uh uh... a whole thread just about The Cure! can't contain myself (just look at my avatar!)...
The Cure is one of those artists that can be dizzying to start a collection of for a newcomer. They have a seemingly endless catalog, one can be confused about where to start, as I was back in 1990.
if you like the dense atmoshperics of "Disintegration," I would suggest "Faith" (1981) as a next purchase. I feel "Pornagraphy" is much more aggresive to be the next purchase. That said, "Faith" is an absolutely beautiful and ethereal album. it actually sounds like a pre-requisite to "Disintegration." Nothing The Cure has recorded can match the majestic beauty of "Plainsong," but "All Cats are Grey" from "Faith" comes close. So does "The Funeral Party" and the title track, which Robert Smith maintains as the best song he has written. If you love "Plainsong, "Last Dance," "Prayers For Rain," and "The Same Deep Water As You" from "Disintegration," you'll love "Faith."
After "Faith" comes "Pornagraphy," (1982) which is a much more aggresive and decidedly darker album. Where "Faith" was introspective, "Pornagraphy" was pure anger. Just take a look at the first line of lyrics on the album opener "One Hundred Years": "It doesn't matter if we all die..." Heavy ****! An album reviewer at the time said something like "... in comparison, Ian Curtis (of Joy Division) was a bundle of laughs!" The intensity of this album is further enhanced by some of the most intriguing drum patterns I've ever heard, very tribal and aggresive, just check out "The Hanging Garden" and "The Figurehead." The middle of the album has an amazing string of songs, from "Siamese Twins," "The Figurehead," "A Strange Day, which should've been the second single, and "Cold," which features the most Goth song opener ever, that haunting cello line (or it could be keyboards, i dunno). The album ends with the title track, which features the most creepy sample I've ever heard put into a piece of music. It's really just a recording of a BBC DJ signing off a show, but still... As dabblerblue said, the tour of this album nearly destroyed the band, escalating with Robert Smith and bassist Simon Gallup being involved in a fist fight at a bar. They didn't speak to each other for the next two years until Simon came back on "The Head on the Door." Oh, I sould add that The Cure's ever changing lineup reads like an excellent daytime soap opera. To get the jist of the early years, I highly suggest getting the book "Ten Imaginary Years," which unfortunately cuts off at 1987, where Robert (or the whole band for that matter) had "troubles" with founding member Lol Tolhurst.
In spite of what DarkAngel said...
The Cure recorded two good albums after "Disintegration." The first, "Bloodflowers," (2000) fits very well with the albums above. "Out of This World" is just as impressive as "Plainsong" as an album opener. The angry "Watching Me Fall" (the longest track with lyrics The Cure has recorded, "Carnage Visors" doesn't count) and the amazing title track with its tribal drumming fits well with many of the "Pornagraphy" tracks. "The Last Day of Summer" is one of the most beautiful and melancholy tunes the band has recorded. The rest of the album follows in similar vein as "Disintegration." One thing to note is that the Japanese release of "Bloodflowers" has an extra track, the excellent rocker "Coming Up."
The other is "Wish," (1992) which isn't at all a pop album every magazine reviewer make it to be. There is a lot of heady stuff contained in this album, with the anti-social F.A. of "Open," the love-gone-wrong (a recurring Cure topic) of "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea," the angry "Cut" and "End." The only obvious pop songs on the album are "High" and "Friday I'm in Love," and maybe "Doing the Unstuck." "a Letter to Elise" is more melancholy than pop.
Last I would recommend is "Seventeen Seconds." (1981) It's filled with stark, minimalist post-punk songs. This is where The Cure ditched their quirky-pop beginnings and made something unique. Songs like the dirge-like "At Night," the death-march of the title track, and the classic single of paranoia "A Forest" are basically the seed of what The Cure will become. Other tracks like the beautiful "Secrets," "In Your House," and "Play For Today" offer glimpses of what they left behind from the first album.
The rest of their catalog are pretty much fair game. "The Head on the Door," (1985) "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me," (1987) and to a lesser extent, "Wild Mood Swings" (1996, which still has some brilliant moments like "Want," "Trap," and "Bare") offer solid rock/pop albums. "Push" and Sinking" from "The Head on the Door," and "How Beautiful You Are," "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep," and "Just Like Heaven" from "KMX3" are amazing songs.
"Japanese Whispers" (1983, which isn't really a proper album but a collection of singles and b-sides at the time) and "The Top" (1984) offer some uneven, odd, and quirky songs. The former is mostly playful while the latter is mainly self-indulgence (basically a Robert Smith solo album with Lol Tolhurst helping along with some other tracks). "The Upstairs Room" and "Lament" are my faves from the former, and the latter doesn't really have a weak song besides "Bananafishbones." "Piggy In The Mirror" should've been the second single off "The Top."
"Three Imaginay Boys" or "Boys Don't Cry" are The Cure's quirky, minimalist pop beginnings. It reminds me of a bit like The Jam, which isn't too surprising since both bands were discovered by the same person, Chris Parry (who also helped sign Siouxsie and the Banshees to Polydor). Highlights are the title tracks, "Fire in Cairo," and "Another Day."
Much of The Cure's b-sides are even better that their a-sides, and I can't wait till those remastered discs come out. I've read that they will be releasing three albums at a time over an 18 month period, starting in February 2004.
The Cure has four live albums, with "Entreat" being the best one. It features eight "Disintegration" tracks recorded live at Wembly Arena in 1989, and the recording and performances are great. I love the live version of "Disintegration," the pace is a bit faster, the band plays tight and with so much feeling, and Robert sings just as good if not better than the album version. Another amazing performance is "Prayers for Rain," where he holds a note for a really long time! Unfortunately "Entreat" is long out of print. "Paris" offers some Cure classics played live in 1992. "Show" is good for some live versions of "Wish" songs and other classic Cure singles. Forget "Concert - The Cure Live."
"Staring at the Sea" is only essential because of the classic single "Charlotte Sometimes." The rest is pretty much useless if one has all the albums. Unfortunately, "Charlotte Sometimes" was recorded/mastered so poorly it sounds like ****! "Galore" became useless after "Greatest Hits" came out, which covers the only two songs not offered on any album, "Never Enough" and "Wrong Number." Actually, if you could find it, the initial copies of "Greatest Hits" has a bonus disc called "Acoustic Hits," in which the band plays excellent acoustic versions of all the "Greatest Hits" tracks.
whoa... i'm tired, i absolutely love The Cure!
After you're done collecting The Cure, may I suggest to collect Joy Division and New Order. I feel it is the only band that comes closest to The Cure in style and genre. All one ever needs from Joy Division is the "Heart and Soul" box set, which neatly covers the whole band's catalog. I would have a bit of reservation to recommend New Order's "Retro" box set, but it's a great start nevertheless. A better start to New Order would be the double disc "Substance."
Unlike what a lot of people will have you believe that much of the 80's music were full of fads, there's a whole world of great music out there. There's Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Bauhaus, The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, etc. etc...
OK, I'm gonna stop!
