the cure's 5th studio album from 1984 has been digitally remastered by robert smith from the original master tapes and contains the hit single 'the caterpillar'. this deluxe edition now comes complete with a second disc containing 16 previously unreleased demos and live tracks and the previously available live track 'forever' which originally appeared on the cassette compilation 'curiosity'. recorded in the midst of robert smith's tenuous tenure with siouxsie and the banshees, 'the top' is arguably the most hedonistic record the cure ever produced. essentially smith and lol tolhurst working with studio musicians (this being the period when the cure's lineup was never assured), it is an album obviously recorded under stress, drink, and drugs. more wildly experimental musically than anything before it, it laid the foundations for the cure's pattern of unpigeonholable albums that were to erase their reputation built by 'pornography' and eventually culminated in 'kiss me, kiss me, kiss me'. that said, it is still very much a cure record. heavy on the percussion and quaint keyboard effects that were so big in the '80s, the melodies ('the caterpillar,' 'shake dog shake') are unmistakably robert smith. the big change this time around is his ability to fuse the paranoia and neuroses of former work ('pornography') with his newfound use of pop melody and outside (i.e., world travels, sounds, instruments) influences to moderate success ('wailing wall,' 'piggy in the mirror'). at best an imperfect record, 'the top' is a necessary step in the evolution of the band.