Thursday, October 24, 2013

'Wild Mood Swings' revisited

Soundwaves took another look at 'Wild Mood Swings', and tried to make it a better album. But they left 'Club America', 'Return' and 'Round & Round & Round' on it, and deleted 'Strange Attraction' & 'Gone', so they failed. :)
Posted by Craig at 10:00 AM

64 comments:

  1. SkrapsOctober 24, 2013 at 10:37 AM

    Um...uh...I kinda like WMS.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JrockOctober 24, 2013 at 11:17 AM

    Me too. There are some gems on it for sure.
    "Want"
    "This Is a Lie"
    "Numb"
    "Treasure"
    And I agree with the author of the article, "It Used to Be Me" is beautiful and should have been on the album.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ScottOctober 24, 2013 at 11:17 AM

    I've noticed over the years that myself and others try to re-arrange the tracks to come up with something they love. Mine goes like this--I just take out the tracks I don't like at all, inject b-sides, and keep the lineup pretty much the same. I mix it up sometimes still, but this is pretty much it.

    Want
    Adonais
    This Is A Lie
    A Pink Dream
    The 13th
    Strange Attraction
    Mint Car
    Waiting
    Jupiter Crash
    Round & Round & Round (this grew on me in 2013)
    Gone! (critter mix --- SO VERY 1983 I love it)
    Numb
    It Used To Be Me
    Bare

    Leaves out: Club America (sorry this song is really silly lyrically and not in the fun way), Return Trap & Treasure (all pretty much the same sub-par songs, can never remember them after I listen to them), Ocean & Home (the boring b-sides).

    I think anyone that hates this album should focus on the b-sides aside from Want which everyone I've ever come across loves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. S. Gustavo SayagoOctober 24, 2013 at 11:21 AM

    My own WMS :

    1. Want

    2. Numb

    3. Home

    4. Adonais

    5. This is a Lie

    6. Jupiter Crash

    7. A Pink Dream

    8. Strange attraction

    9. It Used to Be Me

    10 Trap

    11. Waiting

    12. Treasure

    13. Bare

    ReplyDelete
  5. LarsOctober 24, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    Think its a great album, its something for every mood . .
    And think It Used To Be Me is a top 5 Cure song , and Gone live from Jools Holland its amazing version
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDHDkKP8XuM

    ReplyDelete
  6. Crimson TonightOctober 24, 2013 at 11:41 AM

    I actually really love Club America, but maybe because I'm English! It's really got the sound of some of the classier Britpop bands of that time, Kula Shaker and Black Grape particularly come to mind, I love them and love this. Maybe if you didn't get Britpop you maybe won't like Club America.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Marc70October 24, 2013 at 11:42 AM

    I created a playlist using the article's suggested song list and I enjoyed it. 'Strange Attraction' always has me reaching for the skip button and I love the b-sides from that album. I went through a big breakup and started another long relationship in '96, so WMS really filled all my Cure needs that year : ) I really like WMS, but I agree it could have been better with a song-list re-arrangement. I wonder what Robert would do today given the same available songs. Change or stick to his original listing/inclusion?

    ReplyDelete
  8. fatpie1664October 24, 2013 at 11:44 AM

    take off 'round & round & round' (the worst cure song ever) and 'return' & you have a fine album.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SkrapsOctober 24, 2013 at 5:24 PM

      I'm sorry I must argue, Dredd Song is the worst cure song ever.

      Delete
    2. aforest74October 28, 2013 at 8:41 PM

      Uh, sorry I LOVE dredd song....hate club America, return, and should def put It used to be me on the album!

      Delete
    3. aforest74October 28, 2013 at 8:53 PM

      Uh, sorry I LOVE dredd song....hate club America, return, and should def put It used to be me on the album!

      Delete
  9. Vagabond SunOctober 24, 2013 at 11:56 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Vagabond SunOctober 24, 2013 at 11:58 AM

    I kept all of the b-sides and ditched the surfeit of beyond horrible pop songs. "Strange Attraction," for instead sounds like Wham. It is so awful. And I agree with the author that "A Pink Dream" is a pop song done correctly as it has shades of melancholy and regret. The others are contrived and forgettable. My version would be:

    Want
    Adonais
    A Pink Dream
    This Is A Lie
    Jupiter Crash
    Waiting
    Ocean
    Numb
    Trap
    Treasure
    Home
    Bare
    It Used to Be Me

    ReplyDelete
  11. HombreLoboOctober 24, 2013 at 12:17 PM

    Since the resurection of "Stop Dead" I have been listening to my Join the Dots" Boxset/book again. And I find it unbelievable again how great those b-sides are. Sometimes so much better than the actual albums (and I love those too)

    Escpecially those 3 WMS B-Sides. Absolutly great.

    Same goes for the 2004 B-Sides as well. Fake, this morning, TG&B, Your God Is Fear, Why can't I be me.

    Those are my 2004 songs for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. RandyOctober 24, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    i can't stand 'gone.' it's up there with 'the promise' for worst cure tracks ever for me. but i like 'round and round and round' so maybe my opinion sucks. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christian LeBlancOctober 24, 2013 at 1:32 PM

      "Gone" grew on me over time (a *long* time), but I think I would have liked it much better if it was a b-side. "Oh, this is a weird, quirky little tune! Kind of annoying, but neat in its own way." As an album-side, no, and as a single, no no no no no.

      ...I really like "round and round and round," so, same caveat here ;)

      Delete
  13. JeffOctober 24, 2013 at 2:15 PM

    F Gone.

    ReplyDelete
  14. JeffOctober 24, 2013 at 2:15 PM

    F Gone.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Crimson TonightOctober 24, 2013 at 3:51 PM

    Ironically I believe Gone! was responsible for Roger's return. I do recall Robert saying he called Roger to come and play a solo on a jazzy tune they'd demoed (i.e. Gone!) and he essentially stuck around. Without that song he may never have come back.

    ReplyDelete
  16. NannersOctober 24, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    Got rid of Strange Attraction?! Feh...

    ReplyDelete
  17. José SilvaOctober 24, 2013 at 7:01 PM

    Want
    Club America
    This Is a Lie
    Jupiter Crash
    Treasure
    Bare

    Used To Be Me
    Adonais
    Ocean
    A Pink Dream
    Home

    and would have been a brilliant album!

    The 13th
    Strange Attraction
    Mint Car
    Round & Round & Round
    Gone!
    Numb
    Return
    Trap

    are one of the worst ever made ​​by The Cure. some of them are awful... :/

    ReplyDelete
  18. UnknownOctober 24, 2013 at 7:08 PM

    So i am currently 22 and back when i was 12 i went through my dad's CD collection and found WMS. (Obviously it looked good to a 12 year old, it had a clown on it and was brightly colored...)

    Anyways, It was my first exposure to The Cure (other than when my father used to play Kiss Me and Staring at the Sea in the background my whole childhood, unbeknownst to me) and i loved it. Still do to this day.

    So, for nostalgia reasons, i keep it just the way it is. : )

    And Re: 'Club America' when i was on the bus in high school i used to imagine myself rocking that guitar solo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fabien GOctober 25, 2013 at 3:36 PM

      ah, that was fun to read :)

      Delete
    2. jonOctober 27, 2013 at 4:47 PM

      I really like wms, it was always underrrated to me. For me it was bloodflowers, first album of theirs i ever got from columbia house and for me (loved the cover,) and now it makes me mad when people bad mouth it because it started my exposure to my favorite band.

      Delete
  19. MorrisOctober 24, 2013 at 10:20 PM

    I love WMS! And when you factor in the B-sides it's brilliant!! And i'm down for The 13th - love that song. Not every Cure song has to have the intensity of Faith. They made that album.

    ReplyDelete
  20. DSCOctober 24, 2013 at 11:00 PM

    I love WMS just the way it is. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. David.October 24, 2013 at 11:27 PM

    Wild Mood Swings, and all of the B-Sides, is one of my favoriteCure albums. Period. No guilt from saying this. lol 20 Plus, Cure fan.

    ReplyDelete
  22. parallelextinctionOctober 24, 2013 at 11:38 PM

    I enjoy Wild Mood Swings quite a bit. I think the main problem is the production--too much tricksy gimmick. If you listen to the songs live on YouTube, most are quite nice. People, you can't just delete all the pop songs, otherwise it wouldn't be a Wild Mood Swing. I love Mint Car, and obviously so does RS since he's been performing it live for the last year. For me, it's one of their purest happy songs, not deliriously happy, just happy.

    ReplyDelete
  23. perfect.murderOctober 25, 2013 at 12:28 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. perfect.murderOctober 25, 2013 at 12:31 AM

    Totally agree with paralellextinction re the production.Listen to WMS demos and it's a completely different mood (no pun intended).But,as Robert has said before, they took a very long time making the album and as usual, it probably did not turn out as originally planned

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousOctober 25, 2013 at 12:40 AM

    I agree with your words. I actually really love Club America. Specially 3 WMS B-Sides are great.
    pin nudes

    ReplyDelete
  26. NicoOctober 25, 2013 at 1:53 AM

    My version of WMS would just be Want repeated 12 times.

    ReplyDelete
  27. PietroOctober 25, 2013 at 2:15 AM

    "How a song like “A Pink Dream” could have been relegated to b-side status is a mystery" So true.
    But you have to concede that some tracks _need_ to be left as b-sides (at least in the old non-download world), so that non casual fans can get what they pay for

    ReplyDelete
  28. PietroOctober 25, 2013 at 2:23 AM

    And now I have A Pink Dream in my head :-)

    ReplyDelete
  29. TheCure-CollectorOctober 25, 2013 at 4:26 AM

    I've made my own selection of WMS entitled SAD MOOD SWINGS.
    This is the tracklist:

    1, Want
    2, It used to be me
    3, Ocean
    4, Waiting
    5, This is a lie
    6, Trap
    7, Home
    8, Numb
    9, Adonais
    10, Jupiter crash
    11, Treasure
    12, Bare

    and we don't know 4-5 unreleased songs from the album session!

    ReplyDelete
  30. TheCure-CollectorOctober 25, 2013 at 4:29 AM

    @Scott

    Is 'Home' boring? Home is one of the most beautiful lovesong of The Cure (in my opinion)

    ReplyDelete
  31. TheCure-CollectorOctober 25, 2013 at 4:32 AM

    Is 'Dredd song' the worst Cure song? OMG! Where are your ears?

    ReplyDelete
  32. TheCure-CollectorOctober 25, 2013 at 4:39 AM

    I've made my own selection of WMS entitled SAD MOOD SWINGS.
    This is the tracklist:

    1, Want
    2, It used to be me
    3, Ocean
    4, Waiting
    5, This is a lie
    6, Trap
    7, Home
    8, Numb
    9, Adonais
    10, Jupiter crash
    11, Treasure
    12, Bare

    and we don't know 4-5 unreleased songs from the album session!

    ReplyDelete
  33. UnknownOctober 25, 2013 at 6:40 AM

    Wild mood swings is a very good album.I like all the songs. Don't change anything !

    ReplyDelete
  34. Inglorious01October 25, 2013 at 9:25 AM

    WMS was one of the first Cure albums I bought so I wasn't necessarily prejudiced by being in love with their previous albums. I love WMS, its a great album. Also the 2004 Cure album is nowhere near as bad as some people make out!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Alfio MartiniOctober 25, 2013 at 9:53 AM

    "Return" and "A Pink Dream" are amongst my top 15 Cure songs ever!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Alfio MartiniOctober 25, 2013 at 9:54 AM

    "Return" and "A Pink Dream" are amongst my top 15 Cure songs ever!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. José SilvaOctober 25, 2013 at 10:42 AM

    the same happened with other albums, where the b-sides are better (sometimes much better) than the songs chosen for the albums.

    but WMS has too many weak songs, most of them the worst ever made ​​by The Cure (taking into account their quality). something that never happened with another album, which sometimes has two or three weaker tracks.

    but this is all a matter of opinion, of course. for me, The 13th, Strange Attraction, Mint Car, Round & Round & Round, Gone!, Numb, Return, Trap should not be part of any album.

    but as said before, this has always been a strange thing in the history of the band. even in the most recent albums were left out great tracks.

    This Morning (The Cure/2004)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6mt8hBm67k

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbqvsCn3u5A (instrumental)

    Without You (4:13 Dream/2008)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNdjaoq7bO4e...

    ReplyDelete
  38. Vagabond SunOctober 25, 2013 at 11:13 AM

    I am surprised that many people don't care for "Trap." I think that it is one of the stronger songs on the album. Of course, the production mars all of the good songs as "Trap" and "Want" are much more powerful live. It seems that Robert Smith wanted Wild Mood Swings to sound like some slick mid-eighties radio garbage. It's too bad. If the production had been more like Wish, the record would have been much stronger.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Fabien GOctober 25, 2013 at 4:09 PM

    ah, another WMS debate, i like those :)
    it has got real highs and real lows, so i guess it's 'swinging'...

    want, usual big opener, but a bit long to getting started?
    club america, nice try with the voice and great guitar solo but too much american sounding?
    this is a lie, nice try for a waltz but strange to have it here?
    the 13th, kind of funny but for a one-off party project, not on album, even less a single?
    strange attraction, romantic but maybe too childish?
    mint car, perfect pop!
    jupiter crash, classic, almost too short?
    round and round and round, nice pop tune, a shame it's been treated in 'open' 4 years earlier?
    gone!, a nice swing, but is it enough?
    numb, nice to have a little greyish song in here, but there have been better ones?
    return, it's fun, couldn't it have been a single?
    trap, nice aggresive one, nothing really wrong about it?
    treasure, very nice
    bare, perfect ending

    So i gues i'd left off the 13th, but it wouldn' t be really WMS then...

    ReplyDelete
  40. notquitefaustOctober 25, 2013 at 7:02 PM

    if only "just say yes" was a part of WMS...that would make everyone happy.

    ReplyDelete
  41. jj606October 25, 2013 at 10:11 PM

    Club America, Round and Round and Round, Trap, Gone, Numb, these are the very worst Cure songs I've ever heard. Even some of the better songs on that album aren't very good, but don't sound so bad because the others are so shit. This album suffers because every single Cure album before it had better songs.

    ReplyDelete
  42. ashtraygirlOctober 26, 2013 at 5:53 AM

    Robert's voice sounds so great in Strange Attraction and the lyrics are super memorable. I don't think it deserves all the hate.

    ReplyDelete
  43. AnonymousOctober 26, 2013 at 7:18 AM

    I'll have to revisit those b-sides now.

    I liked WMS when it came out, although it's been awhile since I listened to it. My main critique is that it's too long. If I were to do anything to it, I would drop the last three songs -- which are the three weakest songs on the album -- and then maybe one more to bring the total tracklisting down to an even ten.

    The 13th and Jupiter Crash are the two best songs on that album, so they definitely stay.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Crimson TonightOctober 26, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    If I could ask Robert just one question, it would be 'Did you post the lyrics to Strange Attraction on the Ceefax classified ad's or did you borrow the lyrics from there?'.

    To explain: Ceefax was a kind of pre-internet thing on tv's in the UK. I fully recall around 1995 a poster known as Blossom used to leave romantic messages in the classifieds. It went on quite a while so I remembered it easily, then WMS came out and I seen the Strange Attraction lyrics. They closely resembled the text and tone of the Ceefax messages.

    I know Robert was a Ceefax and Oracle
    user (he mentioned once having one of his cocktail recipes shown on one of their pages!). So...I've always wondered...

    ReplyDelete
  45. oliOctober 26, 2013 at 11:46 PM

    1-Want
    2-Ocean(the best)
    3-This is alie
    4-Adonais
    5-Strange attraction
    6-Mint car
    7-Jupiter crash
    8-It used to be me
    9-A pink dream
    10-Numb
    11-Home
    12-Waiting
    13-Treasure
    14-Bare

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. parallelextinctionOctober 27, 2013 at 4:36 PM

      I think this is a very thoughtful selection and order, and keeps at least one Wild Mood Swing.

      Delete
  46. Joseph 36October 27, 2013 at 7:02 AM

    If you change some songs for the b-sides could be one of the best albums by The Cure but this is happening since "Wish" Robert's choices in most of the songs are wrong or we can say the same in 2004 "The Cure" b-sides are so beautiful...
    By the way I don't care much sales but you have to say the truth
    In 1996 The Cure as a band were legends after 19 years...but the members still very Young the didn't need to seel the same as "Wish" because from that time on is a present for as that the cure is still alive but you can not say that from 1996 to 2008 the didn't sell records cos this is false.
    Wild Mood swings- 1 million (for a 20 year.old-band is bad?)
    Bloodflowers- Another million and successful tour
    The Cure- 2 million albums sold and very high positions on charts around the world.
    4:13 dream....yes this is to sell modestly because 400.000 copies is not vey good for the band and maybe that's the reason they don't reléase any new álbum but from 1996 until now the band has sold around more tan 10 million albums...Rolling stones sell any record at the moment?

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hector PendletonOctober 27, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    I always love when a band releases a single that sounds nothing like you'd expect. When the 13th came out I was floored at how different it was from anything else on the radio or from The Cure at that point.
    For that reason alone, I will always respect the song for surprising me when I didn't think The Cure still had it in them.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Vagabond SunOctober 27, 2013 at 8:12 PM

    Actually every album since The Head on the Door has had b-sides that were better than album tracks. Disintegration is the only one where I don't know if I could swap anything, but the b-sides are still great. 2 Late should have been a post album single.

    ReplyDelete
  49. UnknownOctober 28, 2013 at 10:21 AM

    Here's the Soundwaves playlist on Spotify:
    http://open.spotify.com/user/leabac/playlist/6FtQJjV2IMqd6USvKRfTS7

    ReplyDelete
  50. AnonymousOctober 29, 2013 at 12:27 PM

    "Album closer “Bare” is an 8-minute slog - - “Bore” would have been a more appropriate title." Hee hee.

    ReplyDelete
  51. AnonymousOctober 29, 2013 at 12:41 PM

    I agree, The 13th was one of The Cure's strongest singles. In ever.

    ReplyDelete
  52. MattcureOctober 29, 2013 at 9:45 PM

    I recall in interviews in 1992 when Robert was questioned of their huge success, that he said he will purposefully not let them get as big as Michael Jackson. He said he will not write any more pop songs in the future, hence, Wild Mood Swings.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Shout About MusicOctober 30, 2013 at 5:58 AM

    Mattcure - "not write any more pop songs in the future, hence, Wild Mood Swings" Erm... Matt, hate to point out the obvious but Mint Car and Strange Attraction are just about the fluffiest, poppiest songs The Cure ever released.

    While I'm here, I'll add my two cents to the wider debate. Since 1996 the quality control seems to have eluded Robert somewhat. There are always about 6-8 excellent tracks each time a new Cure album has come out (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) but these are weighed down by Robert's need to include about 12 or 13 tracks on each album (Bloodflowers aside). So we end up with some pretty ropey fillers on each album.

    Having 12 or 13 tracks on an album wasn't a problem in 1987, 1989 and 1992 - because the quality was so consistently high back then. Unfortunately, that consistency hasn't been maintained.

    If you trim each album down to 7 or 8 tracks for the years 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 then you're left with excellent albums. There is nothing wrong with an album of just 8 songs if they are all great (as a few of the pre-1987 albums demonstrate). Pity Robert has forgotten that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crimson TonightOctober 30, 2013 at 6:07 PM

      He also once said he would never entertain the thought of revisiting old demos for new albums, yet that's exactly what he did with at least 2 tracks on 4:13. He's a lovely man but very much like John Lydon when it comes to his own rules, i.e. he made the rules so he can adjust them as he sees fit!

      Delete
    2. Shout About MusicOctober 31, 2013 at 2:58 PM

      Yeah that's true too. I guess the other thing to bear in mind is that there are written records of everything Robert says in public (and lots of us out there who remember everything he says). So when he contradicts himself a few years after he has said something, we all know about it. For the rest of us mere mortals, we can say whatever we like - it won't be recorded/remembered - and when we later contradict ourselves, nobody knows about it. I know I have made 'rules' for myself in the past, which I have later reneged on.

      Delete

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