The Cure
Wild Mood Swings [PIC. DISC RSD 2021]

Amid the general, sleepy indifference of this summer of 2021, even the much-maligned "Wild Mood Swings" reaches its 25th anniversary. It was the spring of 1996 when The Cure's tenth LP—inadvertently and de facto—created a crack in the career of Robert Smith's group. It managed to alienate even the most patient fans, provoked a collapse in sales (its predecessor "Wish" had entered straight at No. 2 on the US charts), which reflected in the promotional tour, and perhaps, ultimately, was the first cause of the closure, four years later, of the same Fiction, a subsidiary of Chris Parry's Polydor. To mark the quarter century, Robert Smith has curated a reissue on a 2xLP picture disc. Prompting the writer, who had already (poorly) written about it, to rewrite, adding some notes. Hallway rumors, never denied, speak of turbulent circumstances that at least partly surrounded the writing and recording of the album. First the defections of Porl Thompson and drummer Boris Williams, then the line-up to be rebuilt, the well-known problems with Lol Tolhurst, and perhaps—perhaps—a temporary compositional difficulty of the frontman who, however, could make use of the recovered keyboardist Roger O'Donnell. The slower classic-Cure crepuscular ballads are likely composed first, in starry light, and the project's temporary title is "Bare," after the long track placed at the end. However, the album's fate takes a turn; more pop, bright, fun tracks appear, and the title changes at this point to "Wild Mood Swings," depicting a varied and emotionally seismic landscape. Such an album cannot reflect the same stylistic cohesion and homogeneity of the objective masterpiece "Wish" or what preceded it: fragmented and largely confused, yet "Wild Mood Swings" cannot and should not be relegated to "the worst Cure album" (they would give us other reasons to regret our frantic expectations). First of all, the clear and crystalline mariachi Latin pop of "The 13th" is a first unexpected jewel, followed by "Return," and the other three singles "Gone!" (the least successful), "Mint Car" (an attempt at sumptuous pop shattered by its glassy fragility), and especially "Strange Attraction" (bouncing base, gothic-dub mixed by none other than Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound). "Want" is a threatening and dark monolith, where a powerful percussive carpet intertwines with electric guitars worthy of "Wish" or even (as noted) "Pornography." To this day, it is the only song performed, but it never misses the shows. "Club America" is a bit reminiscent of "Never Enough," a bit of Iggy Pop... with a dirty boulevard atmosphere, echoes of Lou Reed in the voice: we are far from the abyss. "This is a Lie" strongly recalls the chansòn with a string quartet, and surprises for its atypicality. "Numb" is the most evident point of contact with "The Top" (the other is "The 13th," a kind of "The Caterpillar" 12 years later), smoky and psychedelic, at times even seeming like a stripped and cold version of "Homesick." An album with many flaws, starting with an interminable duration that makes it comparable only to a much less eclectic version of the "Kiss Me" album, only with longer tracks, a work that shows its weak side precisely in its classic segment, namely the various "Treasure," "Jupiter Crash," and overly déjà vu ballads. Nonetheless, transparently, an album that reveals an ambition that ultimately deserves recognition, an unfinished mèlange, but it doesn't matter, an insubstantial kaleidoscope compared to "The Top," but even here there are commendable moments. A new drummer, Jason Cooper, on the skins in half of the tracks, and finally, a not insignificant detail, a Robert Smith in vocally resplendent and expressive form. It's a shame; it's unclear whether the public wasn't up to it or if the album is objectively too disconcerting; in any case, it's more admirable to have had the courage to surpass the compact and densely guitar-driven "Wish" rather than the frantic attempt to align with contemporaneity. In summary, an eccentric and offbeat version of The Cure's quintessence.