I know that Psychocandy is their best album, but I don't own it, so Automatic gets the nod. I've loved this album since it came out, even if it is, at times, a bit repetitive and monotonous. The drums are all done by drum machine, and the bass is all done on keyboards, somewhat limiting the sound throughout the album. I mean, you can only use the same exact beat on so many songs before it starts getting old, right? Regardless, it is still a pretty good album. "Here Comes Alice" is a nice opener, giving a good idea what the rest of the album is going to sound like. "Coast To Coast" and "Blues From a Gun" are both great songs, two of the best on the album. "Between Planets" and "UV Ray" are decent, but not great. "Her Way Of Praying" is... I don't know. Sometimes I like that song, other times can't stand it. Just depends on my mood, I guess. "Head On" is probably the only Jesus & Mary Chain song a lot of people have heard, one of the few singles they ever released, plus the Pixies did a pretty bad ass cover version of it a few years later. "Take It" is the only song on the album that feels like filler, but it's an okay song, so it's not too out of place. "Half Way To Crazy" is a stellar song, and should have been in my favorite songs list. Just yet another one I forgot about. "Gimme Hell" is another decent but nothing special song. "Drop" is absolutely gorgeous, a great great song. "Sunray" closes out the album on a pretty brief but chaotic note. All in all, I think this album doesn't get the credit it deserves. It got compared to Psychocandy so much that it ended up not having a prayer of being successful, but it really is a good album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Blues From a Gun"
4. "Head On"
3. "Coast To Coast"
2. "Half Way To Crazy"
1. "Drop"
"Coast To Coast"
"Halfway To Crazy"
"Drop"
109. The Top by The Cure (1984)
This is probably one of the most uneven albums on this list. It was recorded while Robert Smith was bouncing back and forth between The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees, plus he and Laurence Tolhurst were pretty much the only two actual members of The Cure at the time. Throw in lots of drugs and alcohol on top of a shit load of stress, and this is what you get. As much of a mess as it was, though, The Top served as a bridge between the "goth" depressing music of Pornography, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith, to the more pop focused radio friendly The Head On the Door and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. It had elements of both styles of the band - what they were and what they were becoming - and it actually turned out a lot better than it should have. "Shake Dog Shake" kicks things off, one of the most aggressive songs The Cure has ever recorded. It doesn't let up at all from start to finish, just assaulting you with guitars the whole way. "Bird Mad Girl" follows, and could not be much more different, very keyboard driven and poppy. "Wailing Wall" is a very somber and atmospheric song, and it is one of the most unappreciated Cure songs ever, I think. It could have fit in on almost any Cure album ever released. "Give Me It" is another aggressive song, and one of my favorite from this era of the band. Just a good tune. "Dressing Up" is next, and is another keyboard heavy song, just a fluffy little "I love you" type song. "The Caterpillar" is next, and I've already said a bunch about this song in both lists, so moving forward... "Piggy In the Mirror" is a pretty groovy tune, another one that may be a bit under appreciated. "The Empty World" has one of the cooler drum beats in any early Cure album, and the drums pretty much take center stage, with the other instruments being somewhat toned down. "Bananafishbones" is a bit reggae influenced, but not really. Kind of a weird song. "The Top" closes out the album, a slow methodical song that just drips with emotion. Very good song. This album really had no right being as good as it was, nor did it have any right being as ignored as it was. The Top and Pornography are the only two Cure albums ever that have only produced one single each, and in both cases there were at least one or two other songs that could have been hits. I really dig this album, and am going to go throw it on, since I haven't listened to it in a while. Peace out.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Empty World"
4. "Shake Dog Shake"
3. "Wailing Wall"
2. "Give Me It"
1. "The Caterpillar"
(I am putting the videos for songs 2 - 4 since "Caterpillar" was already on the singles collection entry a couple entries ago.)
"Shake Dog Shake"
"Wailing Wall" (Plus "The Empty World". It's the best version of "Wailing Wall" I could find, so... Bonus!)
"Give Me It"
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