Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
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''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'' is the seventh studio album by English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
, released on 26 May 1987 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 was recorded at Studio Miraval in Correns, France. Robert Smith described the album as "like an end to what we’ve been doing for the last 10 years. It seemed to be like the
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
album—literally a retrospective album. This one is taking bits from everything we’ve done, all the bits that I’ve liked. But there’s a single album’s worth of that and a single album’s worth of stuff we’ve never really attempted before." The album helped bring the Cure into the mainstream in the United States, becoming the band's first album to reach the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and achieving platinum certification. Like its predecessor, ''
The Head on the Door ''The Head on the Door'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 30 August 1985 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the single " In Between Days" which had reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, ''The Head on t ...
'', it was also a great international success, reaching the top 10 in numerous countries. Four singles were released from the album, including " Just Like Heaven", becoming the band's first top 40 hit in the United States and one of the band's most popular songs. The album received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, with praise for its eclectic nature, but criticism for its runtime. Retrospectively, the album has received critical acclaim, and is regarded by some as one of their best albums. In 2000, the album was voted number 256 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''.


Background

After the release of the band's prior album, ''The Head on the Door'', the band continued to gain international popularity, spurred by the album's two singles, "
In Between Days "In Between Days" (sometimes listed as "Inbetween Days" or "In-Between Days") is a song by the English rock band The Cure, released on 19 July 1985 as the first single from the band's sixth album ''The Head on the Door''. The song was an intern ...
" and " Close to Me". Capitalising on this success, the band released the singles compilation '' Standing on a Beach'' in three formats (each with a different track listing and a specific title) in 1986, accompanied by a
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
and
LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...
''Staring at the Sea'', which featured videos for each track on the compilation. The compilation entered the top 50 in the US, and peaked at number 4 in the UK, and saw the re-issue of three previous singles: "Boys Don't Cry", "Let's Go to Bed", and "Charlotte Sometimes". The band toured to support the compilation and released a live concert VHS and LaserDisc of the show, filmed in the south of France and called '' The Cure in Orange''. In the meantime, in order to develop material for their next album, ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me,'' Smith forced himself to write music for 15 days of each month, eventually creating the song that would become "Just Like Heaven".


Writing, recording, and production

In August of 1986, the band moved to Jean Costa's studio in
Draguignan Draguignan (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (formerly Provence), southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department and self-proclaimed "capital of Artillery" an ...
for a two-week
pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...
session to refine demos recorded earlier that summer in London.
Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...
recounted that the demos were the result of soliciting each band member for their own musical ideas and getting "six or seven songs from each one" on a series of cassettes, before winnowing down to a shortlist via full-band vote, marking a shift from Smith's previous top-down control over composition. After Draguignan, The Cure decamped to the residential setting of Studio Miraval for the three-month album recording session, where according to Smith they emphasized spontaneity, "almost jamming the songs to get the right feel" and recording in one or two takes with minimal rehearsal. The band decided during the course of the session that they had an adequate surplus of strong material to justify releasing a double LP. Smith mixed the album with co-producer David M. Allen and engineer Michel Dierickx during sessions in December 1986 at Compass Point, Bahamas and January 1987 at ICP Recording Studios, Belgium, respectively.


Sleeve Design and Art Direction

The band collaborated with Andy Vella again, who designed all of their previous album covers starting with ''
Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
'' (1981). While the band were touring in Brazil, Vella was asked to fly to
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
when had not finished the cover, in order to get it approved for the album. The cover is a photo of Robert Smith's lipstick covered lips. While on a taxi to the airport, Vella experimented with the layout of the cover, deciding on the placement of the handwritten words, which were on a separate clear plastic sheet. However, due to a speed bump jolting the taxi, the sheet was placed on the top middle of the sleeve. Vella was not certain of the placement, but sellotaped them there as a last minute option. Despite his uncertainties, when he arrived in Brazil to show Robert Smith the design, Smith said he loved the sleeve and the placement of the type.


Release

''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'' was released on 26 May 1987 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, ...
in the UK and by Elektra in the USA and Canada. Though a double album in its
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
issue, it was released as a single CD and single cassette. One track, "Hey You!!!", was omitted from the original CD release because of the 74:33 Red Book CD time restriction, but was included on all cassette releases. A limited vinyl edition came with a bonus six-track, orange 12" featuring the songs "Sugar Girl", "Snow in Summer", "Icing Sugar" (Weird Remix), "A Japanese Dream", "Breathe" and "A Chain of Flowers." The album appeared in August 2006 in both single-disc and deluxe double-disc CD editions as part of a Cure
reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...
campaign. All editions notably included "Hey You!!!", marking the first time a complete version of the album was made available on CD. The second disc of the deluxe edition is composed of demos and live versions of album tracks, including a recording of " Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
. Robert Smith stated on his website that there was so much material to draw from that he initially compiled a three-disc edition, with the third disc containing alternate studio versions of the album's songs. However, after discussing with family and friends, he decided that the two-disc edition was a better choice for release. Smith said that it was possible that his proposed third disc may surface as a leak or in a future release.


Reception


Contemporary

In a contemporary review, Mark Coleman of
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
praised the album for its developed sound saying "The Cure is trying to deepen and refine an existing sensibility rather than reach outward to expand it" and noted the whole band's greater contribution to the album, concluding "Kiss Me is a breakthrough all right. For the first time, the Cure’s music is relatively unfettered by pretension and indulgence, and the results are remarkable."
Chris Heath Chris Heath is a British writer and journalist. He was born in Evesham in the West Midlands and attended Rugby School. He studied social and political science at Cambridge University. Heath was a regular contributor to the popular English music m ...
of '' Q'' praised the album for its variety saying, "It covers so much ground that people used to music that carefully steers you on a clear path through sweeping gestures and bold statements -like, say, U2-might find Kiss Me... a bit of a mess. They might even be right-but what a remarkable mess it is." Chris Willman of ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' observed, "For all its unevenness, ''“Kiss Me”'' is a welcome step away from the existential gloom-monster image the Cure has cultivated. The band still sounds like
the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...
meeting Emo Philips in a dimly lit
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
, but with an even wider variety of influences and instrumentation in the mix.", citing " Why Can't I Be You?" and " Just Like Heaven" as highlights, but was critical of the songs with longer running times,
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
of ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' criticised the album for its repetitive song structures, but noted "Because Smith hasn't veered this far pop since he was a boy, most of the themes stick with you, and in a few cases--my pick is " Just Like Heaven," which gets off to a relatively quick start--his romantic vagaries have universal potential."


Retrospective

In a retrospective review,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
wrote that the record was "more accessible and ambitious". However, he nuanced :"Even if Kiss Me doesn't quite gel, its best moments... are remarkable and help make the album one of the group's very best."Barry Walsh of
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
was mostly positive of the album saying "with ''Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'', the Cure gives the listener the kind of roller-coaster rush that only great pop can provide." Douglas Wolk of ''
Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...
'' praised its sound and noted the newfound success the band were embracing at the time, saying "they beefed up their production (orchestral synths! horns!) and made this double-album monument to teenage hormones, with just the right proportion of romance and revulsion" concluding, "almost every song is a neatly arranged bouquet of roses or a bag of thorns." Ian Wade of ''
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
'' called it "One of only two listenable double albums in 1987 – the other being Prince's seismic '' Sign O' The Times'' – it cemented Robert Smith and chums' position." calling it "A true delight." Ned Raggett also claimed "1987 really was a great year for double albums – just ask Prince. And ''Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'' is right up there.". Raggett also noted Smith's lyricism as, "able to move beyond strict personal/autobiographical depictions or I/you interactions to consider something a little more complicated, perhaps a touch more ‘real’ if you like." Retrospectively,
Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...
ranked the album the second best album by The Cure, while the
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
ranked it their fifth best album.Nitsuh Abebe of ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' called it the band's greatest and most definitive work, saying, "Every major mode of the Cure is here, and sounding better than ever, each one a realm of its own." concluding, "the whole breadth of the Cure-- and what seems like the whole head of Smith-- in one glorious package," ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' also called it the band's "definitive statement." saying "It's also the toughest argument one can mount that there has never been a single "Cure sound," but rather a steady, restless collage of - to borrow a later album title - "
wild mood swings ''Wild Mood Swings'' is the tenth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 6 May 1996 by Fiction Records. The album charted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, staying on chart for six weeks, and number 12 on the US ''Billboa ...
" that all found their finest expressions here."


Track listing


Personnel

The Cure * Robert Smith – guitar, keyboards, vocals, recorder on "The Snakepit" and "Like Cockatoos" * Simon Gallup – bass guitar * Porl Thompson – guitar, keyboards, saxophone on "Shiver and Shake" *
Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...
– keyboards *
Boris Williams Boris Peter Bransby Williams (born 24 April 1951) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Cure from 1984 until 1994, and for forming the band Babacar (band), Babacar in the late 1990s. Biography Williams was born in 1951 (som ...
– drums, percussion *
Roger O'Donnell Roger O'Donnell (born 29 October 1955) is an English keyboardist best known as a longtime member of The Cure, which he first joined in 1987 and for which he has served three different tenures. O'Donnell has also performed as a touring and sessio ...
– keyboards on live tracks from the deluxe edition Guest musician *Andrew Brennen – saxophone on "Icing Sugar" and "Hey You!!!" Production * David M. Allen, Robert Smith – production *Sean Burrows, Jacques Hermet – assistant production *
Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born Chiaramonte, January 15, 1953) is an American mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Pretenders, and Bryan A ...
– remixing for single version of "Just Like Heaven"


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Notes


References


Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1987 albums Albums produced by David M. Allen The Cure albums Elektra Records albums Fiction Records albums