1984 Album Reissued On 180g Vinyl LP Featuring "Shake Dog Shake" & "Give Me It!"
Remastered By Robert Smith!
The Top, first released in 1984, is a dramatic musical transition for The Cure, integrating the band's trademark dark textures with increased melodic and pop tendencies.
Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for its slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged, edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable record-seller throughout the '90s, and their influence could be heard clearly on scores of new bands during the new millennium, including many that had little to do with Goth.
"Recorded in the midst of Robert Smith's tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced...More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, it's still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ('The Caterpillar,' 'Shake Dog Shake') are unmistakably Robert Smith. The big change this time around is his ability to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work (Pornography) with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences (i.e., world travels, sounds, instruments) to moderate success ('Wailing Wall,' 'Piggy in the Mirror')." - Chris True, allmusic.com
Features:
180g Vinyl
Remastered By Robert Smith
Selections:
1. Shake Dog Shake
2. Birdmad Girl
3. Wailing Wall
4. Give Me It
5. Dressing Up
6. The Caterpillar
7. Piggy In the Mirror
8. The Empty World
9. Bananafishbones
10. The Top
Remastered By Robert Smith!
The Top, first released in 1984, is a dramatic musical transition for The Cure, integrating the band's trademark dark textures with increased melodic and pop tendencies.
Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for its slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged, edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable record-seller throughout the '90s, and their influence could be heard clearly on scores of new bands during the new millennium, including many that had little to do with Goth.
"Recorded in the midst of Robert Smith's tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced...More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, it's still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ('The Caterpillar,' 'Shake Dog Shake') are unmistakably Robert Smith. The big change this time around is his ability to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work (Pornography) with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences (i.e., world travels, sounds, instruments) to moderate success ('Wailing Wall,' 'Piggy in the Mirror')." - Chris True, allmusic.com
Features:
180g Vinyl
Remastered By Robert Smith
Selections:
1. Shake Dog Shake
2. Birdmad Girl
3. Wailing Wall
4. Give Me It
5. Dressing Up
6. The Caterpillar
7. Piggy In the Mirror
8. The Empty World
9. Bananafishbones
10. The Top
