The Top (album)

The Top
Studio album by The Cure
Released	30 April 1984
Recorded	Genetic, Garden studios, Trident, 1983 - 1984
Genre	Gothic rock, post-punk, new wave, psychedelic rock
Length	40:55
Label	Fiction (UK) Sire (U.S. original release) Rhino (2006 reissue)
Producer	David M. Allen, Chris Parry, Robert Smith
The Cure chronology
Pornography (1982) The Top (1984) The Head on the Door (1985)
Singles from The Top
"The Caterpillar" Released: 26 March 1984

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Pitchfork Media	(6.9/10) [1]

The Top is the fifth studio album by British band The Cure, released in 1984.

Overview

The Top was the studio album to follow Pornography. After Pornography, Robert Smith found himself without his friend Simon Gallup, who departed the band due to a fight.

Smith then took a radical shift in his music. Just months after the bleak Pornography, the band released the single "Let's Go to Bed" which just featured Smith, Lol Tolhurst and session drummer Steve Goulding. Following this was "The Walk", and then "The Lovecats". These three singles and their b-sides were compiled and became Japanese Whispers (1983). The Top is the first conventional studio album to follow this new side of The Cure. It marks a change from the upbeat synthpop of Japanese Whispers to a psychedelic, experimental sound.

Due to the conflicts and band lineup troubles, Smith wrote almost all of the music himself, and played almost all the instruments (except the drums). As such, this is closer to a Robert Smith solo album than any other album in the band's history, seen as experimental and transitional.

2006 re-release

The album was re-released August 8, 2006 in the U.S. and August 14 in the UK.

The second disc has four previously unreleased tracks ("You Stayed", "Ariel", "A Hand Inside My Mouth" – lyrics from which were eventually used in "Inbetween Days" and "Six Different Ways" – and "Sadicic", which was repurposed as "New Day"), three live performances, and studio outtakes/demos of nine of the ten songs on the original album (and of "Happy the Man" and "Throw Your Foot", final versions of which were released as B-sides on the single "The Caterpillar").

Track listing

All songs by Robert Smith, except where noted.

Original 1984 release

1. "Shake Dog Shake" – 4:55
2. "Bird Mad Girl" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 4:05
3. "Wailing Wall" – 5:17
4. "Give Me It" – 3:42
5. "Dressing Up" – 2:51
6. "The Caterpillar" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40
7. "Piggy in the Mirror" (Smith, Tolhurst) – 3:40
8. "The Empty World" – 2:36
9. "Bananafishbones" – 3:12
10. "The Top" – 6:50

2006 "Deluxe Edition"

Disc one

1. "Shake Dog Shake"
2. "Birdmad Girl"
3. "Wailing Wall"
4. "Give Me It"
5. "Dressing Up"
6. "The Caterpillar"
7. "Piggy In The Mirror"
8. "The Empty World"
9. "Bananafishbones"
10. "The Top"

Disc two

1. "You Stayed..." (Robert Smith home demo) – 2:21
2. "Ariel" (Robert Smith home demo) – 2:58
3. "A Hand Inside My Mouth" (Studio demo) – 3:40
4. "Sadacic" (Robert Smith Studio demo) – 4:17
5. "Shake Dog Shake" (Studio demo) – 4:56
6. "Piggy in the Mirror" (Studio demo) – 3:40
7. "Birdmad Girl" (Studio demo) – 3:36
8. "Give Me It" (Studio demo) – 3:43
9. "Throw Your Foot" (Studio demo) – 3:31
10. "Happy the Man" (Studio demo) – 2:46
11. "The Caterpillar" (Studio demo) – 4:17
12. "Dressing Up" (Studio alt mix) – 2:14
13. "Wailing Wall" (Studio alt mix) – 4:59
14. "The Empty World" (live bootleg Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 2:47
15. "Bananafishbones" (live bootleg Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 2:57
16. "The Top" (live bootleg Hammersmith Odeon 5/84) – 7:13
17. "Forever (version)" (live bootleg Zenith Paris 5/84) – 4:58

Personnel

• Robert Smith - vocals, Multi Instruments
• Andy Anderson - percussion, drums
• Lol Tolhurst - Other Instruments
• Porl Thompson - saxophone on Disc 1 and Disc 2, keyboards and guitar on live tracks on Disc 2
• Phil Thornalley - bass guitar on live tracks on Disc 2

Production

• Producers: Dave Allen, Chris Parry, Robert Smith
• Engineers: Dave Allen, Howard Grey
• Instrumentation: Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1984	The Billboard 200	180