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| The Top | 
 enlarge | Artist: The Cure
Label: Elektra / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $14.00
You Save: $10.98 (44%)
New (17) Used (4) from $14.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 14175
Format: Extra Tracks, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.7
MPN: 74065
UPC: 812274065230
EAN: 0081227406523
ASIN: B000GGSM7G
Release Date: August 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Very quick shipping! Ships from CA. New and sealed. Cut mark in barcode. In business since 1979! (Item in tray 42)
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| Customer Reviews:
 "Ha Ha Ha"...Robert Smith Sings about His Bad Hair Life August 14, 2006
3 out of 16 found this review helpful
I believe that virtually all negative reviews are borne from prejudice, and this one is no different. When I say "borne from prejudice" I mean that pre-formulated impressions or an innate inability to understand the artist's intent are usually a factor in developing negative opinions, so it is imperative that all negative reviews be interpreted with the understanding that it is more than likely the reviewer is completely full of s#$%. Regarding "The Top," the fifth album credited to the Cure, I already had my mind made up about the record before I even heard it. In their earliest years, I thought the Cure were an interesting band with little technical ability but a unique sensibility that set them apart from other bands. I sort of liked them for their first three albums. Then, during a trip to England in 1982, I found myself in a London record shop on the day that the band's fourth album, entitled "Pornography," was released. Oh, lucky me.
I hated that record. To my ears, it sounded like somebody took the band's first three albums and blasted them through a garbage compactor and into a canyon, resulting in an unbearable noise that never relented (you can read my review for "Pornography" elsewhere, if you wish...). I never really forgave the band for this, and as a result, I more or less abandoned them...which is why I never heard "The Top" until twenty years later.
Do I think I missed much? No, unless I can quantify the comedic aspect of listening to something so bleak, self-obsessed, and disorganized as if it were meant to be funny. I am sure that my attitude will only add to the alleged horror that is experienced on a daily basis by Robert Smith and his uber-depressed fans, but parts of "The Top" are so `over the top' that I can't help but laugh out loud. The affectation of Smith's voice when he sings "Dressing Up" is one of the most un-deliberately funny moments I've ever heard. "Give Me It" shares the relentless penchant for noise that made me hate "Pornography" so much, only it adds disgusting imagery into the mix, with lyrics like, "Slit the cats like cheese, then eat the sweet sticky things. Suck Harder! Suck Harder! Suck your insides out..."
"Piggy in the Mirror" is meant to convey an emotionally harrowing moment of self-loathing, but it comes off like another bad-hair day for Robert Smith. The album never gets any more emotionally compelling than this, either, and the extra disk of `bonus' material adds little except half-baked demo versions of songs that should never have been extrapolated on in the first place. The album's best track, "Shake Dog Shake," opens with a self-mocking "Ha Ha Ha" that more or less defines my own attitude about the entire album; It's funny, but it isn't `Ha ha" funny...or, at least, this is what my predisposed prejudice has me thinking about "The Top."C-Tom Ryan
At least it starts off good... August 17, 2006
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
An album that Robert Smith has pretty much disowned, "The Top" is a record that pretty much lives up to its reputation. The Cure were in a state of disarray, Simon Gallup having defected left Smith and Lol Tolhurst to handle most of the instrument duties. And while it starts off well enough, the album's second side is another story.
But again, it does start nicely-- opener "Shake Dog Shake" with its railing drums, fierce riffing and frantic, powerful vocal is one of the best, early, loud statements by the Cure. And it continues positively-- the crisp, clean, dancey "Birdmad Girl" and the moody, MidEastern tinged "Wailing Wall" are both great cuts with very unique sounds. But after that, it's just one unmemorable cut (Bauhausesque "Give Me It") to another ("Bananafishbones"), with a bad penchant for reedy synths ("Dressing Up") or on occasion, oddball reed performances that distract from the piece (the otherwise fantastic "The Empty World").
Like the rest of the Cure reissues, this one comes remastered and with a second disc of unreleased material, mostly demos that, while interesting, aren't fantatic, with a few low fidelity live tracks tacked on the end. Honestly, I can't figure out why the live tracks sound so bad-- I've heard better bootlegs from the era.
So it's a nice set, but truthfully "The Top" is an album everyone but the diehards can probably skip.
 The Top February 16, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is a great album. My favorite Cure album in fact. It is pre-sellout and has a diverse selection of songs. A must-own for "real" Cure fans. Of course you would already know that if you were a "real" fan.
 Very good album August 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I honestly don't understand why this album is so widely panned. I think it's brilliant. The stylistic differences in the tunes only make me like it more, not less. The only track I could live without is ironically, the most commercial-The Caterpillar. I don't care for that one and it's the reason I only gave this album 4 instead of 5 stars. My favorite tracks are Dressing Up, Empty World, Wailing Wall and The Top. Those are some of my very favorite Cure tracks and I never tire of listening to them. I'm not terribly fond of the bonus disc on this one either. I think it's less interesting than the previous ones. That said, I highly recommend this one for anyone wanting some very bleak, angry, disturbing yet very creative music.
One of the most original albums of the 80's October 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been a fan of this band for many years. I have seen them live. I own every album they did up through Wish. And in my opinion this is the best album I have heard by them, narrowly beating out the Head on the Door. It is the only album that I never once hit the next song button the entire way through. It is a psychedelic freak-out. Robert Smith's vocals sound great. Their is abundant variety on here and it is all done fairly well. Wherever you want to go this album will take you. It has great rock, pop, dirge, punk and chill-out. Part of what I always liked most about this band was that they experimented with a lot of different styles and didn't stagnate in the same thing for too long. 83-84 were a highly underrated two years for the Cure. If you listen to Japanese Whispers and then this album back to back it is unbelievable all the stops you will make on your journey. have fun
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