Written by Daisy Sherwin
Ahead of The Cure’s summer tour kicking off in the UK, it was only fitting to review Disintegration, released 37 years ago this month!
I don’t know if it’s even possible to write a review of Disintegration in just 500 words. So it’s a good thing I can whittle it down. Disintegration is one of (if not THE) greatest albums of all time. It sounds like it has been handed straight down from the heavens as a gift to Earth, and that’s coming from an atheist. Would you believe me if I told you that is one of the least dramatic sentences a Cure fan has ever said about Disintegration?
Disintegration sets off with an ascendental opening track: ‘Plainsong’, which is by definition the complete opposite of its title. ‘Plainsong’s’ all-consuming synthesisers bind you to Disintegration, leaving you no other choice but to keep on listening.
Following ‘Plainsong’ comes the greatest break-up song ever written: ‘Pictures of You’. Which is ironic considering Robert Smith has been in the same relationship for the past 37 years. I cannot fathom hearing this on the radio in 1988 after a gut-wrenching split and not immediately throwing up. I was definitely NOT born in the wrong generation.
It’s rare that an album containing the best break-up song also contains one of the greatest love-songs ever produced by the human mind, but I did say that Disintegration was one of the greatest albums of all time. The conveniently named ‘Lovesong’ was written as a wedding present to Smith’s wife, and I’ve honestly never been happier for someone else’s marriage.
‘Fascination Street’ is one of the most painfully underrated songs on the planet, let alone the album. I firmly believe that it could invent time-travel itself, and if you don’t know what I mean by that, go and listen to it. If I were ever to find myself in a situation that involves a time-machine, I would hope that it had bluetooth so I can listen to THE bassline of the entire album.
Nothing I say about the title track will be able to encompass the song itself. ‘Disintegration’ is eight minutes of the most melodic melancholy you will ever hear. Smith’s lyrics could gut you if you let them. Everything about the track is beautiful, and I adore all 498 seconds of it wholeheartedly.
Disintegration is one of the few albums that completely captivates you from the moment you press play. You couldn’t press skip even if you wanted to. Each track is so distinct, and yet I couldn’t imagine a different combination of songs on one album. Disintegration is the type of album that, as a band, you can never come back from because nothing else lives up to it. Not The Cure though. Imagine writing the best album of all time, and then you drop one of your most popular songs ever in the next one. They deserved a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for that alone.
As confirmed by the ever omniscient South Park, Disintegration is the best album ever.
