Wish (The Cure album)



Wish is the ninth studio album by British alternative rock band The Cure, released on 21 April 1992 through record label Fiction in the UK and Elektra in the US.

Recording
The record is the final studio album featuring Boris Williams and the first featuring Perry Bamonte, as well as being the last album featuring Porl Thompson for sixteen years.

Whilst retaining the sound and mood of Disintegration (1989) on some tracks, Wish often found the band moving into more of a dream pop direction.

Release
The album's lead single was "High", released on 16 March 1992. The single peaked at number eight in the UK Singles Chart, forty-two in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. The album's second single, "Friday I'm in Love", released on 11 May 1992, became one of the band's most popular songs – reaching number six in the UK Singles Chart and number eighteen in the Billboard Hot 100, and number one in the Modern Rock Tracks. The final single was for "A Letter to Elise", going at number twenty-eight in the UK and 2 in the Modern Rock Tracks.

Wish was released on 21 April. It received positive reviews upon release, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone that stated: "For its cult of millions, the Cure offers the only kind of optimism that makes sense." Wish was also the band's overall highest charting album, and most commercially successful in the band's career, given its debut at number one in the UK and number two in the United States, where it sold more than 1.2 million copies. Wish was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1993.

On 16 November 1993, a limited EP called Lost Wishes was released on cassette with four new tracks on it.

In 1995, Q included Wish in its publication "In Our Lifetime: Q's 100 Best Albums 1986–94", a list compiled to celebrate its 100th issue.

Track listing
All songs composed by The Cure (Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams).

Lost Wishes EP

Side A
 * 1) "Uyea Sound" – 5:21
 * 2) "Cloudberry" – 5:19

Side B
 * 1) "Off to Sleep..." – 3:38
 * 2) "The Three Sisters" – 4:11

Personnel
All credits taken from liner notes

The Cure
 * Robert Smith – vocals, guitars, keyboards, 6-string bass
 * Perry Bamonte – guitars, keyboards, 6-string bass, piano
 * Simon Gallup – bass guitar
 * Porl Thompson – guitars
 * Boris Williams – drums, percussion

Additional musicians
 * Kate Wilkinson – viola

Production
 * Producers: Dave Allen, The Cure
 * Engineers: Dave Allen, Steve Whitfield
 * Assistant engineer: Chris Bandy
 * Mixing: Mark Saunders
 * Mixing assistants: Andy Baker, William Parry, Danton Supple, Mark Warner
 * Album Cover: Parched Art (Porl Thompson and Andy Vella)