The Top: underrated album

kingofsorrow · September 08, 2009, 06:29:17

it's easier after all this time to like "the top" in the midst of all the other cure albums. back then however it was like WHOA! to then cure fans. back in the 80's it was referred to as the cure's disco album.

the darker/deeper side of the album wasn't immediately apparent, especially with single's like "caterpillar" and "the walk".
i admit it took me a long time to appreciate "the top", but it has aged well with me.

Carnage Visor · November 05, 2009, 23:37:49

One of their best, in my opinion! I love the middle-eastern sound of some of the tracks, and the distorted sounds of other tracks. It has a really rich, psychedelic sound to it. It trips me out listening to the whole album in sequence! 8)

Plus, how can one say it's a poor album when The Caterpillar is on it? What a classic song!

Birdmad Guy · May 15, 2013, 07:03:44

I love The Top. I even have a tattoo on my forearm of the top symbol on the back cover of the album.

tercat · August 24, 2013, 19:52:34

I agree that it's underrated. Of course, the only song I don't like on it seems to be the only one most Cure fans do like, so clearly my taste is not the norm in this case. I listen to Seventeen Seconds and The Top--and more recently I'm going back to The Head on the Door again--probably more than any other Cure albums these days.

I can see how The Top might have seemed pretty frothy after Pornography, but it's still a fairly dark album in a lot of ways. It sounds like different drugs and a different response to darkness. Instead of gloom, it's disturbed.

There are some great lyrics on this album, too. "The Wailing Wall" is very evocative, and "The Empty World," though short, is just glorious. I mean, come on:

As stiff as toys
And tall as men
And swaying like the wind torn trees
She talked about the empty world
With eyes like poisoned birds

She talked about the armies
That marched inside her head
And how they made her dreams go bad
But oh!
How happy she was!
How proud she was!
To be fighting in the war
In the empty world!

As others have said, it's a wonderfully strange record, in the best sort of way, and is so quintessentially The Cure. I love it.

in bed amongst the stones · September 16, 2013, 04:25:12

I've always loved this album and never understood the dislike that always seems directed at it. I love it for its sheer bizarre weirdness. Robert's weird vocal fluctuations on tracks like Dressing Up, The Caterpillar and Piggy in the Mirror make me laugh. I love it! I rank it as my fifth favorite album after Faith, Pornography, Seventeen Seconds and Disintegration.

Birdmad Guy · September 23, 2013, 01:26:05

Another great thing is that I like every song on The Top. It's the only album by them that I like every song on. Even my fave Head on the Door has a few clunkers.

Violator · February 06, 2014, 00:19:17

Relistening to the album yesterday, I seemed to like it a lot more than I had before. Andy's drumming is still one of the highlights on the album for me; I think that his percussive work helps the album to sound so different from the other albums by the band. Robert's vocal work on the album really shows where he would go over the next couple of albums, and the music even hints at some of the songs that would show up later on THOTD and KMKMKM.

MeltingMan · March 18, 2014, 18:42:34

Wow! I'm impressed,because "The Top"was not very popular, in all respect, for a longer time.
Maybe it suffered by it successor "The Head on the Door".I was too young and on the "wrong side"
to be part of the audience in 1984,but I loved the title track and "The Wailing Wall" at once.I knew
this album is very,very special.I can play it up and down and I still love it!
Thanks to Robert,Andy and,of course,Laurence.

revolt_again · March 18, 2014, 19:01:28

It's true that 'The Top' has always been underrated by critics - it was not well received when it was initially released and still today it is usually considered to be a minor or even weak album.

But with Cure fans it seems to be different. At least most opinions I've found seem to be favourable to the album. And it's easy to understand why: while it was recorded by an atypical line-up, the track list is really strong - there's really not a weak song to be found there. It is also one of The Cure's most eclectic albums - in that respect you could say it is kind of a first attempt at the kind of album the band would do with KMKMKM or 'Wish', for instance. Even if overall it has a kind of pervasive psychedelic vibe that those laters albums don't possess. What's more to like about it? It has one of the strongest set of lyrics on any Cure album, only matched (or surpassed...) in that respect by 'Pornography' and 'Disintegration'. And it has one of Robert's most powerful vocal performances ever... Ah, and it includes one of their best openers ever ('Shake Dog Shake') and also one of their strongest closers ('The Top').

MeltingMan · March 19, 2014, 21:12:21

Quote from: revolt_again on March 18, 2014, 19:01:28
It's true that 'The Top' has always been underrated by critics - it was not well received when it was initially released and still today it is usually considered to be a minor or even weak album.

But with Cure fans it seems to be different. At least most opinions I've found seem to be favourable to the album. And it's easy to understand why: while it was recorded by an atypical line-up, the track list is really strong - there's really not a weak song to be found there. It is also one of The Cure's most eclectic albums - in that respect you could say it is kind of a first attempt at the kind of album the band would do with KMKMKM or 'Wish', for instance. Even if overall it has a kind of pervasive psychedelic vibe that those laters albums don't possess. What's more to like about it? It has one of the strongest set of lyrics on any Cure album, only matched (or surpassed...) in that respect by 'Pornography' and 'Disintegration'. And it has one of Robert's most powerful vocal performances ever... Ah, and it includes one of their best openers ever ('Shake Dog Shake') and also one of their strongest closers ('The Top').

Yes.Finally,I would claim it is no longer "worst Cure album ever".
It took up a special position.Maybe a reason why "Concert" was released,
to represent the live performance in that relatively short period.

MeltingMan · May 22, 2014, 10:41:51

Thirty years old now and not a bit quietly!
GOOD FOR YOU!!

Ulrich · May 25, 2014, 11:10:17

Great pic (c/o Richard Bellia) from the recording sessions to celebrate this anniversary:

It's from this issue of "Uncut" Magazine:
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/uncut-editors-diary/introducing-the-cure-the-ultimate-music-guide

MeltingMan · May 25, 2014, 12:43:59

This is brilliant,thanks,Ulrich.(I ordered a copy,of course).

SusannaRS · May 26, 2014, 09:54:40

Quote from: Ulrich on May 25, 2014, 11:10:17
Great pic (c/o Richard Bellia) from the recording sessions to celebrate this anniversary:

It's from this issue of "Uncut" Magazine:
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/uncut-editors-diary/introducing-the-cure-the-ultimate-music-guide

Just received my copy! It's amazing!