Kiss Me

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Lore & Background

After the release of The Head on the Door, the band continued to gain international popularity, spurred by the album's two singles, "In Between Days" and "Close to Me". Capitalising on this success, the band released the singles compilation Standing on a Beach in three formats in 1986, accompanied by a VHS and LaserDisc Staring at the Sea. The compilation entered the top 50 in the US, peaked at number 4 in the UK, and saw the re-issue of three previous singles. The band toured to support the compilation and released a live concert VHS and LaserDisc of the show, filmed in the south of France and called The Cure in Orange. In the meantime, to develop material for their next album, Smith forced himself to write music for 15 days of each month, eventually creating the song that would become "Just Like Heaven". In August 1986, the band moved to Jean Costa's studio in Draguignan for a two-week pre-production session to refine demos recorded earlier that summer in London. Smith recounted that the demos were the result of soliciting each band member for their own musical ideas and getting "six or seven songs from each one" on a series of cassettes, before winnowing down to a shortlist via full-band vote, marking a shift from Smith's previous top-down control over composition.

In Their Own Story

After Draguignan, The Cure decamped to the residential setting of Studio Miraval for the three-month album recording session, where according to Smith they emphasized spontaneity, "almost jamming the songs to get the right feel", experimenting with Mediterranean sounds, and recording in one or two takes with minimal rehearsal. The band decided during the course of the session that they had an adequate surplus of strong material to justify releasing a double LP. Smith mixed the album with co-producer David M. Allen and engineer Michel Dierickx during sessions in December 1986 at Compass Point, Bahamas and January 1987 at ICP Recording Studios, Belgium, respectively. The band collaborated with Andy Vella again, who designed all of their previous album covers starting with Faith (1981). While the band were touring in Brazil, Vella was asked to fly to Rio de Janeiro before he had finished the cover, in order to get it approved for the album. The cover is a photo of Robert Smith's lipstick covered lips. While on a taxi to the airport, Vella experimented with the layout of the cover, deciding on the placement of the handwritten words, which were on a separate clear plastic sheet. However, due to a speed bump jolting the taxi, the sheet was placed on the top middle of the sleeve. Vella was not certain of the placement, but sellotaped them there as a last minute option. Despite his uncertainties, when he arrived in Brazil to show Robert Smith the design, Smith said he loved the sleeve and the placement of the type.

Reader's Guide

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was released on 26 May 1987 by Fiction Records in the UK and on 3 June 1987 by Elektra in the USA and Canada. Though a double album in its vinyl issue, it was released as a single CD and single cassette. One track, "Hey You!!!", was omitted from the original CD release because of the 74:33 Red Book CD time restriction, but was included on all cassette releases. A limited vinyl edition came with a bonus six-track, orange 12" featuring the songs "Sugar Girl", "Snow in Summer", "Icing Sugar" (Weird Remix), "A Japanese Dream", "Breathe" and "A Chain of Flowers." The album appeared in August 2006 in both single-disc and deluxe double-disc CD editions as part of a Cure reissue campaign. All editions notably included "Hey You!!!", marking the first time a complete version of the album was made available on CD. The second disc of the deluxe edition is composed of demos and live versions of album tracks, including a recording of "Why Can't I Be You?" from the final show of the Kissing Tour at the Wembley Arena. Robert Smith stated on his website that there was so much material to draw from that he initially compiled a three-disc edition, with the third disc containing alternate studio versions of the album's songs. However, after discussing with family and friends, he decided that the two-disc edition was a better choice for release. Smith said that it was possible that his proposed third disc may surface as a leak or in a future release.

Did You Know?

• Robert Smith forced himself to write music for 15 days of each month to develop material for the album, eventually creating the song that would become 'Just Like Heaven'.
• The album cover photo is of Robert Smith's lipstick-covered lips, and the handwritten words were accidentally placed in the top middle of the sleeve when a speed bump jolted Andy Vella's taxi.
• The track 'Hey You!!!' was omitted from the original CD release due to the 74:33 Red Book CD time restriction, and was not included on CD until the 2006 reissue.
• The band decided during the recording session at Studio Miraval that they had enough strong material to justify releasing a double LP.
• The album was voted number 256 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums in 2000.