A friend and I had a four hour drunken discussion the other night, over two bottles of wine, a mexican pizza and nachos as to how each of us would rank the Cure discography if we were paid good money to do so.
This is what I came up with (my friend came up with something fairly similar):
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Disintegration
Seventeen Seconds
Pornography
The Head On The Door
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Faith
The Top
Wish
Three Imaginary Boys
The Cure
Wild Mood Swings
Bloodflowers
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I know for a fact that there are quite a few fellow Cure fanatics among us and was wondering if anyone else could add to this.
Do you have a list of faves? Any that you dislike? Could you rank them if you had to? What do you think of my ranking - is it way off in your opinion?
Would also like to hear from those of you who HATE The Cure. Would like to hear what you find particularly annoying about them!!!
Not a Cure fan, Robert Smith’s voice drives a spike up my spine. Though, to be honest, I formed that opinion many years ago in High School and have never really given them a chance so maybe some day I’ll change my opinion.
faith/disintegration/wish/porn/17 secs would be my top 5. their new album just leaked and i’m not liking most of it although the track “underneath the stars” is pretty good and “scream” sounds decent. sounds like it could have been from disintegration. supposedly there will be a “darker” companion album next year. the 3 hour performance they did in cleveland this summer was one of the best gigs i’ve ever seen.
All I can add to this is indifference. Only have compilations of their stuff given to me by an ex and I never got what the whole fuss was about. I saw them play about 4 years ago and it was a decent show, moreso because everyone was chilled and it was a nice night. But as regards their music none of their songs ever hit me as essential. Also whenever I think or hear of them I think of that Hillary Swank film which was unpleasant. Poor girl/guy.
i will say that for me their best songs always were the non radio hits such as prayers for rain, and same deep water on disintegration, and edge of the deep green sea on wish. but they’ve made some brilliant radio pop songs over the years. As for their singles charlotte sometimes and a forest are 2 of my favs off the top of my head.
I definitely haven’t been as crazy about the new stuff. I think Robert’s running out of ideas when it comes to writing memorable singles (I can’t even remember the melodies of the four released this year).
could never get past robert smith’s bad makeup.
can’t rate the band because i was forced to listen for way too long.
i DO appreciate that they made pop music which other people appreciated (to excess, in some cases). thats all i got.
Only album I can say I honestly don’t like by them is wild mood swings. I find some songs great, but most of it’s just annoying rubbish. I’d prolly rank them like this:
Seventeen Seconds
Head on the Door
Pornography
Bloodflowers
Disintegration
Wish
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Faith
The Top
Dream 4:13 (from what i’ve heard of it)
The Cure
Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don’t Cry
Wild Mood Swings
For me, they’re a bit like…The Beatles, in that, I get why people like them so much and I like alot of bands that have been influenced by them, but I just can’t make it through one of their albums.
It’s like someone else said - Robert Smith’s vocals drive a spike right up my spine. I can’t make it through his monotone drivel. And I HATE outright all that CUTESY stuff he does - like dressing in his pyjamas in video clips and screwing his face up and swinging from side to side like a four year old. ‘Why Can’t I Be You’ would have to be in my top ten all time most annoying song lists. Same goes for ‘Caterpillar’ - it’s all so cute and warm and fuzzy and so British! So ‘scrumptious mumsy…how about another cup of cocoa before bedsy times’.
Having said all that, I don’t mind Pornography and Disintegration.
For me, they’re a bit like…The Beatles, in that, I get why people like them so much and I like alot of bands that have been influenced by them, but I just can’t make it through one of their albums.
It’s like someone else said - Robert Smith’s vocals drive a spike right up my spine. I can’t make it through his monotone drivel. And I HATE outright all that CUTESY stuff he does - like dressing in his pyjamas in video clips and screwing his face up and swinging from side to side like a four year old. ‘Why Can’t I Be You’ would have to be in my top ten all time most annoying song lists. Same goes for ‘Caterpillar’ - it’s all so cute and warm and fuzzy and so British! So ‘scrumptious mumsy…how about another cup of cocoa before bedsy times’.
Having said all that, I don’t mind Pornography and Disintegration.
Wow, you just named two of my favorites! haha. I mostly love “Why Can’t I Be You”. But I get your point, his voice isn’t exactly accessible to everyone, but to me, it’s mostly about atmosphere, and his voice is basically just a trademark…screw that! Robert Smith, himself is literally the trademark of that band, besides the basslines. One of my top five favorite bands all of time too alongside NIN, Depeche, Neubauten, and Puppy.
and for those of you who like music like lycia and jesu i highly recommend checking out faith if you haven’t heard it all the way through. it doesn’t have any happy radio tracks on it.
I’m an old school purist myself. I remember listening to these guys as a teenager in the early eighties. That was back when The Cure were considered ‘oddities’ waaay before the term alternative even existed. People at my school thought I was ‘weird and creepy’ for wearing a Cure t-shirt and dyeing my hair black and avoiding the sunlight as much as possible.
I remember (must have been around 1984) I was walking out of the school gates and some young preppy, valley girl type screamed “FREAK” at the top of her voice and ran away in distress only to be comforted by her friends who shot dark glances in my direction.
Hard to believe that was all of twenty five years ago - man, do I feel old. I’m guessing a lot of you were probably just being born around that time.
My faves in order would be:
Seventeen Seconds
The Head On The Door
The Top
Pornography
Faith
Disintegration
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Wish
To be honest though I haven’t listened to the band for probably a good twelve years or so. Can’t stand anything beyond Wish. What they’re doing now is beyond me. All I hear from them is utter garbage of the worst possible kind.
Bloodflowers - don’t know why some of you don’t like it. I have mad love for this release.
Yeah, I’m definitely one of the haters. Never thought I could hate a Cure release til I heard this. Even Wild Mood Swings has its moments. But this? It just goes nowhere, not a tune in sight and the lyrics are lazy and uninspiring. If ever there was a case of a band just going through the motions it’s Bloodflowers. The first and last tracks are listenable the rest is forgettable tripe.
The only other album I I dislike less by a band I like is (not including Metallica’s St Anger cos I don’t own it) Give Out But Don’t Give Up by Primal Scream which is an abomination on a level on par with no other.
Anyway, glad you have massive respect for Seventeen Seconds though - alot of younger Cure fans I know are not really even aware of it.
I listened to 4:13 Dream last night. Initial thoughts:
The opening track, Underneath The Stars, is good, hints of Disintegration a bit. The album as a whole is too noisy, the wall of guitar never lets the melodies breathe. Also, it seems like RS is trying too hard to infuse pop hooks into every song, as if each track has the potential to be a radio single. Problem is that the melodies are mediocre, not very catchy, and there’s not much distinction between the songs. That said, this album is actually more of a logical follow-up to Wish than Wild Mood Swings, but still retaining the newer sound heard on the S/T 2004 album.
Is it because I’m an older fan that I don’t hear the same ‘magic’ as on Disintegration? I don’t know, maybe…and maybe some 18-year-old somewhere will hear this album, and think it’s the greatest thing ever. I just don’t hear any memorable songs on this album, and would like to think that I can still gauge good/bad songs with this band. I’ve only listened twice, so I’ll be spinning it some more, and maybe it will grow on me. Initially, it’s the same reaction as when I heard the '04 album, it’s just ‘meh’.
In regards to Happy Fat Bob, those are my least favorite Cure songs (Why Can’t I Be You, Friday I’m In Love, 75% of Wild Mood Swings). The dark stuff is the best.
The Cure In Orange rules, possibly my favorite concert video. It’s supposed to get released on DVD next year.
Can’t stand anything beyond Wish. What they’re doing now is beyond me. All I hear from them is utter garbage of the worst possible kind.
That seems to be the general consensus among old school fans. The younger kids (anyone under 30) seem to think quite fondly of the latter material. I’ve heard their self titled and it’s absolutely dire. These kids must be tone deaf.