The Cure - Staring at the Sea: The Singles

Big and moody, Staring at the Sea compiles some hits and near misses of these excavators of the dark soul. Beginning with their earliest hits--the sparse "Killing an Arab," the aptly tedious "10:15 Saturday Night," and the charming "Boys Don't Cry"--this collection stops before the comparative giddiness of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.

Musicians first, brooding art types second, The Cure's unique instrumentation doesn't get the credit it rightfully deserves. The thrashy, trash-can break in "Jumping Someone Else's Train," the sprightly synthesized recorder of "Close to Me," and the techno-pop disco lines in "Let's Go to Bed" and "The Walk" are downright brilliant in their effectiveness and simplicity. A string of money shots if ever there was one. --Steve Gdula Amazon.com

obviously a great record, and great melodies!

the cure's singles and best known melodic songs burn with passion and sheer genius.
It would be hard not to lose oneself in a glowing review.... however, that said, whoever came up with the following review quote, has managed to plumb the depth of the barrel of idiocy, and lose a piece of very relevant clarity:
"But for the rest of us who actually appreciate melodies as long as they aren't too commercialized"
If anyone anywhere can ascribe any sort of rational logical meaning to this gibberish, please write to the following people:
the authors of
here, there and everywhere (mccartney, i presume)
losing my religion (stipe, buck, et al)
lovesong (mr. smith again)
crazy (gnarls barkley)
waiting on a friend (mssrs jagger and richards)
heroes (mr. bowie)
aaaaaghh!! one could go on and on and on..........
these songs, and all great songs (however bl0ody popular) were written as pieces of artistic expression. How popular they subsequently become is not germane to the truths of their existence. This time of critical meandering is a serious pain in the ****! enough! please!! July 14, 2008

This is their greatest best of CD

Contains most all of the hits before Kiss Kiss Kiss Me and is a comprehensive 1978-1986 singles collection, which contains a lot of their up beat tones from the mid 80s, but contains enough of the slower tempo mope rock classics to balance out the CD. I would rank their CDs like this:

Disintegration (1989)
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
Bloodflowers (2000)
The Head on the Door (1985)
Standing on a Beach/ Staring at the Sea (1986)
Wish (1992)


However, if I were to own just 2 Cure CDs it would be this one and Disintegration. Key songs on this CD are "Boys don't Cry", "Jumping Someone Else's Train", and "Charlotte Sometimes." July 8, 2008

Love this album!

I had this album as a teenager in the early 80s, on vinyl (Standing on a beach), and it still sounds fantastic. Also bought The Greatest Hits on iTunes a few years ago but because of the limit on how many times you can put the songs on separate hard drives, I had to decide whether to buy that again or get this one. The Greatest Hits also has many of the songs on this one but doesn't have the sublime 10.15 Saturday Night, nor The Caterpillar, nor Jumping Someone Else's Train. So that I wouldn't double up, I bought Staring at the Sea on CD from Amazon, then downloaded my favorite songs from iTunes that were released after Standing on a beach. I recommend this album for earlier fans (as opposed to those who got into The Cure later who might prefer The Greatest Hits) who might have already bought all The Cure albums on vinyl in another lifetime, and just want the the best songs from their collection. June 24, 2008

The Definitive Cure for the 80's.

"Standing on a beach with a gun in my hand. Staring at the sea, staring at the sand..." ("Killing an Arab").

No modern rock collection would be complete without this album. Standing on a Beach is a definitive Cure singles compilation album, spanning the band's early career from the controversial, 1980 debut single "Killing an Arab" (based on French existentialist Albert Camus' novel, The Stranger), to the band's 1985 release of The Head on the Door. During the 80s the band was known for its gothic sound: dark and atmospheric music infused with gloomy lyrics. The Cure toured in 1986 to support the release of this complilation disc, a tour that ended in Los Angeles when a fan committed suicide as the band took the stage. Complete album tracks include:

1. Killing An Arab
2. 10:15 Saturday Night
3. Boys Don't Cry
4. Jumping Someone Else's Train
5. A Forest
6. Play For Today
7. Primary
8. Other Voices
9. Charlotte Sometimes
10. The Hanging Garden
11. Let's Go To Bed
12. The Walk
13. The Lovecats
14. The Caterpillar
15. In Between Days
16. Close To Me
17. A Night Like This

G. Merritt
May 15, 2008

Good compilation

I would rather buy all the albums separately, but if you want to carry around a cd with most of the popular hits, this is the CD to purchase. April 22, 2008

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