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DISCID=e90f3c11
DTITLE=The Cure / The Top (Rarities 1982 - 1984) - (Deluxe Edition Disc 2)
DYEAR=1984
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=You Stayed... (RS Home Demo)
TTITLE1=Ariel (RS Home Demo)
TTITLE2=A Hand Inside My Mouth (Studio Demo)
TTITLE3=Sadacic (RS Studio Demo)
TTITLE4=Shake Dog Shake (Studio Demo)
TTITLE5=Piggy In The Mirror (Studio Demo)
TTITLE6=Birdmad Girl (Studio Demo)
TTITLE7=Give Me It (Studio Demo)
TTITLE8=Throw Your Foot (Studio Demo)
TTITLE9=Happy The Man (Studio Demo)
TTITLE10=The Caterpillar (Studio Demo)
TTITLE11=Dressing Up (Studio Alt Mix)
TTITLE12=Wailing Wall (Studio Alt Mix)
TTITLE13=The Empty World (Live Bootleg)
TTITLE14=Bananafishbones (Live Bootleg)
TTITLE15=The Top (Live Bootleg)
TTITLE16=Forever (Version) (Live Bootleg)
EXTD=The Top (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 2 of 2\n2006 Rhino Entertainment Company\n\nOriginally Released September 1984\nCD Edition Released February 1989\nDeluxe 2CD Edition Released August 8, 2006\nRemastered 1CD Edition Released N/A\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: 
EXTD=Recorded in the midst of Robert Smith's tenuous tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Top is arguably the most hedonistic record the Cure ever produced. Essentially Smith and Lol Tolhurst working with studio musicians (this being the period whe
EXTD=n the Cure's lineup was never assured), it's an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs. More wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the Cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were t
EXTD=o erase their reputation built by Pornography and eventually culminating in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. That said, it's still very much a Cure record. Heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ("Th
EXTD=e Caterpillar," "Shake Dog Shake") are unmistakably Robert Smith. The big change this time around is his ability to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work (Pornography) with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences (i.e., world t
EXTD=ravels, sounds, instruments) to moderate success ("Wailing Wall," "Piggy in the Mirror"). A more psychedelic descent than Pornography, The Top is a transition, never really feeling like a full-length release, but it does meld all former phases of Ro
EXTD=b and co., which would fully gel on The Head on the Door. At best an imperfect record, The Top is a necessary step in the evolution of the band. [A two-disc deluxe edition of the album was released by Rhino in 2006. The first disc contained the albu
EXTD=m proper, while the second featured 11 demos, a pair of alternate mixes, and a handful of songs pulled from a live bootleg.] -- Chris True\n\nAmazon.com Product Description\nFirst released in 1984, this album is a dramatic musical transition for The
EXTD= Cure, integrating the band's trademark dark textures with increased melodic and pop tendencies. The Top features 4 previously unreleased songs. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBrilliantly Remastred Version of an Already-Amazing Album, August 22, 20
EXTD=06\nReviewer: Tom Ferguson "Music Enthusiast" (Chickamauga, GA)\nI've read other customers' comments about "Shake Dog Shake's" drum roll being edited. I've been listening to this album for sixteen years now and have NO idea what they're talking abou
EXTD=t. It sounds perfect! \n\n"Bananfishbones" is indeed sped up, but another customer states that this is a correction of faulty original mastering. I think it sounds much livelier now and can't believe what I've been missing all this time! \n\nAt any 
EXTD=rate, this deluxe version is INCREDIBLE. The sound quality is nothing short of superb. If you liked 'The Top' the first time around, don't hesitate to purchase this one. You're in for a completely new, amazing listening experience!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUS
EXTD=TOMER REVIEW\nAt least it starts off good..., August 17, 2006\nReviewer: Michael Stack (Watertown, MA USA)\nAn album that Robert Smith has pretty much disowned, "The Top" is a record that pretty much lives up to its reputation. The Cure were in a st
EXTD=ate of disarray, Simon Gallup having defected left Smith and Lol Tolhurst to handle most of the instrument duties. And while it starts off well enough, the album's second side is another story. \n\nBut again, it does start nicely-- opener "Shake Dog
EXTD= Shake" with its railing drums, fierce riffing and frantic, powerful vocal is one of the best, early, loud statements by the Cure. And it continues positively-- the crisp, clean, dancey "Birdmad Girl" and the moody, MidEastern tinged "Wailing Wall" 
EXTD=are both great cuts with very unique sounds. But after that, it's just one unmemorable cut (Bauhausesque "Give Me It") to another ("Bananafishbones"), with a bad penchant for reedy synths ("Dressing Up") or on occasion, oddball reed performances tha
EXTD=t distract from the piece (the otherwise fantastic "The Empty World"). \n\nLike the rest of the Cure reissues, this one comes remastered and with a second disc of unreleased material, mostly demos that, while interesting, aren't fantatic, with a few
EXTD= low fidelity live tracks tacked on the end. Honestly, I can't figure out why the live tracks sound so bad-- I've heard better bootlegs from the era. \n\nSo it's a nice set, but truthfully "The Top" is an album everyone but the diehards can probably
EXTD= skip.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNowhere near "The Top" for The Cure, August 16, 2006\nReviewer: R. C. Lanham "just another nameless consumer"\nI'd have to agree with one of the other reviewers of The Top in that my review is a bit biased; whic
EXTD=h is unavoidable since this album did not elicit much more of a response than a shrug of the shoulders from me when I first heard it about 20 years ago. It's the older brother of the equally unstable 1996 release Wild Mood Swings, and listening to t
EXTD=he deluxe remaster of The Top only reinforces this for me. Both of these albums lack focus and consistency, and while they each have some flashes of near-brilliance, they never really establish a theme and/or atmosphere for the listener to grab onto
EXTD=. \nThe Top was originally released in May, 1984 and represented yet another line-up change for The Cure (already the seventh in the first six years or so of the band's life). Because of this, it suffers from a lack of clear identity and direction. 
EXTD=\nRobert Smith has claimed in past interviews that he played almost all of the instruments on The Top, in spite of the musician credits listed on the album's sleeve. If that is true, then it makes this an even more confusing effort by a supremely ta
EXTD=lented, but obviously very unsure, artist. \nThe Top opens with "Shake Dog Shake", which is a decent enough song, but still a sub-par introduction by a band that has mastered the art of the powerful album opener. Yes, this remastered 2006 edition ha
EXTD=s a clipped drum intro to the song, but I believe this was an intentional edit. The drum roll sort of fades in for about three seconds before the rest of the music starts. The fact that it fades in would appear to be an intentional revision and not 
EXTD=an oversight, in my opinion. \nThe next two songs, "Birdmad Girl" and "Wailing Wall" are two of the stronger tracks on the album and are as close as The Top gets to representing that unique and magnificent Cure sound that we all know and love. Along
EXTD= with "The Caterpillar", they are the only tracks from The Top that have stood the test of time and sound just as good some two decades later. Conversely, "Give Me It", "Dressing Up", and "Bananafishbones" are some of the poorest (and perhaps lazies
EXTD=t) efforts in the history of the band. \nBecause of the unclear focus and generally themeless haze of The Top, I feel comfortable in advising that only the more enthusiastic and loyal Cure fan should consider adding this one to their collection. It 
EXTD=just does not offer very much to anyone else. \nThe second disc of mostly home and studio demos provides little help, and is most interesting for the previously unreleased, but none-too-special, handful of offerings. The most interesting of which is
EXTD= the atmospheric "Sadacic" with one of the more confident vocal tracks by Robert Smith up to that point of his singing career. The live material that closes the disc presents a nice sampling of how the band sounded on stage at the time, and the vers
EXTD=ion of "Forever" is a particularly worthwhile listen with it's all-too-fitting schizophrenic climax to such a confusing album. \n2.5 STARS. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThis top is the place where nobody goes, August 15, 2006\nReviewer: A. Cook "
EXTD=Mr. Pink-Eye" (New York, NY)\nThe Top is indisputably the Cure's most bizarre (though in some respects most representative) album. Now we have this 2CD remastering of an album long unavailable in the US, at roughly the same price as the original imp
EXTD=ort. The ten tracks are indulgent, noisy, and all over the map, yet the album maintains a Dark Carnival unity: the frenetic drums and demented saxaphone rant of Give Me It could not be more different from the gauzy synths of Dressing Up, but togethe
EXTD=r they are a perfect heroin fix. Throw in Robert Smith's most flamboyant vocal gymastics and strange experiments like The Empty World (a fife-and-drums number on the nihilism of war) and you have an album (and a band) in the midst of a breakdown. Bu
EXTD=t then that's what makes the Top such an interesting trip. Only the Cure could bring you a record so simulataneously over the top and under the weather. \n\nA few notes on this release: \n\nDISC ONE (Remastering): \nThe drum roll at the beginning of
EXTD= Shake Dog Shake is indeed slightly shorter--intentionally so, I believe. Bananafishbones is also noticably faster, correcting a mastering problem in the original release. The remastering gives more space to atmospheric tracks like The Wailing Wall,
EXTD= and brings out the brilliant percussion on the single, The Caterpillar. \n\nDISC TWO: \nAs with the previous reissues, this mostly charts the development of the album tracks. Among the highlights are a demo of A Hand Inside My Mouth with lyrics fro
EXTD=m Six Different Ways (HOTD album track) and a demo called Sadacic, which eventually became New Day (b-side). \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\n"Ha Ha Ha"...Robert Smith Sings about His Bad Hair Life, August 14, 2006\nReviewer: Thomas D. Ryan "American
EXTD= Hit Network" (New York)\nI believe that virtually all negative reviews are borne from prejudice, and this one is no different. When I say "borne from prejudice" I mean that pre-formulated impressions or an innate inability to understand the artist'
EXTD=s intent are usually a factor in developing negative opinions, so it is imperative that all negative reviews be interpreted with the understanding that it is more than likely the reviewer is completely full of s#$%. Regarding "The Top," the fifth al
EXTD=bum credited to the Cure, I already had my mind made up about the record before I even heard it. In their earliest years, I thought the Cure were an interesting band with little technical ability but a unique sensibility that set them apart from oth
EXTD=er bands. I sort of liked them for their first three albums. Then, during a trip to England in 1982, I found myself in a London record shop on the day that the band's fourth album, entitled "Pornography," was released. Oh, lucky me. \nI hated that r
EXTD=ecord. To my ears, it sounded like somebody took the band's first three albums and blasted them through a garbage compactor and into a canyon, resulting in an unbearable noise that never relented (you can read my review for "Pornography" elsewhere, 
EXTD=if you wish...). I never really forgave the band for this, and as a result, I more or less abandoned them...which is why I never heard "The Top" until twenty years later. \nDo I think I missed much? No, unless I can quantify the comedic aspect of li
EXTD=stening to something so bleak, self-obsessed, and disorganized as if it were meant to be funny. I am sure that my attitude will only add to the alleged horror that is experienced on a daily basis by Robert Smith and his uber-depressed fans, but part
EXTD=s of "The Top" are so `over the top' that I can't help but laugh out loud. The affectation of Smith's voice when he sings "Dressing Up" is one of the most un-deliberately funny moments I've ever heard. "Give Me It" shares the relentless penchant for
EXTD= noise that made me hate "Pornography" so much, only it adds disgusting imagery into the mix, with lyrics like, "Slit the cats like cheese, then eat the sweet sticky things. Suck Harder! Suck Harder! Suck your insides out..." \n"Piggy in the Mirror"
EXTD= is meant to convey an emotionally harrowing moment of self-loathing, but it comes off like another bad-hair day for Robert Smith. The album never gets any more emotionally compelling than this, either, and the extra disk of `bonus' material adds li
EXTD=ttle except half-baked demo versions of songs that should never have been extrapolated on in the first place. The album's best track, "Shake Dog Shake," opens with a self-mocking "Ha Ha Ha" that more or less defines my own attitude about the entire 
EXTD=album; It's funny, but it isn't `Ha ha" funny...or, at least, this is what my predisposed prejudice has me thinking about "The Top." C- Tom Ryan \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nYes, Shake Dog Shake is cut, August 9, 2006\nReviewer: L. Gray\n4 stars 
EXTD=for the album, 2 docked because of the mastering screw up. \nAs the previous reviewer said... my copy also has a couple of seconds or so missing from the beginning of Shake Dog Shake. That may not seem like much time, but it does ruin the effect of 
EXTD=the intro. Why, why, WHY can't these record companies get these remasters right? We fans buy this stuff over and over and they keep screwing them up.\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nProducers: Robert Smith, Chris Parry, Dave Allen.\nThe Cure: Laurence Tolh
EXTD=urst, Andy Anderson, Robert Smith , Simon Gallup.\nRecording information: 1984.\n\nThe virtual definition of a "transitional album," the Cure's 1984 outing, THE TOP, was created during a turbulent time in the band's history, during which the group n
EXTD=early disintegrated, and Smith was occupying himself by filling in as guitarist for Siouxsie & the Banshees (see their album HYAENA). THE TOP exemplifies Smith's restlessness, as fierce rock ("Shake Dog Shake," "Give Me It") mixes with PORNOGRAPHY-l
EXTD=ike gloom ("Wailing Wall") and quirky pop ("Birdmad Girl," "The Caterpillar"), the latter of which the Cure would explore further on THE HEAD ON THE DOOR and KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME. Although this isn't one of the group's most consistent albums, i
EXTD=t's invaluable as a portrait of a band on the brink, and essential for hardcore Cure fans. YEAR: 1984
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