Staring At The Sea: The Singles

Performer: The Cure
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: STARING AT THE SEA contains four tracks not available on cassette STANDING ON A BEACH. The Cure: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Laurence Tolhurst (keyboards, drums); Porl Thompson, Matthieu Hartley (keyboards); Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup, Phil Thornalley (bass); Boris Williams, Steve Goulding, Anderson (drums). Producers: Parry, Robert Smith, Hedges, Thornalley, Steve Nye, Allen. Recorded between 1979 & 1985. STANDING ON A BEACH is the cassette equivalent to the CD STARING AT THE SEA, with 12 extra tracks. Personnel: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Laurence Tolhurst (keyboards, drums); Porl Thompson, Matthieu Hartley (keyboards); Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup, Phil Thornalley (bass); Boris Williams, Goulding, Anderson (drums). Producers include: Parry, Robert Smith, Hedges, The Cure, Phil Thornalley. Recorded between 1979 & 1985. Staring at the Sea: The Singles collects all of the Cure's biggest U.K. hits and best-known songs from the late '70s and early '80s. Spanning from "Killing an Arab" and "Boys Don't Cry," to "The Lovecats," "In Between Days," and "Close to Me," Staring at the Sea captures some of the finest -- and most influential -- post-punk music. At their best, the Cure were nervy, intellectual, catchy, and foreboding, all at once. No matter how carefully crafted the Cure's individual albums were, their finest moments occurred on singles like these, when they distilled their essence into surprisingly catchy, but decidedly left-of-center, pop singles. Staring at the Sea not only selects highlights from their uneven early albums, it collects many of the group's terrific non-LP singles. It's a definitive retrospective of the Cure and is one of the finest albums of the '80s. [The cassette version of Staring at the Sea was titled Standing on a Beach and included several B-sides.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Starting with an at-once hilarious and enlightening archival home movie clip showing the band in its earliest days with its original lead singer at an open-air performance in Robert Smith's hometown, Crawley -- the '70s hairdos and general clothing bespeak a time well before "goth" was invented -- Images is a fantastic collection of the band's videos up through 1986. As the title indicates, the tape is a companion to the Cure's excellent singles compilation of the same name; indeed, the close-up of an old man on the album's cover is echoed in the video for "Killing an Arab," where the title itself comes from. The earliest videos for the group veer between ham-handed dramatics and straightforward concert/rehearsal performances. Some, like the clips for "10:15 Saturday Night" and "A Forest," are just fine, interesting enough in showing Smith's earliest hairdos nothing like his later haystacks of fame -- and quite non-made-up appearance, as well as those of other members like Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurst, and Simon Gallup. Seeing Gallup disinterestedly toss off the famous bassline for "A Forest" is a scream. Others, like the wannabe spooky clips for "Charlotte Sometimes" and "The Hanging Garden," help give video in general a bad name (though admittedly some of Smith's haunted looks in the latter seem to testify to his state of mind at that point). Thankfully, the nutty household routines of "Let's Go to Bed" director Tim Pope entered the picture, following hard on his series of great Soft Cell clips. His string of innovative, funny, and entertaining creations became synonymous with the band, balancing out both melancholia and lighter impulses with skill. Such videos as the fluorescent colors and socks of "In Between Days," the goofy animals and greenhouse setting of "The Caterpillar," and the truly funny cramped-in-a-wardrobe-while-falling-into-the-ocean scenario for "Close to Me" helped win the band a larger fan base, not to mention becoming bona fide classics of the form. The images in the latter of the band playing alternate versions of their usual instruments while packed up tight are great -- Porl Thompson has to play a synth part on a comb! For this collection Pope also shot a few videos for early singles well after the fact. His 1986-era clip for "Boys Don't Cry," featuring three kids standing in on the instruments while the band itself plays behind a curtain, is a hoot, especially the real band's red lights in place of eyes. Scattered between all the videos are more archival home movie clips, from early festival appearances and TV appearances to triumphant headlining shows, not to mention some fun studio goofing around. The behind-the-scenes clips for "Charlotte Sometimes" alone are much more entertaining than the actual video itself. In all Images is a sometimes off but mostly fantastic collection of visuals, of appeal to both hardcore fans and general listeners alike, like its album equivalent. ~ Ned Raggett This compilation of singles represents the first eight years of the Cure's history, spanning 1978 through 1985. STARING AT THE SEA is a necessary volume in any Cure fan's collection, its 17 absolute gems ranging from the dark, minimalist "Killing an Arab" to the almost symphonic "A Night Like This." The collection traces the Cure's evolution from post-punk trio through the early years of the band's reinvention as gloomy and mildly psychedelic romantics. STARING includes the catchy "Boys Don't Cry" and "The Walk," the Cure's response to New Order's early attempts at electronic dance music. Also present here are the hauntingly beautiful "Charlotte Sometimes," not available on any other compact disc, and "The Lovecats," one of the Cure's more unique-and most commercially successful-singles. This excellent compilation effectively summarizes the growth of one of new wave's most formidable forces. STARING AT THE SEA also serves as an ideal introduction to the Cure.

Led by depressive pop prince Robert Smith, the Cure have taken their legions of fans on a journey from post-punk to gothic to new wave to art rock, stopping only for refills of hairspray along the way. An amazing band both live and in the studio, the Cure may have shifted its lineup numerous times, but Smith has remained a consistently fascinating rock icon throughout the changes. The group's most popular work (DISINTEGRATION, THE HEAD ON THE DOOR) was recorded in the 1980s, but it has held up incredibly well, leading to continued tours and albums despite exaggerated rumors of their demise.

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