THE CURE: DISINTEGRATION

The Cure's 1989 album "Disintegration". What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? The Cure continues the rich. depressive, and poetic song structures that they started on their previous album"Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me". "Disintegration continues down this road, blending deceptively simple melodies with a lush aural back ground. "Disintegration" takes you to places where "Kiss Me.." does not. What you have in "Disintegration" is a blinding, lush, wall of sound that literally floors you. This may be a pop album at first glance, but on closer listen, it is far from it. Most of the songs clock in around seven to eight minutes. There are long intervals of music with no lyrics. What Robert Smith and crew have done here is crafted the perfect Cure album in the guise of a pop release. There is pure, beautiful minimalism at it's finest on display here. The music is very repetitive, trance-like and hypnotic. It draws you completely into the rich, depressive, sound scape of The Cure at their finest...with the the fullest production you can imagine. This album sounds better the louder you play it. It can drown out everything...this a very relaxing album for me. It is also very depressive. It will suck you into it's swirling vortex and never let you out. As the album progresses, each song grows consecutively darker and darker, dragging you deeper and deeper into the abyss...

Don't get me wrong. There are some incredible pop gems on here, such as "Love Song" and 'Fascination Street". If you listen to this album as a whole, however, it will completely submerse you in your own world. It s flawless, and that is all I can say. I don't know what happened to Robert Smith after this...maybe he used up all of his energy on this release. To me his later stuff does not pack the same punch. If you haven't heard "Disintegration" before in it's entirety pick it up now. It will not disappoint. Click here to listen to "Fascination Street".