16-430: The Top may refer to The Top (album) , a 1984 album by The Cure "The Top" (short story) , a short story by Franz Kafka See also [ edit ] Top (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Top . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
32-618: A joint venture publishing company and moved their New York offices to the Bertelsmann Building at 1540 Broadway in Times Square in 1994; Fiction's headquarters were unchanged. However, BMG eventually acquired Fiction Songs and its catalog in 2001. Besides being the publisher for the Cure and other Fiction artists, Fiction Songs was also home to hip hop / electronic artist Stereo MCs , producer and songwriter Cameron McVey ,
48-528: A "weird and wonderful" album with songs that "seem both enticing and faintly dangerous". In contrast, Barron at Sounds noted that The Top is "too often not the true bottom line in reflected experience to be indisposable", but nevertheless prophesied, "In 20 years' time, when the next generation blush with excitement at the word 'Psychedelic', it'll be regarded as a classic". On a more skeptical note, NME reviewer Danny Kelly considered it self-indulgent, qualifying it as "an ambitious, difficult record". In
64-584: A British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor , but in January 2014, Universal restructured Fiction as a standalone label, removing it from Polydor's corporate affiliation. Fiction repertoire is now released internationally through Virgin (ex-North America). Fiction Records
80-487: A retrospective review, Q writer Tom Doyle dismissed The Top as "a transitional record of forgettable songs". Thomas Inskeep of Stylus Magazine wrote that The Top "may well be the nadir of their catalog", concluding he would call it "a transitional album and leave it at that, for what came subsequently was an honest-to-goodness marvel". Chris True of AllMusic noted that while it is "an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs", Smith's ability "to fuse
96-824: The Jungle Brothers , Primitive Radio Gods , and NY Loose. In 1992, the Fiction headquarters at Charlotte Street served as the first home to XFM London co founded by Parry. A benefit concert called 'Great Xpectations' was held in support of the station on 13 June 1993 at Finsbury Park in London. A live album of the concert titled Great Xpectations Live was released in July 1993 on Fiction and included performances by The Cure, Damon Albarn & Graham Coxon , Belly and Catherine Wheel . In January 2004, Joe Munns, Paul Smernicki and Beastman revived Fiction to "give Polydor
112-608: The Cure , released on 4 May 1984 by Fiction Records . The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number ten on 12 May. Shortly after its release, the Cure embarked on a major tour of the United Kingdom , culminating in a three-night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. After recording psychedelic album Blue Sunshine for the one-off project the Glove during summer 1983, Robert Smith finished off
128-733: The Mirror" and the title track of the record. The Top album was released on 4 May 1984 by record label Fiction . It was a commercial success in the UK, peaking at No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart . "The Caterpillar" was the sole single released from the album. Upon its release, the reaction in the British press was mostly positive. Steve Sutherland of Melody Maker praised the album for its "psychedelia that can't be dated", while Andy Strike of Record Mirror called it "a record of wicked originality and wit". In Smash Hits , Mark Ellen deemed The Top
144-561: The Second Storey (Fiction/Polydor) in 1993 and Die Warzau 's Engine (Fiction/ Wax Trax! ) in 1995. Other artists who were part of the Fiction roster and publishing catalog during this time included Billy Mackenzie & The Associates , Candyland, The Purple Hearts , Cult Hero and The Passions . Starting in 1995, Fiction became dormant as a label, apart from the occasional Cure release, and focused exclusively on Fiction Songs, who partnered with Bertelsmann Music Group to form
160-493: The UK top 10 single " The Lovecats ". Porl Thompson was credited for playing saxophone on "Give Me It". All the songs are credited to Smith but three tracks were co-written with Tolhurst: " The Caterpillar ", "Bird Mad Girl" and "Piggy in the Mirror". The album's style is eclectic, with Smith using various instruments including violin and flute . "Bird Mad Girl" is in a Spanish style, while "Wailing Wall" contains Middle Eastern undertones. Sounds critic Jack Barron described
176-425: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Top&oldid=1138480794 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Top (album) The Top is the fifth studio album by English rock band
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#1732772069127192-415: The opening track "Shake Dog Shake" as "urbane metal". Prior to its release, the Cure had been promoting the forthcoming album, performing live twice on UK television. In late February, they had played two songs on BBC Two 's Oxford Road Show , "Shake Dog Shake" and "Give Me It" and in early April, they had appeared on Channel Four 's The Tube to perform three other tracks, "Bananafishbones", "Piggy in
208-401: The paranoia and neuroses of former work with his newfound use of pop melody and outside influences" makes the record "a necessary step in the evolution of the band". All songs written by Robert Smith, except where noted. Side A Side B The Cure Additional musicians Production Shipments figures based on certification alone. Fiction Records Fiction Records is
224-463: The year composing and working on two other studio albums at the same time: The Top for the Cure and Hyæna for Siouxsie and the Banshees . Smith was still the official guitarist of the Banshees while he wrote The Top . For The Top , Smith teamed up with Cure co-founding member Lol Tolhurst , who had given up drums for keyboards, and new drummer Andy Anderson , who had previously performed on
240-459: Was best known for The Cure's releases and achieved its first UK No. 1 album in 1992 with The Cure's Wish ; the album's lead single " Friday I'm In Love " also topped Billboard ' s Modern Rock chart. Additionally, Fiction was home to other artists who signed to the publishing company as well as the record label and released a number of acclaimed albums including Eat 's Sell Me a God (Fiction/Polydor) in 1989, The God Machine 's Scenes from
256-618: Was founded in the late 1970s by Polydor A&R man, and longtime The Cure manager Chris Parry, alongside music publisher Fiction Songs Ltd, and who went on to found Radio X (then XFM London) and both were subsidiaries of Polydor Records, and based in London at 97 Charlotte Street and eventually maintained a satellite office in New York City at 850 7th Ave. Fiction was also home to UK dance label Desire, re-launched in 1988 as Fiction's house subdivision, and Non Fiction Records, Fiction's specialty label for special editions . Fiction
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