Wild Mood Swings

Wild Mood Swings was an album that saw various different changes towards the way the band approached recording their songs, such as the prominent use of computers and music software like Cubase, as well as live strings and brass instrumentation. It was also the first album released since drummer Boris Williams left the band for personal reasons in 1994 while guitarist Porl Thompson also left the group in 1993 to look after his children and joined English rock band Page and Plant. Smith felt at the time that the previous line-up that had made Wish (1992) had "really done as much as we could. In some ways, in the back of my mind, I was slightly unsure as to what we could achieve, because we all knew each other so well. So the fact that it all kind of fell apart was a good thing. It was one of those haphazard, serendipitous things that worked in our favour."However, Smith found it difficult to replace Boris Williams as he felt he was "a phenomenally good drummer," and found "replacing him was the most difficult thing. Not only did we have to find someone who would fit, who would get on with us and understand what the Cure is about, [he] also had to be as good a drummer as Boris, and it took months finding someone." Jason Cooper, formerly of the band My Life Story, replaced Williams on drums in 1995, answering to a Melody Maker advertisement made by the band anonymously with the brief "…famous group requires drummer – no metal heads…". leaving Roger O'Donnell, who returned in 1995 after leaving in 1990, to fulfil keyboard parts. The album marked the first time the band did not work with David M. Allen as a producer since Japanese Whispers (1983). Robert Smith feared "that nothing new" would happen, had they worked with him again, saying "We've never really needed anyone to help on the creative or artistic side" and opted to get Steve Lyon, due to his younger age and his lack of "any preconceptions about the group." Rolling Stone noted Smith's put-on deeper voice on the song, citing borrowed "vocal tricks" from David Bowie and Iggy Pop, while also describing the sound as "upbeat" and that its sound invoked the "jaded thrills of nightclubbing in the American fun house." Meanwhile, Spin felt the song resembled English rock band Happy Mondays, due to its psychedelic sound and NME compared it unfavourably to Tin Machine. Smith felt that the most personal songs on the album were "Want" and "Bare". . According to Robert Smith, his departure was not "acrimonious" Recording Initial recording began around the end of 1994, with just Robert Smith and Perry Bamonte. Simon Gallup fell ill shortly before the band scheduled to record and Boris Williams left the band the day before they began recording, and other members had yet to be found. The following year Roger O'Donnell and Jason Cooper would be hired. Other bands and musicians who would record there include Radiohead, for their acclaimed album OK Computer (1997), Robbie Williams and New Order. The band themselves would return there for the initial 1998 sessions of the follow up album Bloodflowers (2000). Alongside many other changes to the band's working methods, they opted to use live brass instruments and string quartets in their songs. something that had previously not occurred in their recording processes. Strings would see use most notably on "This Is a Lie", which started out as a song based around an acoustic guitar played by Perry Bamonte. Smith recalled, "when I started playing around with it, it evolved into a string piece on the keyboard. I always had in mind that we'd be using strings, right from the very outset." He said recording in the house helped as "there was an instant atmosphere" for the string quartets. The band chose Audrey Riley's string quartet for the album as Smith felt she was "very aware of recording for contemporary pop" and that he had difficulties with previous musicians. The whole band were given much more input on the songs, allowing their ideas to be tested for inclusion "no matter how silly it was". Smith felt at the time, "It was the most fun I've ever had making a record, actually; it was brilliant. And that's why it took quite a long time, 'cause no one wanted it to stop. It was really good fun. We were paying for ourselves to live together in a house and make music, so why should we stop? Why should we go home?"The mastering of the album was complete at Metropolis Studios, London with Robert Smith alongside Ian Cooper, who was suggested to Smith by producer Flood. This made for the first time Smith would be directly involved with the mastering process, which was due to his frustration towards being absent on the band's previous albums' mastering. == Sleeve design and art direction ==

The album art features a toy clown. This toy motif would become a recurring theme for all of the related sleeve designs, such as the sleeve art for the singles released for the album. Bassist Simon Gallup discussed the origin to the cover and motif in a contemporary interview: "Robert had this catalogue of toys from Germany. He sent away for these different types of metal toys. They're actually really sharp on the edges and bizarre things like these cars you wind up. The clown is really quite frightening. When we were recording, we had all these toys put over our amps and things. We thought they were such bizarre images that we tried to incorporate them into the record sleeve." The band's website featured St Catherine's Court, which was titled "The Cure's House". This also came with an interactive game that gave all of the band members rooms. == Reception ==

Wild Mood Swings received a mixed response from critics. A favourable review came from Trouser Press, which described the album as "a potent and sweeping dissertation on melancholy and tentative dreams denied", calling it "consistently compelling". However, the album was the lowest-selling Cure album in 12 years, and it marked the beginning of a downward trend in the Cure's future album sales. Contemporary Aidin Vaziri of the Houston Chronicle claimed the band were "not even close to losing its creative edge" and praised the lighter tone of the album compared to the band's earlier output, writing that "the group sounds remarkably accessible. The Cure is just as relevant now as it was when it was paving the way for the modern rock revolution. The only challenge is getting the die-hard fans to set aside the black lipstick, tune in and lighten up." James Hannaham of Spin observed, "Smith and the Cure remain fixated on cheap thrills throughout Wild Mood Swings. They try on degraded versions of rock genre as deftly as they put on their makeup and lipstick" and felt, "Smith's three-note hooks never sounded less catchy, and the occasional arena-rock pretensions the band displays don't exactly hit home." He concluded, "Wild Mood Swings is the album you'd expect from the Cure if they'd suddenly become filthy rich, got drunk and high all the time, and had a midlife crisis." When Gallup was asked in an interview if he was looking forward to touring considering the album's mixed reception, he responded: "Reviews really don't bother us. We feel very much at home now that the British press hate us once again. We found it a bit disconcerting when we released Wish and we were suddenly the British journalists' favourite band." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted the album's variety, commenting: "After the relatively straightforward pop of Wish, the Cure moved back toward stranger, edgier territory with Wild Mood Swings... As the title suggests, there's a vast array of textures and emotions on Wild Mood Swings, from the woozy mariachi lounge horns of 'The 13th' to the perfect pop of 'Mint Car' and the monolithic dirge of 'Want.'" He praised the album's variety, saying that the band "explore some simpler territory, from contemplative acoustic numbers tinged with strings to swooning neo-psychedelia." He concluded "but the variety of sounds and strength of performance offers enough surprises to make Wild Mood Swings more than just another Cure record." Chris Gerard of Metro Weekly gave a mixed perspective. "There is no disputing the power of the album’s opener, though", praising the song "Want", which he believed to be one of the band's strongest works. "Starting with a swirling guitar riff and then building slowly in intensity as it goes, 'Want' is another in a long line of powerhouse opening tracks on Cure albums." He also felt that the single choices were poor and led to the album's poor reception. However he believed that "certain B-Sides would've provided a much better collection of songs with the exclusion of some album tracks", and concluded that the album "didn't have to be the commercial and critical disaster that it turned out to be. The core of a great album is there—it's just a matter of joining the right dots." Michael Gallucci of Diffuser.fm gave an unenthusiastic review, saying "A tired, and often bored, mood drifts through Wild Mood Swings. It's not even the gloom-and-doom lethargy we usually get from the band. Rather, Smith and the group can't muster much enthusiasm for the songs", while also saying "The few times the band sparks to life are the few times it seems to latch onto a groove: 'Strange Attraction', 'Mint Car', 'Gone!'." ==Track listing==

The Cure • Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, six-string bass, string and brass arrangements, production, sleeve art direction, mixing on "Jupiter Crash", "Round & Round & Round", "Gone!", "Treasure", and "Bare" • Perry Bamonte – guitar, six-string bass, sleeve art direction • Jason Cooper – drums, percussion (except on "This is a Lie", "Club America", "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure"), sleeve art direction • Simon Gallup – bass guitar, sleeve art direction • Roger O'Donnell – keyboard, sleeve art direction Additional personnel • Jesus Alemany – trumpet on "The 13th" • John Barclay – trumpet on "Return" and "Gone!" • Steve Dawson – trumpet on "The 13th" • Richard Edwards – trombone on "Return" and "Gone!" • Sid Gauld – trumpet and brass arrangements on "The 13th" • Will Gregory – saxophone and brass arrangements on "Return" and "Gone!" • Steve Sidwell – trumpet on "Return" and "Gone!" • Mister Chandrashekhar – violin on "Numb" • Sue Dench – viola on "Want", "This Is a Lie", "Round & Round & Round", "Numb", "Treasure", and "Bare" • Leo Payne – violin on "Want", "This Is a Lie", "Round & Round & Round", "Numb", "Treasure", and "Bare" • Audrey Riley – cello and string arrangements on "Want", "This Is a Lie", "Round & Round & Round", "Numb", "Treasure", and "Bare" • Chris Tombling – violin on "Want", "This Is a Lie", "Round & Round & Round", "Numb", "Treasure", and "Bare" • Ronald Austin – drums on "This is a Lie" • Louis Pavlou – drums on "Club America" • Mark Price – drums on "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure" Technical • Steve Lyon – production, engineering, mixing on "Jupiter Crash", "Round & Round & Round", "Gone!", "Treasure" and "Bare" • Alan Moulder – mixing on "Want" • Paul Q. Kolderie – mixing on "Club America" • Sean Slade – mixing on "Club America" • Tim Palmer – mixing on "This Is a Lie" • Spike Drake – mixing on "The 13th" and "Numb" • Adrian Maxwell Sherwood – mixing on "Strange Attraction" • Paul Corkett – mixing on "Mint Car" • Mark Saunders – mixing on "Return" • Tom Lord-Alge – mixing on "Trap" • Ian Cooper – mastering • Andy Vella – sleeve art direction ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==