#116 The Cure, 'Disintegration' (1989)
Previously #326
The Cure had spent most of the ‘80s enjoying massive success. They had progressively lost their Goth Rock edge and moved more towards a Pop sound. Vocalist and bad leader, Robert Smith, had become disenfranchised with the band’s sound. His impending 30th birthday also contributed to his depression as he felt that he hadn’t recorded his greatest work yet. To cope with his depression he started regularly taking LSD and ultimately moved back towards the Goth Rock sound his band had become known for.
The album opens with ‘Plainsong,’ a song with brooding synths and droning guitars that perfectly set the mood for the record, a prologue of sorts. It takes a little over 2 and a half minutes before we hear Smith’s voice. Into ‘Pictures Of You,’ an alt-rock classic and the fourth single from the record. Once again featuring a lengthy intro setting the tone. “I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you that I almost believe that they’re real.” One thing that stood out for me was the clarity of the drums on this record. The album really takes off at track 4 with the single, ‘Lovesong’ and its iconic bassline and guitar riff. Not the first time we’ve seen this song on the list. Adele covered it on her album, ‘21’ (#137). A dark and ominous love song, it became one of the band’s signature tracks. Smith had actually written it as a wedding gift for his fiancée. ‘Last Dance’ is the perfect follow up track. Following previous songs, it has a lengthy synth-based intro before going into Smith’s tortured vocals. ‘Lullaby’ is a song that, ironically, would give you nightmares. Smith creepily whispers the vocals over stabbing guitar parts; “On candy stripe legs the Spiderman comes/Softly through the shadow of the evenin' sun/Stealin' past the windows of the blissfully dead/Looking for the victim shivering in bed,” imagery perhaps fuelled by his drug use. The rest of the album follows suit. It’s a dark and brilliant album that saw the band gain their highest chart to date, at #3. This record, one of the darkest popular records of the ‘80s, cemented the band as Goth Rock icons making Robert Smith one of the most recognisable vocalists, visually and audibly, of all time.
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