Rolling Stone (5/14/92, p.101) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...this outstanding album, like all the Cure's best music, runs on its own brash logic, making a virtue of its emotional polarities..."
Spin (5/92, p.75) - Recommended - "...showcases [vocalist, guitarist] Smith's considerable skills as a craftsman..."
Q (1/93, p.69) - Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.
Q (May/92, p.72) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...comes respectably close to being the perfect Cure album..."
Uncut (p.91) - "[S]ome of the most straightforward pop The Cure had ever written."
Musician (6/92, p.96) - "...The Cure demonstrate considerable skill at laying down grooves to induce either dance or trance..."
The Cure: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass, keyboards); Perry Bamonte (guitar, keyboards, 6-string bass); Porl Thompson (guitar); Simon Gallup (keyboards, bass); Boris Williams (drums, percussion).
Recorded at The Manor, Oxfordshire, England.
Undoubtedly more commercial than previous albums, Wish nevertheless represented the Cure doing what they do best, oblivious to prevailing musical trends. Once again, Robert Smith tore out his innards and offered them to the listener (the wrenching and chilling 'Apart'), spitting bile in 'Cut' and effectively evoking the feeling of wretched, helpless drunkenness in 'Open'. Amid the darkness, there is still time for a couple of classic pop songs, particularly the catchy 'Friday I'm In Love', and the customary obsessive love odes. Although frequently dismissed by hardcore Cure fans as too pop-orientated, Wish managed to strike a balance between the extremes of utter despair and intoxicating joy.
