This was one of my favorite albums from when I was in high school, so I was pleased when I found it on sale about a year ago.
Staring At The Sea is the CD version of the 1986 greatest hits compilation Standing On A Beach. It includes four songs not available on Standing On A Beach: “10:15 Saturday Night”, “Play For Today”, “Other Voices”, and “A Night Like This”.
I like The Cure, but most of their albums are just awful. The Head On The Door is the only one of their albums that I can listen to all the way through. The other albums contain one or two good songs, and then the rest I can’t even listen to. Staring At The Sea is the ideal Cure album for me because it gathers all the good Cure songs together in one place.
This compilation contains all of the singles from The Cure’s first seven albums, recorded between 1979 and 1985. The first four songs come from the 1979 debut album Three Imaginary Boys (released in the US in 1980 as Boys Don’t Cry). The sound on these songs is a raw, sparse, guitar-driven sound, just what you would expect from the early days of a band like The Cure. “Killing An Arab”, despite what the title may indicate, is not an expression of anti-Arab sentiment. It is a musical depiction of a scene from Albert Camus’ The Stranger in which a man kills an Arab at the beach, with reflections on the existential philosophy which drives this action. “Boys Don’t Cry” is an expression of insecurity and inner turmoil which is belied by the soaring guitar riff which recurs throughout the song. “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” is a driving song which pokes fun at those who follow the latest trends. The highlight of this song is a trash-can-banging, hand-clapping section at the end which is suggestive of a train rolling down the track.
“A Forest” and “Play For Today” come from the 1980 album Seventeen Seconds. “A Forest” is a lyrically sparse song with long instrumental stretches which convey the impression of running through a dark, misty forest and getting lost in it.
“Primary” and “Other Voices” come from the 1981 album Faith. “Charlotte Sometimes” does not appear on the original version of Faith, though it does appear on some deluxe versions which are now available. “The Hanging Garden” comes from the 1982 album Pornography.
“Let’s Go To Bed”, “The Walk”, and “The Lovecats” come from the 1983 album Japanese Whispers. “Let’s Go To Bed” is an abrupt change of pace. In the middle of the dark, driving tone set by “Charlotte Sometimes” and “The Hanging Garden”, you have a campy, upbeat song highlighted by a synthesized “doo-doo-doo-doo” line which dares you to not sing along. “The Walk” is a driving song with a techno-ish synthesizer riff which recurs throughout the song. “The Lovecats” is a delightful, sparse, jazzy song which features a walking string bass line and scat vocals which suggest the howling of cats.
“The Caterpillar” comes from the 1984 album The Top. The rhythm of this song and the violin riffs suggest the oozing motion of a caterpillar.
“In Between Days”, “Close To Me”, and “A Night Like This” come from the 1985 album The Head On The Door. “In Between Days” is a good solid pop song. “Close To Me” is the first Cure song to receive any significant airplay here in the US. It is a very simple, sparse song which features a synthesizer/organ background, drums, and no other instruments at first. About midway through a flute/recorder joins in, and towards the end a trumpet/saxophone combo enters. The high point of the song is the ending where the trumpet and saxophone soloists battle it out for over a minute.
In summary, Staring At The Sea is an excellent album for anyone wishing to explore the early work of The Cure, or for anyone like me who only likes one or two songs on their albums and wants to have all the good songs gathered together in one place.
