the DISINTEGRATION poll

Plainsong >>> you know, pretty much every other song ever.

He dashed out and got "Disintegration" as soon as it came out, and was all like "WHAT IS ALL THIS?????"

Yeah, I think this is an album where the singles don't really matter unless they're heard within the context of the whole thing.

I've always said The Same Deep Water As You, so I think I'll stick with that. The bassline is extremely hypnotic and the way it starts (and ends) with the sound of rain is perfect for setting the atmosphere.

I came back to this album a couple of years ago after not listening to it for 15 years or something, and I'd forgotten that song even existed, and it's beautiful, still and meditative, but moving (in both senses) at the same time. The heart of the record.

I listened to this song on repeat for 4 hours one day while I was in high school. It's easily one of my favorite things of their, possibly my all-time favorite Cure song.

'Pictures of You' is one of my least favorite songs.

I feel like "Pictures of You" was the last major song with a rambling narrative Robert wrote that actually worked (honorable mention to "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea").

otm

Pictures of You interrupts the flow on this so I don't like it as much, but it was awesome the first time I heard it after Plainsong

yeah i get kinda bored w/ PoY around minute 4 or so

it's funny, i think of this album so much as a unified whole that i forget it has their biggest hit single on it. (in the u.s., anyway.)

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, March 31, 2009 10:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

was it really their biggest US single? maybe it's an age thing but i'd always assumed it was "friday i'm in love"

(in terms of radio play at least)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure_discography#Singles

yeah i get kinda bored w/ PoY around minute 4 or so

This is true for almost every song! I like this album and love its singles, but it does drag.

no YOU drag

I voted for "Pictures of You", maybe it drags but it's a gorgeous drag.

Especially difficult, once again, but I guess... "Untitled"? Like Alfred says, it's the way it's so simple that makes it perfect, after all the enormity of the preceding record.

Second choice would be the opposite extreme, "Plainsong."

christ, impossible, almost every song on here is absolutely classic except maybe Last Dance. My gut says "Homesick" so I'll vote for that, although I love the way the weird time changes in Plainsong as soon as the vocals come in.

the only song on here that isn't classic is "Closedown" IMO

title track here too.

ffs the poll is broke for me...would probably vote "Homesick"

Wait until tomorrow, you can vote (again).

I'd take the title track second, probably. I always think of that and Same Deep Water As You as like the real center of the album, a one-two punch of sadness and misery. It's hard to count the number of times those songs have helped me deal with shit.

Pictures of You interrupts the flow on this so I don't like it as much - I agree that it sticks out, but it is still one of the most mindblowingly awesome singles ever and gets my vote. The rest of the album is so cohesive, as others have mentioned, that it is a painful process to isolate just one track, instead of a block of two or three.

xp How is sadness + misery a one-two punch?

a one-one punch

A knife with a twist

HOW DO I PICK JUST ONE?

Oh, okay. "Plainsong" it is.

Also. Hello, ILM. Been awhile.

"Last Dance" is so underrated. Great intro and the lyrics are just beautiful (I like his songs that mention Christmas for some reason). I always loved it and it gets my vote.

By a lot of people, this is seen as their pinnacle. I am not disputing it being a good album. A lot of the songs are indeed really great.

But I guess my problem about "Disintegration" is first and foremost that, to such an extent, it has 1989 written all over it: Big gated drums, lots of reverb, harsh digital synth sounds. To me it sounds a bit too much like a timepiece to really score compared to other Cure albums.

That being said, there are exceptions, at least in the case of the reverb. On "Lullaby" and "Lovesong", the reverb was toned down considerably, letting the actual songs come better to their right. And even though I wasn't that much of a fan at the time, I really stand by those two being great pop singles today.

So, in the end, ending up voting for "Lovesong", maybe because I prefer the snare drum sound used on the single version of "Lullaby" rather than the album version. :) Oh, and yes, other great tracks (although all of them with way too much reverb) include the two other singles, plus "Plainsong", "Prayers For Rain", "The Same Deep Water As You" and "Untitled".

Oh man this is so hard but I think that I have to vote Plainsong. It's just amazing.

BTW - this was the first CD I ever bought.

How is sadness + misery a one-two punch?

It's because whereas Same Deep Water As You is resigned to everything and sad, Disintegration wants to fight against it all. I love that these two songs are right next to each other.

shit wait

Homesick was my fave when I was 18

my tastes have changed massively since then

will have to listen and decide anew

I've narrowed down the poll to Homesick vs. Last Dance vs. Prayers for Rain.
I'm surprised the latter hasn't received any shout outs. The intro to that song is just so bad-ass - ie. when the bass kicks with that "WOOOSH" effect = utter bliss

the only song on here that isn't classic is "Closedown" IMO

WHAT??!??!

common sense says i should choose fascination street for the bassline alone but a former girlfriend told me that she though of me whenever she listened to lovesong. horrific ego always wins out. lovesong.

So I guess your former girlfriend will always love you.

Don't get it twisted, she said it when we were still together.
These days, she would stab me in a heartbeat.

Oh I get it, twisted.

My point being that it shouldn't still appeal to your ego after the words are proven false, or at least not as eternal as they purport to be.

But it is a silly lyric, anyway, isn't it? I mean, forever? For ever ever? For EVER ever?

http://sidesalad.net/archives/BronsonPinchotBeverlyHillsCopThatsNotSexySerge.jpg

lemon twist-ed?

first time i ever saw two men making out was at this concert. what a monster fucking album. i agree with the guy who said every song is classic except "last dance" (which is still not too shabby). i have to go with the title song because, like bee ok says, the 12" mix of "fascination street" isn't the one that made the cut

Last Dance is glorious - you are all crazy

I really don't dig 8, 9, 11, or 12, so great as the title track is it gets lost for me in that dirgefest.

^^^^ this is incomprehensible

yeah i know. ok the intro and backing to prayers for rain are ok but the vocal just drags. same deep water goes on too long. by the time homesick comes around i care about as much as bob seems to, doo doo doooo doo doo doo doooo dooooooooo dooo. untitled would be ok if i hadn't given up completely by that point. game over man!

Title track. Same three chords all over. Bass line never changes.

side 2 of this album is probably my favorite music piece ever so yeah I can't understand this comment (unless you really didn't like the Cure but then you wouldn't really care about side 1 either)

it's "Plainsong" or "Pictures of You" and i really can't decide

Don't get it twisted, she said it when we were still together.
These days, she would stab me in a heartbeat.

You shatter her, your grip on her, a hold on her so dull it kills, you stifle her, etc.

why does this poll not have options

pictures of trickery amirite

1. Fascination Street
2. Plainsong
3. Homesick

So, "Prayers for Rain" is one of the most badass guitar lines of all time, isn't it?

Bass VI, buddy https://post-punk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/prayertourshirt.jpg

Yeah, many/most of his leads are Bass VI, Robert Smith's secret weapon.

Yeah. Also that slightly detuned string iirc

"Last Dance" – 4:42 1

robbed!

even the voteless song is fantastic

My Cure dreams were fulfilled when I bought a VI a few years back, even the simplest riff sounds like a grand piano

So it's a 6 string bass? I always thought it was a baritone guitar. You learn something new every day etc.

Bass VI is different from a baritone or a six-string bass. I'm probably missing a few differences with this explanation, but basically:

Baritone = essentially a guitar with thicker strings in BEADF#B tuning.
Bass VI = Short-scale bass (30" neck) tuned one octave lower than guitar EADGBE
Six String Bass = standard- or longer-scale bass tuned BEADGC, with both an lower and a higher string

Bass VI pops up in some surprising places. I think it's on a few Beatles songs, when John or George are playing bass because Paul is doing something else. Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" is I think played with an octave pedal, but my guitar teacher is convinced the main riff sounds like a fuzzed out Bass VI.

"Last Dance" – 4:42 1

robbed!

That was my vote !

Bass VI pops up in some surprising places. I think it's on a few Beatles songs, when John or George are playing bass because Paul is doing something else. Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" is I think played with an octave pedal, but my guitar teacher is convinced the main riff sounds like a fuzzed out Bass VI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfdxB8Tv98A

I would have voted for Closedown, which sounds to me like the gentle, sweet release of death. Lullaby is just as great, though I prefer the extended version on Mixed Up--it's a groove to ride into infinity

Bass VI is different from a baritone or a six-string bass. I'm probably missing a few differences with this explanation, but basically:

Baritone = essentially a guitar with thicker strings in BEADF#B tuning.
Bass VI = Short-scale bass (30" neck) tuned one octave lower than guitar EADGBE
Six String Bass = standard- or longer-scale bass tuned BEADGC, with both an lower and a higher string

― peace, man, Friday, 8 January 2021 14:17 (six hours ago)

Makes perfect sense. I've played guitar for 30 years and I've never heard of these.

https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/lennon_fender_vi_bass-jpg.204607/

This album is probably the world's greatest extended mope.

The title track is up with “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea” as the band’s finest hour. Incredible lyrics and production. It’s so beautiful and sounds incredibly urgent

Happy 35th anniversary, I sez I sez.