Editing Wild Mood Swings (section)

== Reception ==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/wild-mood-swings-mw0000646830 |title=''Wild Mood Swings'' – The Cure |publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=21 June 2016 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4334912.html |title=The Cure, 'Wild Mood Swings' (Elektra) |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=19 May 1996 |access-date=19 March 2017 |last=Kim |first=Jae-Ha |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320051902/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4334912.html |archive-date=20 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev3Score = B<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1996/05/10/wild-mood-swings |title=''Wild Mood Swings'' |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=10 May 1996 |access-date=21 June 2016 |last=Sinclair |first=Tom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222050931/http://ew.com/article/1996/05/10/wild-mood-swings/ |archive-date=22 December 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev4Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite news |title=The Cure: ''Wild Mood Swings'' (Fiction) |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 May 1996 |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/The-Cure-Keeps-Its-Edge-2983730.php |title=The Cure Keeps Its Edge |work=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=5 May 1996 |access-date=20 September 2017 |last=Vaziri |first=Aidin}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev6Score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/159363198/ |title='Mood Swings' Strengthens Cure's Effect |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=5 May 1996 |access-date=21 June 2016 |last=Scribner |first=Sara |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev7Score = 7/10<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101001084reviews.html |title=The Cure – ''Wild Mood Swings'' |journal=[[NME]]|date=4 May 1996 |access-date=21 June 2016 |last=Sutherland |first=Mark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817221217/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101001084reviews.html |archive-date=17 August 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev8Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/wild-mood-swings-19980202 |title=''Wild Mood Swings'' |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=13 June 1996 |access-date=21 June 2016 |last=DeCurtis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony DeCurtis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130171755/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/wild-mood-swings-19980202 |archive-date=30 November 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''
| rev9Score = 6/10<ref name="Hannaham 91">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTM_D4UWqXQC&pg=PA91 |title=The Cure: ''Wild Mood Swings'' |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |volume=12 |issue=4 |date=July 1996 |access-date=21 June 2016 |last=Hannaham |first=James |page=91}}</ref>
| rev10 = ''[[USA Today]]''
| rev10Score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/music/lem269.htm |title=The Cure, ''Wild Mood Swings'' |work=[[USA Today]] |date=18 June 1996 |access-date=23 April 2020 |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |author-link=Edna Gundersen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990423202219/http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/music/lem269.htm |archive-date=23 April 1999 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

''Wild Mood Swings'' received a mixed response from critics. A favourable review came from ''[[Trouser Press]]'', which described the album as "a potent and sweeping dissertation on melancholy and tentative dreams denied," calling it "consistently compelling."<ref name="Trouser Press">{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=cure |title=TrouserPress.com :: Cure |last1=Grant |first1=Steven |last2=Robbins |first2=Ira |last3=Reno |first3=Brad |website=[[Trouser Press|TrouserPress.com]] |access-date=7 July 2016}}</ref> However, the album was the lowest-selling Cure album in 12 years, and it marked the beginning of a downward trend in the Cure's future album sales.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/2013/10/the-cures-wild-mood-swings-rev/ |title=The Cure's "''Wild Mood Swings''" Revisited – Metro Weekly |last=Gerard |first=Chris |date=16 October 2013 |website=[[Metro Weekly]] |access-date=7 June 2014}}</ref>

=== Contemporary ===
Aidin Vaziri of ''[[Houston Chronicle|Houston Chronical]]'' claimed the band were "not even close to losing its creative edge." and praised the lighter tone of the album, compared to the band<nowiki>''</nowiki>s earlier output, " the group sounds remarkably accessible. The Cure is just as relevant now as it was when it was paving the way for the modern rock revolution. The only challenge is getting the die-hard fans to set aside the black lipstick, tune in and lighten up."<ref>{{cite news |last=Vaziri |first=Aidin |date=5 May 1996 |title=The Cure Keeps Its Edge |url=http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/The-Cure-Keeps-Its-Edge-2983730.php |access-date=20 September 2017 |work=[[Houston Chronicle]]}}</ref>

James Hannaham of ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' observed, "Smith and the Cure remain fixated on cheap thrills throughout ''Wild Mood Swings''. They try on degraded versions of rock genre as deftly as they put on their makeup and lipstick." and felt, "Smith's three-note hooks never sounded less catchy, and the occasional arena-rock pretensions the band displays don't exactly hit home." concluding, "''Wild Mood Swings'' is the album you'd expect from the Cure if they'd suddenly become filthy rich, got drunk and high all the time, and had a midlife crisis."<ref name="Hannaham 91" />

Edna Gundersen of ''[[USA Today]]'' praised the album's sound, giving it three out of four stars, "a fun and deliberately trashy celebration of life's pleasures. ''On Want'', he expresses uncorked desire for "more fun, more pain, more flesh, more stars,<nowiki>''</nowiki> and Mint Car finds him chirping happily about romance. ''Moods'' do shift wildly, from a salsa-flavored ''The 13th'', horn-pumped ''Return'' and zippy ''Gone!'' to trademark Cure downers like ''Bare and Numb''. The album is uneven, but highlights outweigh the low points on this [[Bipolar disorder|bipolar]] flight of fancy."<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-04-23 |title=POP/ROCK ALBUM REVIEW |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/music/lem269.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990423202219/http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/music/lem269.htm |archive-date=23 April 1999 |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=[[USA Today]]}}</ref>

When Simon Gallup was asked in an interview if he was looking forward to touring considering the album's mixed reception, he responded "Reviews really don't bother us. We feel very much at home now that the British press hate us once again. We found it a bit disconcerting when we released ''Wish'' and we were suddenly the British journalists' favourite band"<ref name=":2" />

Smith's initial response to the poorer reception was one of surprise,  "I have been surprised at the differences of opinion with regards to ‘Wild Mood Swings,’ because I think it’s really good." He also said that the variety and strength of the material made it "the best thing we’ve done". He felt confident in the album from the early stages of its creation, finding most of the criticism was illogical, saying that most them complained "that it sounds like The Cure", and believed the media perceived the band as out of touch with contemporary music, which amused him "because I’m a consumer, as well. I buy records. I listen to music. I know very well what’s going on. But the hilarity is, had we come back and released a [[Jungle music|jungle]] album, and tried to be very 90s, it would have been completely absurd. I mean, we listen to jungle backstage, but I can’t really see us playing it. To me, it’s like I’ve never felt that we’re in competition with other people. I’ve always thought they we just offer another choice."<ref name=":6" />

=== Retrospective ===
In a 2004 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', however, Smith's opinion changed, saying of the album's poor reception, "The album suffers from being too long. And it's disjointed. I was trying to write in different styles, and wanted us to sound like different bands, almost going after the ''[[Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me|Kiss Me]]'' idea. But, because we’d lost [[Boris Williams|Boris [Williams]]], and before [[Jason Cooper|Jason [Cooper]]] settled in, we had a different drummer every week. I would often forget the name of the person who was drumming."... Smith felt that after ''[[Wish (The Cure album)|Wish]]'' he "got that sense of fun back. And it shows in the album; there are some pretty demented songs on there. But it was a shame, because it got slagged when it came out. Fans hated it as well. It’s the only time I've been hugely disappointed." He believed that fans were unsatisfied with the lead single "[[The 13th]]" due to its "sort of crackpot [[Salsa music|salsa]] feel."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Crandall |first=Bill |date=2004-06-18 |title=The Cure's Discography: Robert Smith Looks Back |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-cures-discography-robert-smith-looks-back-246129/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] noted the album's variety, commenting: "After the relatively straightforward pop of ''Wish'', the Cure moved back toward stranger, edgier territory with ''Wild Mood Swings''.... As the title suggests, there's a vast array of textures and emotions on ''Wild Mood Swings'', from the woozy [[mariachi]] lounge horns of 'The 13th' to the perfect pop of 'Mint Car' and the monolithic dirge of 'Want.'" He praised the album's variety saying that the band "explore some simpler territory, from contemplative acoustic numbers tinged with strings to swooning [[neo-psychedelia]]." He concluded "but the variety of sounds and strength of performance offers enough surprises to make Wild Mood Swings more than just another Cure record."<ref name="allmusic.com">{{Cite web |title=The Cure - Wild Mood Swings Album Reviews, Songs & More |publisher= AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/wild-mood-swings-mw0000646830 |access-date=2023-07-08 |language=en}}</ref>

Chris Gerard of [[Metro Weekly]] gave a mixed perspective. "There is no disputing the power of the album’s opener, though", praising the song "Want" which he believes to be one of the band's strongest work. "Starting with a swirling guitar riff and then building slowly in intensity as it goes, “Want” is another in a long line of powerhouse opening tracks on Cure albums." He also felt that the single choices were poor and led to the album's poor reception. However he believed that "certain B-Sides would've provided a much better collection of songs with the exclusion of some album tracks", and concluded that the album "didn’t have to be the commercial and critical disaster that it turned out to be. The core of a great album is there — it’s just a matter of joining the right dots."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerard |first=Chris |date=2013-10-16 |title=The Cure's "Wild Mood Swings" revisited |url=https://www.metroweekly.com/2013/10/the-cures-wild-mood-swings-rev/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Metro Weekly |language=en-US}}</ref>

Michael Gallucci of [[Diffuser.fm|Diffuser FM]] gave an unenthusiastic review, saying "A tired, and often bored, mood drifts through ''Wild Mood Swings''. It's not even the gloom-and-doom lethargy we usually get from the band. Rather, Smith and the group can't muster much enthusiasm for the songs", while also saying "The few times the band sparks to life are the few times it seems to latch onto a groove: 'Strange Attraction', 'Mint Car', 'Gone!'."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gallucci |first=Michael|date=2016-05-07 |title=20 Years Ago: The Cure Get Weird With 'Wild Mood Swings' |url=https://diffuser.fm/cure-wild-mood-swings-album-released/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Diffuser.fm |language=en}}</ref>