Robert Smith joins issue 03 to celebrate 25 years of The Cure’s ‘Wild Mood Swings’.

We were using different drummers and I was thinking, why not invite other musicians in to play, string players, trumpet players, let’s really go for it, let’s make every song completely different.

In 1996, The Cure released Wild Mood Swings, an album that sold well but somehow failed to find its way into fans’ affections. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, this 35-page feature, curated by Robert Smith and featuring contributions from producer Steve Lyon, asks if it’s time to reassess the band’s most underrated album.

Based on Smith’s own memories of the period between 1993 and 1997, when Wild Mood Swings was written, recorded and toured, it tells a story of wrong turns and forgotten gems, musical innovation and artistic overreach, Halloween parties and the meaninglessness of time. In a detailed analysis of the album, Smith reveals which are his favourite songs as well as which should – and shouldn’t – have been included on the final track listing.

A selection of rarely seen images accompany the article, including behind-the-scenes photographs from the recording of Wild Mood Swings taken by Smith and Lyon, while the cover of issue 03 is by Andy Vella, the designer responsible for so much classic Cure artwork.

Preorder this groundbreaking magazine, in our store from Saturday 17th July at 10:15pm.*
(*UK time)

Image: Paul Cox