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The CureThe Top

Label:

Fiction Records – fixs9

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album

Country:

UK

Released:

Genre:

Rock

Style:

New Wave, Post-Punk, Psychedelic Rock

Tracklist

Eye Side
A1Shake Dog Shake
Written-BySmith*
4:55
A2Bird Mad Girl
Written-ByTolhurst*, Smith*
4:05
A3Wailing Wall
Written-BySmith*
5:17
A4Give Me It
Written-BySmith*
3:42
A5Dressing Up
Written-BySmith*
2:51
Cross Side
B1The Caterpillar
Written-ByTolhurst*, Smith*
3:40
B2Piggy In The Mirror
Written-ByTolhurst*, Smith*
3:40
B3The Empty World
Written-BySmith*
2:36
B4Bananafishbones
Written-BySmith*
3:12
B5The Top
Written-BySmith*
6:50
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Companies, etc.

  • Phonographic Copyright ℗Fiction Records
  • Record Company18 Age Record Co. Ltd.
  • Published ByApb Music Co. Ltd.
  • Copyright ©Fiction Records
  • Pressed ByPRS Ltd.
  • Lacquer Cut AtMaster Room

Credits

  • Design, ArtworkParched Art
  • Drums, PercussionAndy Anderson
  • EngineerDave Allen*, Howard Grey*
  • Instruments [Other Instruments]Laurence Tolhurst
  • Instruments, VoiceRobert Smith
  • ProducerParry*, Allen*, Smith*
  • SaxophonePorl Thompson

Notes

This first pressing was released with lyrics printed on a blue, green and white coloured inner sleeve.
No "ARUN" etched into side A runouts, unlike The Top.
Later issues have a B&W printed liner, see The Top and The Top.

℗ 1984 fiction records © 1984 fiction records.

Some copies sent for promotional use show a golden stamp on the back:
"Promotional Copy Not For Resale".
Runouts are stamped, except for the parts "EYE SIDE ONE" and "CROSS SIDE TWO" which are etched.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

  • Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 1): FIXS 9 A//2▽420 R EYE SIDE ONE
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 1): FIXS 9 B//1▽420 R CROSS SIDE TWO
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, variant 2): FIXS 9 A//2▽420 R EYE SIDE ONE 11 1
  • Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, variant 2): FIXS 9 B//1▽420 R 11 1 CROSS SIDE TWO

Other Versions (5 of 147)

View All
Title (Format)LabelCat#CountryYear
Recently Edited
The Top (Cassette, Album, On-Body Print)Fiction Recordsfixsc 9UK1984
The Top (LP, Album, Stereo)Fiction Records821 136-1 MEGermany1984
Recently Edited
The Top (LP, Album, ARC Pressing)Sire, Sire1-25086, 25086-1US1984
Recently Edited
The Top (LP, Album)Polydor821136-1Netherlands1984
Recently Edited
The Top (LP, Album)Sire92 50861Canada1984

Recommendations

  • The Cure - The Head On The Door
    The Head On The Door
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  • The Cure - Pornography
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  • The Cure - Japanese Whispers: The Cure Singles Nov 82 : Nov 83
    Japanese Whispers: The Cure Singles Nov 82 : Nov 83
    1983 UK
    Vinyl —
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    Shop
  • The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
    Three Imaginary Boys
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  • The Cure - Disintegration
    Disintegration
    1989 UK
    Vinyl —
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  • The Cure - Concert (The Cure Live)
    Concert (The Cure Live)
    1984 UK
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  • The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
    Seventeen Seconds
    1980 UK
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  • The Cure - Faith
    Faith
    1981 UK
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  • David Bowie - Scary Monsters
    Scary Monsters
    1980 UK
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  • The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
    Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
    1987 UK
    Vinyl —
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    Shop

Reviews

  • Minimal-Man's avatar
    Minimal-Man
    I really love this record. I find it to be their most diverse release. So many different styles of music that all work together. This record seems to be greatly overlooked or appreciated. Some real gems on here.
    • mattyg_1078's avatar
      mattyg_1078
      Edited 2 years ago
      Why do so called fans hate it so? You'd basically have to disregard Lovecats, Let's go To Bed. Lot's of great singles from 82-83 to hate this album so much as it's the SAME SOUND. People calling it rubbish for years and years are hilarious.. Did you buy the 2004 cure album too and everything since wish? I bet you have, shills ;)

      Also people need to stop saying siouxsie influenced the sounds the glove this the glove that, touring... He had recorded Let's go to bed, Lovecats and the walk right before.. All tracks that would have fit on the top. So yeah, I think it was more acid and music already put out than siouxsie lol
      • ComeAsYouAre's avatar
        ComeAsYouAre
        Hands down without question the worst album The Cure ever made.
        • okaycpu's avatar
          okaycpu
          I'm starting to notice a pattern with UK Cure vinyl. It can be kind of a crap shoot with inner groove distortion. "Dressing Up" on my copy has some crazy IGD, which is a shame cos it's a great song. I've also had some of the worst sibilance issues I've ever encountered with a UK copy of Japanese Whispers, both on inner grooves. Thing is, I know it's not my turntable/cartridge. I have no issues with any other records I own. It really seems like a Cure UK press thing. I'm gonna look out for German pressings from now on. Germany rarely lets me down with quality control.
          • streetmouse's avatar
            streetmouse
            The Top has often been referred to as a transitional album filled with forgettable songs, implying that Smith or the Band had finally actually blindly fallen down the stairs. Yet in retrospect, this illusion of an album, one that’s been avoided by most listeners, rests entirely on the shoulders of producer Rob Robinson; though yes, Smith did open the door allowing Robinson to nearly force a round peg into a square hole … and it certainly didn’t work.

            Best known for his work with the likes of Slipknot, Korn and Limp Bizkt, Robinson attempted to create a sort of neo-metal, fashioning the Cure with an edgy sound that was not theirs, draping the music with contrived melodrama and an incoherentness of howling heavy guitars, dropping the sonic keyboards that have been a staple of the Cure’s sound, all leaving Smith’s vocal roaming high in the mix, where the record came off as dangerously disingenuous and entirely engineered. Yes, it quickly became obvious that Robinson did not understand the Cure.

            One could easily mistake The Top for a Robert Smith solo album, as he played nearly all of the instruments in addition to writing most of the songs. Though it didn’t stop there, Smith also brought in a recorder, violin, harmonica and more to weave a soundscape of hallucinatory particle dreams of the conscious, subconscious and that blurry fretted area where the two meet, creating a world that was out of control, like being in an accident as it’s happening, yet knowing that it’s all happening so fast that there’s no turning back … where all one is capable of is holding on, or perhaps letting go, and hoping for the best.

            Yes, there are some wonderful numbers to be found here, the consequential “Shake Dog Shake” and “Caterpillar,” though I’ve begun to wonder just how these numbers would have come to life under a different setting. All of this makes for a record that comes off as scattered, perhaps unfocused, and largely without any continuity of spirit or vision.

            Yes, there are those who love this album, though I would suggest that that’s because they’re actually fans of metal music, only stumbling onto the Cure for its momentary reference to that genre here.

            Review by Jenell Kesler
            • sbclar's avatar
              sbclar
              Can anyone comment on the change in pitch between the version of "Bananafishbones" on any cd from before the 2006 remasters? The newer version clocks in at around 3:00 vs 3:12, and the difference is in the pitch of the song. I am wondering if anyone out there knows which is the correct pitch? The remaster sounds a little fast to me...
              • enorman83's avatar
                enorman83
                Is there such a thing as a US pressing of this album that has the custom artwork labels AND the custom inner sleeve? It seems like every copy I’ve seen has just one or the other.
                • Native12's avatar
                  Native12
                  Is there a new pressing of this?I bought one today from HMV with the barcode 0602547875549. It doesn't seem to be listed? It has a sticker on the front saying 'Remastered by Robert Smith. 180gram vinyl. Contains a download voucher.'

                  Release

                  For sale on Discogs

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                  36 copies from $14.81

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