The Top.
I love this album. I think it's better than The Head on the Door, better than Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
What do you consider to be the Cure's most underrated album?
Bloodflowers. I didn't give it much of a chance when it came out. WMS had soured me on The Cure for a while and Bloodflowers just wasn't what I wanted to hear to get back into them. I've listened to this album quite a bit the last few years and think it's brilliant. It's not the bands best work, but an outstanding album that didn't get a lot of notice due to lack of hit singles. One thing that fascinates me about Bloodflowers is the way Robert wrote the songs, imposing some restrictions. He limited the bpm to between 80 and 120, only worked in a few keys (so he could swap parts between songs to see what worked best), and limited the amount of times he could repeat a phrase to two. Funny that this is why I like this album now, because when I first listened to it I thought it all sounded the same. Go figure...
Bloodflowers is excellent (I devoted my username to it, after all). I tried ordering the Cure albums from best to worst, and I think Bloodflowers came in third, which is incredible, considering it beat out the likes of Wish and Faith.
Bloodflowers is a very relaxed album in some parts (Out of This World, There is No If), and very frantic at other (Watching Me Fall, 39, Bloodflowers), and mournful throughout. It is an album that I can't bring myself to make into a compilation in the way that I have with Wish, WMS, KMKMKM, and the Head on the Door. Bloodflowers feels very much like a single unit, and I'm not sure if I've ever sat down to listen to Out of this World without listening to the whole album.
And the songs! Oh, the songs.
Out of This World continues The Cure's tradition of incredible openers, and it is one of my favourite Cure songs.
Maybe Someday is a great rock song, and I love the flighty keyboards in the background. Not my favourite Cure song, but definitely in my top fifty (which is quite saying something).
The Last Day of Summer is one of the best songs the Cure has written in years. Very mournful, a great acoustic song. A top twenty song.
39 took me awhile to get into, but I love it now. The lyrics are wonderful and I love the bass.
And finally, Bloodflowers. The drums in the beginning are excellent. The build-up is excellent as well, and while I slightly prefer the more serene verses, I can find no fault with his song. A top ten.
Oh, and if you're wondering, I think this was what I ordered the albums as.
1. Pornography/Disintegration (I will never be able...
2. Disintegration/Pornography (...to decide which is better.)
3. Bloodflowers
4. Faith
5. Seventeen Seconds
6. Wish
7. The Top
8. The Head on the Door
9. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
10. Wild Mood Swings
11. The Cure
12. Three Imaginary Boys
And I wouldn't rank any of these albums, except for TIB, below 9.
The cure. I think bloodflowers is overrated... :oops: I know i´m not a traditional
curefan cause i rarely listen to bf and i listen to their silly cure album more nowadays.
I like it "when they lose it" and make fun and sound paranoid and silly. I think
pornography is their best record and 17 seconds the second best. Faith is a bit... underproduced like bf to me... But i understand the traditional fans who like bf... of course, since i know many of those fans.
-bw
Quote from: bluewater on December 09, 2006, 15:08:36
The cure. I think bloodflowers is overrated... :oops:
as much as i do love and cherish bloodflowers i think this is true: i honestly cannot consider it being discussed as an
underrated album - i think none of the 'trilogy' albums can really be considered underrated anymore - i don't mean they are everyone's favorites (although for many they are - which might say something...) but after all they are THE 'trilogy' albums!
so even if people donn't always personally enjoy them, many still repsect them and see their value.... mostly.
anyway, if the question here was "which album
you used to think maybe not so highly at first but then later recognized and learned to respect" - then i think bloodflowers could be a winner. i had a bit similar experiences with it that crobi mentioned, which was that at first it didn't really strike me although i had a definite feeling this one really needed to be listened a lot, that it was a really good album. but it took a little time to grow with it.
anyway, in the end bloodflowers didn't end up being an underrated album - quite the contrary.
i tend understand that with the question of "which one is the most underrated" we might need to start with albums which actually are widely known to be "well, maybe not so their best... uhhh" kind of cases - albums that are most often mentioned and discussed because of their "flaws" and not because they were quite widely recognized as masterpieces.
so, for me that means the question might swirls around TIB, the top, WMS, the cure.
which one of them would be "the best", which one deserved least reprimands.
i'd be bound to say it's either the top or the cure...
i'm not 100% sure but maybe the cure. with a different production it maybe would have been....
m
I consider Bloodflowers to be underrated because of the negative backlash there has been to the album since it came out. Sure, at first it was hailed as the return, but now?
http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/songs.html
Out Of This World: 8.98
Watching Me Fall: 9.18
Where the Birds Always Sing: 8.95
Maybe Someday: 9.37
The Last Day of Summer: 9.43
There is No If: 9.26
The Loudest Sound: 9.12
39: 8.68
Bloodflowers: 8.76
Album as a whole: 8.79 (not an average)
---
That gives it underrated status for me. There isn't a single one of those rankings that I think shouldn't be higher. Bloodflowers is one of my favourite Cure songs of all time, and here it is ranked as "meh".
Heresy, methinks.
the top! we know: drugs, drugs, drugs, but it is very good album! i love songs like shake dog shake, GIVE ME IT, bird mad girl! and dressing up - i love it!
I think that The Top and WMS are the most underrated albums of the Cure.
WMS, because, on my opinion, some WMS b-sides are great and they obscure the LP. But really I consider WMS not so bad like most of people say.
About The Top, I agree with other fans.
Finally I think that The Cure is the most overrated album: in Italy is the all time more selled LP of The Cure!!!! :smth017
The Top, with great songs like "Birdmad Girl", "Dressing Up", "Piggy in the Mirror" and "The Top", and Kiss Me, with great songs like "How beautiful you are", "Torture"(in live ) "like Cockatoos" (in live) and Fight (in live too !).
I think these two albums are better in live, because the production, on the official album, isn't as good as albums like Pornography or Disintegration. :)
the most underrated cure album ever ( i know for most its no cure album ) is "japanese whisper"
i LOVE the dream, the upstair rooms, just one kiss.
i hear this album reglar sometimes a month, and i love it everytime !!!!
the song the dream made my easter party in 1989 !!!!
song this is a song which reminds me on my teenage years a lot, and one special girl
I agree that Bloodflowers is completely overrated even if I can understand why fans like it
It contains some great songs (Out Of This World is amazing) but I never go over 39 and Watching Me Fall (Labyrinth being a much better version of the same song by the way 8))
Also, I don't consider Bloodflowers as part of the Trilogy cos, call me Old School, I still think the Trilogy is Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography
Talking about underrated records, Wild Mood Swings could have been a great record if Robert had chosen a different song sequence and replace some of the tracks by some of the B-sides :smth011
I think Bloodflowers is one of the worst Cure album, with any inspiration, not even one good song. Even songs like "Out of this world" or "Last day of summer" are very anoying and superficials... But i respect the opinion of others fans ! :roll:
Wild Mood Swings is their most underrated album, but i do think that if it hadn't have been released during that stupid, pointless Britpop era it would have been recieved a lot better by the critics. There's nothing wrong with WMS, its a great pop record, the 13th is a classic, eccentric Cure song, something i love them for. Mint Car is a bit daft ok, but Strange Attraction is one of Robert's best love songs.
I think 2004's The Cure is OverRated, its rubbish. To me they made that album more for critics and the like rather than themselves. If the next album is anything like the 2004 disappointment, they will lose me completely. A 46 year old man shouting I Cant Find Myself was just so pretentious..., Before 3 was too heavy and too repetitive, Taking Off is a total rehash of Just Like Heaven and nowhere near as good. Likewise the Promise is a total reworking of the Kiss, again, nowhere near it.
Bloodflowers is great.
I admit that I tend to skip over a few tracks on The Cure album, but I don't think it's that bad. I really like The Promise, rehash of The Kiss or not (and I don't feel it is); I really like The End of the World, just because I think it's a good little pop song; I really like alt.end as well, for the same reasons; I think Lost is great too -- it's not my favourite Cure opener (not even close...) but I think it's a good song nonetheless; and I think the b-sides (Your God is Fear, Why Can't I Be Me?, etc.) are all great.
I do admit, however, that I hope their next record is much less like The Cure than I think it's going to be.
Bloodflowers, of course..........and since we like a bit of controversy id say its the best Cure album next to Disintegration ;)
Ooh, that IS controversial... I love Bloodflowers, personally, but if Disintegration is their best, then Pornography is second. Though Bloodflowers is definitely third.
WILD MOOD SWINGS
A) My first Cure album, album because I started to love the band
B) Really diverse album
C) A fresh start for the band
D) New, great, strong and tight lineup
E) Great tour to follow
F) It really polarizes the curefans, which is great for me!
G) The last album where they started something really new (13th, Club America,...)
H) GREAT, GREAT image the band had at the time...
...
:rocker
the mixed album. purely because it isnt THAT bad
critics are almost always wrong so...
personally i underrate bloodflowers... but i admit it...
i haven´t looked polls of favourite albums by cure fans so...
i have the feeling that the cure album is underrated
at the moment i´m underrating wish
-bluewater
Eh... 'Mixed Up'... There are a few versions of songs on there that I think are great (A Forest, Close to Me, Fascination Street, and Lovesong -- the last of which I happen to feel is superior to the original), some songs that are just okay (Pictures of You, Never Enough, In-Between Days), and some songs that are just plain bad (Lullaby, Hot Hot Hot!!!, The Walk, and The Caterpillar). That said, I would love for The Cure to release another remix collection. They're weaker than 'real' albums as a whole, but there are some fantastic versions, usually.
And I really like 'The Cure'; I think it's vastly inferior to most of their catalogue, but I really do like it. People can tell me over and over that The Promise is a rewrite of The Kiss, and I'll just mention that I happen to prefer The Promise (though I absolutely adore them both... and I think The Kiss is much better live than on the LP, where it is still fantastic).
As for my relative dislike of Three Imaginary Boys: While I LOVE the title track, Fire in Cairo, and 10.15, I have no love for Grinding Halt (though I like the Desperate Journalist version) and can generally do without the album. I think it would be lucky to get a 7/10 from me, because Three Imaginary Boys does not negate Foxy Lady, Meathook, and Object.
Quote from: Bloodflower on January 04, 2007, 00:54:09That said, I would love for The Cure to release another remix collection. They're weaker than 'real' albums as a whole, but there are some fantastic versions, usually.
i wouldn't actually mind it either. i know it's almost everyone's "duty as a fan" to say they dislike mixed up but i always liked it a lot. it was actually the first cure album that i ever bought. i was familiar with most of the disintegration before it but for some reason i got so delayed i got mixed up first. i can't remember why anymore. :?
and i actually bought a new CD copy quite recently because the old one hmm, died... :( ;)
Quote from: Bloodflower on January 04, 2007, 00:54:09some songs that are just okay (Pictures of You, Never Enough, In-Between Days)
i've always considered william orbit's 'shiver mix' of inbetween days to be one of the real treasures there.
the problem with many remixes is that they simply start sounding outdated. but i think that one still doesn't.
also, i think another good one from the 'mixed up' era is definitely the 'milk mix' of LGTB, not found on the CD though.
(hmm i actually feel like listening to some mixed up right now, thanks for reminding me for the simple pleasures of it bloodflower! :D)
I really don't 'dislike' any of The Cure's albums, but Mixed Up and Three Imaginary Boys are definitely at the bottom of my like-list. I tend to use both for compilation purposes -- they're the only two albums of The Cure's that contain more than two tracks that I dislike. I only disliked two tracks from WMS (Return, Round & Round & Round), after all.
But I do feel that Mixed Up receives more hate than it deserves.
Quote from: Bloodflower on January 04, 2007, 00:54:09some songs
thanks for reminding me for the simple pleasures of it bloodflower! :D)
ahm
Quote from: farquad92 on January 03, 2007, 19:01:27
the mixed album. purely because it isnt THAT bad
;) :lol:
Quote from: Bloodflower on December 09, 2006, 04:34:28
The Top.
I love this album. I think it's better than The Head on the Door, better than Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
What do you consider to be the Cure's most underrated album?
Yes, very old topic, but I'd never seen it before so...
I agree with Bloodflower completely. The Top is kaleidoscopic, strangely beautiful and intense, a roller coaster ride, endlessly fascinating to me even though I've heard it a million times.... And it always surprises me to see how many people don't consider it much.
This is a tough one. I suppose the last self titled Cure album is underrated because no one mentions it and it has the best fresh tunes from beginning to end in over 10 years. Robert and the band as a whole sound inspired and diverse. Really the proper follow up to Wish in my mind.
Quote from: Rickenbacker4003 on February 26, 2008, 15:43:21
This is a tough one. I suppose the last self titled Cure album is underrated because no one mentions it and it has the best fresh tunes from beginning to end in over 10 years. Robert and the band as a whole sound inspired and diverse. Really the proper follow up to Wish in my mind.
I agree, there 2004 self titled album was very underrated.
QuoteThe Top.
I love this album. I think it's better than The Head on the Door, better than Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
I totally agree with you Bloodflower. The top is a really ggod album… (except the Wailing wall)… all the songs are in a bittersweet mood that makes it so intense and deep… the sound of the guitar… the bass lines…
It makes me cry and laugh at the same time.
People don't like it but it's such a nice disc… one of my favs…
And Happy the man is such a good Bside too ;)
Quote from: clubsmith82 on December 30, 2006, 15:46:29
Wild Mood Swings is their most underrated album, but i do think that if it hadn't have been released during that stupid, pointless Britpop era it would have been recieved a lot better by the critics.
I agree! WMS really is underrated. And the Britpop 'hype' at the time helped this. :smth011
I enjoyed the album at the time. Looking back, some things could have been better (mixing it apparently was done in too much of a rush). Some songs may be replaced with a b-side (some of those were brilliant), but all in all a good album and very underrated.
Don't really agree about Wild Mood Swings, although I think it was neccesary to have an album like that.
Personally its the only album where I only enjoy a few songs as opposed to the majority. I feel The Top, particularly the re-released deluxe version is under rated by many, perhaps also by Robert himself. Songs like The Top itself Shake Dog Shake, Piggy in the Mirror, now that i think about it I love the entire album!
Quote from: vsoleil on March 13, 2008, 11:32:28
QuoteThe Top.
I love this album. I think it's better than The Head on the Door, better than Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
I totally agree with you Bloodflower. The top is a really ggod album… (except the Wailing wall)… all the songs are in a bittersweet mood that makes it so intense and deep… the sound of the guitar… the bass lines…
It makes me cry and laugh at the same time.
People don't like it but it's such a nice disc… one of my favs…
And Happy the man is such a good Bside too ;)
I love The Top!
And I agree about the b-sides :smth023
I know some people think Robert went completely bonkers on this album, but that's exactly why I love it... it's erratic and manic, but also romantic. Or maybe it's just me? :-D
I think The Cure and Wild Mood Swings are definitely underrated. I'm not saying that The Cure was an amazing album, but it has some very good songs (very strong opening if you include Truth Goodness and Beauty).
And I don't get why Three Imaginary Boys is so overlooked. I guess musically it's quite simple compared to the later albums, but that's what is so brilliant about it for me. Fantastic bass lines by Dempsey... he wasn't a Cure member very long but the music he left I am eternally grateful for. :)
I'd also say The Top, has at least certain songs I'd still love to see them play live again + good b-sides as well, would have loved to have a better sound on it though, the remaster already is way better than the original, but the general production is a bit of a let down. still underrated album, many good songs haven't been played since 1984 (Birdmad Girl, The Top, Empty World) - and, yes, I like Wailing Wall as well.
The Cure is not underrated for me, as I think it is the worst album they have done so far... Mixed Up is surely underrated - the version of A Forest is ace, still wish they had chosen Harold*Joe as the lead single though, would have worked better with the total sound of the album...
Overrated? Kiss Me..., Head On The Door, Wish...
For sure WILD MOOD SWING.
I've always heard fans saying: "OMG this is the worst album by the cure!", or "this shouldn't be a cure's album!", etc.
I totally disagree with these critics...ok, it's not one of my favourite albums, but imho there are some of the most beautiful curesongs, as "want", "jupiter crash", "bare", "this is a lie"...and I think the whole album is the pretty good result of the intention of "looking beyond"! :smth020
Well you've got under-rated from a fans perspective or the critics/general public.
'The Top's been getting props for a while now (even from RS himself), Wild Mood Swings isn't shown quite as much love lol...to be fair though i think there's quite a bit of good stuff on there.
Quote from: Bloodflower on December 09, 2006, 21:24:17Bloodflowers is one of my favourite Cure songs of all time, and here it is ranked as "meh".
Hehe, "meh"...
I'd say Bloodflowers and Wild Mood Swings are the two top underrated albums, yes. The Cure...nah. Never really got into it, very few songs I like. Also, Robert's vocals sound so strained(?), almost hurts a bit to listen to...The b-side This Morning should have been on the album, quite like it...
WMS may sound a little banal at times, like the sentimental strings of Treasure (love it still!), but I enjoy almost every song on the album (especially Baaare!). I did find Bloodflowers boring at first, but it sure grew on me! I listen to songs from these two albums every week (not just the same two or three gems...). The b-sides to these albums are great too, like Waiting (ooo, Waiting), Spilt Milk (not a b-side, but recorded the same year as Bloodflowers?), A pink dream...
Don't know about the earlier albums, I've always found them a bit untouchable, coming from legendary eras of the band (start and prime)...Japanese Whispers and Three Imaginary Boys should get more attention though. The Top is tops...great proof of how versatile the band is,
as well as proof of their criminal, psychedelic-related activities....
comparing this thread and my Cure taste, definitely Bloodflowers
Well, to ask avid Cure fans "the most underrated album ever" is in itself, rather pointless, because to us, nothing Robert Smith and company is underrated. But...for the point of this post, I would have to say The Top, mainly for the lame reason that I have never heard any songs from it played on the radio. Of course, I was also three when the album came out. :P
I think "THE CURE" is desperately underrated.
With the exception of the singles, which, let's face it, are pants, the rest of the disc is something of a look into the past if you listen to it.
Anniversary is just frighteningly good & I would recommend to anyone to go home, turn the stereo up full & play Going Nowhere.
Shame the cover was a load of rubbish huh?
I like about half of "The Cure."
Lost
Labyrinth
Before Three
Truth Goodness and Beauty
The End of the World
Anniversary
Alt.End
The Promise
Going Nowhere
This Morning
Your God is Fear
If the tracklisting had been THAT (with some order shuffling, obviously), it would have been a great album.
Shame.
HA!
HERE'S WHAT I THINK:
I THINK THIS NEW ONE IS PRETTY UNDERRATED
WITH THE 2004 ALBUM THERE WAS SOME SORT OF HIGH ANTICIPATION (IN PRESS)
THIS TIME, I START TO WORRY THAT FEW CARE ABOUT THE NEW CURE ALBUM
:roll:
Quote from: Janko on May 13, 2008, 21:30:49
HA!
HERE'S WHAT I THINK:
I THINK THIS NEW ONE IS PRETTY UNDERRATED
WITH THE 2004 ALBUM THERE WAS SOME SORT OF HIGH ANTICIPATION (IN PRESS)
THIS TIME, I START TO WORRY THAT FEW CARE ABOUT THE NEW CURE ALBUM
:roll:
let's not overrate or underrate it until we have it...
hard to rate something that doesn't even exist for us yet.
"The Top" is the most underrated one. It´s diverse in an inventive way, most of the songs are very good, it has the best lyrics of any Cure album bar "Pornography" (and maybe "Disintegration") and probably displays Robert Smith's best vocal performance on album ever. The critics (and many Cure fans, as it seems) usually bash or simply ignore it - I say they must be deaf.
"Three Imaginary Boys" has also been underrated - this one not so much by critics, but apparently by Cure fans. I can´t really understand why. A couple of fillers apart ("Object" and "Foxy lady" come to mind, but at least they are fun), this is a strong album from start to finish. More poppy and carefree than subsequent albums, yes, but I see no problem in that.
Actually, I stand corrected... "Object" is good punk-influenced song, just like "It´s not you". The filler track I should have mentioned is "So What", which is kind of hookless, even though the lyrics are really funny...
All in all, the best possible version of the debut album would be a combination of the "Three Imaginary Boys" LP and the "Boys Don´t Cry" LP, including all the A-sides from the first 3 singles plus "Plastic Passion" and excluding "Foxy Lady" and "So What".
When I first read the thread title "The Top" was the first that jumped to mind. It is different and really aired out their sound and pushed them forward musically. I still think HOTD wouldn't be the album it was without The Top. Still my favourite Cure albums there.
I think that either their self-titled album or Wild Mood Swings are their most under-rated albums. Nobody really talked about WMS for some reason, but it has some really good songs on it (Want, Club America, Return, and, yes, The 13th).
Their self-titled album is in my top 5 favorite albums of their's, and I don't understand all of the negativity towards it. A lot of fans that I know say that The Cure should have stopped making music after Bloodflowers and completely dismiss their self-titled album for some reason.
The Cure!
I really love the crude emotion on the self-titles album. This dark wild coarseness of songs like 'lost', 'labyrinth' or 'the promise' to me is really close to the pronography songs. no kidding! these songs do all have such an incledible furious power. (the only song beside these two albums having that may be 'the kiss')
and there are other great songs on it like 'anniversay' (not everyone's cup of tea, i know ;)) 'going nowhere' or the sparkish 'before three'. and all the rest more or less are solid cure songs. and album really worth the work...if not as good as the highly praised 'wish' (really like 'wish'!)
8)
Quote from: moutheyesheart on September 15, 2008, 15:11:15
The Cure!
I really love the crude emotion on the self-titles album. This dark wild coarseness of songs like 'lost', 'labyrinth' or 'the promise' to me is really close to the pronography songs. no kidding! these songs do all have such an incledible furious power. (the only song beside these two albums having that may be 'the kiss')
You are right, there. Those songs have something of the dark power of "Pornography" in them and are really worthy of praise. The problem is that the rest of the album doesn't have the same intensity or inspiration...
Quote from: moutheyesheart on September 15, 2008, 15:11:15
and there are other great songs on it like 'anniversay' (not everyone's cup of tea, i know ;)) 'going nowhere' or the sparkish 'before three'. and all the rest more or less are solid cure songs. and album really worth the work...if not as good as the highly praised 'wish' (really like 'wish'!)
8)
Agree with "Anniversary", the 4th thumbs-up song on "The Cure". The problem is the other songs - most are listenable but sound like The Cure are not giving their best. "Before three', for example, is the kind of softly melodic but tired song that seems to have been taken from 'Blooodflowers' (it really would have fit there quite well instead of "Maybe someday"). And "Going nowhere" - I've already said it too many times, maybe - is also soft and nice but really "goes nowhere" in particular... All in all, the album just doesn't come out right as a whole - unlike albums as "The Top" or "KMKMKM", which were also very diverse in terms of music styles but somehow managed to sound "coherent".
I think the most underrated album is Wild Mood Swings, alot of people peg it as their worst whereas I think it has alot of great songs. It shows both sides of the Cure better than any other Cure album really. It has some of their darkest and most depressing songs like This Is A Lie and Numb, some great wistful ballads in Treasure and Bare and one of the best angry songs the Cure has ever done, Want. The pop songs are awesome too Mint Car, Strange Attraction, The 13th and Return all are catchy as hell.
The only big problem I see with it is that its a very "studio" album and the songs just lose alot of their power live. Want is a notable exception and sounds amazing live.
Quote from: KingOfSomeIsland on September 23, 2008, 03:23:19
I think the most underrated album is Wild Mood Swings, alot of people peg it as their worst whereas I think it has alot of great songs. It shows both sides of the Cure better than any other Cure album really.
Better than KMKMKM!!?? :shock:
great dark songs: The Kiss
beautiful ballads: If only tonight we could sleep, One more time
great pop songs: Just Like Heaven, Catch, How beautiful you are
Plus:
great rocking tunes: Torture, All I want
great psychedelic tunes: Like cockatoos, The snakepit
I could go on...
For myself the most underarrated album is "Wish". I remember well the shock when it came out many fans where still mesmerized by "Disintegration". Me too. I was shocked by Roberts new hairstyle and uncool clothings. I liked the "High" single and hated "Friday I'm in Love". Then I bought the album and I was really disappointed. Many of the songs sounded "to much heavy" or "poppy" or "wannabe sad". Less electronics and less atmosphere than on "Disintegration". I went to a concert of the "Wish" tour and was disappointed again. Strange set at this time, I think. But now, 16 years later I like the album.
Hmmm...
The problem is : Underrated from who?
Critics?The Band?Cure-fans that i know?Or by myself?
So you see it depends...
Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out. This was the case in my circle of friends. So I guess that "Wish" was underrated ... at that time.
Quote from: cure89 on September 25, 2008, 11:57:24
Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out.
yes, i remember this too, people complaining that the band had sold out and were finished, and that 'from the edge...' was the only song worth a listen on the whole album and so on.
might sound surprising today, especially for newer fans(?).
i suppose the question "most underrated cure album EVER" is a pretty difficult one since the word "ever" should include both "back then" and "today" and those are often two completely different things. but perhaps that's what also makes it an interesting question at all, that friction between "back then" and "today".
Well I think that's it depends off what you heaved first.
When I was 15, 16 years old I wasn't able to buy all the albums, so I had for a very long time only Wish and Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me and than also 3 non official live albums, two dubbles and one single. Of course all these live albums where with the best songs. And I liked the Cure!
Than a few years later I received the Trilogy DVD and greatest hits DVD as a present. Then I bought the selftitled album The Cure, and a loved this whole album.
And after that I bought in following order: Faith , Pornography, Disintegration, and than all the rest of the albums all together. And I loved them all. My favourites are Faith and Pornography (masterpieces for me), and I see all the others on there own way as all good albums. I hate non of them. I have an album for every feeling, every mood. I just love THE CURE.
No...actually i didn't meant about 'wish' my question was going to the author of the topic.'Most Underrated Album,for whom?'
Me?
Fans in general?
Critics?
The othe music world?
:)
So it depends...
Quote from: japanesebaby on September 25, 2008, 12:16:25
Quote from: cure89 on September 25, 2008, 11:57:24
Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out.
yes, i remember this too, people complaining that the band had sold out and were finished, and that 'from the edge...' was the only song worth a listen on the whole album and so on.
might sound surprising today, especially for newer fans(?).
Well, that "the band had sold out" perspective is very difficult to understand! :shock: I mean, if fans were able to accept "The Head on The Door" and all the top-oriented singles, I cannot understand how they could view "Wish" as a selling-out move... As a whole, it is certainly less commercial than THOTD.
That exception for FTEOTDGS is also surprising... Even if those fans were of the kind that only likes the dark and moody stuff, they would also have at least "Apart", "Trust" and "End".
As far as I'm concerned there are only two possible REASONABLE motives for a disappointment with "Wish": it was their 1st album that showed The Cure incapable of moving forward artistically, their first album to sound "predictable"; and also the quality of the songs is a bit uneven.
Quote from: japanesebaby on September 25, 2008, 12:16:25
Quote from: cure89 on September 25, 2008, 11:57:24
i suppose the question "most underrated cure album EVER" is a pretty difficult one since the word "ever" should include both "back then" and "today" and those are often two completely different things. but perhaps that's what also makes it an interesting question at all, that friction between "back then" and "today".
Point well made. For instance, "Pornography" received mixed reviews in 1982, it took time for it to be more or less widely recognised as a Cure classic. Perhaps other similar examples could be mentioned...
The difference is probably that "The Head On The Door" was a well-mixed album full of highlights of pop and dark sounds. A typical Wave classic for my liking. Much better than "The Top". For myself "Wish" had the hard cloack to be the follow-up album of their 1989 masterpiece. They should never reach that deepness ... After "Disintegration" the "Wish" album sounded exerted and enforced ... especially in the darker parts. That was my impression, at least.
This would be a good topic to get going again as it probably changes in people's minds over time. I don't think that The Top is underrated at this point. I think the album that Cure fans underrate the most is Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me It is the Cure at the top of their game musically. It is basically a double album with no filler and you can't say that very often. So many more styles than any other album:
Dreamy classic Cure - "How Beautiful You Are" "The Catch"
Exotic and Surreal - "The Snakepit" "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" "Like Cockatoos"
Dark guitar driven: "The Kiss" "Torture"
Manic Pop: "Hot Hot Hot" "Why Can't I Be You"
Disintegration is a better album (and I think their best) but to me Kiss Me... is right behind it.
A couple of years later, and I have to say that I've somewhat changed my mind. I think the most underrated album of theirs is The Top, followed by a toss-up between WMS and the self-titled album.
"Underrated"is probably not the right word,from my point of view.Overlook would fit better.
Some albums were highly anticipated,but the reception was low (WMS,The Cure,4:13 Dream).
The most overlooked album,for me personally,is Bloodflowers,undeservedly.
"The Top" is no longer underrated,at least by the fans.
I'd have to give the most under-rated award to 'Three Imaginary Boys'. None of the rest of them is under-rated, really. They all seem to slot in pretty much where they deserve to be. Is 'Bloodflowers' under-rated? It won a Grammy award. Is 'Wish' under-rated? Wasn't it number one in England? Number two in America? One of the earlier posts asked just who exactly was doing the under-rating, critics or fans? That's the crux of the matter right there. 'Three Imaginary Boys' seems to qualify on both counts. It is definitely the most unlike any of the other albums by The Cure; it's a bit like 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' in that respect. Excellent album ('...diamond geezer in his own right...') and completely different than anything that came afterward.
The record company selected the songs and cover artwork for TIB.
(see pp.61,"Lol Tolhurst",Knutr Benoit) In other words:It is not Robert's "baby",
strictly speaking and that's why this album is possibly underrated.I still don't like this word regarding classic cure albums.
You're right.
Quote from: cheyler on June 14, 2014, 10:26:27
I'd have to give the most under-rated award to 'Three Imaginary Boys'. None of the rest of them is under-rated, really. They all seem to slot in pretty much where they deserve to be. Is 'Bloodflowers' under-rated? It won a Grammy award.
Once again, "under-rated" is a description which needs more details or a definition we all can live with. ;)
Personally, I'd say e.g. "Wild Mood Swings" was/is under-rated in terms of commercial sales and the status it has among fans. "The Top" was once described as the Cure's "scrappiest disc" in a music paper article back in the 90's, thus it might've been underrated (compared to the albums most people seem to think of as "classic Cure").
TIB wasn't a bad debut album, but RS himself thinks that the band was more in control and found "their own sound" on "17 Seconds".
Bloodflowers.
Here is my order of fav to least fav (my opinion of each album EXCLUDES b-sides and rarities from the era... just ranking the album itself proper)
Disintegration
Wish
Bloodflowers
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
The Head On The Door
4:13 Dream
Wild Mood Swings
Three Imaginary Boys / Boys Don't Cry
The Cure
The Top
Seventeen Seconds
Pornography
Faith