Wild Mood Swings
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Wild Mood Swings is the tenth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 6 May 1996 by Fiction Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album charted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, staying on chart for six weeks, and number 12 on the US Billboard 200.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="uscharts">Template:Cite web</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" />
Four singles were released from the album, the first being "The 13th", released in 22 April 1996, followed by "Mint Car" released on 17 June, "Strange Attraction" released in United States on 8 October and "Gone!" released in Europe on 2 December 1996.
The album saw the band explore various styles, similar to their double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> incorporating jangle pop, with Mint Car<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and Return,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> jazz, with Gone, mariachi, with The 13th.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Robert Smith said the album title came from the fact that "Lyrically and musically, we cover more stuff than we have done in the past."<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref>. The album exhibits jarring track placements, which contribute to the erratic and eclectic nature of the material, from lighter poppier songs to introspective, darker material, often paired next to one another, which NME described as, "rather like a compilation album, with all the disjointedness that implies."<ref name=":1" />
Background
[edit]Wild Mood Swings was an album which saw various different changes towards the way the band approached recording their songs, such as the prominent use of computers and music software like Cubase, as well as live strings and brass instrumentation.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> It was also the first album released since drummer Boris Williams left the band, due to personal reasons in 1994,<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref> while guitarist Porl Thompson also left the group in 1993 to look after his children<ref name=":03">Price, pp. 356-359.</ref> and joined English rock band Page and Plant.<ref name="PopCultureClassics.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
Smith felt at the time that the previous line-up that had made Wish (1992) had "really done as much as we could. In some ways, in the back of my mind, I was slightly unsure as to what we could achieve, because we all knew each other so well. So the fact that it all kind of fell apart was a good thing. It was one of those haphazard, serendipitous things that worked in our favour."<ref name="PopCultureClassics.com"/>
However, Smith found it difficult to replace Boris Williams as he felt he was "a phenomenally good drummer," and found "replacing him was the most difficult thing. Not only did we have to find someone who would fit, who would get on with us and understand what the Cure is about, [he] also had to be as good a drummer as Boris, and it took months finding someone." Jason Cooper, formerly of the band My Life Story, replaced Williams on drums in 1995, answering to a Melody Maker advertisement made by the band anonymously with the brief "…famous group requires drummer – no metal heads…".<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2" /> Prior to Cooper's recruitment, other potential drummers included Ron Austin (The God Machine), Mark Price (All About Eve), and Louis Pavlou (Pink Turns Blue). All three drummers ultimately appeared on Wild Mood Swings. Perry Bamonte replaced Porl Thompson as the group's lead guitarist,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> leaving Roger O'Donnell, who returned in 1995 after leaving in 1990, to fulfil keyboard parts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The album marked the first time the band did not work with David M. Allen as a producer since Japanese Whispers (1983). Robert Smith feared "that nothing new" would happen, had they worked with him again, saying "We've never really needed anyone to help on the creative or artistic side" and opted to get Steve Lyon, due to his younger age and his lack of "any preconceptions about the group."<ref name=":0" />
The track "Club America", is inspired by a summer trip in 1994 that Smith had to New York in with Perry Bamonte to watch the Football World Cup. After playing football with electronic band Depeche Mode and Daryl Bamonte, brother of Perry who would go on to work with the Cure shortly after, they all went clubbing. Smith admitted to playing "up to it then and awful lot more than I should have, and on the plane home, I wrote the song, because I was trying to, like, explain it away to myself. It's ironic, you know. I've had this photo taken with these celebrities, and I was there, and I did that, and I was full of self loathing! And that song is not anti-the girl in the "canary feather dress," it's actually anti-me because I was part of it."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Rolling Stone noted Smith's put-on deeper voice on the song, citing borrowed "vocal tricks" from David Bowie and Iggy Pop, while also describing the sound as "upbeat" and that its sound invoked the "jaded thrills of nightclubbing in the American fun house."<ref name=":3">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Meanwhile, Spin felt the song resembled English rock band Happy Mondays, due to its psychedelic sound<ref name="Hannaham 91">Template:Cite journal</ref> and NME compared it unfavourably to Tin Machine.<ref name=":1" />
The song "Treasure" is inspired by the Christina Rossetti poem "Remember".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> Smith felt that the most personal songs on the album were "Want" and "Bare".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Recording
[edit]Initial recording began around the end of 1994, with just Robert Smith and Perry Bamonte. Simon Gallup fell ill shortly before the band scheduled to record and Boris Williams left the band the day before they began recording, and other members had yet to be found. The following year Roger O'Donnell and Jason Cooper would be hired.<ref name=":8" />
The band settled in St. Catherine's Court, a Tudor house which was owned by actress Jane Seymour at the time, and were the first band to record there, since she began renting it out as a film set and recording studio since 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Other bands and musicians who would record there include Radiohead, for their acclaimed album OK Computer (1997), Robbie Williams and New Order. The band themselves would return there for the initial 1998 sessions of the follow up album Bloodflowers (2000).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Alongside many other changes to the band's working methods, they opted to use live brass instruments and string quartets in their songs. something which had previously not occurred in their recording processes. Strings would see use most notably on "This Is a Lie",which started out as a song based around an acoustic guitar played by Perry Bamonte. Smith recalled, "when I started playing around with it, it evolved into a string piece on the keyboard. I always had in mind that we'd be using strings, right from the very outset." He said recording in the house helped as "there was an instant atmosphere" for the string quartets. The band chose Audrey Riley's string quartet for the album as Smith felt she was "very aware of recording for contemporary pop" and that he had difficulties with previous musicians.<ref name=":0" />
Smith said the band also used an Indian orchestra, a jazz quartet and Mexican trumpet players, and clarified "Everything on the album is real. In the past, I would have tried to keep it in the family, so to speak, and tried to attain a realistic sound through emulation or simulation. Now I feel much more comfortable having people around who are really good musicians."<ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref>
The whole band were given much more input on the songs, allowing their ideas to be tested for inclusion "no matter how silly it was".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Smith felt at the time, "It was the most fun I've ever had making a record, actually; it was brilliant. And that's why it took quite a long time, 'cause no one wanted it to stop. It was really good fun. We were paying for ourselves to live together in a house and make music, so why should we stop? Why should we go home?"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:BlockquoteThe mastering of the album was complete at Metropolis Studios, London with Robert Smith alongside Ian Cooper, who was suggested to Smith by producer Flood. This made for the first time Smith would be directly involved with the mastering process, which was to due to his frustration towards being absent on the band's previous albums' mastering.<ref name=":0" />
Sleeve Design and Art Direction
[edit]The album art features a toy clown, this toy motif would become a recurring theme for all of the related sleeve designs, such as the sleeve art for the singles released for the album. Bassist Simon Gallup discussed the origin to the cover and motif in a contemporary interview, "Robert had this catalogue of toys from Germany. He sent away for these different types of metal toys. They're actually really sharp on the edges and bizarre things like these cars you wind up. The clown is really quite frightening. When we were recording, we had all these toys put over our amps and things. We thought they were such bizarre images that we tried to incorporate them into the record sleeve."<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>
The band's website featured St Catherine's Court, which was titled "The Cure's House".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>This also came with an interactive game that gave all of the band members rooms.<ref name=":4" />
Reception
[edit]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">Template:Cite web</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">Template:Cite web</ref>
Contemporary
[edit]Aidin Vaziri of 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''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>Template:Cite news</ref>
James Hannaham of 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,'' 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 flight of fancy."<ref>Template:Cite web</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 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
[edit]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 idea. But, because we’d lost Boris [Williams], and before 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 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 feel."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</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">Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite web</ref>
Michael Gallucci of 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>Template:Cite web</ref>
Track listing
[edit]All songs by Bamonte, Cooper, Gallup, O'Donnell and Smith. Template:Track listing
- Bonus track
Personnel
[edit]The Cure
- Robert Smith – guitar, six-string bass, vocals, production, sleeve art direction
- Perry Bamonte – guitar, six-string bass, keyboard, sleeve art direction
- Jason Cooper – percussion, drums (except on "This is a Lie", "Club America", "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure"), sleeve art direction
- Simon Gallup – bass guitar, sleeve art direction
- Roger O'Donnell – keyboard, sleeve art direction
Additional personnel Template:Div col
- Jesus Alemany – trumpet
- John Barclay – trumpet
- Steve Dawson – trumpet
- Richard Edwards – trombone
- Sid Gauld – trumpet
- Will Gregory – saxophone
- Steve Sidwell – trumpet
- Mister Chandrashekhar – violin
- Sue Dench – viola
- Leo Payne – violin
- Audrey Riley – cello
- Chris Tombling – violin
- Ronald Austin – drums on "This is a Lie"
- Louis Pavlou – drums on "Club America"
- Mark Price – drums on "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure"
- Ronald Austin – arrangements
- Sid Gauld – arrangements
- Will Gregory – arrangements
- Audrey Riley – arrangements
Technical Template:Div col
- Steve Lyon – production, engineering, mixing
- Paul Corkett – mixing
- Spike Drake – mixing
- Paul Q. Kolderie – mixing
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Alan Moulder – mixing
- Tim Palmer – mixing
- Mark Saunders – mixing
- Adrian Maxwell Sherwood – mixing
- Sean Slade – mixing
- Ian Cooper – mastering
- Andy Vella – sleeve art direction
Charts
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Weekly charts
[edit]| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 17 |
| European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 7 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)<ref name="MM-1996-06-01">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 6 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)<ref name="MM-1996-06-01"/> | 6 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 18 |
Year-end charts
[edit]| Chart (1996) | Position |
|---|---|
| European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 91 |
Certifications
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