Album reviews: Disintegration, by The Cure

The Cure possess a unique kind of brilliance. There is no other band in the history of music that managed to bridge the gap between the punk and the pop with such sentimentality and sadness causing a global chain reaction of melancholy, gloom and euphoric lament in millions of fans. With their dominant, melodic bass lines and the high-pitched vocals of Robert Smith that echo a lyrical obsession with fictional gloom, The Cure mingle the psychedelic, punk, dark Gothic, and pop sounds into an amagalm of what becomes their sound manner.

There is arguably no other album in the history of music that served as a breaking point to a band, offering the peak of their popularity with crawling, glooming,  seductive sounds, hypnotic, mesmerizing vocals and utterly straightforward lyrics. Despite the record label’s qualms that the album would be a ‘commercial suicide’, ‘Disintegration’, released in 1989, is The Cure’s return to the familiar paths of introspective gloominess; and their absolute masterpiece.

Having reached a state of maturity, in their eighth album The Cure experiment with a dark and yet alluring atmosphere that wraps its spellbinding thread around desire, unreciprocated romance, break ups and tainted love. Gloomier than The Cure’s pop release ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ of 1987, yet more pop than The Cure’s early eighties releases ‘Faith’ and Pornography’, ‘Disintegration’ stands somewhere in the middle. Full of teenage romanticism, melancholic angst, and creative gloom, ‘Disintegration’ is a pop album that treats torment as a finest art.

Characterized by a momentous usage of synthesizers and keyboards, monotonous guitar riffs and Smith’s meditative vocals, the album opens with ‘Plainsong’, a slow orchestral shower of synths and guitars. Then, ‘Pictures of You’ with its ethereal guitar melody and well-structured synths echoes Smith’s lament over a bittersweet taste of relationship that ended abruptly. Although upbeat, ‘Pictures of You’ has emotional, passionate and romantic lyrics that interweave with bass lines and synth slabs.

‘Closedown’ and ‘Prayers For Rain’ drift on layers of keyboards anchored by gloomy guitar progressions. ‘Closedown’ is a soaring track, reflecting Smith’s physical and artistic shortcomings, while ‘Prayers for Rain’ is an ultimately depressing track that echoes the definition of a rainy day melancholy.

‘Lovesong’ is the only top ten hit of the album and maybe the more complex of all tracks. Despite being an upbeat groove, with dance guitar riffs and rhythm sections, ‘Lovesong’ is, in effect, dark and restrained, an open show of emotion. It’s a straightforward love song, which, unlike Smith’s ability to reveal affection, it manages to shake the audiences. Written as a wedding present for his wife-to-be, ‘Lovesong’ simply proves that straightforward emotions can achieve much more than indistinct and ambiguous language.

‘Lullaby’ is an atmospheric track with rhythmic guitar chords that anchor Smith’s whispering lyrics. Practically a frightening dread that describes a picture of being eaten alive by a spider man, ‘Lullaby’ portrays Smith’s nightmares from his childhood when his father used to sing him lullabies with horrible endings.

‘Fascination Street’ comes as a happier, shinier, yet bass-lined, caterwauled track anchored with Smith’s typical alley cat voice singing of corrupt Bourbon Street in New Orleans. After 1.5 minute instrumental intro, the track enters at a fast-pace, with simple, repetitive lyrics and Smith’s voice building in intensity as the track strides to the grand finale, giving one last shout before toppling into a sleepy roan.

The title track, ‘Disintegration’ is a hymn in betrayed love and a typical example of the musical style of the album that drifts on ubiquitous keyboards, repetitive guitar progressions, complex drum patterns and depressing lyrics that are so intricate, and yet so simple. If one has a heart cannot but be touched as Robert Smith sings “I leave you with photographs, pictures of trickery, stains on the carpet and stains on the memory, songs about happiness murmured in dreams, when we both of us knew, how the end always is…’

The tracks that complete the album are ‘Last dance’, ‘The Same Deep Water As You’, ‘Homesick’ and ‘Untitled’. Staying tuned to the album’s style, with the exception of ‘Untitled’ that is quite upbeat, are atmospheric, almost gothic ballads that mingle keyboard slabs with guitar lines and multipart drum patterns, interweaved with the introspective lyrics of Robert Smith.

Having sold more than three million copies worldwide, ‘Disintegration’ remains the highest selling album of The Cure. Besides, the album ranked #3 in the UK Albums charts and #12 in the US Billboard 200. The album produced also hit singles with ‘Lovesong’ reaching #2 on Billboard Hot 100, ‘Lullaby’ peaking at #5 of UK Charts, ‘Fascination Street’ reaching #1 on US Modern Rock Charts and ‘Pictures of You’ reaching #24 of UK charts. Moreover, ‘Disintegration’ was voted as one of the ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ on Rolling Stone Magazine at #326.

Christina Pomoni
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/album-reviews-disintegration-by-the-cure-1065570.html

4 Responses to “Album reviews: Disintegration, by The Cure”

  1. Rid of Me {hedzy} Says:
    February 16th, 2010 at 10:37 am

    R&P - The Cure’s Disintegration, album review!?
    Please rate each track and feel free to add comments!

    Plainsong-
    Pictures of You-
    Close Down-
    Lovesong-
    Last Dance-
    Lullaby-
    Fascination Street-
    Prayers For Rain-
    The Same Deep Water As You-
    Disintegration-
    Homesick-
    Untitled-

  2. LexLuger: I see led people Says:
    February 16th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    I would give Pictures Of You , Lovesong , Lullaby , Facsination Street , and Disintegration all 9’s and the rest 7’s……good album
    References :

  3. Peace Frog☮ Says:
    February 16th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    Plainsong- 7
    Pictures of You- 8
    Close Down- 6
    Lovesong- 9
    Last Dance- 6
    Lullaby- 9
    Fascination Street- 7
    Prayers for Rain- 6
    The Same Deep Water As You- 6
    Disintegration- 8
    Homesick- 7
    Untitled- 7

    Average: 7.2

    Pretty good album. Lovesong and Lullaby are some of my favorites by The Cure :) But nothing beats Just Like Heaven!
    References :

  4. !~Lila~!*BATCAT* Says:
    February 16th, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    Plainsong- My favourite Cure opener! I cried when they opened with this when i saw them. Maybe in my top ten curesongs. - 10

    Pictures of You- Brilliant twinkling sadness. - 8

    Close Down- I like it but i have to admit to skipping it occasionally. Apparently the words were written around Pornography time. Can’t say i’m surprised by that. Still brilliant. - 7

    Lovesong- I like. it. A lot. I like that it was written for Mary. But not one of my favourites. - 8

    Last Dance- Beautiful. I love the secret line from Cold. - 9

    Lullaby- Cool but over rated. - 7

    Fascination Street- Sexy! I LOVE IT! - 9

    Prayers For Rain- Good. Live, when he holds the RAAAAIIIIIIIINNNN its fantastic. - 9

    The Same Deep Water As You- Breathtaking! Best crying in the rain, heart breaking love song ever - 10

    Disintegration- Excellent desperate Cure. Makes me cry a bit - 10

    Homesick- Not a huge fan of this song but fits in nicely - 7

    Untitled- Ending with regret. Leaves you thinking a bit, unaware the album is over. I love it though - 9

    My favourite Cure album is Pornography but i think Disintegration is the best album ever made. Ever!

    References :
    Curefan

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Posted on February 16th, 2010 by admin in Bourbon Street New Orleans | .
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