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''The Top'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band
The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
, released on 4 May 1984 by
Fiction Records Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, ...
. The album entered the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
at number ten on 12 May. Shortly after its release, the Cure embarked on a major tour of the United Kingdom, culminating in a three-night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.


Background and recording

After recording psychedelic album '' Blue Sunshine'' for the one-off project
the Glove The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, '' Blue Sunshine'', in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with ...
during summer 1983,
Robert Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...
finished off the year composing and working on two other studio albums at the same time: ''The Top'' for the Cure and '' Hyæna'' for
Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. Q (maga ...
. Smith was still the official guitarist of the Banshees while he wrote ''The Top''. For ''The Top'', Smith teamed up with co-Cure founding member, Lol Tolhurst, who had given up drums for keyboards, and new drummer Andy Anderson, who had previously performed on the UK top 10 single " The Lovecats". Porl Thompson was credited for playing saxophone on "Give Me It". All the songs are credited to Smith but three tracks were co-written with Tolhurst: " The Caterpillar", "Bird Mad Girl" and "Piggy in the Mirror".


Music

The album's style is eclectic, with Smith using various instruments including
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
and flute. "Bird Mad Girl" is in a Spanish style, while "Wailing Wall" contains Middle Eastern undertones. '' Sounds'' critic Jack Barron described the opening track "Shake Dog Shake" as "urbane metal".


Promotion, release and reception

Prior to its release, the Cure had been promoting the forthcoming album, performing live twice on UK television. In late February, they had played two songs on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...
's Oxford Road Show, "Shake Dog Shake" and "Give Me It" and in early April, they had appeared on
Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's The Tube to perform three other tracks, "Bananafishbones", "Piggy in the Mirror" and the title track of the record. ''The Top'' album was released on 4 May 1984 by record label Fiction. It was a commercial success in the UK, peaking at No. 10 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. "The Caterpillar" was the sole single released from the album. Upon its release, the reaction in the British press was mostly positive. Steve Sutherland of ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' praised the album for its "psychedelia that can't be dated", while Andy Strike of ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' called it "a record of wicked originality and wit". In ''
Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...
'', Mark Ellen deemed ''The Top'' a "weird and wonderful" album with songs that "seem both enticing and faintly dangerous". In contrast, Barron at ''Sounds'' noted that ''The Top'' is "too often not the true bottom line in reflected experience to be indisposable", but nevertheless prophesied, "In 20 years' time, when the next generation blush with excitement at the word 'Psychedelic', it'll be regarded as a classic". On a more skeptical note, '' NME'' reviewer Danny Kelly considered it self-indulgent, qualifying it as "an ambitious, difficult record". In a retrospective review, '' Q'' writer Tom Doyle dismissed ''The Top'' as "a transitional record of forgettable songs". Thomas Inskeep of ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'' wrote that ''The Top'' "may well be the nadir of their catalog", concluding he would call it "a transitional album and leave it at that, for what came subsequently was an honest-to-goodness marvel". Chris True of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
noted that while it is "an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs", Smith's ability "to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences" makes the record "a necessary step in the evolution of the band".


Track listing

All songs written by Robert Smith, except where noted. Side A #"Shake Dog Shake" – 4:55 #"Bird Mad Girl" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 4:05 #"Wailing Wall" – 5:17 #"Give Me It" – 3:42 #"Dressing Up" – 2:51 Side B #" The Caterpillar" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40 #"Piggy in the Mirror" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40 #"The Empty World" – 2:36 #"Bananafishbones" – 3:12 #"The Top" – 6:50


Personnel

The Cure *
Robert Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...
– vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, organ, recorder (3), violin (6), harmonica (9), production * Lol Tolhurst – keyboards * Andy Anderson – drums, percussion Additional musicians * Porl Thompson – saxophone (on disc 1 and 2), keyboards and guitar (on Live tracks on disc 2) * Phil Thornalley – bass guitar (on Live tracks on disc 2) Production * Dave Allen – production,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* Chris Parry – production *
Howard Gray Howard Gray (born 15 July 1962) is an English musician, sound engineer, programmer, composer, re-mixer and producer who has worked with Public Image Ltd, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Kirsty MacColl, the Armoury Show, the Pale Fountai ...
– engineering


Charts


Certifications


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Top The Cure albums 1984 albums Albums produced by David M. Allen Fiction Records albums Sire Records albums Rhino Records albums