The Head on the Door



The Head on the Door is the sixth studio album by English alternative rock band the Cure, released in August 1985 on record label Polydor. Preceded by the single "In Between Days" which had reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, The Head on the Door was described by Melody Maker as "a collection of pop songs", while PopMatters declared that it defined alternative rock. With its variety of styles, it allowed the group to reach a wider audience in both Europe and North America. In the United Kingdom, it became their most successful album to date, entering the albums chart at No. 7 on 7 September.

The album is the first to feature drummer Boris Williams. Bassist Simon Gallup, who had previously worked on three major Cure albums of the early 1980s, was called back before the recording. In 1985, the band became a quintet with instrumentalist Porl Thompson as their fifth official member. The Head on the Door is the first Cure album where all the songs were composed solely by singer and guitarist Robert Smith.

History and music
This album marks the return of Simon Gallup in the group; he had performed and composed with Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst on the dark trilogy Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. Guitarist Porl Thompson, who had played guitar during the very early days of the band, and also played keyboards and saxophone during The Top tour, became an official member. Drummer Boris Williams, who had previously worked with Thompson Twins, finally joined the ensemble after playing with the band during the US leg of the 1984 tour.

During promotion for the record, Smith stated that it was inspired by the albums Kaleidoscope by Siouxsie and the Banshees and Dare by the Human League. He wanted the album to be eclectic with different styles and moods: "It reminds me of the Kaleidoscope album, the idea of having lots of different sounding things, different colours". "Kyoto Song" contains an oriental hook while "The Blood" is played in a flamenco style. The piano tune of "Six Different Ways" was previously used by Smith during his tenure with Siouxsie and the Banshees, for the single "Swimming Horses". The last song of the album, "Sinking", was reminiscent of the band's Faith era, while "Close to Me" was described as a "disco thing" by critics. The opening track and first single, "In Between Days", was compared to New Order's material. "A Night Like This" contains a saxophone solo by Ron Howe from Fools Dance. The title of the album comes from a line in the chorus from the second and final single, "Close to Me".

When he was interviewed that year, Smith cited among his other favourite albums, This Year's Model by Elvis Costello, Low by David Bowie, Rattus Norvegicus by the Stranglers, and Mirror Moves by the Psychedelic Furs.

Release, reception and legacy
Released on 26 August 1985, The Head on the Door was the first big international success for the band, notably entering the top 75 in the US and reaching the top 20 in numerous other countries. The album is certified gold in the US, UK and France.

Upon its release, The Head on the Door was well received by the British press. In a very favourable review, Melody Maker hailed the "liberty" that Smith took to conceive a multifaceted record. Chris Roberts of Sounds said that it "makes you wish more pop stars were hip enough to stay in bed all day". Record Mirror reviewer Andy Strickland wrote that The Head on the Door "may lack the swirls of chorused guitar that many adore, but there's a wider more mature musical approach". NME wrote: "it's quite pop" and "tunes abound". In December 1985, The Head on the Door was named the best album of the year by Melody Maker.

In a retrospective review, AllMusic noted that The Head on the Door marked a new musical direction for the Cure, with Smith managing to make the band's trademark "gloom and doom" style both "danceable and popular", while also noting that its inventive arrangements "give the album a musical depth previous efforts lacked". Tom Doyle of Q wrote that the album found Smith "bridging the brooding of yore with their recent pop highs". Pitchfork said: it is the band's "most focused pop album" and "a tight, terrific package." Writing for PopMatters, Gregg Lipkin said, "Alternative music might have sounded like U2, INXS and Depeche Mode but it looked like Robert Smith. With the release of The Head on the Door, the Cure became Masters of the Form whose music had finally caught up to its image".

A cover version of "A Night Like This" was released on the 1996 reissue of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" single.

Reissue
In 2006, the album was re-released by Universal on their Fiction Records/Polydor Records labels, digitally remastered with various demos and live tracks from the era. Included were demos of the four B-sides from the era ("The Exploding Boy", "A Few Hours After This", "A Man Inside My Mouth" and "Stop Dead") and four previously unreleased songs. The remaining tracks included demos or live versions of all 10 songs from the first disc. It was released 8 August in the U.S. (where the album was instead released by Rhino Entertainment/Elektra Records) and 14 August in the UK. One of the four new songs, "Mansolidgone", is similar both musically and lyrically to another demo, "A Hand Inside My Mouth" (not to be confused with "A Man Inside My Mouth") which appeared on The Top Deluxe Edition. Both songs, and the uncovered demo "Lime Time", contain lyrics which would be later used in the songs "In Between Days" and "Six Different Ways."

Personnel

 * Robert Smith – vocals, guitars, keyboards, production
 * Lol Tolhurst – keyboards
 * Porl Thompson – guitars, keyboards
 * Simon Gallup – bass guitar
 * Boris Williams – drums, percussion
 * Ron Howe – saxophone on "A Night Like This"
 * David M. Allen – production
 * Howard Gray – production on "Kyoto Song"