Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (Reis) [Original recording remastered]

The Cure | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B000ICL3CO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,346 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Kiss

2. Catch

3. Torture

4. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep

5. Why Can't I Be You?

6. How Beautiful You Are...

7. The Snakepit

8. Hey You!

9. Just Like Heaven

10. All I Want

11. Hot Hot Hot!!!

12. One More Time

13. Like Cockatoos

14. Icing Sugar

15. The Perfect Girl

16. A Thousand Hours

17. Shiver and Shake

18. Fight

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Released in 1987, at the height of the compact-disc revolution, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the prototypical CD album. Cure architect Robert Smith knew that the newly popular format could handle almost twice as much music as records, and he wasn't about to waste the space. Unfortunately, many of Kiss Me's 17 tracks sound more like B-sides. The cream is certainly worth culling, however; "Catch," "How Beautiful You Are," and the alternative-rock staple "Just Like Heaven" are among the Cure's finest moments. "Hot Hot Hot!!!" and "Why Can't I Be You?" reveal that underneath all the dyed-black hair and glum stares lay a fervent dance band. Who knew? --Bill Crandall

Product Description

This is The Cure's landmark album, featuring 18 previously unreleased tracks. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cure's Finest, November 30, 2000

By 

J. A. Bellamy "bluejaye" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (Audio CD)

The music on this cd has been blasted out of my speakers more than any other in the past thirteen years. And that's saying alot. Around 1989, I got rid of my old blue jam box and upgraded to a cd player. This meant tossing my Cure tape and moving over to the cd. Thus, this is also the first album I have purchased twice. Now, I still put it in my (even newer) stereo, but its not for nostalgic reasons. This is fantastic music and has something to offer everyone.

The Kiss is perhaps the darkest song I've every heard, and is the first one on this album I fell in love with. Like Cockatoos has that bass line that mingles with your blood. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep is so unique and strange that it almost redefines what music is. It's nearly narrative. And Just Like Heaven, as somebody else said in another review, really is the perfect pop song.

The Cure has metamorphosed more times that other bands have albums, but Robert Smith's melancholic voice has always been there, droning about misery or rejoicing in giddiness. This album, though currently not directly centered, serves as the perfect fulcrum to their incredible body of work.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sound Quality, April 1, 2010

By 

Garry Foster (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (Reis) (Audio CD)

If you're contemplating purchasing the Kiss Me remaster, you're already likely to own the original CD release or LP. And since so many reviewers have already discussed the content of this fantastic album, I'd like to focus my review primarily on the sound quality of the remaster. After having listened to the previous batch of Cure reissues, I couldn't wait to put the Kiss Me remaster in my CD player.

The Kiss Me album was remastered by Gary Moore at Universal Mastering in London. After listening to it for several months already, the remaster is a mixed bag to my ears. The best and most obvious feature of this remaster is its clean and crisp character. The original CD release is very muddy in comparison. Bass has also been improved on; not only is it louder but slightly more detailed as well.

However, there are some negative aspects to the presentation. The higher frequencies are overly emphasized, and at times I found the treble to be too harsh and fatiguing. This was especially the case with faster paced songs such as Torture, How Beautiful You Are and Hey You. Yet I could listen to The Snakepit and One More Time quite comfortably.

My own personal annoyance with this reissue is the drums. The drums sound compressed and is equal to everything else in the mix. The drums sounded much better on the original release. For example, I prefer Why Can't I Be You on the original release rather than the remaster because it sounds much more dynamic in the opening of the song.

In concluding, I hope that you have found my review about this release informative. I do not intend to discourage you from purchasing this remaster. In fact, I hope you compare this version to the original and see what one you like best.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb upgrade for a fantastic record., August 18, 2006

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (Audio CD)

In my assessment the album where it all finally came together for the Cure, "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" is a triumph-- a double album of startling diversity and quality. While it's best known for it's pop singles (particularly "Just Like Heaven"), there's quite a bit more that this album has to offer.

Noneteless, I'll start by talking about the pop songs-- on "The Head on the Door", rhythm section Simon Gallup (bass) and Boris Williams (drums) provided a deep, pop groove over which textures could be arranged by leader/vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith and guitarist Porl Thomspon (both, as well as Lol Tolhurst, also contributed keyboard performances to the album). And "Just Like Heaven" is the best example of this-- a great beat, a nice, bright bassline hinting at funk, shimmering acoustic guitars, descending keyboard motifs, and a great electric lead guitar hook open the way for Smith's positively ecstatic vocal. It's no surprise it's a hit, it deserves to be, it's a great song. As nice as it is though, it's really overshadowed by the bouncy "Why Can't I Be You?"-- driven by a horn arrangement that in other hands could have been tacky, the piece is filled with energy over a frantic acoustic guitar riff and a superbly bizarre vocal by Smith.

But pop is really only one side of this, this is a band known as a goth band, and opener "The Kiss" reminds us why. Throbbing bass, fierce lead guitars, and an extended opening lead into a vocal assault by Smith among the most potent and confident he's done. Also of note in this vein is morbid droning piece "The Snakepit", with Smith's carefully half-spoken vocal providing a dramatic atmosphere. Again though, the Cure isn't a band just about goth and pop, tackling cooled off '60s psychedelia ("The Catch"), deep funk (the absolutely fantastic "Hot Hot Hot!!!"), world music tinged mood pieces ("If Only Tonight We Could Sleep", "Like Cockatoos") and texture driven punk songs ("Icing Sugar") among others. And remarkably, nothing is subpar-- it's all fantastic stuff.

The deluxe edition only makes things better-- restoring "Hey You!" to the album (deleted from early CD issues due to length considerations on 74 minute CDs) and a second disc of demos, alternate mixes and live tracks. This set of demos proves quite revealing not just to the creative process behind the pieces but the input of the rest of the band other than Robert Smith-- Smith's home demo of "The Kiss" illustrates this nicely-- it's a synth heavy number that benefitted drastically from Thompson's more aggressive guitar stylings. The live tracks are a big add, sonically they are superb (best of anything released so far on the deluxe edition) and the performances are great. The entire package has been remastered and sounds a lot better than the previous CD issue.

"Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" doesn't get quite the acclaim that "Disintegration" or "Wish" gets, but I've always found it to be the stronger album, managing to be both accessible and obscure. Highly recommended.