The Head on the Door

While the band always had a pop element in their sound and even recorded one of the lightest songs of the '80s, "The Lovecats," The Head on the Door is where they become a hitmaking machine. The shiny, sleek production and laser-sharp melodies of "Inbetween Days" and "Close to Me" helped them become modern rock radio staples and the inspired videos had them in heavy rotation on MTV. The rest of the record didn't suffer for hooks and inventive arrangements either, making even the gloomiest songs like "Screw" and "Kyoto Song" sound radio-ready, and the inventive arrangements (the flamenco guitars and castanets of "The Blood," the lengthy and majestic intro to "Push," the swirling vocals on "The Baby Screams") give the album a musical depth previous efforts lacked.

LP & CD1:The Original Album (1985)

1 In Between Days
2 Kyoto Song
3 The Blood
4 Six Different Ways
5 Push
6 The Baby Screams
7 Close to Me
8 A Night Like This
9 Screw
10 Sinking

Rarities (1984-1985)
2-1 RS*– Inbetween Days (RS Home Demo Instrumental 12/84) 1:25
2-2 RS*– Inwood (RS Home Demo Instrumental 12/84) 2:18
2-3 RS*– Push (RS Home Demo Instrumental 12/84) 2:31
2-4 RS*– Innsbruck (RS Home Demo Instrumental 12/84) 2:37
2-5 The Cure– Stop Dead (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 3:21
2-6 The Cure– Mansolidgone (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 4:06
2-7 The Cure– Screw (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 3:09
2-8 The Cure– Lime Time (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 2:56
2-9 The Cure– Kyoto Song (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 4:28
2-10 The Cure– A Few Hours After This... (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 4:36
2-11 The Cure– Six Different Ways (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 3:00
2-12 The Cure– A Man Inside My Mouth (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 3:00
2-13 The Cure– A Night Like This (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 4:08
2-14 The Cure– The Exploding Boy (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 3:06
2-15 The Cure– Close To Me (Fitz/F2 Studios Demo 2/85) 4:03
2-16 The Cure– The Baby Screams (Live Bootleg - Bercy Paris 12/85) 3:46
2-17 The Cure– The Blood (Live Bootleg - Bercy Paris 12/85) 3:34
2-18 The Cure– Sinking (Live Bootleg - Bercy Paris 12/85) 5:06