"Staring at the Sea" the review at NoneTheLess- The Cure

A Forest: "The archetypal Cure sound, it was probably the turning point when people started listening to the group and thinking we could achieve something, including me."

Robert Smith Chicago Tribune 7/12/92

There are many reasons you should listen[or buy] to Staring At the Sea, released way back in 1986, the year my sis was bornt. Reason 1, it contains singles with excellent B-sides. Its a all-thrillers no-fillers album. Reason 2, it is a AllMusic.com 5-star album, and it is highly reviewed almost everywhere else. Reason 3, it has 17 tracks! certainly worth your money!

Just a little background on this band: formed in 1976 in England, and gained popularity on the American continent in the late eighties. Throughout the band's whole career, vocals - Robert Smith almost never had a hair change. One of the most enduring and prolific bands around 14 studio albums and having songs appeared in countless movie soundtracks and compilations, just a short list:

The cure had 3 greatest hits compilation [there might be more but these 3 are the better ones]. This is the first that was released and contained all their early hits. The old man on the album cover is simply the guy who was in their album opener, "Killing an Arab" mtv. Highly controversial and I think its on the banned list from numerous national radios worldwide simply because of its title. The song simply goes about how this person go on to kill a helpless arab. check the lyrics out: Standing on the beach, With a gun in my hand, Staring at the sea, Staring at the sand, Staring down the barrel, At the arab on the ground, I can see his open mouth , But I hear no sound . But in fact this song is highly misinterpreted as this song was inspired by a book which talks about "a man pointlessly murdering an arab, during a moment of existential confusion caused or exacerbated by desert heat[from allmusic.com]"

Then the next three excellent tracks "10:15 on a Saturday Night", "Boys don't cry" and "Jumping someone else's train" made the best opening in any albums I had ever listened to. The sound of the first two tracks were kinda empty and sound kinda abrupt (you'll know what i mean when you hear it) but thats precisely the elements that make you listen to those tracks. Whereas "Boys don't Cry" is simply a straight peusdo pop-love song that The Cure fans would find missing in future tracks as their mood become more dark and gothic, and less pop and radio friendly. This song also has a short but catchy guitar rift at the start of the song that was played throughout the whole song so devoid in anything i heard in their later albums. not saying that their later albums are any less good, you can form your own opinions about that. after the tight and lovely "Jumping someone else's train", comes the definite Cure song "A Forest", then "play for today" which tells a couple's arugment[in my view.. he might really had a relationship problem then..].

The middle of the album blends into tracks having mood and pattern similar to "A forest" and "Play for today". If The Cure was ever started to be seen as a gothic band, it must be this period of their career. Listen to "Charlotte Sometimes" and you'll think Evanescence[sp?] as wannabe gothic bands with the fake-angst[oh please stop].

Then the album sounds happier abruptly with "Lets go to Bed" intro to the song but that'll alternate with the gothic sound [i defined myself..]. "The walk" sounds retro disco with the two note rhythm and keyboards shuffling in and out of the song without the sugary vocals. "lovecats", one of my favourite songs [and its so catchy!]in this album offering lyrics like this "We slip through the streets/While everyone sleeps/Getting bigger and sleeker/And wider and brighter/We bite and scratch and scream all night". similarly addictive for the rest of the tracks (The caterpilla, in between days, close to me [some actually used this as a wedding song. omg], A night like this), the album promises a powerful finish that you wouldn't expect from an album with equally brillant opening tracks.

To sum it up, this album represents, to me, the best of early eighties and late seventies without the excessive metal solo and the same punk music. as usual, if you wanna listen to some of those tracks, do email me. if you're from CMU, you can even borrow this CD from the Hunt Library level 4. Its so good that even the library has it. enjoy