Track Listing

1. Why Can't I Be You?
2. Catch
3. Just Like Heaven
4. Hot Hot Hot!!!
5. Lullaby
6. Fascination Street
7. Lovesong
8. Pictures of You
9. Never Enough
10. Close to Me [Closet Remix]
11. High
12. Friday I'm in Love
13. Letter to Elise
14. 13th [Swing Radio Mix]
15. Mint Car [Radio Mix]
16. Strange Attraction [Album Mix]
17. Gone! [Radio Mix]
18. Wrong Number

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20559 in Music
• Published on: 1997
• Released on: 1997-10-28
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Standing on a Beach, the first singles compilation from Britain's premiere love cats, was the capper on a period of startling, evolving growth for Robert Smith & Co. This rather less interesting 18-song companion piece documents a peak commercial run that ended abruptly with last year's Wild Mood Swings disc. The one new studio track here, "Wrong Number," is a buzzing, synth-suffused delight that hooks deep after three spins. It's the cherry on a cake built from latter-day gems like "Lovesong," "Just Like Heaven," and "Friday I'm in Love." --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews

Good, but see first paragraph of review
On the first half of this compilation, The Cure manage to successfully cover a lot of different ground while still sounding very much like The Cure. The latter half of 'Galore' sounds more like The Cure doing a parody of The Cure. And, while that's sometimes not bad, it's sometimes not that engaging either.

On 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' and 'Disintegration', The Cure were still very much at the height of their powers; something that almost all of the first 8 tracks included here (with the exception of the funky sounding but ultimately irritating "Hot Hot Hot! ") bear out.

There's the lightweight, infectious pop romance of "Why Can't I Be You" and "Just Like Heaven", and in "Catch", there's a wonderfully quirky love song. "Lovesong", while lyrically straightforward, is emotionally straight and true as an arrow and, together with the brilliantly unsettling, driving song that is "Fascination Street", ranks as one of their best post-'Staring At The Sea' singles.

"Lullaby" is still enjoyable in a kind of comic-book horror sort of way, and still sounds distinctive enough to set it apart from the more mediocre material which follows after "Pictures Of You". "Never Enough", for instance, could be a b-side; and the "Close To Me" re-hash is easily eclipsed by the original.

Other, later songs, such as "High" and "Strange Attraction" for example, lack the distinctiveness of earlier material. "A Letter To Elise", a kind of remake of "Pictures Of You", while pleasant in its way, also plods along interminably. "The 13th" sees The Cure experimenting with a more tropical, jazzy sound and the result is something bordering on unlistenable ("Gone", though unremarkable, is perhaps more successful as an attempt to experiment with a more jazzy sound).

"Mint Car" is buoyant enough, but it's also "Friday I'm In Love" revisited. In the opinion of this writer, it is only in the lyrically throwaway, yet shimmering pop of the latter that the band manage to again recapture something special.

The new track, "Wrong Number", is interesting and gets feet tapping along to its slick 'alternative techno'sound, but, at the same time, is probably more enjoyable than it is memorable .

'Galore' is worth investigating for 7/8 of the first 8 tracks plus "Friday I'm In Love" and "Wrong Number". It's also worth noting that, because of remastering, the earlier songs on "Galore" also sound a lot brighter and clearer than they do on the original albums.

Want to Buy Your First Cure Album? Start Here!
I'm often bemused when I hear people say that the first Cure album one should buy is Pornography, Bloodflowers, etc. Let's face it. Unless you heard one of these albums and know that you like it, you're probably familiar with Cure music that you've heard on the radio...and it surely isn't anything on Pornography or Faith (terrific albums, however). The Cure are in some ways like Queen. Terrific British bands that have never really achieved mainstay status in America-yet I often hear people say they can't believe they know and like so many of their songs. You hear them all the time, you just don't realize it's one great band that has made so much fantastic music. Many people will recognize most, if not all, of the first 13 tracks on this great CD. Robert Smith is at his fizzy best when he sings such songs as "Why Can't I Be You?" "Just Like Heaven," and "Friday I'm in Love." "Love Song," "Pictures of You" and "A Letter to Elise" are among the most popular (and easy to listen to) ballads the band has produced. Songs 13 through 17 are from the largely ignored and underrated "Wild Mood Swings Album" (a perennial least favorite among longtime Cure fans), and the 18th track, "Wrong Number," represents the only new release of this album, and it was the least successful Cure single ever-though personally I think its zany guitar distortion and psychedelic lyrics make for a great song. Unless you already know you want to buy another Cure album, this is the perfect first choice, followed by either "Staring at the Sea" (a collection of singles from earlier Cure albums) or one of the albums that is represented on this disc-"Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me," "Disintegration," "Wish," or "Wild Mood Swings."

The Second Singles Collection of the Cure
The Cure have been doing so many things with so many genres. First they started out with late '70's British pop-punk and suddenly after came the slower and sometimes mad goth style. Then there was a lot happier and giddier sound with Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, then they switched back to goth. Then they mixed goth with giddiness. They kept their giddiness through the late 90's, and then switched back to goth for last two albums. They have 3 different genres, and they switch around a lot.

This is the Cure's second singles collection they came 11 years after their first one entitled Staring At The Sea. This contains all the tracks that had made singles and even some that were tanked. Cure fans should be very thankful for this because some of this material appear to be lost LPs.

The first four tracks of this disc are from 1987's giddy "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me." All four songs have a hint of romance.

1. Why Can't I Be You?
This track is the giddiest song the Cure ever made, and it is also the giddiest song I've ever heard. Some people would consider this psycho, but it's actually a pretty good song. Hot, Hot, Hot!!! is sort of like a companion track to this.

2. Catch
This song has a lot of romance in it. It's very slow with violins with Robert Smith singing slightly sadly about a girl. This isn't exactly crazy like some of the other tracks from this part of the collection, but it still belongs with it.

3. Just Like Heaven
Sort of like Catch but a little faster and a ultimately better beat, with Smith singing about a girl again, this time telling "what happened" when he was with her. Exceptional.

4. Hot, Hot, Hot!!!
Very silly just like Why Can't I Be You? As I said, this is almost a companion track to that track, but it's not exactly about a girl. It's supposed to sound "eletric" and it really does. It has a pounding beat and a psuedo-rap theme.

The next four tracks are from 1989's Disintegration. Disintegration had a darker goth theme to it. This selection here is quite eerie.

5. Lullaby
Eeerie crawl that will send a chill up your spine. So will the lyrics. This is the creepiest song the Cure has ever done, and the music video is also very, very creepy. Listen to this song and you'll agree with me that it's...snakelike.

6. Fascination Street
Very gothic and sort of like a getaway place. You can tell from the beat that it's goth, and the lyrics that it's a place to get away. One of the better tracks on this collection.

7. Lovesong
This song is dark but has romance in it. Smith talks about aging and how this girl makes him feel young again. Like Fascination Street, highly decent.

8. Pictures of You
The best track on this collection, better than all the others even the ones on this part. This is a big hit, and I'm definitely not surprised that it made many different types of singles.

The next song Never Enough was never on an album but made a single itself. It's not exactly a b-side, just a non-album. A remix was featured on 1990's Mixed Up.

9. Never Enough
Very crazy and has a strong rock beat to it. A decent track in my opinion. Some might consider it kind of ill but it is a hit.

Like Never Enough, this next track was released as a single. It is a remix of the hit Close To Me on 1985's Head on the Door. We should be very thankful that it's on here because this was ONLY an LP and is now impossible to get, but you need to because of this miracle.

10. Close to Me (Closet Remix)
One of the better songs. Unlike the original Close To Me, it has a lot smoother beat and not that pop beat. Not to be confused with the CLOSER mix on Mixed Up which was about 5 minutes long, this song is like a short version of that. It is about 4 minutes long. And instead of CLOSER on Mixed Up it is CLOSET with the 't'. Remember that!

These next three tracks are from 1992's Wish, which was pretty good. All three of these songs deserved to be singles.

11. High
One of the best tracks from the collection. It has an awesome beat and is the most enlightening song I have ever heard. The lyrics are so graceful and the music is so enlightening...if you're sensitive enough it might change you a little (this is a good thing).

12. Friday I'm in Love
The best on the album along with Pictures of You. It is very enlighening just like High. High and this song will give you wonderful daydreams and possibly even dreams when you're in bed.

13. A Letter to Elise
This song is remarkable with pleasant basslines and lyrics, along with very careful and precise drumming. This definitely deserved to be a single.

All of the next four tracks with the exception of Mint Car are not really deserving in my opinion of being singles. They're all from 1996's Wild Mood Swings. They are sloppy choices, but don't get me wrong they won't raise 5 stars down to four on this collection because they surprisingly help set the mood a little!

14. 13th (Swing Radio Mix)
All I can say is this is not very good, because they are experimenting with Latino drums and tropical noises with these horns. Not very impressive, but helps set the mood for the rest of the tracks.

15. Mint Car (Radio Mix)
Thank God this is on here, because it is one of the best along with the previous tracks I've commended. I'm glad they included the radio mix because the album version is not as good.

16. Strange Attraction (Album Mix)
This is horrible is all I can say. It takes the earlier tracks and breaks them in half. This should not have been a single, the only thing good about this is that it goes along with Gone! which was passable for an OK song.

17. Gone! (Radio Mix)
Passable. For only being OK, as I mentioned in Strange Attraction. There's not much to say about this, but it's jazzy and sounds like Wild Mood Swings.

The final track on here is awesome. It is a new track and it is a "better" song.

18. Wrong Number
This is better. I love this when I first heard it, it is about 6 minutes long. A long of techno and rock!

-End-

Well that was the Cure's second singles collection. A little off at the end, but that doesn't make it four stars! It's five stars because they made a great effort with experimentation. I recommend it for you if you're a Cure newbie or a long-time fan (I'm surprised if you don't have then).

Overall Grade: 9/10