Wild Mood Swings

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Wild Mood Swings
Wild Mood Swings cover
Studio album by The Cure
Released May 21, 1996
Recorded 1995 - 1996
Genre Alternative Rock
Length 61:34
Label Fiction
Producer(s) Steve Lyon,
Robert Smith
Professional reviews
The Cure chronology
Show
(1993)
Wild Mood Swings
(1996)
Galore
(1997)


Wild Mood Swings is the tenth studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure, released in 1996 (see 1996 in music).

After Wish, it seemed The Cure was on the brink of being disbanded for good due to the departure of Porl Thompson and Boris Williams. Simon Gallup was also forced to take a vacation due to health problems, which narrowed the lineup down to Robert Smith and Perry Bamonte. Nevertheless, it seems the two of them managed to keep things afloat long enough for Simon to return once he recovered and convince Roger O'Donnell to rejoin the band. This is also the first album featuring drummer Jason Cooper, although it should be noted that he did not in fact play all the drums on this album because several drummers were auditioning for the job at the time it was being recorded. (See additional personnel below.)

This album was poorly received by many Cure fans, especially those more interested in the band's gothic subject matter. The album might be the poppiest Cure album in the band's history. The fact that the album came out four years after their last album didn't help sales much either. Robert Smith has, as he did with all post-Disintegration albums, defended the album [1], though in concerts since the record's corresponding tour, only "Want" and "Jupiter Crash" appear to have remained in The Cure's repertoire.

A minor theme present on the album is the mocking of the excessive lifestyle of the 90s club scene. This is seen most in the tracks "Club America" and "Want".

Contents

[edit] Track listing

all songs by Bamonte, Cooper, Gallup, O'Donnell and Smith, except where noted

  1. "Want" – 5:06
  2. "Club America" (Bamonte, Cooper, Gallup, Smith) – 5:01
  3. "This Is a Lie" – 4:29
  4. "The 13th" – 4:08
  5. "Strange Attraction" – 4:19
  6. "Mint Car" – 3:32
  7. "Jupiter Crash" – 4:15
  8. "Round & Round & Round" – 2:38
  9. "Gone!" – 4:31
  10. "Numb" – 4:49
  11. "Return" – 3:28
  12. "Trap" – 3:37
  13. "Treasure" – 3:45
  14. "Bare" – 7:56
Bonus track
15. "It Used to Be Me" – 6:50
(Japanese edition only - available world wide as a B-side in the "The 13th" single).

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional personnel

Brass
Strings
  • Mister Chandrashekhar - violin
  • Sue Dench - viola
  • Leo Payne - violin
  • Audrey Riley - cello
  • Chris Tombling - violin
Percussion
  • Ronald Austin - drums on "This is a Lie"
  • Louis Pavlou - drums on "Club America"
  • Mark Price - drums on "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure"

[edit] Production

  • Producers: Steve Lyon, Robert Smith
  • Engineer: Steve Lyon
  • Mixing: Paul Corkett, Spike Drake, Paul Q. Kolderie, Tom Lord-Alge, Steve Lyon, Alan Moulder, Tim Palmer, Mark Saunders, Adrian Maxwell Sherwood, Sean Slade, Robert Smith
  • Mastering: Ian Cooper
  • Arrangers: Ronald Austin, Sid Gauld, Will Gregory, Audrey Riley, Robert Smith
  • Art direction: The Cure, Andy Vella

[edit] Singles

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1996 The Billboard 200 12

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1996 "Mint Car" Modern Rock Tracks 14
1996 "Mint Car" The Billboard Hot 100 58
1996 "The 13th" Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 11
1996 "The 13th" Modern Rock Tracks 15
1996 "The 13th" The Billboard Hot 100 44


The Cure
Robert Smith | Porl Thompson | Simon Gallup | Jason Cooper
The Cure personnel
Discography
Studio albums: Three Imaginary Boys | Seventeen Seconds | Faith | Pornography | The Top | The Head on the Door | Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me | Disintegration | Wish | Wild Mood Swings | Bloodflowers | The Cure
Live albums: Concert | Entreat | Paris | Show | Trilogy
Compilations: Boys Don't Cry | Japanese Whispers | Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea | Mixed Up | Galore | Greatest Hits | Join the Dots
EPs: Half an Octopuss & Quadpus | Lost Wishes | Five Swing Live
Singles: "Killing an Arab" | "Boys Don't Cry" | "Jumping Someone Else's Train" | "A Forest" | "Primary" | "Charlotte Sometimes" | "A Single" | "Let's Go to Bed" | "The Walk" | "The Lovecats" | "The Caterpillar" | "In Between Days" | "Close to Me" | "Why Can't I Be You?" | "Catch" | "Just Like Heaven" | "Hot Hot Hot!!!" | "Fascination Street" | "Lullaby" | "Lovesong" | "Pictures of You" | "Never Enough" | "Close to Me (remix)" | "High" | "Friday I'm in Love" | "A Letter to Elise" | "The 13th" | "Mint Car" | "Gone!" | "Strange Attraction" | "Wrong Number" | "Cut Here" | "End of the World" | "Taking Off" & "alt.end"
Cult Hero: "I'm a Cult Hero"


[edit] See also

In other languages