Disintegration - The Cure

[lbworshiper]

Well, time for another review. In 1989, the Cure released what would soon become their most successful CD to date. Following on the heels of their previous well-received release, “The Head on the Door”, Robert Smith and company pushed their sound to new depths on “Disintegration”. Depth is a significant term regarding this Cure release, as their sound reaches new levels of depth not yet heard on previous Cure albums.

The production level on “Disintegration” is audibly high. Usually I’m not prone to enjoying music that has too polished of a sound, but in this case it just adds to the complexity of the music. Listening closely, you can hear nuances and samples that contribute to each song as a whole while being barely discernable if they were heard alone. Needless to say, this CD is stunning when listening with headphones, and like the Smith quote states in the liner, ”This music has been mixed to be played loud, SO TURN IT UP”

As the first song, “Plainsong” begins, you can hear the gentle sounds of wind chimes in the distance until at once an ambient explosion of ethereal keyboards paints your ears with sound. The keyboards have a hymnal quality to them as they lay a background for the gentle chords that Smith evokes from his guitar. And the words, oh sweet words. If you know the Cure at all, you know that Robert Smith is an extraordinary wordsmith.

”I think I’m old and I’m feeling pain, you said
and it’s all running out like it’s the end of the world, you said
and it’s so cold like the cold if you’re dead, you then you smiled for a second
Sometimes you make me feel like I’m living at the edge of the world
Like I’m living at the edge of the world,
It’s just the way I smile, you said”

What a wonderful beginning to a near flawless work of art. The next track, “Pictures of You”, is the first of several successful singles released from “Disintegration”. “Pictures of You” is probably the most recognizable song from this album, expertly exhibiting Robert Smith’s knack for writing a moving ballad. Other singles released are “Lovesong”, “Fascination Street”, and “Lullaby”.

“Lovesong” is a lovely piece written by Smith as a dedication to his wife. More of a straightforwardly structured song, it shows that the Cure can do it simple and easy and still sound good. But the Cure really shine when they write songs that have a unique quality to them, songs you know that could only be the Cure (well, you’d know if you were a fan!) Both “Fascination Street” and “Lullaby” are such songs.

“Fascination Street” is bass heavy rocking song, with definite menacing overtones. This song is guitar oriented and an all out assault on your sense. It also features some tasty background keyboards that add an oriental flavor to the song, and together with Smith’s desperate vocals, you’re in store for a compelling experience.

”I’m begging to drag you down with me
To kick the last nail in
Yeah, I like you
In that I like you to scream
But if you open your mouth
I can’t be responsible for quite what goes in
Or to care what comes out”

Lullaby is perhaps the most distinctive song from “Disintegration”, taking on the persona of a children’s tale. A very twisted children’s lullaby, I might add! With a deliberate slow tempo, Robert sings in whispers and gasps as he recounts the haunted nightmares that can fill the head’s of children. Also featuring some wonderful orchestral string work, this song is one of a kind and very catchy.

This CD, is vintage Cure, with long intricate openings to many songs, and most lasting over 6 minutes in length. Many of the songs are very atmospheric and work to transport you to imaginary places if you really allow the music to encompass and absorb you. After listening to this CD only a few times, you will find that losing yourself in the music is easier that you imagined.

My favorite song on Disintegration, and perhaps my favorite overall Cure song, is the title track 10, “Disintegration”. There is just something amazing about this song that makes me drop whatever I am doing when it comes on. I close my eyes tight, roll my head back, and let the waves of sound overtake me. “Disintegration” is by no means a happy song though, as it details the way a relationship can end. This song is long, and the music is every bit as intense as the words that Robert spits out like venom from a snake.

”Oh I miss the kiss of treachery
The shameless kiss of vanity
The soft and the black and the velvety
Up tight against the side of me
And mouth and eyes and heart all bleed
And run in thickening streams of greed
As bit by bit it starts the need
To just let go my party piece

Oh I miss the kiss of treachery
The aching kiss before I feed
The stench of a love for a younger meat
And the sound that it makes when it cuts in deep
The holding up on bended knees
The addiction of duplicities
As bit by bit it starts the need
To just let go my party piece

But I never said I would stay to the end
So I leave you with babies and hoping for frequency
Screaming like this in the hope of secrecy
Screaming me over and over and over
I leave you with photographs and pictures of trickery
Stains on the carpet and stains on the scenery
Songs about happiness murmured in dreams
When we both of us knew how the ending would be”

That’s some pretty heavy stuff there, eh? That’s barely only half of the song as well. It’s almost exhausting just to listen to the entire piece, as it penetrates not only your ears, but your soul as well. Without a doubt, every song on “Disintegration” is good, and most of them are incredible. If you like your music heavy with meaning and dripping with emotion, then you need to look no further. If you love a heavily layered sound, with several levels of instrumentation being implemented simultaneously, then “Disintegration” is for you. And if you worry about music produced so well that you would think it would be near impossible to replicate in concert, set your worries aside. The live versions of various songs from “Disintegration” are even more stunning than their studio counterparts!

[KYYX4ever]

thanks for the review.

I adore this CD (cassette, for yrs.).It's lush, gorgeous, ethereal, ambient, an ephemeral landscape. The songs flow together well, and there's so much that sounds like vintage Cure. Simply beautiful!

[basstone]

Nice review. You forgot that Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was the
next "New" Album after "Head on the Door".
Which is a great album, also one of their best.

If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
Catch
Just Like Heaven
Hot Hot Hot!!!
Why Can't I Be You? (Kinda corny but a fun song)

[birdmadgirl]

This was the first Cure album I heard. I was a freshman in high school and had a friend named Monica. We were in the school library one day and she was shredding up her cassette insert for "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me." She said if her parents saw some of the lyrics, they'd take it away from her. That was all it took for me. If it had the potential to piss parents off, I wanted to know more.

After school, I took the lunch money I'd been hanging onto all week and convinced my dad to take me to the local music store. Couldn't find "Kiss Me" but I found the just-released "Disintegration."

From the first notes of "Plain Song" all the way through to the end, I was spellbound, mesmerized, hypnotized, sucked into a new atmosphere--it was like a religious experience.

I've been more than slightly obsessed with The Cure since that day. [:p]

[jumpshift]

As said in an episode of South Park. Disintegration is the best album ever.

[rewindmylife]

I LOOOOVED this album!! I would even make my parents listen to it when I would take the wheel on a long family car trip (the deal was, if you were driving, you got to listen to what you wanted....I think my dad REALLY regretted making that rule once I started driving)...but this was one album of mine they actually liked! [^]

[SomebodySomewhere]

[quote]“Pictures of You” is probably the most recognizable song from this album[/quote]

Well, now, this is just silly.

Like all Cure albums, I liked some songs and hated others. Mind you, it's been so long since I've listened to it, I don't remember which were the ones I liked, besides "Love Song" and "Lullaby."

[MARV]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>thanks for the review.

I adore this CD (cassette, for yrs.).It's lush, gorgeous, ethereal, ambient, an ephemeral landscape. The songs flow together well, and there's so much that sounds like vintage Cure. Simply beautiful!
[/quote]

DITTO. Very well surmised KYXXy. Damn lb, your reviews are really good. Hit the nail on the head again dude.

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