This song has continually been hailed as one of the greatest songs of all time, but once you hear it, it's bound to be a let down. With its muffled vocals and slipshod band play, it's pretty unspectacular. But it's not about that first listening, it's more about how it follows you in your life. You could listen to this song every day for a year, and you could still think it was mediocre. Then one day, it will hit you; usually after a break-up or tragic occasion. The synth line starts to correlate with your brain waves, the vocals turn into hums rather than words, people you once liked you hate, you're in a completely different place, but the song in its roots remain exactly the same. You can't say that about many songs in the same genre. Cure songs are trendy at heart (minus Disintegration), Smiths songs morph with the general social atmosphere (later Moz solo albums are coming into their own now), etc. Overrated? Definitely... but human... very. You can grow old to this. Flip features original b-side "These Days" plus an alternate mix of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," just like the original Factory release, pressed on 180g vinyl with repro packaging.

• 180g black vinyl pressing
• housed in repro original packaging w/ original B-side 'These Days'
• printed inner sleeve
• music label: Warner Brothers 2020

reviewed by the mgmnt 06/2007