The Cure Album: “The Head On The Door: Deluxe Edition [Remaster]”

Whenever I hear the first drum beats of this album, I get a smile on my face. Since listening to this album for the first time in the winter of '86, I've savored every note, every word, every emotion, every second. It is truly one of the finest releases of the '80's, yet the music really is timeless. It's a happier Cure than found on "Faith", "Pornography", or "Seventeen Seconds". Don't get me wrong, those albums are excellent, but "Head On The Door" was a new direction for Robert Smith and company. The lyrics on this album are still dark, twisted, and thought provoking like earlier albums, but they are matched with a lighter, happier sounding music. Even on tracks like "Sinking", and "A Night Like This" where the images are dark and brooding, the music is unlike any they've done before. I love this album. It always seems fresh and vibrant...even after all these years (15 to be exact) "The Head On The Door" still makes me happy to be a Cure fan.

Track highlights from "The Head On The Door"? Hmm, they're all great but if I had to pick..."InBetween Days", "Six Different Ways", "A Night Like This", "Push", and "Kyoto Song". Some of the Cure classics by far.

Although the Cure has come to the end of the road in what has been an amazing musical career, I thank the musical gods that looked upon Robert Smith, Laurence Tolhurst, Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup and Boris Williams during the making of this excellent album. Five stars? Nah, I give it six.

I was watching r.e.m's story on behind the music. They were showing some old alternative tv show and they were listing the top five alternative albums of 85. 1. Fables by r.e.m (their best), the rest go like this; one by the talking heads, low-life by new order, the queen is dead by the smiths and this album. Now in 2002 alternative is alien ant farm, limp bizkit, and linkin park. Can I go out on a limb and say there has been a precipitous drop in quality as to what is considered alternative music????

Where are all the reviews for The Head On The Door? At the time I'm writing this, there are only six. This is definitely the most unheralded album in The Cure's collection. That's a shame, because this is a great, great album and a stellar representation of what The Cure was doing in the 80's. I have the entire Cure studio discography, and I can say without hesitation that the song Push from this album is easily one of my very favorite Cure songs. Other favorites on here include In Between Days, Screw and Sinking, with The Baby Screams getting an honorable mention. In fact, everything about this album is brilliant in my opinion. It's all over the place sonically, which is a good thing; it's The Cure branching out even more than usual, if that's possible. In my opinion, 1984's The Top was one of The Cure's weaker efforts, and in 1987, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me dazzled all Cure fans. And, of course, Kiss Me paved the way for one of the greatest albums ever released: 1989's Disintegration. But in the middle of all that was this tiny masterpiece, which has been sadly overlooked since it's release. This is outstanding stuff and, I think, one of The Cure's best albums, right behind Disintegration, Faith and Bloodflowers. Please get this album, and then you may commence to kicking yourself for ignoring it for so long.

1985's "The Head on the Door" is The Cure's most accessible album. 35 minutes long, oozing with catchy melodies and infectious pop hooks.

The depressed lyrics in songs like "In Between Days" and "Push" are overshadowed by the insanely catchy, upbeat synth-pop music.

"Close To Me" is an absolute pop gem; so simple (bass, hand claps, basic synth melody, and Robert Smith's anguished panting), yet so deliciously infectious.

Also really good is "A Night Like This", a meeting of the ways between 'goth' and smooth pop - with a saxophone too!

"The Baby Screams" and "Screw" are two of the less moments on here; the latter is the most dated thing on here, which almost makes it sort of fun in a 'throwaway' sense.

The album closes with the towering "Sinking", a 5 minute blast of detached melancholia that foreshadows 1989's ambitious masterpiece "Disintegration".

Other highlights include the bouncy Beatlesque pop of "Six Different Ways", the flamenco/latin tinged "The Blood", and the dark, chilling "Kyoto Song".

Pop gems galore on this sucker. A great starting point for new fans. Sure, it sounds a little mid-80's dated at times, but you can't deny Robert Smith's songwriting ability.

Best Songs: In Between Days, Kyoto Song, Close To Me, Sinking, The Blood.

Coming out a little over a year after the surprisingly bland offering of The Top, 1985's The Head On The Door was just what the doctor ordered for The Cure. It represented a new vitality and intensity for a band that seemed so lost and unsure over the previous two years before it's release. In addition to unveiling a focused, rejuvenated Cure, the music of THOTD also rang with a new sense of joy and passion, undoubtedly due to the band actually getting along with each other and being on the same page musically.

While arguably The Cure's poppiest and most "accessible" set of songs(certainly to that point anyway), the enigmatic and vivid mystical imagery of Mr. Smith's lyrics remain strong throughout THOTD. This is what makes THOTD such an important step in the Cure's development as a band; while having the necessary elements to attract new fans, they do not lose any of the magic of earlier works that would keep the Cure faithful around as well. Add the huge success of the "Inbetween Days" and "Close To Me" videos on MTV following the release of THOTD, and The Cure's rabid following was destined to multiply in number, which it did over the ensuing two years, with America finally catching Cure Fever.

As for The Head On The Door's actual songs, it begins with the upbeat "Inbetween Days" which is a fitting mood setter for the rest of the album with it's bouncy rhythm and layered acoustic guitars. Both the light and the dark are well represented on the album, with plenty of moodiness and self-reflection to go around. The band sounds tighter than ever and looser than ever all at the same time, while Smith's voice is stronger than ever in leading the songs along with noticeable confidence and ease (many of the songs were nailed on the first take, according to the band).

There are no weak tracks or fillers here. But songs that stand out as especially good are "A Night Like This", "Close To Me", "Sinking", and "Push". There's a little something for everyone on this dish and I'd think this would be a great first album for someone to be introduced to The Cure, before getting into the heavier, more demanding material.

The second disc of the Deluxe Remastered edition includes the standard offering of Robert Smith home demos along with a handful of studio demos that document the early stages of development for most of the songs that made the final cut, as well as some outtakes from the sessions. My only complaint with the Deluxe edition is the sacrifice of more live material to make room for all of the demos. Personally, I'd like to hear more live versions of the songs and a little less of the rough edged, two minute instrumental demos that don't really offer anything new.

But this is still a fantastic pop record, and an essential piece to The Cure's extraordinary puzzle.