Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Last updated

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.jpg
Studio album by
Released26 May 1987 [1]
Recorded1986–1987
Studio
Genre
Length74:35
Label Fiction
Producer
The Cure chronology
Standing on a Beach
(1986)
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
(1987)
Disintegration
(1989)
Singles from Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
  1. "Why Can't I Be You?"
    Released: 6 April 1987
  2. "Catch"
    Released: 22 June 1987
  3. "Just Like Heaven"
    Released: 5 October 1987
  4. "Hot Hot Hot!!!"
    Released: 8 February 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [7]
Chicago Sun-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Pitchfork 9.4/10 [10]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Sounds Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [13]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
The Village Voice B [15]

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 26 May 1987 by Fiction Records. The album was recorded at Studio Miraval in Correns, France. [16]

Contents

The album helped bring the Cure into the American mainstream, becoming the band's first album to reach the top 40 of the Billboard 200 chart and achieving platinum certification. Like its predecessor, The Head on the Door , it was also a great international success, reaching the top 10 in numerous countries.

In 2000, the album was voted number 256 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [17]

Reception

In a contemporary review, Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone praised the album for its developed sound saying "The Cure is trying to deepen and refine an existing sensibility rather than reach outward to expand it". [18]

Chris Willman of Los Angeles Times observed, "For all its unevenness, “Kiss Me” is a welcome step away from the existential gloom-monster image the Cure has cultivated. The band still sounds like the Velvet Underground meeting Emo Philips in a dimly lit post-punk disco, but with an even wider variety of influences and instrumentation in the mix.", but was critical of the songs with longer running times, citing "Why Can't I Be You?" and "Just Like Heaven" as highlights. [19]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that the record was "more accessible and ambitious". However, he nuanced :"Even if Kiss Me doesn't quite gel, its best moments... are remarkable and help make the album one of the group's very best." [20]

Slant Magazine was mostly positive of the album saying "with Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, the Cure gives the listener the kind of roller-coaster rush that only great pop can provide." [21]

Writing, recording, and production

Directly after wrapping filming in August 1986 for The Cure in Orange , the band embarked on a spontaneous week-long holiday in Le Mourillon before moving on to Jean Costa's studio in Draguignan for a two-week pre-production session to refine demos recorded earlier that summer in London. Smith recounted that the demos were the result of soliciting each band member for their own musical ideas and getting "six or seven songs from each one" on a series of cassettes, before winnowing down to a shortlist via full-band vote, marking a shift from Smith's previous top-down control over composition. [22] [23]

After Draguignan, The Cure decamped to the residential setting of Studio Miraval for the three-month album recording session, where according to Smith they emphasized spontaneity, "almost jamming the songs to get the right feel" and recording in one or two takes with minimal rehearsal. The band decided during the course of the session that they had an adequate surplus of strong material to justify releasing a double LP. Smith mixed the album with co-producer David M. Allen and engineer Michel Dierickx during sessions in December 1986 (Compass Point, Bahamas) and January 1987 (ICP Recording Studios, Belgium), respectively. [22] [23] [24]

Release

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was released on 26 May 1987 by Fiction Records in the UK and by Elektra in the US and Canada. Though a double album in its vinyl issue, it was released as a single CD and single cassette. One track, "Hey You!!!", was omitted from the original CD release because of the 74:33 Red Book CD time restriction, but was included on all cassette releases. A limited vinyl edition came with a bonus six-track, orange 12" featuring the songs "Sugar Girl", "Snow in Summer", "Icing Sugar" (Weird Remix), "A Japanese Dream", "Breathe" and "A Chain of Flowers." [25]

The album appeared in August 2006 in both single-disc and deluxe double-disc CD editions as part of a Cure reissue campaign. All editions notably included "Hey You!!!", marking the first time a complete version of the album was made available on CD. The second disc of the deluxe edition is composed of demos and live versions of album tracks, including a recording of "Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the Wembley Arena. [25] Robert Smith stated on his website that there was so much material to draw from that he initially compiled a three-disc edition, with the third disc containing alternate studio versions of the album's songs. However, after discussing with family and friends, he decided that the two-disc edition was a better choice for release. Smith said that it was possible that his proposed third disc may surface as a leak or in a future release. [26]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Robert Smith; all music is composed by the Cure (Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst and Boris Williams)

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."The Kiss"6:17
2."Catch"2:42
3."Torture"4:13
4."If Only Tonight We Could Sleep"4:50
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Why Can't I Be You?"3:11
2."How Beautiful You Are..."5:10
3."The Snakepit"6:56
4."Hey You!!!"2:22
Side C
No.TitleLength
1."Just Like Heaven"3:30
2."All I Want"5:18
3."Hot Hot Hot!!!"3:32
4."One More Time"4:29
5."Like Cockatoos"3:38
Side D
No.TitleLength
1."Icing Sugar"3:48
2."The Perfect Girl"2:34
3."A Thousand Hours"3:21
4."Shiver and Shake"3:26
5."Fight"4:27
Total length:74:35
2006 Deluxe Edition bonus disc: Rarities 1986–1987
No.TitleLength
1."The Kiss (RS Home Demo 3/86) Instrumental"3:40
2."The Perfect Girl (Beethoven St. Studio Demo 6/86) Instrumental"3:26
3."Like Cockatoos (Beethoven St. Studio Demo 6/86) Instrumental"2:11
4."All I Want (Beethoven St. Studio Demo 6/86) Instrumental"3:33
5."Hot Hot Hot!!! (Beethoven St. Studio Demo 6/86) Instrumental"3:49
6."Shiver and Shake (Jean Costas Studio Demo 8/86) Instrumental"2:55
7."If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (Jean Costas Studio Demo 8/86) Instrumental"3:16
8."Just Like Heaven (Jean Costas Studio Demo 8/86) Instrumental"3:26
9."Hey You! (Jean Costas Studio Demo 8/86) Instrumental"2:32
10."A Thousand Hours (Miraval Studio Guide Vocal/Rough Mix 10/86)"3:27
11."Icing Sugar (Miraval Studio Guide Vocal/Rough Mix 10/86)"3:20
12."One More Time (Miraval Studio Guide Vocal/Rough Mix 10/86)"4:36
13."How Beautiful You Are ... (Live Bootleg – County Bowl Santa Barbara 7/87)"5:22
14."The Snakepit (Live Bootleg – County Bowl Santa Barbara 7/87)"7:30
15."Catch (Live Bootleg – NEC Birmingham 12/87)"2:32
16."Torture (Live Bootleg – NEC Birmingham 12/87)"4:04
17."Fight (Live Bootleg audience recording – Bercy Paris 12/87)"4:30
18."Why Can't I Be You? (Live Bootleg audience recording – Wembley Arena London 12/87)"7:43

Personnel

The Cure

Guest musician

Production

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [47] Gold100,000*
Portugal (AFP) [48] Gold20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [49] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [50] Platinum1,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide2,000,000 [51]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. Saxophone parts

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Bibliography