Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure, released in May 1987.
The album helped put The Cure into the American mainstream, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 40 (achieving Platinum certification). It was also a big international success, as was its predecessor, The Head on the Door, reaching the Top 10 in numerous countries.
Production and content
This is the last studio album band member Porl Thompson played keyboards on; he played guitar only on all subsequent studio releases. Special guest Andrew Brennan played the saxophone on "Hey You!!!" and "Icing Sugar".
Release
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was released on 25 May 1987 by record label Fiction (in the UK) and Elektra in the US. Though a double album, it was released as a single CD, and single cassette. One track, "Hey You!!!", was omitted from the original CD release (due to the 74:33 Red Book time restriction on the CD format at the time) to fit the album on one disc, but was included on all cassette releases. A limited vinyl edition came with an extra six-track 12" (orange vinyl, featuring the songs "Sugar Girl", "Snow in Summer", "Icing Sugar" (Weird Remix), "A Japanese Dream", "Breathe" and "A Chain Of Flowers").
The album was re-released in August 2006. The first disc includes "Hey You!!!", which had been omitted from the previous CD issue. The second disc is composed of demos and live versions of the songs on the first disc, including a recording of "Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the Wembley Arena. It was released 8 August 2006 in the U.S. and 14 August 2006 in the UK.
Robert Smith stated on his website that there were so many missing tracks that he made three discs. One had the original album, one had demos of the B-Sides and unreleased tracks, and one had alternate tracks of the songs from the album. After discussing it with family and friends, he decided that former of the extra discs was more qualified to be released. He said it wasn't impossible that the other disc may show up in a leak or another release.
Live performances
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me continues to dominate the band's live set; the 2008 4Tour included performances of "The Kiss", "Torture", "Catch", "Why Can't I Be You?", "How Beautiful You Are", "Just Like Heaven", "Hot Hot Hot!!!", "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", and "Shiver and Shake" at various shows.
In April 2014, the Cure announced that in late 2014 they would be performing The Top, The Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me in their entirety as part of their 3rd Trilogy tour.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Robert Smith; all music composed by The Cure (Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, and Boris Williams).
Note
- The track "Hey You!!!" was omitted from the original CD release, as CDs of the time could only hold 74 minutes of music. When the album was reissued in 2006, the song was included, as CD technology had improved to allow run times up to 80 minutes.
Personnel
The Cure
- Robert Smith â€" guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Simon Gallup â€" bass guitar
- Porl Thompson â€" guitar, keyboards
- Lol Tolhurst â€" keyboards
- Boris Williams â€" drums, percussion
- Roger O'Donnell â€" keyboards on live songs from the deluxe edition
Guest musician
- Andrew Brennen â€" saxophone on "Icing Sugar" and "Hey You!!!"
Production
- David M. Allen, Robert Smith â€" production
- Sean Burrows, Jacques Hermet â€" assistant production
- Bob Clearmountain â€" mixing on "Just Like Heaven"
Charts
Album
Singles
References
External links
- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me at MusicBrainz (list of releases)