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For ''The Top'', Smith teamed up with ] whom had given up drums for keyboards and recently new member, drummer ] whom had previously performed on the UK top 10 single ]. ] was credited for playing saxophone on the track on "Give Me It". All the songs are credited by Smith bar three tracks co-written with Tolhurst, "]", "Bird Mad Girl" and "Piggy in the Mirror". Upon its release, the reaction if the British press was mixed: the album was praised by the '']'' for its "Psychedelia that can't be dated",<ref name=maker /> whereas it was rated 2.5 stars out of 5 by '']'' which prophesied: "In 20 years time, when the next generation blush with excitement about the word psychedelic, it'll be regarded as a classic".<ref name=sounds /> For ''The Top'', Smith teamed up with ] whom had given up drums for keyboards and recently new member, drummer ] whom had previously performed on the UK top 10 single ]. ] was credited for playing saxophone on the track on "Give Me It". All the songs are credited by Smith bar three tracks co-written with Tolhurst, "]", "Bird Mad Girl" and "Piggy in the Mirror". Upon its release, the reaction if the British press was mixed: the album was praised by the '']'' for its "Psychedelia that can't be dated",<ref name=maker /> whereas it was rated 2.5 stars out of 5 by '']'' which prophesied: "In 20 years time, when the next generation blush with excitement about the word psychedelic, it'll be regarded as a classic".<ref name=sounds />


''The Top'' was a commercial success in 1984: it peaked at No. 10 on the ]. "The Caterpillar" was the sole single released from the album. ''The Top'' was a commercial success in 1984: it peaked at No. 10 on the ].<ref name="chart">{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/cure/ |title=Cure <nowiki>| Artist |</nowiki> Official Charts |publisher=] |accessdate=20 March 2013}}</ref> "The Caterpillar" was the sole single released from the album.


==2006 re-release== ==2006 re-release==

Revision as of 20:50, 28 April 2016

Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Melody MakerVery favourable
Pitchfork Media6.9/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Sounds
Stylus MagazineD+

The Top is the fifth studio album by English band The Cure, released on 30 April 1984 by Fiction Records. After recording one psychedelic album during the summer 1983 Blue Sunshine for The Glove with Steven Severin from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Robert Smith finished off the year composing and working on two other studio albums almost at the same time: The Top for the Cure and Hyæna for Siouxsie and the Banshees. Smith was still the official guitarist of Siouxsie and the Banshees while he wrote The Top. The album was eclectic and saw Smith using all kinds of instruments.

For The Top, Smith teamed up with Lol Tolhurst whom had given up drums for keyboards and recently new member, drummer Andy Anderson whom had previously performed on the UK top 10 single The Lovecats. Porl Thompson was credited for playing saxophone on the track on "Give Me It". All the songs are credited by Smith bar three tracks co-written with Tolhurst, "The Caterpillar", "Bird Mad Girl" and "Piggy in the Mirror". Upon its release, the reaction if the British press was mixed: the album was praised by the Melody Maker for its "Psychedelia that can't be dated", whereas it was rated 2.5 stars out of 5 by Sounds which prophesied: "In 20 years time, when the next generation blush with excitement about the word psychedelic, it'll be regarded as a classic".

The Top was a commercial success in 1984: it peaked at No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart. "The Caterpillar" was the sole single released from the album.

2006 re-release

The album was re-released August 8, 2006 in the U.S. and August 14 in the UK.

The second disc has four previously unreleased tracks ("You Stayed", "Ariel", "A Hand Inside My Mouth" – lyrics from which were eventually used in "Inbetween Days" and "Six Different Ways" – and "Sadicic", which was repurposed as "New Day"), three live performances, and studio outtakes/demos of nine of the ten songs on the original album (and of "Happy the Man" and "Throw Your Foot", final versions of which were released as B-sides on the single "The Caterpillar"). A mastering error which resulted in "Bananafishbones" playing a semitone lower than intended was corrected on this 2006 re-release, with the correct pitch of the song restored.


Track listing

All songs by Robert Smith, except where noted.

Original 1984 release

Side A

  1. "Shake Dog Shake" – 4:55
  2. "Bird Mad Girl" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 4:05
  3. "Wailing Wall" – 5:17
  4. "Give Me It" – 3:42
  5. "Dressing Up" – 2:51

Side B

  1. "The Caterpillar" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40
  2. "Piggy in the Mirror" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40
  3. "The Empty World" – 2:36
  4. "Bananafishbones" – 3:12
  5. "The Top" – 6:50

2006 "Deluxe Edition"

Disc one

  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"

Disc two

  1. "You Stayed..." (Robert Smith home demo 8/82) – 2:21
  2. "Ariel" (Robert Smith home demo 8/82) – 2:58
  3. "A Hand Inside My Mouth" (Des Dames Studio demo 8/83) – 3:40
  4. "Sadacic" (Olympic Studio Robert Smith demo 12/83) – 4:17
  5. "Shake Dog Shake" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 4:56
  6. "Piggy in the Mirror" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 3:40
  7. "Birdmad Girl" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 3:36
  8. "Give Me It" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 3:43
  9. "Throw Your Foot" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 3:31
  10. "Happy the Man" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 2:46
  11. "The Caterpillar" (Garden/Eden Studios Robert Smith and Andy Anderson demo 12/83) – 4:17
  12. "Dressing Up" (Genetic Studio guide vocal/rough mix 2/84) – 2:14
  13. "Wailing Wall" (Genetic Studio rough mix 2/84) – 4:59
  14. "The Empty World" (live bootleg - Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 2:47
  15. "Bananafishbones" (live bootleg - Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 2:57
  16. "The Top" (live bootleg - Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 7:13
  17. "Forever (version)" (live bootleg - Zenith Paris 5/84) – 4:58

Personnel

The Cure
Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1984 The Billboard 200 180

References

  1. True, Chris. "The Top – The Cure". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  3. ^ Sutherland, Steve (5 May 1984). "Topsy-Turvy ". Melody Maker.
  4. Abebe, Nitsuh (25 August 2006). "The Cure / Robert Smith: The Top / The Head on the Door / Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me / Blue Sunshine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 205–06. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  6. ^ Barron, Jack (5 May 1984), The Top review, Sounds
  7. Inskeep, Thomas (20 November 2006). "The Cure – The Top / The Head on the Door / Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me – Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  8. "Cure | Artist | Official Charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  9. ^ Sometimes spelled "Birdmad girl" like in the 2006 Deluxe edition, "Bird Mad Girl" is the title found on the original LP, on later re-releases as well as on The Cure's official website.
  10. "The Top - Deluxe Edition: The Cure: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
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