The Head On The Door (studio album) by The Cure

From HoldenM 09/07/2023 23:07

Other than Disintegration and maybe Seventeen Seconds, The Cure record I've listened to the most. And wouldn't you believe it? This thing still holds up. After stumbling a bit with The Top, The Head on the Door shows The Cure able to craft some of the most textured and sugary sweet new wave music of the era. You almost wouldn't guess that the same band that gave us Faith and Pornography were capable of "In Between Days" and "Close to Me," but that's The Cure for you. Capable of some of the dreariest and most unsettling rock music, as well as some of the most unforgettable happy-sad pop ever made.

A more pop centred attempt from The Cure which works extremely well on the two huge songs which are two of their most listened tracks of all time. Despite this, it is a few of the lesser known songs that steal the show in my opinion with the trio of Six Different Ways, Push and A Night Like This being three of my favourite ever Cure tracks. All three do such a good job of getting stuck in my head with the build up on Push being absolutely brilliant and it makes the pay off of the second half of the song even better. Robert's lyrics are just as incredible as ever and they deserve your attention as you are listening through. His vocal delivery is just as good as well but it is a little more varied on this record due to the pop style and it works very effectively. However, the quality is a little more inconsistent than some of their other releases and a few of the cuts on here I would consider skippable to the average listener but if you love their music like I do then you will enjoy them. Overall, this was a much needed transition in musical style for The Cure and while it is extremely successful in places it can be a little weak in others but it is still an elite level record.

From Brandon8 12/23/2022 03:59

Very strong entry after a bit of a misstep with The Top. In Between Days, Six Different Ways and Close To Me are brilliant songs and overall the band lightened up a bit while maintaining their creativity.

This album marks a change of style in The Cure discography, which pays off. The results in more alternative-pop oriented tracks like Inbetween Days, Push or Close To Me are incredible. Also tracks that are similar to their previous albums - Kyoto Song or A Night Like This are big standouts here. I really like unconventional The Blood and Sinking is excellent ending.

My favourite Cure album. I tend to find that even though I love the band and they have written some of my favourite songs, that the albums are too hit-and-miss and contain too many duds. This one is in my opinion their most consistent album. My highlights are In Between Days and A Night Like This - both incredible songs, + Push just behind them. Screw, Sinking and The Baby Screams are the weakest tracks.

Long time fan of the band, and this is, hands down, my favorite Cure album. It evokes so many memories of my early teens, coming of age…but even now, there’s not a single track I want to skip. When I put this record on, I inevitably listen to the entire thing. I get up, flip sides, and take it all in. Every time. How often can you say that of a record? As much as I like the vast majority of their catalogue, I can’t say that about any of their others. This is their peak. Everything prior was leading up to this, everything after got slowly worse imo. If you’re new to The Cure, start here and thank me later.

This is my favourite Cure album. Perhaps not quite as critically-acclaimed as Disintegration, but a great album from start to finish.

I enjoy this most out of their output. Long intros, melodic and interesting subject matters. Kyoto song is just lovely in its despair, in between days is well crafted and the highpoint. The infidelity on a night like this has a palpable distress. All round their best in my view.

I recall them at the time and actually quite liked them but was probably a bit freaked out with Robert Smiths' Gothic look. Been giving their albums a listen in recent years and gave this a re listen in 2020 after catching them in concert. Close To Me and Six Different ways are just superb and 10/10 tracks. The album does go a little up and down for me - sometimes you get a great start or finish but they have paced out the killer tracks in my view. Only let down is Screw - not landing for me. But a great album none the less

Really good album with consistently really good songs from start to finish.