HEAD ON THE DOOR Vinyl Record

The Cure: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Porl Thompson (guitar, keyboards); Laurence Tolhurst (keyboards); Simon Gallup (bass); Boris Williams (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Ron Howe (saxophone). Producers: Robert Smith, Dave Allen, Howard Gray. With THE HEAD ON THE DOOR Robert Smith and the boys achieve a distinctively Cure-like pop sensibility. These 10 songs combine the dreary dreamscape that is Smith's mind with melodies that are about as catchy as Goth music gets (just try not clapping your hands to "Close to Me"). Included on the album are "In Between Days" and "A Night Like This," each a successful single, and each a staple of the Cure's live show. Also noteworthy are the haunting lyrics of "The Blood" and "Kyoto Song," which Smith sings in his trademark high-pitched howl. Despite the gloom, this album represents perhaps the Cure's first real pop effort. It also represents a transition from the sparse instrumentation that characterizes the early Cure sound, to the fuller, more complex incarnation typical of the almost psychedelic soundscapes of later albums.

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Pop