Great album openers get the listeners to keep on listening. They can do this in any number of ways. Some openers set the tone by easing us in. Others jump right in and blow our minds from the very beginning. A great album opener isn’t an easy thing to create. More than a great song, it’s all about the sequence. Track 1 has to be the perfect starter. This month, I’m highlighting my favorites. #AlbumOpeningSongs
The double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me captured the full spectrum of human emotions. It also showcased the band’s versatile instrumentation, especially on guitar. The rich, vast explorations on the album make it a great one to re-explore. Many people point to The Head On The Door as the start of The Cure’s imperial era, and Disintegration is universally recognized as the band’s masterpiece. Which sorta makes Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me a slightly underrated album, despite housing some of the band’s most well-known singles. One of my favorite tracks is the scorching, perilous opener “The Kiss”.
“The Kiss” is like the evil cousin of New Order’s “The Perfect Kiss”. It’s not a pretty affair. This Track One has four stages in a sprawling magnum opus. First, the lover is beckoned over. In the second stage, the lover becomes the subject of utter infatuation. Quickly, things make a turn for the worse. In the third stage, the lover is now suddenly the subject of disdain. And by the fourth and final stage, there’s nothing left except the protagonist’s wish for the lover to leave this world. In six minutes, it goes from “the” kiss to the kiss of death, flanked by a loud, wailing guitar that’s nearly possessed and Boris’ emphatic pounding on the drums that deliver the final nails in the coffin. Just brilliant in every regard.
“I never wanted this.”