck." I believe these were discussed at the time of their release. I suppose new Cure fans or those unfamiliar with their work would be more likely to like them.

"The 13th" as a single seems to be the weirdest part of that album.

"Want" is 100% a poor man's "Open" but it's decent enough as a song in its own right even though I'd always rather listen to "Open".

It is. They're great live, too.

"Want" was a poor man's poor man's "Open" (yes, you read that correctly), and the same goes for "Mint Car" as a concept explored in "Doing the Unstuck." I believe these were discussed at the time of their release. I suppose new Cure fans or those unfamiliar with their work would be more likely to like them.

Mmmyeah, I disagree with this since I couldn't be any more familiar with their work and I like both 'Want' and 'Mint Car' plenty. I probably prefer 'Want' to 'Open', if I'm to be really honest.

Surely we can all agree that "Club America" is a terrible, terrible song?

As a song it's not particularly great, but it has some neat ideas - I like the guitar riff for example. It's one of those tracks where there's something in it, but it still needs a lot of work.

club america is bad clunky britpop, i really have no idea how it happened

I would argue that the "something" it has is a unique combination of "nonsense" and "horseshit"

No, the "nonsense" and the "bullshit" is what prevents the "something" that it has from reaching its full potential.

club america is bad clunky britpop, i really have no idea how it happened

― adam, Monday, July 17, 2017 6:10 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hmm, I don't know about britpop, but it was the mid '90s...

'Want' is a revisiting of 'Never Enough' and RS has gone on to admit as much.

I personally have a very soft spot for 'Gone!' which is one of the band's oddest singles. Obviously an attempt at rehashing the "quote en quote jazz" feeling of 'The Lovecats' but with a bit of mixing in the uplifting spirit of 'Doing the Unstuck' in place of 'The Lovecats' overt silliness.

I'd still agree that this is their worst album, though - even taking into consideration the tracks that I like on it. The Cure and 4:13 Dream have some great tracks on 'em that sadly get overlooked because they're in "past their prime" territory.