Standing on a Beach
| Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Compilation album by The Cure | ||||
| Released | 6 May 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 to 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:44 (Vinyl edition) 60:40 (CD edition) |
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| Label |
Fiction Records (UK) Elektra Records (U.S.) |
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| Producer | The Cure | |||
| The Cure chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  |
| Blender | |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Standing on a Beach (titled Staring at the Sea in CD format in some countries) is a singles compilation released by British rock band The Cure in May 1986, marking a decade since the band's founding in 1976. The album's titles are both taken from the opening lyrics of The Cure's debut single "Killing an Arab".
The "New Voice - New Mix" of "Boys Don't Cry" (released as a single little over a fortnight before Standing on a Beach) is not featured on the album; thus the album's singles span only from 1978 to 1985. The same mix has never again been released onto a compilation album.
The version of "A Forest" here is neither the album version (which was also on the 12" single), nor is it the 7" single edit (which removes a few bars between verses and fades out part way through the guitar solo ending).
The album was critically acclaimed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called it "one of the finest albums of the '80s".
The album was released in three formats, vinyl record, compact disc and audio cassette.
The vinyl edition is a collection of all thirteen of The Cure's commercially released singles up to that point in chronological order. "10:15 Saturday Night" is dropped though, possibly because it was only released in France.
The CD edition features the same tracks as the vinyl edition, but also includes an extra track from four of the band's albums. The four songs, although not released as singles, all had music videos made for them.
The cassette edition features the same tracks as the vinyl edition, but also contains all of the band's b-sides that had not, to that point, received a long-play release. This excludes "10:15 Saturday Night" from the "Killing an Arab" single, which was released on the Three Imaginary Boys album, "Plastic Passion" from the "Boys Don't Cry" single, which was released on the Boys Don't Cry album, and the five b-sides from the "Let's Go to Bed", "The Walk" and "The Love Cats" singles, which were released on the Japanese Whispers compilation album. However, the b-side "Mr. Pink Eyes" from the 12" version of "The Lovecats" was omitted from Japanese Whispers, and so was included on this release.
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Wikipedia