Wild Mood Swings
A restless kaleidoscope of string-soaked gloom and jittery energy, capturing a band in glorious, messy transition.
Wild Mood Swings is the tenth studio album by the English rock band the Cure, released on 6 May 1996 by Fiction Records. It charted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, staying on the chart for six weeks, and number 12 on the US Billboard 200. However, it was the lowest-selling Cure album in 12 years, marking the beginning of a downward trend in the band's future album sales. The album saw the band explore various styles—jangle pop, jazz, mariachi—similar to their double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987). Robert Smith said the title came from the fact that "Lyrically and musically, we cover more stuff than we have done in the past."
Quick Facts
- Artist
- the Cure
- Released
- 6 May 1996
- Recorded
- Late 1994–1996
- Studio
- St Catherine's Court (Bath, England); Haremere Hall (Etchingham, England)
- Genre
- Alternative rock; neo-psychedelia
- Length
- 61:36
- Label
- Fiction
- Producer
- Steve Lyon; Robert Smith
Lore & Background
The album was the first since drummer Boris Williams left in 1994 and guitarist Porl Thompson left in 1993 to join Page and Plant. Smith felt the previous line-up that made Wish (1992) had "really done as much as we could" and that the band falling apart "was a good thing." Replacing Williams was difficult—Smith called him "a phenomenally good drummer"—and it took months to find Jason Cooper, who answered a Melody Maker ad placed anonymously by the band. Other potential drummers included Ron Austin, Mark Price, and Louis Pavlou, all of whom appeared on the album. Perry Bamonte replaced Thompson as lead guitarist, and Roger O'Donnell returned in 1995 for keyboards. The band did not work with producer David M. Allen for the first time since Japanese Whispers (1983); Smith feared "that nothing new" would happen and opted for Steve Lyon due to his younger age and lack of "any preconceptions about the group."
Reader's Guide
Four singles were released from the album: "The 13th" on 22 April 1996, "Mint Car" on 17 June, "Strange Attraction" in the US on 8 October, and "Gone!" in Europe on 2 December 1996. The album art features a toy clown, a motif that extended to single sleeves. Bassist Simon Gallup said Smith had a catalogue of German metal toys: "The clown is really quite frightening." The band's website featured St. Catherine's Court, titled "The Cure's House," with an interactive game giving all band members rooms. Reception was mixed: Trouser Press called it "a potent and sweeping dissertation on melancholy and tentative dreams denied," while the Houston Chronicle claimed the band was "not even close to losing its creative edge." Spin observed that "Smith and the Cure remain fixated on cheap thrills throughout Wild Mood Swings" and felt "Smith's three-note hooks never sounded less catchy."
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Want | 5:06 |
| 2 | Club America | 5:02 |
| 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 | 2:39 |
| 9 | Gone! | 4:31 |
| 10 | Numb | 4:49 |
| 11 | Return | 3:28 |
| 12 | Trap | 3:37 |
| 13 | Treasure | 3:45 |
| 14 | Bare | 7:57 |
Did You Know?
- The track "Club America" was inspired by a 1994 summer trip Smith took to New York with Perry Bamonte to watch the Football World Cup, where they played football with Depeche Mode.
- The song "Treasure" is inspired by the Christina Rossetti poem "Remember."
- St. Catherine's Court, where the album was recorded, was later used by Radiohead for their acclaimed album OK Computer (1997).
- Smith felt the most personal songs on the album were "Want" and "Bare."
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