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List Price: $18.98 | | Label: Elektra / Wea
Salesrank: 8206
Released: October 25, 1990 |
| Our Price: $13.35 |
| Used Price: $2.06 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Staring at the Sea: The Singles Track Listing:
1. Killing An Arab
2. 10:15 Saturday Night
3. Boys Don't Cry
4. Jumping Someone Else's Train
5. A Forest
6. Play For Today
7. Primary
8. Other Voices
9. Charlotte Sometimes
10. The Hanging Garden
11. Let's Go To Bed
12. The Walk
13. The Lovecats
14. The Caterpillar
15. In Between Days
16. Close To Me
17. A Night Like This
Editorial Review:
Big and moody, Staring at the Sea compiles some hits and near misses of these excavators of the dark soul. Beginning with their earliest hits--the sparse "Killing an Arab," the aptly tedious "10:15 Saturday Night," and the charming "Boys Don't Cry"--this collection stops before the comparative giddiness of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
Musicians first, brooding art types second, The Cure's unique instrumentation doesn't get the credit it rightfully deserves. The thrashy, trash-can break in "Jumping Someone Else's Train," the sprightly synthesized recorder of "Close to Me," and the techno-pop disco lines in "Let's Go to Bed" and "The Walk" are downright brilliant in their effectiveness and simplicity. A string of money shots if ever there was one. --Steve Gdula
Staring at the Sea: The Singles Reviews:
Essential despite sonic flaws. 
2009-11-10 - An essential collection of early 80's alternative music -- in dire need of remastering ("Primary" and "The Walk" both suffer from poor sound quality and dropout). Elektra has not served the Cure catalog well; both this and 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' should be reissued with upgraded mastering and packaging. Especially for such important music as this.
Still relevant collection of The Cure's early songs
2009-10-13 - 'Staring At The Sea' collects virtually all of The Cure's early singles, plus some important album tracks of the period. We follow the band from their jagged post-punk beginnings, through their gloomy and intense "goth" period, to the more pop-oriented material of the mid 80's. While other Cure compilations have been released since, none provide a very comprehensive cover of this creative and diverse and interesting period of the band's career. Also, few of the band's early singles appeared on their albums, meaning 'Staring At The Sea' is still an essential purchase for dedicated fans. It's also a very useful introduction for casual fans, although they might be put off by a few songs.
Pretty much every key Cure song of the period is here, beginning with the early post-punk masterpieces 'Killing An Arab', 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Jumping Someone Else's Train', plus the under-rated '10.15 Saturday Night'. The album then shifts into the band's darker work, with gloomy gems such as 'A Forest', 'Charlotte Sometimes' and 'The Hanging Garden', plus album tracks such as 'Play For Today' and 'Other Voices'. Unlike bands such as Bauhaus, say, Cure songs of this period really do conform to many of the goth stereotypes: unsettling and intense synth-driven soundscapes punctuated by icy guitars and impassioned vocals. Although essential in a chronicle of The Cure's musical development, some more casual fans might find this six song stretch too disturbing for their liking.
From here, the more radio-friendly Cure of the mid 80's is on display, including popular hits such as 'Let's Go To Bed', 'The Walk', 'Lovecats', 'In Between Days' and 'Close To Me'. Despite their accessibility, these songs are still recognisably the work of The Cure. The band certainly didn't sell out; they continued their dark and unsettling lyrical themes, but just merged them with upbeat music to create some of the most fractured, bizzare and interesting "pop" ever made.
Obviously this doesn't include later hits such as 'Why Can't I Be You' or 'Friday I'm In Love', so is not a substitute for a greatest hits album. However, if you're interested in the early development of one of the more important bands to emerge from post-punk, this is an excellent place to start.
Pleased with purchase! 
2009-09-11 - The disc itself was in great condition, as well as the liner notes. The item arrived well within the window provided. Thanks!!!
obviously a great record, and great melodies!
2008-07-14 - the cure's singles and best known melodic songs burn with passion and sheer genius.
It would be hard not to lose oneself in a glowing review.... however, that said, whoever came up with the following review quote, has managed to plumb the depth of the barrel of idiocy, and lose a piece of very relevant clarity:
"But for the rest of us who actually appreciate melodies as long as they aren't too commercialized"
If anyone anywhere can ascribe any sort of rational logical meaning to this gibberish, please write to the following people:
the authors of
here, there and everywhere (mccartney, i presume)
losing my religion (stipe, buck, et al)
lovesong (mr. smith again)
crazy (gnarls barkley)
waiting on a friend (mssrs jagger and richards)
heroes (mr. bowie)
aaaaaghh!! one could go on and on and on..........
these songs, and all great songs (however bl0ody popular) were written as pieces of artistic expression. How popular they subsequently become is not germane to the truths of their existence. This flatulent self-serving type of critical meandering alongside meaningfulness is a serious pain in the ****! enough! please!!
This is their greatest best of CD
2008-07-08 - Contains most all of the hits before Kiss Kiss Kiss Me and is a comprehensive 1978-1986 singles collection, which contains a lot of their up beat tones from the mid 80s, but contains enough of the slower tempo mope rock classics to balance out the CD. I would rank their CDs like this:
Disintegration (1989)
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
Bloodflowers (2000)
The Head on the Door (1985)
Standing on a Beach/ Staring at the Sea (1986)
Wish (1992)
However, if I were to own just 2 Cure CDs it would be this one and Disintegration. Key songs on this CD are "Boys don't Cry", "Jumping Someone Else's Train", and "Charlotte Sometimes."
