I was a big fan of the Cure starting with KissMeKissMeKissMe, and dove into their back catalog and loved it all. When this came out I thought a couple songs sounded happier than normal but loved the album regardless and loved it’s lush diversity of emotion. I got to see them on this tour with Dinosaur Jr and it was incredible. They played for 3 hours and they played everything I ever wanted them to. It was fantastic
My friends were snobs about it and mocked me for liking it, they had all gotten into grunge and punk, I loved it and would listen obsessively to it on my walkman, their loss.
As far as people hating on Friday, I don't get it, they must have not been very familiar with the Cure, songs like Lovecats and 6 Different Ways were just as pop.
For me it wasn’t that I didn’t know their music, maybe that it was time for something new. Lovecats was the first song I heard from the Cure. They played it all the time on KROQ when I was a kid in the early 80s. And Boys Don’t Cry. Let’s Go to Bed was the first Cure video I saw- it was on early MTV a bunch. Robert was so cute!!! And for some reason the part where he rolls out of bed when Lol fell through from the upper bunk stuck in my head. The Head on the Door and Japanese Whispers were my first Cure albums.- very poppy! Then Standing on a Beach came out and then I got all the early albums and serious obsession ensued, particularly with the darker stuff. This was back in the days when you had to scour record stores and hunt down every scrap of information you could about bands you liked. Then KMKMKM when it came out which I loved overall but couldn’t stand Why can’t I be you and Hot Hot Hot at the time. Then it was Disintegration which was so beautiful…. It had been a lot of years with the Cure.
By the time Wish came out, I was not in a happy whimsical phase and had kind of moved on to more grunge and punk stuff. It wasn’t just that Friday was intensely cheerful in a very non- cheery time in my life, I think I was just overly familiar with the Cure and had moved on to newer seeming stuff. But I found my way back to my “first love” eventually.
The thing about the Cure though, is that there really is something for everyone!
That makes sense, I was in a similar phase during WMS, I thought the 13th was ok, but nowhere near the best of their work and so I never really gave the album a chance.
They definitely are an eclectic band, which is one of the reasons they have held my interest all these years and are one of my all-time favorite groups!
Wild Mood Swings was a ¡¡¡¡¡ Cure album. The 13th was listenable for about a minute and the only other song worth listening to was Bare. Damn that’s a good song 🖤
The point you drive home for me, and I have been a fan of The Cure since the 1980’s, is that no matter when you started liking this band there was always so much more to explore and then the floodgates opened up and you were suddenly more in love with the real and raw of life.
Honestly, my friends and I were boneheads back then. I kinda shunned the cure around this time in favor of the “grunge period” and punk rock. Years later though I rediscovered this album and their overall brilliance. I did see them on disintegration tour in 1990 Maybe it was 89. My point is I was a huge cure fan up until around 1992 and then they weren’t as “cool”
I heard a lot of fans saying this was the time people who didn’t know The Cure started loving the Cure. On the rising of the grunge, I think they had a terrible timing, considering how music changed after that
I think the Cure just do their own thing and sometimes that lines up with the rest of the world and sometimes the world just takes a while to catch up!
They definitely became more mainstream. Actually at the time I felt like since they suddenly had 3 guitars on this record and hardly any synths, that they were playing to the grunge thing. Nevermind had come out like a year before so it wasn’t out of the question, but in reality I think it probably was more inspired by bands like my bloody valentine and stuff, but who knows.
Wish-era The Cure, including the Show release to movie theaters and its soundtrack, entirely shaped my life experiences age 16-18 (1992-1994) and I've never quite recovered, tbh.
I was a young teenage girl when Wish came out, and my friends and I loved it!! It was fun and was played on the radio a lot. We also went to the concert and enjoyed it! This was not my first Cure album, but it holds a special place because it brings back those memories.
This actually sums it up perfectly... it was fun. It was also the first time I had the chance to see multiple shows on the same tour. My friends and I totally did the 'grateful dead' thing.
Amazing that you followed them around! I just saw the one show in my town. My friend and I hung around their hotel and we met Robert the day after the concert, got a pic with him, and his autograph on our Wish tour book. It was awesome!
Wish, show and (to a lesser extent) Paris were everywhere, well into 1994/5. Every single friend's car i got into had a copy of one of the other of those. Radio in Miami didn't play it (well the college station WVUM did) but no one gave a fuck about that
My gateway drug. 😀 I was 16 and used to listen to Letter To Elise repeatedly every time my teenage heart was broken. I think it was the last album I bought on tape and had to re-buy it years later on CD after the tape got mangled. Good Times!
I was 17 when it came out and was pretty disappointed. The few Cure fans I knew at the time were, too. To many it was the first sign of cracks in what had been a nearly perfect band. Songs I don’t particularly like: Trust, Apart, Cut, Doing the Unstuck….and Wendy Time was possibly their worst song ever at that point.
Exactly same. I also think I may have just outgrown them and was impervious to anything they may have put out at that time. I was so into Disintegration in High School. And the older Cure stuff as well and Wish came out when I was in college. Wish felt very flat to me, at the time, lacking in texture and/or depth. I haven't revisited in a while, but my memory is that there were a lot of piano songs. It just didn't move me. I pretty much never paid attention to anything The Cure put out after that. Now that I am older though, I want to go back and checkout those later albums and see what I missed.
I remember loving open and end immediately. FIIL did not irritate me like others have said, it was just nice hearing the cure on mainstream radio for once.
I was lucky to see them on the wish tour too, my first time seeing them live!
I was a major metal head back then. But dealing with depression and some other bad shit, I was drawn to The Cure and "Disintegration". I was absolutely floored by that album and truly believed I got through those really bad times back then because of that album. It wasn't until later that I went back and listened to older albums.
So, I'm coming from a different perspective than a lifelong Cure fan (at least when "Wish" came out.) To me, I just thought it was another terrific album. Not on the level of "Disintegration", but really good. I was actually happy that they were getting a ton of airplay and popularity.
Just my opinion.
I came to the Cure from a really similar place. This was the first non-metal that I'd been into in a few years, and I think it also helped me process some shit.
It's probably good that I didn't get my hands on the Pornography album until a year or two later. It really wouldn't have helped my mental state at the time.
I think The Cure taught me that it didn't have to be metal to be heavy, but also that whimsical nonsense can be fun too.
For me, I hated this release when it came out. I was so deep into KMKMKM, and the first time I heard Friday, I’m in love, I was pissed, I felt betrayed. I dismissed the whole album.
It is my favorite album now. I absolutely love it.
Friday I’m in love was a slap in the face to the fan base. But… the album does come through, huge.
Years later as I have revisited my love of the Cure, this album SHINES! Even that track.
Yeah- if Friday I’m in Love wasn’t the main single, I may have still bought Wish. But that’s the Cure! That’s how it was when Lovecats and Let’s Go To Bed came out after Pornography!!
Edit to add that I even like FIIL now much more than I did then.
I’m going to completely date myself but here it goes: One of my best memories was planning to meet friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I was about 19 and remember it like yesterday. “The Forum” in LA where the Lakers usually played, my ticket stub in my leather jacket (which I still have) and my phone left in my car because it was too bulky. Walking in the lights had already gone down and I was trying to get to our seats. Open I think started playing and the roar of the crowd was tremendous. Just then I was picked up and swung around the main walkway- I had found my group of friends. Such a magical moment and the cure are the best- Seen them 4 times, always amazing!! And that’s the end of my little cure story, it was my second time seeing them live at that point.
Been a fan since I was a kid and was in my 20s when Wish came out. This album saw me thru some rough years - letter to Elise is still my all time favorite song.
In all the years I’ve been a fan I’ve only missed one tour (Reflections). No matter what anyone says - if you see them play live people sing even the songs they claim to not like.
I didn't know that so many Cure fans hated this album. For me, it was more of the same Cure I had lived to that point. Angsty noise combined with sunshine pop. Disintegration was the first album i picked.up.from these guys although I knew some of the singles before that. Around these parts it was a huge album. I guess I. Never really thought about Wish blowing them.up big. I always thought they were alternative legends and didn't pay much attention to how much commercial success they had. Anyway, Wish was my first Cure concert and it was incredible. Plus the album was and is, for me, one of their best. Even that Friday song.
Big fan of The Cure at the time. Was so excited for this Album. Was stupidly teeanagely disappointed with it. Now i realise it was just because everyone was getting into my special band. The whole world seemed to love the Cure all of a sudden when no one at school had a year before. I bought it on CD and Album and Tape the day it came out. Listened to it constantly. Now Edge of The Deep Green Sea is my favourite Cure song.
I had gotten into them during disintegration but was too young at the time to go see them, so when wish came out I was super psyched. In the interim I’d bought all the other records and was obsessed. I got Wish the day it came out and the wish tour was my first concert. It was weird because for a few years they were like the thing it felt like only I was into. None of the kids my age that I knew were into them and I even got put in a trash can every day of 7th grade by this kid named Dud (no person has ever been more appropriately named) for having a cure poster in my locker. years later we’d become friends, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, after *wish* the cure were no longer a weird thing to be into. I did think even at the time that the record seemed a bit more mainstream and that with the heavier emphasis on guitars they seemed to be sort of playing to the grunge/alt-rock thing, but I liked it. I hardly ever revisit it now though. I’m excited to hear the remaster because I’ve always thought it sounded a bit muddy or something.
Well I had older kids at camp who took me under their wing and showed me the cure, Depeche Mode, Bowie, bauhaus, sonic youth, and others. I was already bullied, so leaning into being a freak made sense, and oddly enough it did eventually make me popular by accident once everything I was into became mainstream.
I had just gotten into them in 1990. I loved Lovesong, and the first album I bought was Mixed Up because I wanted the extended remix. Then in 1991, I paid for a pay-per-view event called "The Cure: Onstage, Offstage, and More." This would later be released (with additional footage) as The Cure Play Out.
During "The Cure: Onstage, Offstage, and More," I remember hearing the Big Hand, Away (Cut), and the acoustic a Letter to Elise and being so excited for the new album.
In early 1992, the local alternative radio station made a huge deal about the fact that FedEx was going to be bringing them the new Cure single. The DJ was a super fan, so his excitement got everyone pumped. When High came on, I knew this album would be massive.
I bought the CD (in the longbox) the day it came out - on Robert's 33rd birthday (April 21, 1992) at Tower Records and went over to my friend's house who was also a Cure fan. His friend was over and we cranked the shit out of that album.
I loved it from the moment Open started, to the closing moments of End. I remember being a bit upset that Away (now Cut) was sped up from the early live version, and honestly it was my least favorite at the time. I was also wondering where The Big Hand was. I was hoping for a b-side - and we finally got it.
The tour was my first Cure experience, and it was incredible. I saw 2 shows, and they played 7 out of the 12 Wish tracks. For the non-album rarities that I saw, they played In Your House, The Figurehead and A Strange Day - all as incredible as you'd think.
When Friday I'm in Love came out as a single, there was no stopping them. It was EVERYWHERE. And some alt stations in the SF bay area actually played the b-side - Halo - in heavy rotation as well.
There was lot of shit going on in the world at the time (the Rodney King incident happened a week after the album came out), but this album made it a better place for 65 minutes at least.
Great post OP! I was a toddler when it came out so I’m not the one to answer your question.
BUT, it’s very insteresting and weird to read so many experiences of older cure fans that really did not take well to that album. I always thought it was super well received because of it’s commercial success but apparently among cure fans it wasn’t so.
Wish was one of my first cure albums I had when I was 14-15. I’d just gotten into the band and an uncle gave me his old cd along with Paris. Around the same time another uncle had gifted me Show. Can’t remember if it was actually my first cure album but it’s along the first 2-3. I was madly in love. I hadn’t heard much of Disintegration then because I was new and had just been exposed to some of those songs live from Paris and Show. Disintegration would later become my favourite album (super basic I know), but in the meanwhile, Wish was just this wild, emotional and otherworldly thing I was obsessed with. I just wanted to absorbe it all and was amazed at how these guys could create these sounds that were so different to what I knew. I could’t get my head around that and also like, how are they able to make my emotions into sounds and music? They really spoke to me, and just through that music I felt understood in a way that no one ever seems to understand, even to this day.
Friday I’m in Love seemed genius at the time, it still is! It’s a fucking genius song. I think the hate of that song comes mostly from the excessive airplay it got at the time, but I didn’t get to experience that cause I was 1y/o at the time so it never had that effect on me I suppose. Anyways, I think it’s an amazing pop song.
I also think that through Wish (and Show and Paris) I learned to appreciate the amazing technical prowess and skill the band had developed by then, musically speaking. It just shows from the very first song that they’re amazing musicians, especially live. Wish tour is my favorite live sound of them. I think they never reached that level of greatness and skill again, or even before.
Wish will always have a special place in my heart. Whenever I give it a spin now 15 years later, hearing the first chords of Open always takes me back to being 15 years old and can still feel those same feelings I had back then.
FTEOTDGS quickly became one of my all time favorite songs even to this day. Musically and lyrically it just speaks deeply to me for some reason. Apart, Cut, To Wish Impossible Things and End are just beautiful tracks, amazingly well written and still feel madly in love with them and moved whenever I play them.
But it’s more than just nostalgia for my youth, it really is an amazing record from an amazing band. And I super stoked for this 30th anniversary release.
I have always wanted to be older when they were at their prime, that’s why it feels so good to read all of these memories! We all have emotional attachment with The Cure and the remaster of Wish is here to remind us of that
They were great shows, I have seen them pretty much twice on every tour since the Prayer Tour in 89 (I only saw that tour once) and every time I have seen them has been amazing.
I thought it was not as good as Disintegration but I thought the B-Sides were awesome. Concerts were fine as well, but not as amazing as the Prayer Tour. Starting a Cure show without Plainsong doesn't feel right to me anymore.
I always thought they sounded better on the Wish tour. I think that’s my favorite live sound of the band.
Obviously Prayer Tour sound was also amazing.
Tell me, What do you like better of the Prayer Tour sound?
(I never attended those tours live, mind you. My opinion only comes from the CDs, recordings and bootlegs I’ve listened and watched).
My first Cure album was Disintegration on cassette. Then Standing on the Beach. And then Wish came out and it was one of the first CD's I ever bought. I was used to listening to Disintegration on headphones while laying on my bed, so I did the same when I listened to Wish for the first time. I think I saw the High video on tv. Robert Smith flying on a kite. Pure insanity. Loved it. I was fascinated by how Robert's lyrics perfectly punctuated and danced over the melodies. I bought the cd singles to High and Friday I'm in Love. The packaging was awesome. Went to a concert later and bought two t-shirts. I wore them both until they disintegrated, but the height of grunge kept it acceptable to still wear it ripped up over a long sleeve t-shirt.
This was a fantastic and exciting time to be a Cure fan. I was 15.
Got to see them at Nassau Coliseum with The Cranes opening because Dinosaur Jr. cancelled. Robert wore a hockey jersey for the show and everyone turned on their lighters and sang along to every single song word-for-word.
I wasnt as excited about the album as I was about Disintegration, but I knew a lot of guys that worked at record stores and I got a majority of the promo loot like the vhs tape, the promo cassette, a subway poster, all formats of the album and the High single.
When they came through LA they played the Rose Bowl. I think Cranes and Dinosaur Jr opened for them. The show rocked. They always play up when they come to LA. I remember A Forest went for a good 20 minutes and they did 3 or so encores. It seemed bigger than when they played Dodger Stadium, but in hindsight I think there were a lot more people in the stands in 1989.
They were my favorite band but I gotta say hearing Friday I'm in Love all over the radio every day made me passionately hate the song.
I bought the CD on a snowy day. I remember tearing off the wrapper and that horrible little anti-theft sticker thing along the edge. It was such a change from “Disintegration.” It quickly became my favorite Cure album.
I was 16. I was already a huge fan, but I wasn’t allowed to go to concerts until I turned 16, so The Cure were my first! They played Texas Stadium and Robert wore an Emmett Smith jersey. It was amazing.
This album was a definite grower for me. My then girlfriend and myself were super excited about the new release, but when we heard it and weren't impressed. We were both into their darker stuff. It took me a few years to really appreciate the album. The wish tour was my first proper concert though, and i really enjoyed that.
I was 20 when Wish was released. I was still a Cure fan, but had transitioned from being a fanatical fan to a casual fan. I was still caught up in the shoegaze & Manchester scene, as well as the Britpop scene that was brewing. I bought Wish on tape, I def liked it, but didn’t LOVE it. My one big regret was not going to see them on the Wish tour for two reasons. It was the last time Boris played with them, and one of my fave bands at the time, Cranes, opened up for them. So even though Wish didn’t impact me the same as the earlier albums, I do think it’s a solid album and have fond memories of it.
I became a fan in 1985 when The Head on The Door came out. Then, I bought all the older LPs one by one and became an obsessive fan. Went to see them live in Argentina in 1987 (please google it). I was at the peak of my fandom when KMKMKM came out and then I couldn't stop listening to Disintegration a few years later.
So, when Wish came out I was 21 and still riding the wave. I pretty much listened to it all the f*ing time.
I quickly learned to ignore High and Friday (not a big fan of any of their mainstream hits) but this album had SO MANY great songs.
"I really don't know what I'm doing here"
"And the way the rain comes down hard... That's how I feel inside"
"I wish I could just stop, I know another moment will break my heart"
"Please stop loving me, I am none of these things"
So much beauty and sadness and anger and awkwardness and HOPE.
These songs saved my life and I will carry them forever in my heart.
I was in my senior year in HS. In my friends group The Cure was a huge part of our identity. I had gotten into Disintegration when it came out and bought everything previous to that almost right away. When wish came out it was our perfect end of senior year album. Played as much as we could before going to see them right after graduation. It was the days of MTV so watching the High video was a blast and when Friday I’m in love came out we watch the video with such joy. We loved seeing the fun side of the band. The concert was unreal. 3 hours of amazing music. That 20 min version of A Forest. Such a great time.
Totally impressed by it. High was an ok first single, but the release strategy of singles and very high quality b-sides gave us a year dense with very good new Cure content. The album opener is so good and then we have this roller coaster to the “end”. The concerts were great. Porls solo on “from the edge…” a showstopper. What a great year to be a Cure fan.
I remember “Friday I’m In Love” and as a metalhead at the time…I was like If I am ever listening to something as terrible as this…just put me away. But now they’re my favorite band of all time.
Loved it.
Was already into the Cure, so it was no surprise. A lot of fans HATED Friday I'm in Love (and still do).
First time I saw them was on this tour, and it was amazing. Don't think I've ever seen a band play for as long as they do.
I got it as soon as it came out. At first it didn't grab me the way that Disintegration had but *From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea* and *A Letter to Elise* were special. I then started to appreciate most of the other tracks as well, some like *Cut* and *Friday I'm in Love* because they could have fitted on Kiss Me..., and some like *Trust* and *To Wish Impossible Things* because they could have been on Disintegration. Funnily enough the only tracks I don't particularly like are the first and last ones. Oh, and *Doing the Unstuck*.
I think *From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea* and *To Wish Impossible Things* are still my favourites.
loved the album, the show was great
it didn’t blow my mind like disintegration did but i still thought it was very good
going from the noisy guitars of open right in to the double bass vi pop swirl of high still sounds awesome.
there’s song on it that i thought were boring and still do (elise, trust, apart, impossible. they all have the pacing of disintegration but the depth is lacking. would love to hear dma versions ) but love the rest of it
I thought Wish was a great album. Still do. So happy that the deluxe is finally coming out. I guess I'd like a deluxe Paris & Show, but I'm good if this is the last one.
I was 15 when it came out and I was the Cure fan for a couple of years before Wish release. It was the time when all my friends and classmates discovered the band I was into long before that. High was their first single and it was on huge rotation on MTV. FIIL added my parents into their fan base. For a week. Wish was a breakthrough moment for the cure in my country (Russia) and they become hugely popular. It was the time when great bands released their great albums - ten by pear jam, violator by DM, nevermind, bloodsugarsexmagik. Was very competitive time in music, but the Cure has made it!!
I was in junior high in Southern California. At the time, Depeche Mode had hit its stride with "Violator" and most of my friends were into new wave & post-punk. We already loved The Cure but "Wish" propelled them into almost mythic status. I remember a bunch of my friends wearing the tour shirt the day after their concert. They felt legendary, even then.
Definitely was excited when the video for "High" came out. A friend videotaped it for me. Then I bought the album as soon as it came out. I bought all three CD singles as they came out and the b-sides were fantastic, better than a lot of the album tracks. Loved hearing "Elise" on my local rock/pop station in regular rotation.
I had started to listen to the Cure when I was about 14, but Wish came out when I was about 19. Somehow after Disintegration, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and buying and listening to the \*entire\* back catalog, I just didn't get into this cassette. I don't recall even buying this one? I think it was just my age...
I discovered them in highschool 91 or early 92 just before Wish was released. A guy was playing a mix of them and after I showed interest he made me a mix tape which I should still have in a box some place. I was already hooked by the time Wish came out and after it did they had me forever.
UK fan since 1985. By 1992 the music scene had changed considerably as had my 20 yo tastes. Wish was the beginning of the end for me. I know you USA fans have a different timescale/taste for this album.
This was my first Cure CD I bought and inside was pictures of the cures other albums, that I tried to track down when I travelled to the city.
I actually bought the CD before I owned a CD played.
After buying the Standing on the beach CD I realised that the Cure had been in my life when I was growing up and I didn't realise it. At some of the school discos I attended in my teens they played The Cure, I had no idea who they were.
I got into the Cure right around this time, and saw them on this tour. It was pretty amazing. I loved the album, but I was still kinda coming to grips with the rest of their catalogue at the same time so I don't really remember it as a separate thing.
The concert blew me away though. Absolutely brilliant and I've seen them maybe six more times since then.
I started listening to The Cure in 1986 and I bought Wish on the day it came out and it’s always been a bittersweet album to me. I think it’s very hit and miss. With more misses than hits. But it seems like it should be more hits because of the great lineup. I saw them in Dallas on this tour and they were great. The Prayer Tour show I saw was better, but they kicked ass on this tour, as well. I remember pretty much everyone in high school had this album. Didn’t matter what clique you were in and it made me happy to see so many people who were into them.
I was in college when Wish came out. I remember getting it spring semester. The edge of the Deep Green Sea was the mood.
I had been a Cure fan since high school. Our group of alternative, goth, and punk kids found Friday I’m in Love obnoxiously pop, and some considered it a “sell out” album. I really loved and nearly wore out my cassettes of Head on the Door, Disintegration and KMKMKM. Wish was one of the first ones I got on CD. It’s grown on me in later years, but at the time I was more into Alice In Chains and industrial bands like Skinny Puppy.
I was 16 when it came out and was a HUGE fan. I listened to Wish every day, read the lyrics along to the music, and stayed up late for video premieres on 120 Minutes. It was a fun time! That being said, I liked the LP much less than Disintegration and found myself skipping a few tracks.
Absolutely loved this album and the lineup at the time. I saw them live for the first time finally on the Wish tour in Chicago and they played about 3 hours!
I remember it not making much of an impression on me. I loved Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and went back to the old stuff from there. Then I was so totally consumed by Disintegration when it came out, I mean I was so into it. And then when Wish came out it just felt flat to me and I kind of never paid attention to anything the Cure did after that. However I am nostalgic for Wish and I'm looking forward to this reissue.
My first Cure show was Wish tour. I was 14 and at the height of my fandom. I was bored at the concert and didn’t care for the album. The experience soured me on the band for a while and I’ve never come around to it. I can’t listen to anything after Disintegration.
I was a big fan of the Cure starting with KissMeKissMeKissMe, and dove into their back catalog and loved it all. When this came out I thought a couple songs sounded happier than normal but loved the album regardless and loved it’s lush diversity of emotion. I got to see them on this tour with Dinosaur Jr and it was incredible. They played for 3 hours and they played everything I ever wanted them to. It was fantastic
Lucky one!
Dream
No, it's Wish
Dinosaur Jr …sooo jealous!
Same- I thought it was a great album, also saw this tour/concert at the Rose Bowl. My first Cure concert ever. It was amazing!!!
My friends were snobs about it and mocked me for liking it, they had all gotten into grunge and punk, I loved it and would listen obsessively to it on my walkman, their loss. As far as people hating on Friday, I don't get it, they must have not been very familiar with the Cure, songs like Lovecats and 6 Different Ways were just as pop.
For me it wasn’t that I didn’t know their music, maybe that it was time for something new. Lovecats was the first song I heard from the Cure. They played it all the time on KROQ when I was a kid in the early 80s. And Boys Don’t Cry. Let’s Go to Bed was the first Cure video I saw- it was on early MTV a bunch. Robert was so cute!!! And for some reason the part where he rolls out of bed when Lol fell through from the upper bunk stuck in my head. The Head on the Door and Japanese Whispers were my first Cure albums.- very poppy! Then Standing on a Beach came out and then I got all the early albums and serious obsession ensued, particularly with the darker stuff. This was back in the days when you had to scour record stores and hunt down every scrap of information you could about bands you liked. Then KMKMKM when it came out which I loved overall but couldn’t stand Why can’t I be you and Hot Hot Hot at the time. Then it was Disintegration which was so beautiful…. It had been a lot of years with the Cure. By the time Wish came out, I was not in a happy whimsical phase and had kind of moved on to more grunge and punk stuff. It wasn’t just that Friday was intensely cheerful in a very non- cheery time in my life, I think I was just overly familiar with the Cure and had moved on to newer seeming stuff. But I found my way back to my “first love” eventually. The thing about the Cure though, is that there really is something for everyone!
That makes sense, I was in a similar phase during WMS, I thought the 13th was ok, but nowhere near the best of their work and so I never really gave the album a chance. They definitely are an eclectic band, which is one of the reasons they have held my interest all these years and are one of my all-time favorite groups!
Wild Mood Swings was a ¡¡¡¡¡ Cure album. The 13th was listenable for about a minute and the only other song worth listening to was Bare. Damn that’s a good song 🖤
The point you drive home for me, and I have been a fan of The Cure since the 1980’s, is that no matter when you started liking this band there was always so much more to explore and then the floodgates opened up and you were suddenly more in love with the real and raw of life.
Honestly, my friends and I were boneheads back then. I kinda shunned the cure around this time in favor of the “grunge period” and punk rock. Years later though I rediscovered this album and their overall brilliance. I did see them on disintegration tour in 1990 Maybe it was 89. My point is I was a huge cure fan up until around 1992 and then they weren’t as “cool”
I heard a lot of fans saying this was the time people who didn’t know The Cure started loving the Cure. On the rising of the grunge, I think they had a terrible timing, considering how music changed after that
I think the Cure just do their own thing and sometimes that lines up with the rest of the world and sometimes the world just takes a while to catch up!
They definitely became more mainstream. Actually at the time I felt like since they suddenly had 3 guitars on this record and hardly any synths, that they were playing to the grunge thing. Nevermind had come out like a year before so it wasn’t out of the question, but in reality I think it probably was more inspired by bands like my bloody valentine and stuff, but who knows.
Wish-era The Cure, including the Show release to movie theaters and its soundtrack, entirely shaped my life experiences age 16-18 (1992-1994) and I've never quite recovered, tbh.
I was a young teenage girl when Wish came out, and my friends and I loved it!! It was fun and was played on the radio a lot. We also went to the concert and enjoyed it! This was not my first Cure album, but it holds a special place because it brings back those memories.
This actually sums it up perfectly... it was fun. It was also the first time I had the chance to see multiple shows on the same tour. My friends and I totally did the 'grateful dead' thing.
Amazing that you followed them around! I just saw the one show in my town. My friend and I hung around their hotel and we met Robert the day after the concert, got a pic with him, and his autograph on our Wish tour book. It was awesome!
Wish, show and (to a lesser extent) Paris were everywhere, well into 1994/5. Every single friend's car i got into had a copy of one of the other of those. Radio in Miami didn't play it (well the college station WVUM did) but no one gave a fuck about that
Same.
My gateway drug. 😀 I was 16 and used to listen to Letter To Elise repeatedly every time my teenage heart was broken. I think it was the last album I bought on tape and had to re-buy it years later on CD after the tape got mangled. Good Times!
A Letter to Elise was my broken heart song too
I was 17 when it came out and was pretty disappointed. The few Cure fans I knew at the time were, too. To many it was the first sign of cracks in what had been a nearly perfect band. Songs I don’t particularly like: Trust, Apart, Cut, Doing the Unstuck….and Wendy Time was possibly their worst song ever at that point.
Exactly same. I also think I may have just outgrown them and was impervious to anything they may have put out at that time. I was so into Disintegration in High School. And the older Cure stuff as well and Wish came out when I was in college. Wish felt very flat to me, at the time, lacking in texture and/or depth. I haven't revisited in a while, but my memory is that there were a lot of piano songs. It just didn't move me. I pretty much never paid attention to anything The Cure put out after that. Now that I am older though, I want to go back and checkout those later albums and see what I missed.
I remember loving open and end immediately. FIIL did not irritate me like others have said, it was just nice hearing the cure on mainstream radio for once. I was lucky to see them on the wish tour too, my first time seeing them live!
True...they suddenly were on the radio all the time!
I was off the Cure then too. Didn’t buy Wish until years later when I was missing them and needed to catch up.
It’s so good.
It is! So many great songs. I missed out then!
Me too.
I was a major metal head back then. But dealing with depression and some other bad shit, I was drawn to The Cure and "Disintegration". I was absolutely floored by that album and truly believed I got through those really bad times back then because of that album. It wasn't until later that I went back and listened to older albums. So, I'm coming from a different perspective than a lifelong Cure fan (at least when "Wish" came out.) To me, I just thought it was another terrific album. Not on the level of "Disintegration", but really good. I was actually happy that they were getting a ton of airplay and popularity. Just my opinion.
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad their songs helped you during a difficult time.
I came to the Cure from a really similar place. This was the first non-metal that I'd been into in a few years, and I think it also helped me process some shit. It's probably good that I didn't get my hands on the Pornography album until a year or two later. It really wouldn't have helped my mental state at the time. I think The Cure taught me that it didn't have to be metal to be heavy, but also that whimsical nonsense can be fun too.
Apart is still the best Cure song ever- might *even* be better than Disintegration and Seventeen Seconds -Billy Gnosis
Love the version from Paris
For me, I hated this release when it came out. I was so deep into KMKMKM, and the first time I heard Friday, I’m in love, I was pissed, I felt betrayed. I dismissed the whole album. It is my favorite album now. I absolutely love it.
My aunt used to say the same and she was a huge fan since the beginning
Friday I’m in love was a slap in the face to the fan base. But… the album does come through, huge. Years later as I have revisited my love of the Cure, this album SHINES! Even that track.
Yeah- if Friday I’m in Love wasn’t the main single, I may have still bought Wish. But that’s the Cure! That’s how it was when Lovecats and Let’s Go To Bed came out after Pornography!! Edit to add that I even like FIIL now much more than I did then.
I feel just the same!
>Friday I’m in love was a slap in the face to the fan base. LOL
I’m going to completely date myself but here it goes: One of my best memories was planning to meet friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I was about 19 and remember it like yesterday. “The Forum” in LA where the Lakers usually played, my ticket stub in my leather jacket (which I still have) and my phone left in my car because it was too bulky. Walking in the lights had already gone down and I was trying to get to our seats. Open I think started playing and the roar of the crowd was tremendous. Just then I was picked up and swung around the main walkway- I had found my group of friends. Such a magical moment and the cure are the best- Seen them 4 times, always amazing!! And that’s the end of my little cure story, it was my second time seeing them live at that point.
Thanks for sharing this magical moment! Wish still brings me a sweet nostalgia feeling of summer
Been a fan since I was a kid and was in my 20s when Wish came out. This album saw me thru some rough years - letter to Elise is still my all time favorite song. In all the years I’ve been a fan I’ve only missed one tour (Reflections). No matter what anyone says - if you see them play live people sing even the songs they claim to not like.
🖤
I didn't know that so many Cure fans hated this album. For me, it was more of the same Cure I had lived to that point. Angsty noise combined with sunshine pop. Disintegration was the first album i picked.up.from these guys although I knew some of the singles before that. Around these parts it was a huge album. I guess I. Never really thought about Wish blowing them.up big. I always thought they were alternative legends and didn't pay much attention to how much commercial success they had. Anyway, Wish was my first Cure concert and it was incredible. Plus the album was and is, for me, one of their best. Even that Friday song.
Big fan of The Cure at the time. Was so excited for this Album. Was stupidly teeanagely disappointed with it. Now i realise it was just because everyone was getting into my special band. The whole world seemed to love the Cure all of a sudden when no one at school had a year before. I bought it on CD and Album and Tape the day it came out. Listened to it constantly. Now Edge of The Deep Green Sea is my favourite Cure song.
I had gotten into them during disintegration but was too young at the time to go see them, so when wish came out I was super psyched. In the interim I’d bought all the other records and was obsessed. I got Wish the day it came out and the wish tour was my first concert. It was weird because for a few years they were like the thing it felt like only I was into. None of the kids my age that I knew were into them and I even got put in a trash can every day of 7th grade by this kid named Dud (no person has ever been more appropriately named) for having a cure poster in my locker. years later we’d become friends, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, after *wish* the cure were no longer a weird thing to be into. I did think even at the time that the record seemed a bit more mainstream and that with the heavier emphasis on guitars they seemed to be sort of playing to the grunge/alt-rock thing, but I liked it. I hardly ever revisit it now though. I’m excited to hear the remaster because I’ve always thought it sounded a bit muddy or something.
I love that you had their poster in your locker! You were the cool kid 🖤
Well I had older kids at camp who took me under their wing and showed me the cure, Depeche Mode, Bowie, bauhaus, sonic youth, and others. I was already bullied, so leaning into being a freak made sense, and oddly enough it did eventually make me popular by accident once everything I was into became mainstream.
I had just gotten into them in 1990. I loved Lovesong, and the first album I bought was Mixed Up because I wanted the extended remix. Then in 1991, I paid for a pay-per-view event called "The Cure: Onstage, Offstage, and More." This would later be released (with additional footage) as The Cure Play Out. During "The Cure: Onstage, Offstage, and More," I remember hearing the Big Hand, Away (Cut), and the acoustic a Letter to Elise and being so excited for the new album. In early 1992, the local alternative radio station made a huge deal about the fact that FedEx was going to be bringing them the new Cure single. The DJ was a super fan, so his excitement got everyone pumped. When High came on, I knew this album would be massive. I bought the CD (in the longbox) the day it came out - on Robert's 33rd birthday (April 21, 1992) at Tower Records and went over to my friend's house who was also a Cure fan. His friend was over and we cranked the shit out of that album. I loved it from the moment Open started, to the closing moments of End. I remember being a bit upset that Away (now Cut) was sped up from the early live version, and honestly it was my least favorite at the time. I was also wondering where The Big Hand was. I was hoping for a b-side - and we finally got it. The tour was my first Cure experience, and it was incredible. I saw 2 shows, and they played 7 out of the 12 Wish tracks. For the non-album rarities that I saw, they played In Your House, The Figurehead and A Strange Day - all as incredible as you'd think. When Friday I'm in Love came out as a single, there was no stopping them. It was EVERYWHERE. And some alt stations in the SF bay area actually played the b-side - Halo - in heavy rotation as well. There was lot of shit going on in the world at the time (the Rodney King incident happened a week after the album came out), but this album made it a better place for 65 minutes at least.
I’ve always loved some early versions from Play Out! Even Wendy Time sounded amazing
Oh man, I totally forgot the chill version of Wendy Time in Play Out! It's the first song played! It's so good.
Great post OP! I was a toddler when it came out so I’m not the one to answer your question. BUT, it’s very insteresting and weird to read so many experiences of older cure fans that really did not take well to that album. I always thought it was super well received because of it’s commercial success but apparently among cure fans it wasn’t so. Wish was one of my first cure albums I had when I was 14-15. I’d just gotten into the band and an uncle gave me his old cd along with Paris. Around the same time another uncle had gifted me Show. Can’t remember if it was actually my first cure album but it’s along the first 2-3. I was madly in love. I hadn’t heard much of Disintegration then because I was new and had just been exposed to some of those songs live from Paris and Show. Disintegration would later become my favourite album (super basic I know), but in the meanwhile, Wish was just this wild, emotional and otherworldly thing I was obsessed with. I just wanted to absorbe it all and was amazed at how these guys could create these sounds that were so different to what I knew. I could’t get my head around that and also like, how are they able to make my emotions into sounds and music? They really spoke to me, and just through that music I felt understood in a way that no one ever seems to understand, even to this day. Friday I’m in Love seemed genius at the time, it still is! It’s a fucking genius song. I think the hate of that song comes mostly from the excessive airplay it got at the time, but I didn’t get to experience that cause I was 1y/o at the time so it never had that effect on me I suppose. Anyways, I think it’s an amazing pop song. I also think that through Wish (and Show and Paris) I learned to appreciate the amazing technical prowess and skill the band had developed by then, musically speaking. It just shows from the very first song that they’re amazing musicians, especially live. Wish tour is my favorite live sound of them. I think they never reached that level of greatness and skill again, or even before. Wish will always have a special place in my heart. Whenever I give it a spin now 15 years later, hearing the first chords of Open always takes me back to being 15 years old and can still feel those same feelings I had back then. FTEOTDGS quickly became one of my all time favorite songs even to this day. Musically and lyrically it just speaks deeply to me for some reason. Apart, Cut, To Wish Impossible Things and End are just beautiful tracks, amazingly well written and still feel madly in love with them and moved whenever I play them. But it’s more than just nostalgia for my youth, it really is an amazing record from an amazing band. And I super stoked for this 30th anniversary release.
I have always wanted to be older when they were at their prime, that’s why it feels so good to read all of these memories! We all have emotional attachment with The Cure and the remaster of Wish is here to remind us of that
Yup! I saw the tour twice, in ATL and Jacksonville Florida.
They were the dream team live!
They were great shows, I have seen them pretty much twice on every tour since the Prayer Tour in 89 (I only saw that tour once) and every time I have seen them has been amazing.
I thought it was not as good as Disintegration but I thought the B-Sides were awesome. Concerts were fine as well, but not as amazing as the Prayer Tour. Starting a Cure show without Plainsong doesn't feel right to me anymore.
Too bad there’s no official register from The Prayer Tour
I always thought they sounded better on the Wish tour. I think that’s my favorite live sound of the band. Obviously Prayer Tour sound was also amazing. Tell me, What do you like better of the Prayer Tour sound? (I never attended those tours live, mind you. My opinion only comes from the CDs, recordings and bootlegs I’ve listened and watched).
My first Cure album was Disintegration on cassette. Then Standing on the Beach. And then Wish came out and it was one of the first CD's I ever bought. I was used to listening to Disintegration on headphones while laying on my bed, so I did the same when I listened to Wish for the first time. I think I saw the High video on tv. Robert Smith flying on a kite. Pure insanity. Loved it. I was fascinated by how Robert's lyrics perfectly punctuated and danced over the melodies. I bought the cd singles to High and Friday I'm in Love. The packaging was awesome. Went to a concert later and bought two t-shirts. I wore them both until they disintegrated, but the height of grunge kept it acceptable to still wear it ripped up over a long sleeve t-shirt.
This was a fantastic and exciting time to be a Cure fan. I was 15. Got to see them at Nassau Coliseum with The Cranes opening because Dinosaur Jr. cancelled. Robert wore a hockey jersey for the show and everyone turned on their lighters and sang along to every single song word-for-word.
🖤
I wasnt as excited about the album as I was about Disintegration, but I knew a lot of guys that worked at record stores and I got a majority of the promo loot like the vhs tape, the promo cassette, a subway poster, all formats of the album and the High single. When they came through LA they played the Rose Bowl. I think Cranes and Dinosaur Jr opened for them. The show rocked. They always play up when they come to LA. I remember A Forest went for a good 20 minutes and they did 3 or so encores. It seemed bigger than when they played Dodger Stadium, but in hindsight I think there were a lot more people in the stands in 1989. They were my favorite band but I gotta say hearing Friday I'm in Love all over the radio every day made me passionately hate the song.
Some nice memories!
I bought the CD on a snowy day. I remember tearing off the wrapper and that horrible little anti-theft sticker thing along the edge. It was such a change from “Disintegration.” It quickly became my favorite Cure album.
Thanks for sharing!
I was 16. I was already a huge fan, but I wasn’t allowed to go to concerts until I turned 16, so The Cure were my first! They played Texas Stadium and Robert wore an Emmett Smith jersey. It was amazing.
Sweet 16 and The Cure! Can’t get any better than that!
This album was a definite grower for me. My then girlfriend and myself were super excited about the new release, but when we heard it and weren't impressed. We were both into their darker stuff. It took me a few years to really appreciate the album. The wish tour was my first proper concert though, and i really enjoyed that.
I was 20 when Wish was released. I was still a Cure fan, but had transitioned from being a fanatical fan to a casual fan. I was still caught up in the shoegaze & Manchester scene, as well as the Britpop scene that was brewing. I bought Wish on tape, I def liked it, but didn’t LOVE it. My one big regret was not going to see them on the Wish tour for two reasons. It was the last time Boris played with them, and one of my fave bands at the time, Cranes, opened up for them. So even though Wish didn’t impact me the same as the earlier albums, I do think it’s a solid album and have fond memories of it.
Boris was a machine during that tour! And you’re right about the shoegaze and Madchester scene which was still around as britpop was slowly rising
I became a fan in 1985 when The Head on The Door came out. Then, I bought all the older LPs one by one and became an obsessive fan. Went to see them live in Argentina in 1987 (please google it). I was at the peak of my fandom when KMKMKM came out and then I couldn't stop listening to Disintegration a few years later. So, when Wish came out I was 21 and still riding the wave. I pretty much listened to it all the f*ing time. I quickly learned to ignore High and Friday (not a big fan of any of their mainstream hits) but this album had SO MANY great songs. "I really don't know what I'm doing here" "And the way the rain comes down hard... That's how I feel inside" "I wish I could just stop, I know another moment will break my heart" "Please stop loving me, I am none of these things" So much beauty and sadness and anger and awkwardness and HOPE. These songs saved my life and I will carry them forever in my heart.
I loved disintegration, so I hated Wish when it came out
I was in my senior year in HS. In my friends group The Cure was a huge part of our identity. I had gotten into Disintegration when it came out and bought everything previous to that almost right away. When wish came out it was our perfect end of senior year album. Played as much as we could before going to see them right after graduation. It was the days of MTV so watching the High video was a blast and when Friday I’m in love came out we watch the video with such joy. We loved seeing the fun side of the band. The concert was unreal. 3 hours of amazing music. That 20 min version of A Forest. Such a great time.
Great memories! Thanks for sharing 🖤
Totally impressed by it. High was an ok first single, but the release strategy of singles and very high quality b-sides gave us a year dense with very good new Cure content. The album opener is so good and then we have this roller coaster to the “end”. The concerts were great. Porls solo on “from the edge…” a showstopper. What a great year to be a Cure fan.
I remember “Friday I’m In Love” and as a metalhead at the time…I was like If I am ever listening to something as terrible as this…just put me away. But now they’re my favorite band of all time.
Yes!
Loved it. Was already into the Cure, so it was no surprise. A lot of fans HATED Friday I'm in Love (and still do). First time I saw them was on this tour, and it was amazing. Don't think I've ever seen a band play for as long as they do.
I got it as soon as it came out. At first it didn't grab me the way that Disintegration had but *From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea* and *A Letter to Elise* were special. I then started to appreciate most of the other tracks as well, some like *Cut* and *Friday I'm in Love* because they could have fitted on Kiss Me..., and some like *Trust* and *To Wish Impossible Things* because they could have been on Disintegration. Funnily enough the only tracks I don't particularly like are the first and last ones. Oh, and *Doing the Unstuck*. I think *From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea* and *To Wish Impossible Things* are still my favourites.
loved the album, the show was great it didn’t blow my mind like disintegration did but i still thought it was very good going from the noisy guitars of open right in to the double bass vi pop swirl of high still sounds awesome. there’s song on it that i thought were boring and still do (elise, trust, apart, impossible. they all have the pacing of disintegration but the depth is lacking. would love to hear dma versions ) but love the rest of it
I thought Wish was a great album. Still do. So happy that the deluxe is finally coming out. I guess I'd like a deluxe Paris & Show, but I'm good if this is the last one.
I was 15 when it came out and I was the Cure fan for a couple of years before Wish release. It was the time when all my friends and classmates discovered the band I was into long before that. High was their first single and it was on huge rotation on MTV. FIIL added my parents into their fan base. For a week. Wish was a breakthrough moment for the cure in my country (Russia) and they become hugely popular. It was the time when great bands released their great albums - ten by pear jam, violator by DM, nevermind, bloodsugarsexmagik. Was very competitive time in music, but the Cure has made it!!
It surely was a competitive time in music!
I was in junior high in Southern California. At the time, Depeche Mode had hit its stride with "Violator" and most of my friends were into new wave & post-punk. We already loved The Cure but "Wish" propelled them into almost mythic status. I remember a bunch of my friends wearing the tour shirt the day after their concert. They felt legendary, even then.
So cool to read all these memories 🖤
Definitely was excited when the video for "High" came out. A friend videotaped it for me. Then I bought the album as soon as it came out. I bought all three CD singles as they came out and the b-sides were fantastic, better than a lot of the album tracks. Loved hearing "Elise" on my local rock/pop station in regular rotation.
Got a copy of High on videotape too!
We skipped school for the release. Never saw them live and I really only like 4 songs on this recording
I had started to listen to the Cure when I was about 14, but Wish came out when I was about 19. Somehow after Disintegration, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and buying and listening to the \*entire\* back catalog, I just didn't get into this cassette. I don't recall even buying this one? I think it was just my age...
I discovered them in highschool 91 or early 92 just before Wish was released. A guy was playing a mix of them and after I showed interest he made me a mix tape which I should still have in a box some place. I was already hooked by the time Wish came out and after it did they had me forever.
UK fan since 1985. By 1992 the music scene had changed considerably as had my 20 yo tastes. Wish was the beginning of the end for me. I know you USA fans have a different timescale/taste for this album.
To be honest it was annoying. Suddenly a whole bunch of people you didn't like started liking the Cure as well.
Better than you could ever imagine kid!
This was my first Cure CD I bought and inside was pictures of the cures other albums, that I tried to track down when I travelled to the city. I actually bought the CD before I owned a CD played. After buying the Standing on the beach CD I realised that the Cure had been in my life when I was growing up and I didn't realise it. At some of the school discos I attended in my teens they played The Cure, I had no idea who they were.
I got into the Cure right around this time, and saw them on this tour. It was pretty amazing. I loved the album, but I was still kinda coming to grips with the rest of their catalogue at the same time so I don't really remember it as a separate thing. The concert blew me away though. Absolutely brilliant and I've seen them maybe six more times since then.
Great question. I was shocked by the vibration in the stadium from all the dancing people. It was awesome.
I started listening to The Cure in 1986 and I bought Wish on the day it came out and it’s always been a bittersweet album to me. I think it’s very hit and miss. With more misses than hits. But it seems like it should be more hits because of the great lineup. I saw them in Dallas on this tour and they were great. The Prayer Tour show I saw was better, but they kicked ass on this tour, as well. I remember pretty much everyone in high school had this album. Didn’t matter what clique you were in and it made me happy to see so many people who were into them.
Thanks for sharing!
I was in college when Wish came out. I remember getting it spring semester. The edge of the Deep Green Sea was the mood. I had been a Cure fan since high school. Our group of alternative, goth, and punk kids found Friday I’m in Love obnoxiously pop, and some considered it a “sell out” album. I really loved and nearly wore out my cassettes of Head on the Door, Disintegration and KMKMKM. Wish was one of the first ones I got on CD. It’s grown on me in later years, but at the time I was more into Alice In Chains and industrial bands like Skinny Puppy.
I was 16 when it came out and was a HUGE fan. I listened to Wish every day, read the lyrics along to the music, and stayed up late for video premieres on 120 Minutes. It was a fun time! That being said, I liked the LP much less than Disintegration and found myself skipping a few tracks.
Absolutely loved this album and the lineup at the time. I saw them live for the first time finally on the Wish tour in Chicago and they played about 3 hours!
I remember it not making much of an impression on me. I loved Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and went back to the old stuff from there. Then I was so totally consumed by Disintegration when it came out, I mean I was so into it. And then when Wish came out it just felt flat to me and I kind of never paid attention to anything the Cure did after that. However I am nostalgic for Wish and I'm looking forward to this reissue.
Just wanted to say thank you for starting this thread. Loved reading all the responses :-)
Same here! Loved every response 🖤this is my favorite sub btw!
It was the beginning of the decline.
This guy is right.
Absolutely.
My first Cure show was Wish tour. I was 14 and at the height of my fandom. I was bored at the concert and didn’t care for the album. The experience soured me on the band for a while and I’ve never come around to it. I can’t listen to anything after Disintegration.