Is there any album more 80s than this album? If it weren't for the guitars giving it a postpunk edge I might hate it, but every aspect of it, vocals, bass, drumming and synths, it's all undeniably great, even it's it's not my taste.
Compelling and engaging for the first 5 or 6 songs, with "The Hanging Garden" as a high mark, but others like "Siamese Twins," "One Hundred Years," and "The Figurehead" are excellent too.
I love the sound and mood of it. I didn't discover The Cure until ~1986 via the Head on the Door and Standing on a Beach, but this gothrock sound was a big part of my teenage soundtrack. Still, by the end of this it feels soo same-same, and I'm bored/exhausted. 3.5
Compare it to the Head on the Door, Kiss Me, and Disintegration: yeah, this is dull and narrow.
For me, the biggest hits like "Born in the U.S.A." "Glory Days," and "Dancing in the Dark" are marred by 80s synths and glossy production, but then there are others, like "Downbound Train" and "I'm On Fire" where the production is fantastic. "Downbound Train" in particular is interesting because I've been recently listening to the Nebraska-era versions, and this one is much superior to those. I just wish they woulda used pedal steel or something instead of synths.
Overall, the songs come through and they're consistently as good as the singles. 4.5 rounding up.
I'm still not sure I'd put this in my Top 5 R.E.M albums list (maybe 5, but maybe 6), but it's still great. 5/5
Highs: "Drive" and "Everybody Hurts" and "Nightswimming" -- all featuring very non-schmaltzy string arrangements by John Paul Jones. Really, it's amazing that "Everybody Hurts" doesn't descend into pure schmaltz, but there's a light touch there, and the undeniable sincerity in the production and Michael Stipe's vocals that saves it.
Lows: "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight," "Ignoreland." Never really liked 'em, still don't.
New appreciation: "Man on the Moon." BITD this is the song I disliked the most, that I thought was repetitive and silly. On this listen I loved the sound of it. The chirpy reverberating percussion.
I'll take stock again when the Smiths' other albums come up, but IIRC the history of my fandom, this might have been my least favorite of their albums. Still, I was a fan and considered them all classics at the time. For now, there's a lot of material that still feels classic to me, but others that feel plodding and slow or that are marred by production choices. I like it best when there's chiming, jangling guitars and Morrissey is witty or mournful (not mopey) or both. 4.5, but rounding down because I think I should reserve 5's for others.
Highs: "Cemetry Gates," "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side," "Frankly Mr Shankly," "Vicar in a Tutu" "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" --- lots of pretty great songs here.
Lows: "Never Had No One Ever" just seems slow. Mopey/stalker-y mode here, and the music is murky, repetitive lyrically and musically. Worst whistle solo or all time. A definite low point. "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" are good songs with production choices that bug me: the pitchshifted backing vocals on Bigmouth, the fadeout/fadein at the beginning of Some Girls... why?
New appreciation: "Cemetry Gates." If this was my favorite BITD I've forgotten, but when I hear it now it feels like top-rank Smiths, Morrissey at Marr & Co. at their best.
The openers here are amazing. "Regular John" is still one of their best. Deep heavy krautrock groove that's both driving and relaxed, crooning vocals floating over the top. "Avon" nearly as good. "If Only" changes the pace with a shuffling verse riff, and brings back the punchy fuzzed-up guitars for the chorus. But it's a little hit-and-miss after that, feeling like early demos. Live versions scattered across B-side of singles over the next several years are often better developed (even "regular John," the top track here, has an improved version on the "Go with the Flow" CD5). The later reissue with added tracks increases this impression.
Great debut album, but not the best QOTSA representative for this list. 3.5 rounding up to 4.
Highs: Mentioned 'em.
Lows: From the original tracklist, maybe "You Would Know" but definitely "I was a Teenage Hand Model". From the added tracks, "Spiders and Vinegaroons."
New appreciation: Until this listen, I never really got familiar with the added track "The Bronze." It was ok. Maybe?
