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The Cure
After releasing the bleak and unconvincing collection of songs called “The Top,” something extraordinary happened to Robert Smith. In a manner that was almost completely unpredictable, Smith abandoned his own prejudice against acoustic instruments, hummable melodies and ‘pop’ arrangements. The result was “The Head on the Door,” the most accessible Cure album yet. Maybe it was because Smith finally found bandmates who were willing to wear their hair in the same ridiculous bat’s-nest style that he was known for (the photos are hysterical), but there is a simpatico sensibility to the look and the sound of this band that makes “The Head on the Door” the most fully realized collection of songs released by any incarnation of the Cure.
Things are immediately promising when the leadoff track is as compelling as “Inbetween Days.” The subject matter is rather typical for Smith, dwelling on his own misery, but here he actually manages to make the listener feel sympathetic as he extrapolates past self-loathing and toward genuine emotional expression. “The Kyoto Song” regresses back to the bleak hopelessness that Smith lapses into too easily (“A nightmare of you, of death in the pool, wakes me up at quarter to three…”), but “The Blood” once again finds something deeper than hopelessness for its subject, utilizing religious imagery as a metaphor for dichotomy, and it is all the better for it.
“Push” may be the most hook-laden song ever recorded by the Cure, allowing over two minutes for the music to develop and set up the vocal melody. Tonally, it falls somewhere between the Psychedelic Furs and early U2, which makes it a perfect snapshot of ‘80s pop music. Just as convincing is “Close to Me,” which utilizes a maddeningly simplistic keyboard riff and drum-machine rhythm to express self-doubt, while unconsciously convincing you to dance. Coming on the heels of such bleak fare as “Pornography” and “The Top,” it is a bit of a revelation to hear Robert Smith find his expressive voice in settings that are so pop-music friendly, but that is exactly why “The Head on the Door” is so accessible, and why it holds up so well even after twenty years. The bonus disk offers an additional eighteen tracks of demo recordings and live material.
Grade: 
 
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