The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 395

Number 395

The Cure

"Just Like Heaven"

(1987)
.

394

........Genre: Alternative.......

396

I can see heaven, wait, no, its LOTR

Remembering that 1987 was a big year for music releases, for example: U2's "Joshua Tree", Roger Waters "Radio K.A.O.S", Def Leppard's "Hysteria", George Michael's "Faith", George Harrison's "Cloud Nine" & Michael Jackson's "Bad" to name a few, [check releases for 1987 here] shows that The Cure's "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" [that's a mouth full, excuse the pun] did exceptionally well considering all the heavyweights competing at the same time. Although having the lead single "Just Like Heaven" helped the album sales greatly no doubt. The song itself, is a great song and definitely deserves to be in "The Definitive 1000 Songs of all Time"

Robert Smith

It all started in 1976 as 'Easy Cure', formed by Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) along with schoolmates Michael Dempsey (bass), Lol Tolhurst (drums) and local guitar hero Porl Thompson. They began writing and demoing their own songs almost immediately, playing throughout 1977 in Southern England to an ever growing army of fans. In 1978 the 'Easy' was dropped, along with Porl, and an eager trio now known simply as The Cure were quickly signed to Chris Parry's new Fiction label. In 1987 The Cure brought out Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, an immense double album of extreme and extraordinary stylistic range, and with the arrival of Roger O'Donnell on keyboards the 6-piece Cure traveled the world with the 'Kissing Tour', enjoying 4 more hit singles along the way. The wonderfully atmospheric Disintegration was demoed in 1988 and released in 1989, and despite being a work of powerful brooding grandeur, it too gave rise to 4 hit singles. The awesome 'Prayer Tour' that followed, with the band back down to a 5-piece following the departure of Lol Tolhurst, included some of The Cure's best performances to date, and was captured live for the album Entreat.

Cured

Simultaneously more accessible and ambitious than any of the Cure's previous albums, the double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me finds Robert Smith expanding his pop vocabulary by tentatively adding bigger guitars, the occasional horn section, lite-funk rhythms, and string sections. It's eclectic, to be sure, but it's also a mess, bouncing from idea to idea and refusing to develop some of the most intriguing detours. Even if Kiss Me doesn't quite gel, its best moments -- including the deceptively bouncy "Why Can't I Be You?" and the stately "Just Like Heaven" -- are remarkable and help make the album one of the group's very best. ~ [Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide]

Just Like Heaven

Kiss me x 3

In order to develop material for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Robert Smith forced himself to write music for 15 days of each month. During this regimen, he developed the chords and melody which form the basis of "Just Like Heaven". Structurally, Smith found what he had written was similar to The Only Ones's 1979 hit "Another Girl, Another Planet". When he brought an instrumental demo of the song to the album recording sessions in Southern France, Cure drummer Boris Williams increased the tempo and added an opening drum fill which inspired Smith to introduce each instrument singularly and in sequence. When the French TV show Les Enfants du Rock asked The Cure to provide a theme song Smith offered the instrumental version. As he explained, "it meant the music would be familiar to millions of Europeans even before it was released". He completed the lyric when the group moved the sessions to Studio Miraval, located in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The band completed the song quickly, and at the time Smith considered it to be the most obvious potential single from the songs the band had recorded during their two week stay at Miraval. ~ [Source: Wikipedia]

For U2 see Number 661, MM Vol 1 #038 & MM Vol 1 #129

For Roger Waters see Number 497 & MM Vol 1 #138

For George Michael see Number 450 & #821 #581 [with Wham]

For George Harrison see Number 806

For Michael Jackson see Number 580 & #621

For more Cure see Number 881

For the Only Ones see Number 524

So, what does RS think of the Cure?

Even in a year already marked by sprawling, ambitious double albums from Prince and Hüsker Dü, the Cure's new Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me stands out. Like Sign o' the Times and Warehouse: Songs and Stories, this two-record, eighteen-song set is about reaching inward. The Cure is trying to deepen and refine an existing sensibility rather than reach outward to expand it. On previous efforts, guitarist and singer Robert Smith has flirted with everything from conceptually orchestrated studio pop (The Top) to sarcastic dance tracks ("Let's Go to Bed"); now that the Cure has evolved into an actual band, he's able to consummate those eclectic desires. Kiss Me is a breakthrough all right. For the first time, the Cure's music is relatively unfettered by pretension and indulgence, and the results are remarkable. ~ [Source: Rolling Stone 1987]

For Prince see Number 812 & MM Vol 1 #136

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '395th Song of all Time' was "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)" by The Shangri-Las. The Shangri-Las have not appeared in The Definitive 1000 of All Time.

Other songs with reference to The Cure #404, #444, #483, #609, #914

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number 483 and the Album ranked at (2 other albums but not this pearler)

This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 78.7 out of 108