Albums2010 Revisited: Disintegration

You can blame early South Park for this one. There's that Mecha-Streisand episode where the only person who can save the day is Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, who transforms into like a goth moth/butterfly to defeat her. And as he goes away, Kyle and Stan say goodbye and add, 'Disintegration is the best album ever!'

Which naturally begs the question: is it?

Honestly, I think I have a copy of this floating around somewhere on CD mainly because of this South Park episode, which is kind of hilarious if you think about it. Best album ever? Ehhhh, I don't know-- I think you could have it in the conversation, that's for sure. If you're showing me a list of 'Best Albums Ever' and this doesn't appear on it, I'm going to have questions and judge your list. A lot. 

A deep dive into the Wikipage of the album reveals more: Robert Smith had a lot of anxiety about turning 30 at the time and 'felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band's pop successes with a more enduring work.' Well, if that's true, then mission accomplished, because this might well be The Cure's masterpiece. If you had never, ever listened to The Cure-- this is kind of the perfect gateway album in many ways. You're either going to listen to this and go, 'Jesus, that was depressing' or immediately ask where you can find more of their albums. 

The Cure is a mood. 

(Also, after listening to this, the sentence 'This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album.' You don't say. I am shocked, shocked by this news.)

I feel like even if you just have a passing familiarity with The Cure, there are more songs on here that you will recognize beyond 'Pictures of You ', which is probably the one that everyone knows. Tracks like 'Lullaby', 'Fascination Street', and 'Lovesong' all tickle the back of the brain as tracks you've heard somewhere, even if you didn't spend the 80s daubing on the mascara and generally being as dark and mysterious as possible with dishevelled hair.

I love how unhurried this all is. Lovesong is the only song on this album that clocks in at under four minutes (3:29). Fascination Street is 5:16, but vocals don't start until about a minute in. Even earlier tracks like 'Pictures of You' and the opening track 'Plainsong' are just not in a hurry to get you anywhere. You relax into this. You let it wash over you and take it away. Even a track like 'Fascination Street ', which has a harder, more driving beat than you'd expect from this album, isn't in a hurry to get to the end of the song. I like that about this album. I mean, I know that not everything these days is expected to be a tight 30-minute album, clocking in at about 2 minutes a track-- but there are albums where the songs are long and feel bloated and something of a chore to listen to. Here, it feels like care has been taken. They've been crafted, composed to give you something you can get lost in. 

Looking back in the Archives, Disintegration was #17 on the original Albums2010 run. My original review dropped on June 29th, 2010, and you can read it in its entirety if you want, but I want to quote the last paragraph in full, because I think it still holds up even now:

So why do I like The Cure? Well, to be frank, it fit my mood once upon a time- and occasionally, when I'm trying to write something dark and raw, you need mood music to put yourself in that frame of mind, and The Cure works. There's always a period in everyone's life- especially for people of my generation, I think- where people are adrift, alone, and a little helpless. And The Cure works as a soundtrack to those days when you don't want to get out of bed, those days when life seems to want to kick you in the balls or even when your skatergirl, all-black-wearing, teeny bopper, neo-goth girlfriend dumps you for a jock when you're in high school. Their stock in trade is anthems for the melancholy and pensive, and with Disintegration they are at the peak of their powers.

Sixteen years later, it's hard to disagree with that.