Pornography

This is ok I much prefer some of the stuff that the cure went on to do

Appreciate that it’s one of many acclaimed albums by The Cure, but there wasn’t much here that blew me away. Probably because I know Disintegration exists

"Two thumbs up, hippin' hilarious" - my boss who's a big Cure Fan when I asked him what I should write for this review (9/10, 5/5 on this scale)

the backing tracks are very halloween-y…very creepy and it fills me with a sense of existential dread. final track intro is so scary genuinely… i think those things work for what they’re going for though. the message of the album and that. i wouldn’t choose to listen to these songs outside of listening to the full album for a story though. like it would be completely out of place in a playlist. the poor soul that wrote this :(

Oh damn I really dislike this. Noise at best

its got some good ones

Nothing to write home about 3 ⭐️

Not a fan

I didn't like this at all. It was kind of like one ling, poorly recorded song that played for 40 minutes or so.

Hey man. I gave Disintegration a 5 and would have given it a 6 if the scale I went that high. I also would give their newest album Songs of a Lost World 5 if it were on here. This album kinda sucks, assuming you're not pretty depressed. I like other early Cure but not this. Monotonous and just uninteresting. I suppose that opens me to accusations of not being a real Cure fan, but I can handle it. I've handled worse.

Matige plaat, sowieso weinig met The Cure en deze helpt daar absoluut niet bij.

The birth of goth rock and Robert Smith's messy look.

Το Πιο καταθλιπτικο album που εχω ακουσει, μοιαζει σαν ποιηση πανω απο μελαγχολικη μουσικη. Πολυ βαρυ και δε νομιζω πως θα το ξανα ακουγα. Ωστοσο σε ορισμενα σημεια μου αρεσε το dark vibe του (αν και πολυ επαναλαμβανομενο)

I think it got me on the wrong day. Just kinda whiny.

*long, weary sigh*

This is probably a much more difficult album to get into and evaluate from one listen, so I took 2, however, I’m still finding the vibes more difficult to enjoy against some of the albums I know - I think finding the right mood to listen to this is key. There’s a lot here that makes for a great Cure album and I can confidently give this a good rating already. I have to say I really enjoy the drums throughout the album.

Not their best effort

Gothic, reverberating, pounding, textured, disorienting, aetheric with a degree of abrasiveness. Grounded in the lithosphere while soaring in the atmosphere. Brooding, dreary, foreboding, but there’s and intensity to the depression here. A darkness both familiar and novel. Pretty classic for The Cure and I dig it.

у готического рока от кьюр не было шансов зайти) но хотя бы не так ужасно как я ожидала! не одна звезда!

I’ve heard other songs by The Cure and loved this album

Nice slab of cold dark goth rock. Rhythm section is killer. Dense and atmospheric. Robert Smith's depressing lyrics and limited vocals add to tensions. One or two tracks need a bit of extra something though, bit flat in parts, but good overall

One of the earlier peaks for the Cure. Dark and deep, yet a lot of rytmic drive and Robert Smiths vocal at its best. A fantastic album!

i like some stuff by the cute but this one was just too depressing for me overall. some more upbeat ones like hanging garden but just wasn’t my vibe in general. i still think it’s cool for anyone who enjoyed it, that just wasn’t me personally

Klassiker, aber etwas faserig. Dennoch immer widergut

this was very heady and artful. loved all the BIG sounds. not the most easy listening (like I probs wouldn't put it on unless I was listening intentionally) but peak superb craft. one of the songs got added to my spooky playlist

A plodding dark new wave rock sound. Some of it sticks with me but mostly feels too dark and slow, you have to be in the right mindset for it. Not something I would typically find myself saying but I think I prefer their pop sound more. There’s hints of that sound here and there throughout the album, and it’s better for it.

not their best, too sad :(

Good Cure record but I spaced out often

Some good moments of ambience and angst, but the songs drag on with no development or interest.

The rhythmic and harmonic structuring creates a hypnotic pattern to this uncompromising journey. A unique atmosphere which I like.

I got bored, but I liked the vibes.

I understand better now why people like them, the music has a unique vibe. it didn't get me yet, but I do get it.

Really meh album that wasn't to my liking. Songs felt dull and too long or dull and short. The album did get better towards the end. Favorite track was Cold.

i dig it?

AMAZING!!

Different sound but pleasant listening experience

i really like it will be listening again

This "music" does absolutely nothing for me. The drum beats are dull and uninteresting, generally just matching the rhythm of the bass "riff" - which rarely extends beyond about 2-3 notes. Yes, there's a lot of sound happening at once, I can understand what people mean when they talk about the layers/soundscape/atmosphere etc., it's just that it all sounds shit. You can add fuzz/blur to a picture of dogshit, but it's still a picture of dogshit. You can add a fruity fragrance to a bottle of bleach but I'm still not going to drink it, as much as this album might tempt me. The only thing vaguely musical going on in basically any track is the odd guitar part, but these are still pretty droll. The vocals are absolutely dire, they're somehow monotonously whiny. Literally the same through the whole album. I could somewhat understand the use of vocals like this for short segments or individual tracks, but surely they lose any impact when it's just the way he sings throughout? Oh and the last track (the title track) does the cringe trope of playing stuff in reverse to sound "creepy". Highlights: - "A Strange Day" - only really because it actually did something different briefly Not going to listen to any of it again, though I think some of it could work as the background to a game or film (without the shit vocals). Low 2.

9/10 Have already heard. Relisten Hightlights: One Hundred Years The Figurehead Cold Pornography

This is a rough listen mostly because I’m not of the right mindset to properly appreciate their point of view…, but I give them credit as we know what was to come.

Idk, really just nothing to say. There's some ok riffs but they never feel like they go anywhere. A Strange Day kind of does and is probably the best thing here, but even then it was just ok. I think there maybe was some similarities between Hanging Garden and Pornography? At one point I could hear the former in the latter. The title of the album made me think of this which I got more out of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7xhYyQr_NI

I like this much better than radioheads experimental rock. It didnt have the transition and flow into a full album like pink floyd but it did seem to have a bit of deeper thought into its themes. I like a song where I catch some of the lyrics, think "thats a weird thing to say" and I will go look them up and try and find the artists intent. Some of this album does seem to just be edgy arts student for little reason (one hundred years), but theres a good chunk where I can get on board with the emotions behind the lyrics.

Hmmmm jeetje normaal vind ik The Cure echt wel nice. Maar een heel album zijn stem aanhoren… ja sorry. Het zingen klinkt een beetje als zeuren, en de muziek is redelijk eentonig. Niet mijn favoriete album

2/5 One or two tracks had instrumentals that I found interesting, but overall there were too many elements that didn’t fit my tastes all that much.

I definitely prefer the smiths but it was in by no means a bad album, maybe just a little samey and mopey for my liking

The Cure’s sound is unmistakable, they seem to have a sound that’s just them and rarely do other visit. My favourite tracks are; A Strange Day, and the Hanging Garden.

This felt a bit Cold.

scary movie music

Classic Cure. This is my favorite album by this band. So dark and gloomy…those drums!

Pas vraiment ce que j'aime. Festival du flanger.

Unsure what to rate this. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Unsure if I liked it. Feel like being ungenerous. Soz! Songs added to playlist: - One Hundred Years - The Hanging Garden

Chill vibes to get through the weekend, not my favorite cute, but also not the most easily accessible

Milestone for gothic rock which admittedly is not a genre I am overly familiar with. This album came after Seventeen Seconds. I found the songs running into each other, making a continuous listen which was depressing and beautiful. Robert Smith's voice is haunting in its familiarity. Special mention to The Hanging Garden and Siamese Twins. However glad that I am that I have listened to this album, I doubt I would seek it out again

The beautiful place somewhere between industrial and early 80s pop and shoegazer. No clear singles. No obvious melodies. Yet it keeps hold of your ears the whole way through.

Ohhh this is it. This is my type of album, the songs, the ambience is so dark and gloomy ugh my perfect type of goth 10/10

Amazing

already love this album

Top tier stuff from on of the best bands to ever do it.

This is best Cure album I’ve listened to to date. This provides really great atmosphere. The bass lines and echoey drums are really excellent. Favorite songs were One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, The Figurehead, and A Strange Day.

Dark and nasty, both in terms of how it sounds and what it's about. Manages to be both restrictively claustrophobic and overwhelmingly expansive - it's a dizzying, hypnotic album! Fucking love the bass. Favourite tracks: One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, Siamese Twins, The Figurehead (amazing run of tracks), Cold

heavy, dark, moody. genre creating. xo

No. 72 Great voice, Great sound. Love the Cure, percussion really stands out. Great listen.

Hard to rate my favorite band. This album has two of my very favorite Cure songs on it as well. Do I like it MORE than albums I gave 5 stars to here? Yes. Do I think it should be rated as 5 stars? Maybe not. It's gonna have to be 4.

da gits bessers.

It's a fair bit different to the sound I'm use to from The Cure, however the mood sort of works and some of the songs here are excellent, or nearly so.

A noisy nightmare of an album, and not in a good way. Very muddy and dark, with very little variation from track to track. Feels like just an amorphous blob of music. I did like some of the moments but this was not overall for me. 2/5

179 Conocí a The cure en mi album 52 de este challenge (Seventeen seconds), le puse 5 jumbitos por ser oscuro y todo lo que esperaba de The Cure. El problema es que esto me gustó más aún, era mucho más electronicochentero y oscuro medio experimental (imagino). No me queda otra que ponerle un 5 para ser consistente.

I like some of The Cure's hits, but there wasn't anything on this one that grabbed me. It was OK, but not something I'd return to.

Many better Cure albums, in my opinion.

What you’d expect from The Cure, who are great. Although I’m not going to give this one 5 stars at is slightly too samey for my liking and they’ve done other things that have I have enjoyed more. Still loved it.

I loved it i really do its so bland and unique 5 stars

So gloomy. Hanging gardens is great, rest is ok 3.3

Not my favorite album by The Cure, but still solid. I love its almost haunting, predatory feel. It always made me think of vampires for some reason. 4/5

5.0 Genre defining album (Goth) English (43:30, 8 tracks, 4th album, 1982) Goth Rock I just love this album for so many reasons, not the least being how important it was to me in Junior High School. Pornography (1982) was the final installment of The Cure's "Goth Trilogy." By 1982 the band was reportedly consuming large amounts of alcohol and drugs, living in a state of near-constant depression and internal conflict, which bled directly into the recording. After typing into YouTube “Pornography Cure” I got non-stop ads from Christian groups trying to cure me of my pornography addiction – something I’m pretty sure The Cure didn’t consider in 1982. It was annoying. I was never into the Goth (‘dark robers’) subculture or look as I was too pleased with school to be that depressed all the time but damn I loved their music. The entire album is just one nihilistic decent into depression after another. Introspective and dark – the most atmospheric of their albums – some of the best sex I’ve ever had has been to this album. If I’m drunk and with someone this is a perfect album. Someone described the sound as “Phil Spector's decent into Hell” (wall of sound). I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated Lol Tolhurst’s drumming enough. At the time, I gave all credits to Robert Smith but his drumming is just a rhythmic decent that creates impending doom. This was his last album to drum on (switched to keyboards). Without this album it’s hard to see where Dark Wave (the other side of New Wave after the death of punk) would have went. No Cure and there is no Smiths, no industrial and no shoegaze. One of the greatest lines to open an album of all time - “It doesn't matter if we all die” especially a goth album After near collapse into depression following the release, bassist Simon Gallup left the band, and the Cure switched to a much brighter and more radio-friendly new wave sound. Although it was poorly received by critics at the time of release, Pornography was The Cure's most popular album to date, reaching number eight on the UK Albums Chart. It has since gone on to gain acclaim from critics and is now considered an important milestone in the development of Goth(ic) Rock. In the words of Robert Smith, regarding the album's conception, "I had two choices at the time, which were either completely giving in [committing suicide] or making a record of it and getting it out of me". He also claims he "really thought that was it for the group. I had every intention of signing off. I wanted to make the ultimate 'fuck off' record; and then sign off [the band]". Smith was mentally exhausted during that period of time: "I was in a really depressed frame of mind between 1981 and 1982". The band "had been touring for about 200 days a year and it all got a bit too much because there was never any time to do anything else". The Cure famously never had a manager (other than Smith). Pornography is the last Cure album to feature Tolhurst as the band's drummer (he then became the band's keyboardist), and also marked the first time he played keyboards on a Cure release. The album was recorded at RAK Studios from January to April 1982. Polydor Records, the company in charge of Fiction, was initially displeased with the album's title, which it saw as being potentially off-putting and offensive. Smith said that "the reference point" for Pornography was the Psychedelic Furs' self-titled debut album, which he noted "had, like, a density of sound, really powerful". Despite the commercial performance of the album, Pornography was not well received by most music critics upon its release. Retrospective views of Pornography have been far more favorable. In 2000, Pornography was voted No. 183 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2005, Spin cited the album as a "high-water mark for goth's musical evolution". NME described Pornography as "arguably the album that invented goth". According to Apter, Pornography would prove to be "enormously influential," and has been cited as an influence by bands such as Deftones and System of a Down. While touring they started to develop their trademark image of big hair, smudged makeup and black clothes. Favorite Songs: The Hanging Garden and A Strange Day (I like, more positive like a rolling sound), I could loop this song dozens of times – best in headphones. All tracks are written by The Cure (Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Lol Tolhurst). 1. "One Hundred Years" 6:40 2. "A Short Term Effect" 4:22 3. "The Hanging Garden" 4:33 4. "Siamese Twins" 5:29 5. "The Figurehead" 6:15 6. "A Strange Day" 5:04 7. "Cold" 4:26 8. "Pornography" 6:27 Personnel Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, keyboards, production, engineering Simon Gallup – bass guitar, keyboards, production Lol Tolhurst – drums, keyboards, production Don’t do drugs kids!!!

wow i love pornography

Love the cure, maar niet beste album voor mij.

Didn’t hate it, might love it after more listens

I began being a Cure fan at the Head On The Door stage, by this point they had reengaged with their more poppy side which was there at the start on Three Imaginary Boys. In my opinion a mixture of melancholy and pop sensibilities bring out the best songs from the band, but as a moody teen i loved a bit of wallowing in the misery of these early albums. There is still beauty here in A Strange Day and Cold especially and i still know most of the lyrics to Siamese Twins and The Figurehead although i couldn't really tell you what they're about. Not quite enough for a 5.

Really like Disintegration era Cure, but my listens beyond that have left me cold and, even after a couple of listens here, that still remains. Just think they lack the artistic side that Siouxsie in particular brings to the Goth table and this feels/sounds a little monotone/monolithic as a result.

Struggled with this. I found it very monotone and one paced. It’s not a bad album, it’s just not in any way interesting to me. I guess I’m an “Best of The Cure” kind of guy.

Sausio 6d. Pirmas albumas (iš trijų, tai nėra taip blogai), kuris man iš tiesų patiko. Tai yra kabiau mano muzikos skonis. The Cure aš žinau jau kurį laiką, žinau ir klausau šios grupės dainas. Vertinu 8/10

2/5

Aika (ja bändin myöhemmät paremmat levyt) jo haalistanut tätä levyä. Viimeinen kappale hieno.

#233/1001. I was just praising 80s goth drums on an Echo and the Bunnymen album, asking for more, and sure I got what I deserved. All engraved to what must be one of the most depressing albums in popular music history. Kind of feels like listening to someone's suicide note - which according to Wikipedia quoting Smith it more or less is. Sonically and probably also lyrically I guess it should be considered as the ISO standard Goth Rock album all other works are compared to. But the absence of hope, humour, playfullness or openness make the album perhaps a bit too much of an inner journey, in which the protagonist (guess who) is fighting against his own personal demons. I guess he won since the later albums start to present at least a little bit cured Cure. Dystopian masterpiece, but should we praise dystopia?

gostei desse, até porque eu já conhecia e admirava um pouco do trabalho do the cure, muito melancólico, gótico e dramático, da uma vontade de não viver mais e nunca mais acreditar em ninguém, minha favorita foi cold. a única coisa que me incomodou é que as vezes parecia que eu tava escutando a mesma música repetidamente, o álbum tem uma sonoridade fixa, mas tenho total consciência que isso é proposital e compreendo o conceito e intenção.

Ouvi enquanto fazia outra coisa tmb, não prestei muita atenção e nem me chamou muito a atenção 😬

good doom'y vibes but i rarely hear what he's singing.

Robert Smithy as hell. I haven't been a diehard Cure fan since high school, but this album was always one of the best, along with Disintegration.

Not very impressive, some very simple parts and almost monotone 5/1/26

Die großen The Cure, nie wirklich intensiv gehört aber Gothic, Grufti. Wow, Gewaltig und soo düster! c

This was fine; didn't love it, didn't hate it. There were a few good surprises on the album for me; The Hanging Garden specifically was very enjoyable.

- 80tero. - mom music - ultima es una banger

Very interesting upon first listen. When you start to pick apart the instrumentals and lyrics you'll understand the genius in this body of work

Dark, moody and atmospheric. Classic album that to me stands the test of time. As a non teenage goth, but now Joy Division fan I appreciate this greatly but understand why others mightn't like it. The first one the list for me that had a second playback straightaway, although I'm still under 10 albums in. 4 out of 5 stars

Great early album. Love the cure.

LOVED the hanging garden

Somewhere out there, there's a universe where I don't hate Robert Smith's voice, and am a huge fan of The Cure.

very The Cure vibes

Some of these lyrics read like teenage angst but I enjoy the post-punk sound too much to give a shit about that.

Man these songs are long and depressing

Damn this shit makes me want to kill myself 8/10 I love Pornography!

I dare say this is the closest anyone came to replicating Joy Division's *Closer" - a fact that I suspect spooked Robert Smith himself, to the point that he essentially disbanded the band and went and played in Siouxsie and the Banshees for a bit after this. Capital-G Gothic as all hell (literally - the narrator of "The Figurehead" sounds like he's telling off Beatrice from the ninth circle), positively literary in its ambition, obsessive and addictive, full of lust and guilt and shame like a Victorian penny dreadful. My best attempt at an emotional analog is Bacon's *Figure with Meat* - raw humanity splayed out in all its gory glory, simultaneously too existential to bear and too truthful to deny.

Decent, a definite turning point, but not my favourite. Even fat bob says he struggles with it these days.

Few good tracks but overall too much of the same monotonous stuff

Not bad. ★★★

This is boring.

very silent hill background sound a bit eerie, sometimes can feel like it has a repetitive sound

Typisch The Cure

One Hundred Years 9/10 song

347/1089 - Not my favorite Cure album for sure. For the record, I love Wish, Disintegration, and The Head on the Door. Pornography is a bit repetitive and the songs go on for too long given the lack of musical ideas but thankfully there are enough differences in the actual songs. I'm confused by how many people are calling this dark, nothing in the music suggests that to me (besides the last song maybe), if anything the main emotion I feel the album gives off is persistence/steadfastness. If you like dark music, I recommend Shostakovich's String Quartet no. 8, or really anything later in Shostakovich career.

I truly thought I would like every single album but this one was definitely not my cup of tea. My “favorite” would probably be Cold, but even that’s stretching it. It was so psychologically weird and it makes sense that I didn’t like it, but I was still hoping for more from me. I was washing the dishes while I listened to this and it made me want to wash the dishes more than listen to this.

Echo, reverb, synths, lots of toms in the drums. Has a distinct 80s sound, which is not a bad thing, but gets a bit much over 40 minutes. The Hanging Garden is the highlight.

70

Love that guitar effect. Probably a 3.5 but rounding up

The cure is one of those bands i just don't get but everbody love. The singer has a horrible voice (with the exception of one song that was with cryustal castle), it might be why i disslike them.

I mean it's alright

2.7 if i could

I enjoyed the last The Cure album. This one just drones and is very repetitive. At first I thought it was me cause I was driving. So I listened to it again at the house with headphones. It was better when I was concentrating on driving.

I expected to like it more and it could have just been the day but I've enjoyed other albums more.

Sonically this is adjacent to some music I enjoy. If The Figurehead or Strange Day were instrumental tracks I'd like them a lot more. The vocals are distracting and overpowering the the tracks. So much New Wave.

Much darker than Seventeen Seconds. It is definitely goth rock, but I have to say I think Sisters of Mercy did it better. To be honest it's just kind of maudlin and very one-note. Almost monotone. Did not really like it.

This works when you're in that angsty, existential-dreading mood. If you're not, then not so much. I like this (in fact, I own it), but I really must (once again) point out the fallacy in the album selection. This list doesn't need BOTH 'Pornography' and 'Seventeen Seconds'. One or the other would be more than enough to get a taste of what The Cure was doing at this point in their careers. Instead, drop one of these and (if you simply MUST have another album by The Cure) replace it with 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' or 'Wish' (which are, frankly, better albums, anyway). This will give the listener exposure to both phases of the band rather than burdening them with two albums of dark miasma. Again, I do like this album, but I just don't think it's readily accessible nor worthy of the "must hear" label. My personal preference would be to give it a 3 or 4 (depending on how well it's resonating with my mood at the time), but I'm going to go with the protest vote today.

I didn’t find this bad. It’s just not for me.

Nothing quite like this album for me - the atmosphere it creates is so bleak. Truly a goth masterpiece. 16 yr old me listened to this on repeat.

It was whatever

Conveniently, already in my search history

This is not for everyone, but it's for me

It's good but sometimes his voice kinda irks me. Like the vibe but it doesn't do enough for me to want to continue listening to it.

Nice

LOVE this album one of my favorites

More apocalyptic than emo. One Hundred Years is an unbelievable track.

The Cure – *Pornography* (1982) In-Depth Review --- ### 1. **Themes & Lyrics** A single 43-minute exorcism of despair, *Pornography* is built around **death, self-loathing, political dread and psychological collapse**. - **Apocalypse as metaphor**: “One Hundred Years” opens with *“It doesn’t matter if we all die”* and ends with *“over and over we die one after the other”*, turning private depression into a universal cataclysm . - **Domestic horror**: Images of *“a little black-haired girl waiting for Saturday”* and *“the death of her father pushing her white face into the mirror”* sit next to soldiers and black cars, showing war outside and trauma inside the home . - **Guilty confessions**: “The Figurehead” finishes with the chant *“I’ll never be clean again”*, one of the most direct statements of self-disgust Smith ever put on tape . - **No narrative, only atmosphere**: Lyrics work like shards from a diary—cryptic, repetitive, sometimes nonsensical—whose job is to sustain a mood rather than tell a story . --- ### 2. **Music & Arrangements** - **Drums**: Lol Tolhurst abandons cymbals almost entirely; relentless tom-tom patterns mimic a dirge-march and give the record its *pulsing, tribal backbone* . - **Bass**: Simon Gallup plays high-register, melodic lines that *constantly move*, preventing the dirge from becoming plodding . - **Guitars**: Robert Smith layers **reverse-reverb leads, dissonant bends and Arabic-sounding scales** (“A Short Term Effect”, title track) to produce a *psychedelic, nauseous swirl* . - **Synths**: Used sparingly, more as *ominous smears* than hooks; the drone under the closing “Pornography” sounds like slowed-down choir-loops dissolving in acid . - **Song structures**: Simple, cyclical chord progressions repeated until they become hypnotic; most tracks end in **walls of stacked noise** rather than choruses, giving the impression of songs *imploding under their own weight* . --- ### 3. **Production** Engineer **Phil Thornalley** (later producer for Pixies, Psychedelic Furs) captures everything in **murky mid-range**; the kick drum *thuds* instead of punches, vocals sit *inside* the mix, guitars are soaked in **plate reverb and tape slap-back**. - **No 80s sheen**: No shiny Simmons pads, no gated snares—just *claustrophobic darkness* that feels basement-real . - **Tape saturation**: Over-driving the 16-track gives cymbal-swells a *hissing, almost tape-decay* quality that adds to the sickness. - **Dynamic range**: Side-A closer “The Hanging Garden” is the only track mastered *hot* enough to pass for a single; everything else is **uniformly oppressive**, making the album feel like **one long piece in eight movements** . --- ### 4. **Influence & Legacy** - **Goth blueprint**: Alongside Joy Division’s *Closer* and Bauhaus’ *In the Flat Field*, *Pornography* codified the **gothic-rock sound**: tribal drums, high melodic bass, cavernous guitar . - **Dark-wave & shoegaze**: Bands like Clan of Xymox, The Sisters of Mercy, and later Slowdive cite it as **the** template for making depression sound majestic. - **Black-metal & post-rock**: Norwegian black-metal acts (esp. early Ulver) borrowed its *apocalyptic sermon* style; Swans’ later drone-period mirrors the album’s *repetitive crescendos of dread*. - **Critical reappraisal**: Initially called *“a toothache of a record”* (Rolling Stone) , it now sits in the **top-3 Cure albums** on virtually every fan poll and was celebrated with a 40-year deluxe box in 2022 . --- ### 5. **Pros** ✅ **Cohesive vision** – No filler, every track serves the mood; 8 songs/43 min = *exactly* the right dose . ✅ **Rhythm-section chemistry** – Gallup/Tolhurst create a *tense, danceable* undertow rare in nihilist rock. ✅ **Raw honesty** – Smith’s lyrics feel *unfiltered*; no poetic distance between singer and breakdown. ✅ **Guitar innovation** – Reverse-reverb, atonal bends and Middle-Eastern scales **pre-date** similar tricks in early U2/Psychedelic Furs. ✅ **Closure effect** – The final *“I must fight this sickness, find a cure”* offers **microscopic optimism**, making the horror circular rather than endless . --- ### 6. **Cons** ❌ **Monotone production** – Mid-range mud means **no sonic relief**; casual listeners find it *“a 43-minute headache”* . ❌ **Same tempo territory** – Most songs hover 90-100 BPM; without melodic choruses the **mid-album can blur together**. ❌ **Vocal delivery** – Smith’s *“vast-hall”* croon + endless echo becomes **fatiguing** if you don’t sync with the despair . ❌ **Lack of hooks** – Only “The Hanging Garden” has a recognisable riff; **no sing-along salvation** for the uninitiated. ❌ **Emotional prerequisite** – If you’re *not* in the mood for existential dread, the album feels **self-indulgent** rather than cathartic. --- ### Bottom line *Pornography* is **The Cure’s most concentrated poison**: no daylight, no jokes, no synth-pop escape hatch. When it clicks, it’s *transcendentally bleak*; when it doesn’t, it’s *“a toothache”*. Either way, its **tribal rhythms, bass-led melodies and claustrophobic production** forged a language that **an entire sub-culture** still speaks four decades later.

De har ju verkligen en egen stil vilket de ska ha, men 80-tals produktionen blir tröttsam efter ett tag, texterna är inte bra och instrumentationen känns väldigt same-same. Har också insett att jag inte gillar Smith som sångare alls.

Still love the Cure but this is background goth music. 5/10

love love the cure!! not my favorite album of theirs but will always love what they do.

it was alright not really my cup of tea though

Not a Cure record I knew very well. But I enjoyed its Moody and atmospheric sound.

I'm not really familiar with The Cure apart from their greatest hits and Disintegration, so this was a treat! I really liked it! Really great songwriting, some probably experimental ambient sounds going on. Can't wait to listen to it again.

I like other The Cure albums better.

No lo sé, the cure sonando a the cure todo en tono the cure. Sentí que no pasábamos de track

Classic album by The Cure.

This has a really cool, really oppressive atmosphere going on for it that would probably be really great accompaniment for when I'm Going Through It mentally, if I ever thought to listen to them in those times. Otherwise, it's still a pretty cool atmosphere but I always listen to it with a bit of emotional distance. My impression is that it's the coolest Cure album to have as a favorite, but also it's easily the one that you least want to tell people all about your love for (like when you're on a first date and connecting about music, do you really want to be saying "Yeah, I really love Pornography"?)

listened in jam with april while we did chores and it rocked

Not a huge Cure fan, but it was fine. Kelly and I listened together on separate headphones like silent disco lol so that was fun.

Atmospheric, desolate and glacial. While I don't particularly enjoy Robert Smith's vocals, I have to admit they do work very well drenched in reverb over these brooding, slow, booming songs. I couldn't give this more than an 8, but appreciate why this may be some people's favourite of the list. Best Tracks: - Cold - The Hanging Garden - The Figurehead Worst Tracks: - Siamese Twins Rating: 7.5/10

The Cure is my fave band, so this is going to be a biased review from me. Pornography is not my favorite of their records, or my favorite era of the Cure…but it’s still pretty badass. Moody, atmospheric, catchy. These things mostly never changed over their career, though this record falls pretty firmly in their “goth” era. I think if I could change something about this record, I wish the drums had a bit more life to them; they sound a little thin and robotic. But I do like the record as a whole, even if I generally enjoy the live versions of these songs better than the studio recordings. Whatever. I’m just psyched that I finally got some Cure to pop up on this thing. After 200 odd days, I’ve heard half of Neil young and David Bowie and Morrissey’s catalogue, it’s nice to hear something I don’t have to suffer through. 5/5

Sure

It's ok not my favorite

3.5 pretty good.

Very short album. Very gothic, very dark and mysterious. Similar to She Wants Revenge or Siouxsie and the Banshees. Fav song is ‘Siamese Twins’.

I like the dense atmospheric sound and the dirge-like quality, but mostly it's the vocals that put me off.

didn't finish. apologies. all albums getting very samey

I enjoyed it overall, not my usual cup of tea but I could get into it if I'm in the right mood. Otherwise, bit too dark and dreary.

Another one that I’m familiar with the artist but haven’t sat down to process this full album. It’s also another short one. Kind of shocked this is The Cure album chosen for this list, I would’ve thought maybe Disintegration would be the more popular choice but that may be me being biased. Started off thinking my heart just wasn’t really in this. The songs kind of dragged to me which makes me kinda sad cause I do love The Cure, maybe if I revisit it’ll grow on me. The lyricism was beautiful though, there’s just so many lyrics. Only stand out tracks to me were The Hanging Garden and A Strange Day. I like the title track but that intro is sooo long. This lead me into listening to The Head On The Door and I actually really liked that one, so silver lining.

I'm not THAT familiar with The Cure's discography, but I had a hunch I would enjoy this. Of course I know some of their songs, but I was never that big of a fan as to actively search out more music from them. Something about Robert Smith's voice makes me not LOVE their stuff. I would listen to these songs outside of the challenge though. I really like the instrumentals. Don't get me wrong, it's nothing groundbreaking, but I enjoy the vibes they convey; it's calming for me. This was truly a rare discovery on this list.

Good album with a terrible title (and the title track, incidentally, was also my least favorite).

A mood album as with a lot of Cure. The tone is set right off the bat with a killer opening track. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t match the greatness of One Hundred Years, but there are other good songs throughout.

Listened to this with an awful hangover. Horrible experience

No thank you

12/19/25: I know they came before The Killers but since I listened to The Killers first, that's mostly what I hear in terms of vocals. I may have not been in the right headspace to experience this album. Only listened once. Meh? 5/10

Nothing special compared to other stuff I've heard from them but god I looove the soundscapes these guys create it'll always hit High high high 4

Standouts 100 years A Short Term Effect The Hanging Garden The Figurehead Getting lost in this album was such an experience I decided to do it 3 times. Everything has so much texture. Feels like an incredibly cohesive album. His voice sounds so hopeless I hope he's okay. I much prefer this darker moodier sound than their more recent stuff. The melodies twist and turn unexpectedly while keeping the same vibe. It's so easy to get absorbed by this and watch an entire hour disappear First 5

Ooh, scary.

Meh

5.0/10 Very depressive.. all songs were similar.

a depressão do robertinho é palpável, amo.

This album was good but not my favorite Cure album.

Awesome album! Really good and powerful opening and closing tracks. Especially loved the drums on most of the songs. I think a lot of them could be used well in a good movie/game.

Nice

Broody

It was dark and gross and I hated it.

Liked it way more than I thought I would--really strong second half. Hanging Tree, Siamese Twins were my favorite.

It's not the kind of music I would usually listen to, but I could see how if I was in a depresso mood, I could put it on and brood. Extra star because I could hear the Bowie influence in the songs which helped me experience the album in a more meaningful way.

I think this would've been a lot more enjoyable for me at a different time of my life, but today, it just felt monotonous. Very much a mood piece to sit in, when you're in the mood to sit in it.

no, ts aint even alt rock its a disgrace

This album didn’t really speak to me. I would like to listen to more of The Cure as I’m not familiar with the discography, but this wasn’t it.

dark and interesting, but I don't think I would revisit anytime soon

Transported to coffin club!

Despite my love for the recognisable sound of this band, I have impression that this record is quite bland. I gave 2nd chance to 3 songs (2,5&6)

This is what it sounds like when doves cook their ass off. This perfect album is driven by drums that vibrate an interdimensional membrane open just enough with every hit. Robert Smith and co peeped beyond the veil and it made them fucking sad.

Weird

This was the first time I had ever heard of gothic rock, but I totally understood why these songs were considered by that term. They all seemed to have dark themes, with a resounding and implacable drum beat with the exception of the last song. Oddly enough, I didn't hate the album; however, after I was through listening to it, I had to go and find some more upbeat music to get over the feeling of depression I experience after listening to it. Best song: "A Short Term Effect" and worst song: "Pornography". Not an album I would normally listen to and not an album I plan on listening to again.

This wasn't the first time I've been disappointed in Pornagraphy. In seriousness though, this was an album absolute chock full of self-loathing, and while I struggled to understand a lot of the lyrics, it had unmistakable tones of suicide in my opinion. It ended up sounding a lot less like an album, and more like someone tragically venting through music. It was almost sad to hear when actually paying attention. As someone who loves listening to angst-y sad emo rock when sad, I can understand the catharsis though. The songs however melded together with their very similar sounds for me, differentiating only through their differently sad lyrics. While I enjoy the cathartic scream your feelings out process, and the first song sounded pretty good. I never got anything else from the album, and none of the individual songs really stand out to me. I'm sure if I looked up the lyrics to the songs and delved deeper, there could be a lot here lyrically. But as a first pass (and there won't be another pass from me), I just didn't get the connection I want from my angst-y rock. 2/5

A little too dark and dreary for me. I am a little familiar with The Cure's hit songs and there wasn't much on this album that had that level of playing. It's just not for me. 2.5/5 Probably won't listen again

Not a fan of this. Felt rather bleak.

A sound solidly stuck in the 80s - tinny drums, grating affected vocals, cheesy synths bathed lavishly in reverb.

I was really put off by this on my first listen, but it grew on me song after song. Again, The Cure is a band that should be on my regular listening, but haven't made it there for some reason.

„The Hanging Garden“ & die Presingel „Charlotte Sometimes“ sind Wave in Reinkultur- Roh, Düster und Schwarz.

It's fine

It's fine. Doesn't move the needle high or low for me. If you want The Cure, it'll do.

Put on your black lipstick and light a candle! It’s that dark creepy shit goth kids listened to in the 80’s and early 90’s. Brilliantly dark and depressing, brilliantly performed.

it was okay, good instrumentals nice vocals

The Cure-Pornography...I like The Cure, haven't often listened to an album of theirs-front to back. Great song writer, on this album I felt a lot of focus on a catchy song start, but 35-45 seconds in...every song seems to have the same feel, vibe and tone. Some clever starts and grooves, not a lot of overall substance for my taste/liking. Wanted to skip to next-around half way through most songs.

meh. so many better cure albums. I’m not sure why this one was picked. I did a little research on the side and apparently this one is considered a forerunner for Goth. But clearly there would’ve been better choices to include in this list for the cure.

Hanging garden was ok. Not the cure’s best album

The Cure have produced some good songs but none of them are on this album. Dreary.

Oof, feels like the 1001st entry. Couldn't tell when it changed songs other than the titled album and wow was the whole thing underwhelming.

I kinda like The Cure, but this was not my cup of tea. I don't see myself returning to this one.

Robert Smith has a great voice , very distinctive, I just thought this album didn’t give it a great workout. Bit dull

I was 7 years old in 1982 and the 7 year old me wouldn’t have liked this. It’s no Adam and the Ants! However as a 50 year old I can now appreciate this much more and really quite liked this. Just a shame they’re from Crawley!

Another band that I was too young to appreciate when they were in the prime but have picked up the odd good song since. Never listened to a complete album and assumed that I liked the more catchy upbeat stuff. But no, this one is very dark and also a great listen. Possibly a bit too dreary in places but really well written and constructed and a clear influence on British indie music to come.

The second best band to come out of Crawley. Obviously, Spitfire being the greatest. Although The Cure’s vibe probably captured the largely miserable nature of the place much more effectively! Actually I never really cared for The Cure until very recently when I listened to the Songs of a lost World album, and loved it. Weird mid life crisis or something? Listening to this in light of that was therefore quite an interesting comparison. Mr Smith’s vocal style feels very consistent, and is their iconic selling point. Obviously this is musically very moody, and the drums are quite to the fore, kind of a slowed down Krautrock style. Not sure if I like them hugely. But all in all, fuck it, I’m a Cure fan now (except Friday I’m in Love - I bet he hates that it’s their biggest hit and worst song).

It’s fine? I like the atmosphere but that’s all it really offers. I get it’s sad but I wouldn’t say it enveloped me in that feeling as much as it could

The soundtrack for every pasty faced, eye liner having, black trench coat wearing kid in your early eighties high school yearbook. Very much a meh album.

Gothy beauty. ONE HUNDRED YEARS and THE FIGUREHEAD really leans into their strengths. Songs can bleed into one another.

Better than the rest of the 80s slop but not by a lot

Rather repeatable from the other Cure examples from the list

So goth. Like a murky wall of sound

I love the Cure, but I will admit that I was not as familiar with this or their earlier albums before starting this project. I was more in tune with the poppier mid to late 80s Cure, but the haunting, gritty Cure is a revelation for me. Not surprisingly the song that I feel most encapsulated the entire vibe of the album is the final, title track "Pornography." Listening to that song, the backwards audio, staring at the album cover really puts you in a specific state of mind. I think right where the band wants you which is sort of a brilliant acheivement.

3 out of 5. Third Cure album so far on this list, and while good it doesn't stand with Disintegration.

every time i would get into a riff the singers stupid voice would ruin it. lowkey rlly didn’t like it. i looked on this is the cure spotify radio and it looks like none of the songs on this album are popular. i liked figurehead mostly because the pain in the riffs. i’ll be saving that for a cry later. other than that singer’s voice is annoying.

I'm not quite as big on earlier Cure stuff as I am their late 80's and 90's stuff, but this is still a great album. It's got that classic Cure sound, but without the refinement of Disintegration.

Pretty decent album, this genre isn’t my thing tho. 3 stars, would listen again

No lo escuche

I love this so much. Cold is The One.

fire album

Insanely good. Liked every single song on this album

Favorite song- Siamese twins Different from other projects of the cure I’ve heard

I pretty much know The Cure only from their new wave hits "Friday I'm In Love" etc and this album caught me completely by surprise with how dark and gothic it is. Basically, lead singer Robert Smith was either going to kill himself or get all his emotions out in album form. The result is this almost over the top dark and dreary album. The struggles of being 23. It seems like "Emo" accompanies Punk music and "Gothic" accompanies rock. It's the same type of "Woe is me, my life sucks" topics, but at least gothic is a bit more artistic about it whereas emo doesn't leave anything to the imagination. I really liked this album. It's such a different sound from New Wave and I think it fits The Cure so much better. It still has heavy synth throughout the album as required by the 1980's and of course, Robert Smith's voice is incredibly recognizable. I really liked Cold as it really just epitomizes that dark gothic feeling of the album and the end feels almost optimistic?

Goth boys dun good.

This was ok.

I want to stay inside all day and wear dark leather and make up whenever i listen to this album.

Definitely one of their darker albums at least for me. Or very tortured sounding. None of it is bad but it doesn't have anything that a different record I think does better like disintegration or kiss me kiss me kiss me

Muy bueno el primer tema. A veces el disco se hace repetitivo pero supongo que esa es la idea

If this was an instrumental or perhaps a different non-mopey singer, this album would have been great.

Struggling to get through an album of this. I think it's good, but man it's bleak. Second Cure album in a week and struggling with both. Finally back to it - it's good but too bleak for me. I prefer a bit of pop to take the edge off my Cure

Haunting, but to be expected with the Cure. The production goes a long way an achieving this mood. The guitar distortion, the tempo in which the drums are played, Robert Smith just generally being depressed. This...generally isn't something that I would want to listen to for 40+ minutes at a time, but I've come to appreciate the craft more.

Nunca me hizo clic del todo The Cure, pese a haber hecho varios intentos con distintos discos a lo largo de mi vida. Creo que de esta va la vencida. Es cierto que Pornography ya era el disco con el que más veces había intentado introducirme a The Cure, sorprendiéndome al reconocerlo desde su primer temazo, One Hundred Years, que era de los pocos temas que históricamente sí que me habían gustado de forma indudable. No soy tan intenso, tan edgy, tan dark, tan profundo, hay algo de The Cure que se escapa para mi, me gustan las sonrisas, los gatitos y las hojas del otoño sin necesidad de que despierten connotaciones de muerte en mi oscuro interior. Aun así, de esta vez me sorprendió un disco más catchy de lo que me esperaba, con riffs profundos y oscuros acompañados de acordes de synths que le aportan verdadera emoción a los mecánicos ritmos ochenteros. Siento que algo falla en solo apreciar a esta banda de drogadictos depresivos por su musicalidad y no por la desgarradora emoción que claramente quieren transmitir, pero mi adolescencia ya ha pasado, así que it is what it is.

Um ótimo exemplar do Rock gótico. 3 estrelas

Proto-Deftones. I don't hate The Cure as much as I always thought I did.

One of the best albums I’ve ever listened to.

I appreciated the aesthetic of the album; I feel like the songs are very compelling even if I don't love the vocals on their own. Some jumped out more than others, and there were definitely some longer songs that overstayed their welcome. Still, probably my favorite experience with The Cure so far.

80/90s punk rock type Siamese twins is pretty solid A bit aggressive lyrics for my taste but enjoyed at the same time

Voix manque de variété

Not really my style

Good

So 80’s pop

Robert Smith has a great voice. Very repetitive album. Drums

Lots of hypnotic instrumentals on this project which meshes well with the title. This reminds me of an angrier version of 'Unknown Pleasures' by Joy Division. Favorite Track: Cold Least Favorite Track: A Short Term Effect

Mixed Cure album with a couple of bangers...100 Years and Hanging Garden. Doesn't have the polish of Disintegration but still worth a listen.

2.50

Can't wait for some guy with big hair to shame me for having a wank.

The cure are best known for a select few songs so going into this I knew it would be odd to hear them perform music I've never heard despite knowing them my whole life. Listening front to back this album did not disappoint my expectations. It definitely was odd! Their sound is familiar yet foreign. The classic ethereal sound on the vocals paired with the striking percussion of their radio hits are fully present. I had trouble understanding the lyrics without listening carefully so my ears instead treated them like instruments. Of course we can't forget the album title of "Pornography" which maybe shouldn't have caught me off guard but did regardless. "Friday I'm in love" may have alternate meanings than I had considered all these years if they're so bold to give an album such a name.

The sound of the album is definitive Cure, but eventually becoming noise. The lyrics are very challenging. Not an album to lighten the mood. A cure is needed.

Not as good as some of their albums. Disintegration and Faith are more interesting.

Helt OK

never been a huge Cure fan, but they're a legendary band for a reason. there's quality here - Siamese Twins is good so far

Don't like dark cure

Magical beyond expectation for works of its time, sparkled with just a little less life than Disintegration yet to come at the other end of the decade Shy of the 5 mark, but still all you could ask for, it's a dreamy and entrancing album

Good. A great example of having to walk before you can run as this came before their GREAT Disintegration album.

in one ear out the other

Dark and depressing, pretty much what I expected from The Cure. The musics not bad, but it's not exactly my style.

Very moody

Good album, timeless sound

not their best, but the best pornography I've listened to hands down

Sad slop

8/10

was really difficult to keep jerking while i was crying, 5/5 album 1/5 pornography

This album absolutely destroys me every time I listen to it. It always has. 1 of my top 3 The Cure albums for me.

I'm not depressed or Gen X enough to like this

Well, I guess I got a chance to re-confirm that I don't really love the Cure.

Couldn't finish.

The last of The Cure’s early goth rock/post-punk outings, before they embraced a warmer, more pop-orientated sound. And it’s arguably the best of that period. One Hundred Years is an instantly intense and unsettling opener which sets the dark, unyielding tone for the rest of the record. The Hanging Garden and The Figurehead are standouts, while the closing title track is a repetitive, dissonant end to a bleak but wonderful listen. Pornography stands as one of The Cure’s best and the fact they went on to top it several times over is a testament to their greatness.

Robert Smith's voice is urgent and dramatic. The music is atmospheric and tense. It all sounds like it's recorded in an echo-y concrete basement. There's no emotional payoff, no resolution. Why, oh why do people enjoy The Cure? 'Hanging Garden' is pretty cool (nice work on bass, Simon Gallup). Smith's use if a flanger is pretty cool and Lol Tolhurst's drumming is insistent. Still sounds like you're listening from the far end of an unfurnished bunker. I have an admitted axe to grind against 80's music production and there's no exception, here. Everyone was using waaaaay too much reverb and it drowned the songs like cereal gone mushy in too much milk. It ruined a lot of albums. Phil Thornalley, Mike Nocito, Robert Smith's depression and a lot of drugs are to blame, here. Look, I'm a depressive. I'm alright these days, thank you, but I'm touched by music that comes from that place. Sometimes it's just mope, though: 'Siamese Twins' is a perfect example. The song sounds as if the whole band entered a hypnotic trance (or just took a bunch of heroin, or ketamine or something) and droned away while Smith did a stream-of-consciousness rant set to their music. The impression is interminable. On the other hand, the whole album is suffused with an atmosphere that is wholly of that depressive feeling ('Is it always like this?', Smith cries at the end of that track). If you value the effectiveness of mood creation, this is, as the kids say, peak. On the other hand, if you don't want to feel the anhedonia of depression -- the endless numbness, the interminable sense that the outside world's cold sunlight feels warmer to other people but freezing to your skin; that the dead taste in your mouth will last forever -- this'll feel like a slog. Which is just two ways to colour the same line drawing. In the end, it's the sound of a depressed, drug-addicted goth man breaking up with his band in realtime, but recorded from the opposite end of a dank fucking cave. I prefer a delicate, tragic beauty to my depressive music. I think people who like The Cure should like Matthew Good Band instead -- Good is slightly angrier and, for my money, much more poetic about his bipolar disorder. Everything from Last of the Ghetto Astronauts through his first solo release (Avalanche) is rife with angst and sadness, both personal and political. But he's Canadian and from the 90's, so nobody remembers him. The most frustrating thing is that I think there are good bones in here. Smith's guitar almost sounds good underneath the suffocating blanket of synthetic echoes (or maybe the did record this in a goddamn geologic feature). The rhythms are propulsive and precise -- even interesting, sometimes -- but they're usually at about half of a compelling speed. A little less opiates and a different decade might've made this excellent. Instead, it's just a chore. Anyway, if you want to listen to a sad heroin addict melt down in a cave with a rhythm section that hates him, you'll like this. If not, go try listening to Beautiful Midnight instead. 3/5 because it's marginally better than The Smiths.

Angular, gloomy, heavy synth, industrial style-beats. I can't say I've ever dove too deeply into The Cure, and from what I gather the later stuff is a little more upbeat, but this stuff is a bit of a struggle. I have a certain respect for it, but this album doesn't really speak to me. I can't see myself putting it on to listen to, but also feel that maybe I should some more time with, just to let is weirdness and difficulties soak in a little. They're doing something here which is quite cool, but also isn't my speed. I'm happy to have encountered this, but this is roughly the way I feel about The Smiths or heck, even Joy Division. There's songs and moments I really enjoy ("A Strange Day" was a real highlight for me), but listening to 45 minutes consecutively often feels like a lot of gloom.

The Cure. Nothing different. But, The Cure.

It's a pleasant enough collection

Excellent bleak atmosphere

This prefigures emo a bit, but I like this side of the Cure more than their more mainstream stuff.

I'm a big Cure fan, but my love for them essentially begins with 1985's The Head on the Door (a few songs here or there excluded). The earlier, more goth-tinged albums are missing the melodies and emotional heft that led to their wonderful blend of radio-ready hits and hypnotic, swirling gloom. Pornography at least has the building blocks of the latter category, but it's slogged down by layers of murky production and Robert Smith in his most self-serious form. There are gorgeous moments ("Cold" being a personal favorite), but it's missing the playfulness and clarity that's coming.

My favorite band from my teenage years; how can I not give this album a 5? Wonderful album, never disappoints, never gets old, just becomes a classic :-D

3.7 - classic Cure, not necessarily for me

Nice

Really good propulsive beat to the music, love Robert Smiths vocal stylings, very dark and foreboding, missing the art pop love tracks of later albums

Interesting, but not really my thing.

A thunderstorm without lightning. The darkness before the pop dawn of the cure, this is an album of despairing desperate depression from the bleakest British night. It's an incredible achievement of swirling synth textures, guitars picking out melodies through a heavy cloud of modulation effects, of vocals the fade and decay before drawing breath to go again. none of this has the hooks or choruses of their greatest hits, but makes up for it with the full spectrum lush wallowing.

Not a Cure fan before listening to this. NOT a cure fan now!

Klasyczne The Cure

Rv/g

This felt like I really got the Cure for maybe the first time (although I've just remembered that I said that about Disintegration). Maybe the challenge is that unless I'm listening to the Cure, I don't think about the Cure. But while I'm listening to them, it's all I do think about. Weird huh? Anyway, this was excellent. Dark, foreboding and atmospheric. It passed in a flash too.

I find the vocals a little too emo to really like the album.

this was super cool - extremely cohesive + atmospheric (which is what i like in an album). original but very listenable (in a way that i find the cure sometimes are Not).

Não me identifico com a estética sonora da banda nem muito menos com o vocal que remete à prostração/ desistência/ desânimo/ depressão, de Smith. Um disco "baseado em padrões repetidos de baixo e bateria" que não acontece, não progride.

Love them at their best but their albums are a bit slow and emo for me..

I dig the music and vibes, just not a huge fan of Robert Smith's singing. "One Hundred Years" and "One Strange Day" were faves on here

The darkest album out of their catalog. I love this record.

Too emo, not interesting melodically or lyrically for me. Did not like.

Rainy day music. Lots of rain. This is probably the Cure at their grimmest - they would lighten up a bit for the next releases before their masterpiece 'Disintegration'. Pornography is the moody fifteen year old for whom nothing is ever good. This is a joyless but magnificent album fueled by drugs and angst.

So all the bands American and Millenial music critics associate with the Cure - I like. They played at the Indie Disco when I was a teen, and most of my friends like them. I like many of their singles. I have seen them live 6 times over 30 years apart. They seem nice people. And I've never liked one of their albums. This one sounds dense but lacks depth. Bob whitters away over the top semmingly without anything meaningful to say just evocative words. There are good moments in most songs - the opening riff, the squall of title track until Bob starts up for a starter. The scoreing on this site is a bit mean on records like this. 1 star covers everything between 0 stars and 2 stars. This is probably 1.5 to 1.75 star LP.

Drums were a highlight. Seventeen Seconds did a lot more for me, but there are some nice tiddlywinks here and there.

Good

Very goth nice vibe

A phenomenal listen, having heard this all the way through before I was expecting to remember this better than I did. I think that this album is The Cure perfecting their sound and for me is a little bit off where they reach the top of their game. For me although this album is experimental and innovative some of it is slightly more jarring than the melodic beauty we all know them for. Love you Robert x

Short and sweet this one, don’t think it’s their best work, but still good. Come on

De mis bandas favoritas de toda la vida. No puedo ser objetiva con este álbum, para mí es perfecto.

Very boring album, Very repetative Sounds like its trying to be edgy Very mid album 2.5

I never want to hear this album again

Hardly shop worn, but hardly entertaining, either. About the time I started liking a bit, there'd be a bunch of cacophany and dissonance.

Dark - partly psychedelic - good songs. The fact of being more than 40 years old is undeniable.

I like it but not as much as some of the other Cure songs I have heard. It's a more somber affair, it sounds like, and it doesn't really click with me at this time. Maybe a reevaluation later will make my opinion more favorable. For now though, it's alright.