The Cure – The Head On The Door

I pretty much had to buy a copy to get any information on how this particular master differs from the other (re)masters. In order to help others who have the same question, I'll leave some thoughts here.

As far as remasters of this album go, this is the best one (in my opinion), which follows the trend of recent, Robert Smith-handled Cure remasters knocking it out of the park. I have heard the 2006 remaster and the 2016 vinyl master, and compared to those, this blows them out of the water. The soundstage is very wide, with the drums and guitars packing a punch in particular; all instruments sound crystal clear and crisp. The nature of vinyl means that this crispness + some smoothed-out frequencies = a very satisfying listen.

Unfortunately, this was issued on a picture disc. Although the sound quality is top notch (for a picture disc), my side B started off on a sour note, as it skipped a few times at the beginning. I have several Cure releases on picture disc and this irreversible skipping on side B seems to be a continual plague to their picture disc releases. It's extremely unfortunate that this happened because the sound quality had me looking forward to relistens; because of this skipping, even though it's only on one song, I may not spin it again for a while. I'd like to believe that results may vary, so please pitch in below if you also have this problem (or lack thereof).

All that being said, I still think Robert and the boys did it best the first time, so I definitely won't be giving away my original CD from 1985 anytime soon. However, if you're looking to get this wonderful album on vinyl, I definitely recommend buying this version if you aren't able to pick up an original. The other remasters sound mediocre and compressed compared to this master. If, God willing, they decide to issue this on standard black vinyl, I will definitely be picking that up.

In case anyone is interested. I have now compared the UK, US and German pressings. Not that easy. The mastering differs from song to song. The UK has more bass. Kyoto Song in particular is stunning on the UK pressing. But the US pressing is a bit more compact and 1 DB louder than the UK. The German is somewhere in between. But Close to me really stands out on the German one. The song is mixed much wider in stereo. The wheezing and gasping for air is distributed very widely in the room. So I'm almost at a loss. I would put the UK a bit ahead of the German and then the US pressing.

Who knows the Japanese one and has heard it in comparison?

In case anyone is interested. I have now compared the UK, US and German pressings. Not that easy. The mastering differs from song to song. The UK has more bass. Kyoto Song in particular is stunning on the UK pressing. But the US pressing is a bit more compact and 1 DB louder than the UK. The German is somewhere in between. But Close to me really stands out on the German one. The song is mixed much wider in stereo. The wheezing and gasping for air is distributed very widely in the room. So I'm almost at a loss. I would put the UK a bit ahead of the German and then the US pressing.

Who knows the Japanese one and has heard it in comparison?

In case anyone is interested. I have now compared the UK, US and German pressings. Not that easy. The mastering differs from song to song. The UK has more bass. Kyoto Song in particular is stunning on the UK pressing. But the US pressing is a bit more compact and 1 DB louder than the UK. The German is somewhere in between. But Close to me really stands out on the German one. The song is mixed much wider in stereo. The wheezing and gasping for air is distributed very widely in the room. So I'm almost at a loss. I would put the UK a bit ahead of the German and then the US pressing.

Who knows the Japanese one and has heard it in comparison?

if you have a copy, look closely at the etchings on both sides... :)

When the record cut by Miles you know it will sound GREAT (even the picture disc)

Wow, I wouldn't have thought so!
No cracks, pops or other disturbing surface noises!
Super low & quiet, a great press tho. Fortunately no factory flaws and skips. I own a lot of picture discs, but this one stands out! 5*****

A number of earlier UK/ European picture discs from this series run had redemption cards. Was one included with this issue?

A nice shot from inbetween days video would have made a far better picture disc than the blurry smudges of the album art, i mean it is a re release and was a chance for something nice to be made , shame .

It's mind boggling to think that I've been enjoying this album for 40 years! It was my first Cure album as it came out the year I got a CD player and 40 years later I'm getting rid of all of my Cure music; except for this one...and the fabbo "Connect The Dots" box. None of the other albums I bought can hold a candle to this one for my ears. There's also something to be said for a tight, 40 minute album. This one is the keeper.