The Cure – Staring At The Sea - The Singles (1986)

I don't normally do best of/greatest hits albums, but having waited too long to find The Cure's debut album going cheap, I took advantage of this one, full of the early singles, for a quid in a charity shop.

It's a fine document of the band's first few singles, with an opening run of 'classics that were never hits), all minimal and fantastic - Boys Don't Cry, 10:15 Saturday Night, Boys Don't Cry (got to No 22) and Jumping Someone Else's Train.

From the second album, there's possibly my favourite Cure single, A Forest, and equally wonderful Play For Today.

But as the fuller sound of The Cure takes over, I find myself being less taken by the songs. Sure, Primary is a great song, but Other Voices and Charlotte Sometimes drag, while The Hanging Garden feels more interesting.

The distant, remote sound is finally cast off with the full bodied sound of Let's Go To Bed, a decent enough, if unremarkable song, unlike The Walk, a great song with an instantly recognisable riff, and my wife's favourite, The Love Cats.

And there's a run of solid hit singles to finish in The Caterpillar, the lovely In Between Days, a funky feeling Close To Me, and a full blooded finale in A Night Like This, which despite its inclusion, doesn't seem to have been a single.

This is a forty year old compilation, and Bob and the boys are still plugging away and delivering great shows. But it's hard not to conclude (Friday I'm In Love excepted) that the first decade of the band produced their finest work.

Link to full album

4* - some great songs here from one of the most enduring post-punk British bands