The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me [2× Vinyl LP]

The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me [2× Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: 2× Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo
• Barcode: 602547875655
• Genre: Alternative Rock / New Wave / Post-Punk / Indie Rock
• Label: Fiction Records / Polydor
• Originally Released: 22 May 1987
• Reissue Released: 9 September 2016
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by The Cure — Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Porl Thompson (guitar, keyboards), Boris Williams (drums) and Lol Tolhurst (keyboards) — originally released on 22 May 1987 on Fiction Records. Recorded at Studio Miraval in the south of France — the same residential studio used by AC/DC, Pink Floyd and others — with additional saxophone parts by Andrew Brennen recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau during mixing, and a final mix completed at ICP Studios in Brussels, the album was produced by Robert Smith and David M. Allen. It is the longest studio album in The Cure's discography and the most stylistically expansive: a deliberate double album designed to encompass the full range of what the band could do, moving between the jagged dissonance of the eight-minute opener "The Kiss", the melodic pop of "Catch" and "Why Can't I Be You?", the gothic grandeur of "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", the orchestrated tenderness of "A Thousand Hours" and the raw energy of "Fight" across 18 tracks and nearly an hour of music.

The album marked The Cure's definitive commercial breakthrough in the United States. "Just Like Heaven" — a melodically perfect distillation of Smith's romantic songwriting at its most accessible — became the band's first US Top 40 hit, reaching number forty on the Billboard Hot 100 and subsequently becoming one of the most covered songs in the band's catalogue. In the UK the album reached number six on the Albums Chart and spawned four hit singles: "Why Can't I Be You?" (number fourteen), "Catch" (number twenty-seven), "Just Like Heaven" (number twenty-nine) and "Hot Hot Hot!!!" (number forty-five). It was certified Platinum in the UK and reached the top ten in numerous countries, cementing The Cure's position as one of the most significant bands in alternative rock on a global scale.

Critically, the album consolidated the direction established by The Head on the Door (1985) while dramatically amplifying its ambition. Critics at the time and since have noted the album's emotional and sonic range as among its defining qualities: the same band that opens with the controlled chaos of "The Kiss" can deliver the wistful economy of "Catch" two tracks later, and the menacing funk of "Hot Hot Hot!!!" sits comfortably alongside the delicate string-laden balladry of "A Thousand Hours" across the album's four sides. Smith's stated intention — to make a record that covered every style and mood The Cure were capable of, with no concessions to stylistic consistency — resulted in an album that, despite its ambition, hangs together through the coherence of his voice and the band's collective identity. It remains one of the most celebrated albums of the 1980s British alternative scene.

This reissue on Fiction Records / Polydor presents the complete 18-track double album remastered across 2× vinyl, housed in a single-pocket picture sleeve with two printed picture and lyric inner sleeves. Made in Czech Republic.

Tracklist

Side A — LP 1

1. The Kiss
2. Catch
3. Torture
4. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep

Side B — LP 1

1. Why Can't I Be You?
2. How Beautiful You Are
3. The Snakepit
4. Hey You!!!

Side C — LP 2

1. Just Like Heaven
2. All I Want
3. Hot Hot Hot!!!
4. One More Time
5. Like Cockatoos

Side D — LP 2

1. Icing Sugar
2. The Perfect Girl
3. A Thousand Hours
4. Shiver and Shake
5. Fight

Credits

• Robert Smith – Vocals, Guitar
• Simon Gallup – Bass
• Porl Thompson – Guitar, Keyboards
• Boris Williams – Drums
• Lol Tolhurst – Keyboards
• Robert Smith & David M. Allen – Producers
• Andrew Brennen – Saxophone
• Label – Fiction Records / Polydor