Pornography

Dark, yet delightfully whiny. Depressed, but also self-loathing.

Never disappoints.

Erm, guys. I think I’m gonna like this one (Tamir Omari sound effects). I didn’t. Awful! Sorry. It was all too long and too droning and needlessly transgressive.

Admittedly, there should be a Cure album in here, and I am not qualified to pick the appropriate turd. It's influential, depressing as hell, and offers just the tiniest spark of originality to the new wave/post-punk onslaught from the 80's. Inspiration 3? Hits 2. Quality 2. Intangibles 2. This sucks 1.

Maybe not my favorite Cure album, but up there.

I really enjoy The Cure. But I guess its a 'coming late to the game' kind of situation for me. This is another band that I have wanted to explore their discography. I am more versed with their late 80s stuff, especially what was in heavy rotation on MTV. As much as I have seen this album cover, this was a first listen for me, and I had not heard a single song from it. At least nothing sparked for me. Its a good album but very moody. I have stressed earlier in this list, that I feel I am just too old for moody music. I can see how this would have appealed to younger people in the early 80s or even younger people today, who all seem to emulate the past. But for me it doesn't do a lot. It is The Cure so I cannot give any less that three stars for it.

I listen to it while working out. It was a steady and balanced album. I don't have a lot of history with the cure and the song sort of sounded the same to me. Maybe because I wasn't paying attention to each Pacific song. But it had a good beat throughout and was great to work out with. Excellent background music for that purpose. I do remember some gem songs in there and I would like to go back and listen to it from start to finish again sometime.

Good. Liked the other one more. Coop ending

Hey Bobby, you feeling ok? I'm getting the impression you've been thinking about death. This is...not a difficult album, though it may seem as such due to its plodding sound. But it is slow. To say it takes its time would be ignoring the fact that it dwells interminably on the above. The slow build of the guitar and drum over each song is very Cure, and it's good, but it's a lot of not a lot. Also, for me, Robert Smith's voice sometimes works and sometimes doesn't and I think it doesn't work here a several times - that is to say, it's not held up by the instrumentation when the vocals don't quite hit right. I know that faltering voice is The Robert Smith Brand Guarantee but it still bothered me many times on this album. This album also benefits from a listening milieu. Cruising down the coast on a bright summer day music this ain't. It's more for curling up on a snowed in da y, or walking home after closing late and things just aren't going right, or you're 15 and wondering where your place is in the world because you got a C on a test or something. I was tempted to give this a 3 because it started to drag early in its dirge-like fashion, but actually I think the back half has enough variety (of a kind) to keep this going. Maybe I'm just predisposed to liking it - I can see a lot of haters being vindicated in their tastes - but it's a good work from a coupla miserable, dour self-immolating guys. That said, I think I'm gonna change into brighter clothes after this. Maybe hydrate, feel the sun on my face, leave work early, play with my kids.

I love 80s goth music. This album is just so ambient and sets such a scene. I am transported by the music and the album is so complete while also being so complex. Loved it!

Chore to get though. Did not enjoy really any of these tracks.

I'm not crazy about the title track. Otherwise a good moody album.

This album started out SO strong. Feels like a record that was meant to be played at high volume on a nice soundsystem. It’s sooo very 80s in its production. The energy started to drag and get repetitive by the time I hit The Figurehead. Everything started to feel a little one-note. The title track was a nice treat and change of pace but a bonkers choice as an album ender. The one thing I know about The Cure is their dreamy, catchy hooks that beg to be in coming-of-age films, and there isn’t much of that in this record. It’s very cold and dark, and feels a little more like how Robert Smith looks tbh. It’s piqued my interest enough to dive further into the band but I don’t see myself casually throwing this record on again any time soon. Standout track: One Hundred Years

Writing these notes from memory the day after: Damn those drums/evrything on One Hundred Years is so sick. Perfect. By the time I got to track 4 my thought was "ok I get it", started to feel a one note.. Closer track was wild. But the spaces created throughout are so so good, the crazy drum sounds, Robert Smiths vocal delivery is so emotional (if a little repetitive). There were some genuinely scary moments. I liked it! 7/10

I read that this album was fuelled by LSD and alcohol — that tracks. Essential goth rock. Not something I’m too privy to but I do like the general feel/space/sound of the record throughout. Wall of sound but depressing. Standout track for me is ‘Siamese Twins’. Interesting that it’s definitely the most dry (least wet) song. Sounds like a lot of post-punk I love. The jangly guitar melody and the harmonics are so cool. Also the two tambourine hits at the end of every bar make the song. I’ll be listening to this song a lot.

One Hundred Years is pretty scary tbh I like it Some really cool effects on A Short Term Effect, the diving vocal delays and reverse guitar stuff is dope Drum machine city Such a cool atmosphere The vocals were always going to be the challenge on this record for me, I love pretty much everything else. Everything lives in the same range (dynamically and melodically) and I just can’t hang on to it. A Hanging Garden 2010s indie rock band floor toms Cold intro cello is sick Wow, Pornography is a crazy track. The tape loops, the tension, synths in the right ear and toms in the left. This would be absolutely massive live. The most standout feature of this record for me is the atmosphere. The songs aren’t exactly memorable, but they’ve really crafted an interesting world. It feels very dire. I’m not really into the vocals for the most part, but on the closing track they are perfect. There’s an urgency and desperation to them. A lot of really cool 80s production moves, some of it pretty trope-y at this point with 40 years of context, but I can imagine in 1982 this record sounded absolutely nuts blasting out of some teenagers bedroom speakers.

I really like the cure and really like this album

A bleak landscape, emerging from the contemporary, psychedelic punk rock scene. Love the dizzying guitar licks and Robert Smith's howl; you can feel the existential anguish. This is a hard listen, but I would say it's necessary to help build perspective on post-war, industrialist society. Really loved this...won't listen to it again for a while ;)

Very gloomy and dark. There isn't much movement or variety to this album, it seems. Similarly distorted songs back to back and very simple backing. There isn't much substance to it, for me, but it does effectively convey a certain darkness. Favorite track (although I didn't really enjoy any of them): Cold 3/10, 2/5

Liked this - think I didn't listen to it when I was young because the title was UNACCEPTABLE for christians. Feel like I'd have enjoyed the goth vibes more then, and overall it's a bit long and not as gopd as their later offerings- but some excellent drums and Robert Smith being Robert Smith (probably a high 3)

Could be brut

Not my vibe at ALL

Bit too much for me but quite enjoyed it still, some tracks like Pornography wasnt my thing but The Hanging Garden was great.

Albüm belli bir tarzda olsa da bana yeteri kadar farklı ses içeriyor gibi gelmedi ama yine de beğendiğim 1 2 parça var.

Good music... But in measure

Was ok but kinda backgroundy to me

It was alright.

I could never be a reviewer. This album was cool and it’s obvious that the cure are a cool band. Fav recommendation so far? Yes. Do I know whether I want to give it a 3 or 4? No.

I'm quite familiar with the Cure's more popular material, so this album came as an interesting surprise. This album's release was an important step in the development of the Goth movement, as well as a turning point in the style of the band's music. If you want to wallow in navel-gazing misery, this album is a great way to do it. In some phases of my life this has been an important activity. I'm not there right now, but will give this another listen next time I need it.

Really great album, it's not my favorite of the Cure, btu from what I've listened too it seems like one of their more difficult to grasp and amorphous album. I like it, but didn't super connect on this listen.

Ret råt i lyden, men et udmærket album.

I never heard anything off of this album. The rhythmic riffs and darks tone (even for them) was quite appealing.

Love Pornography (the Cure album)

The Cure conjure up an effectively gloomy, nightmarish atmosphere of despair, even if the songs aren’t always the most memorable. You could probably just listen to One Hundred Years and get the whole vibe immediately without going through the whole thing.

I didn't much like the vocals and found the drums too excited and loud. Over all a fair album.

Man what a depressing album. It's so droney and felt very shoegazey at times. It perfectly matches the lyrical content.

The Cure has always felt like 80s British My Chemical Romance to me. Its great. Its dark, its sexy, its desperate, its lonely. Its like OG emo. I can definitely jam with this record, but admittedly, its not my favorite by The Cure. I do tend to gravitate towards more of their pop rock stuff. My caught my attention with this one was the percussion. This does feel like a "foundational" album for The Cure. Not quite to full tilt, but really cool. All the elements are there. I'm also kind of picking up some Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Depeche Mode in this record. Its a lot darker than some of their later work.

Not for me

Again underwhelmed. Give me poppier Cure for sure.

One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, The Figurehead, Cold. All amazing. Really enjoyed this album

If half stars were possible, this would be a solid 3.5 for me. It’s moody and good, but doesn’t quite have a wow factor. Enjoyable once through, but no really stand-out tracks

It was a Dark and Stormy night - err album. I like the later Cure albums better but this was a good listen.

JA DA. Lige så god som Disintegration

Endnu en reminder om at jeg burde have haft mere en The Cure periode, virkelig fed kulsort post-punk!

An album that didnt gave any goosebumps but actually enjoyed.

I'm an old fan of the Cure, but I guess I prefer it when they do proper pop songs such as Just like heaven. I have zero time for this in my life.

Har aldrig varit min grej. Intressant att höra det som sen blev MBV, Slowdive etc.

kinda drags sorry robert smith

Definitely a shade darker than even Disintegration, but really interesting listen.

it's ok

Nor here or there. I didn't hate listening to it but at the same time there was nothing for me to get excited about.

Like so many of these, I never actually sat down to listen to this. I'm glad I did!

#751. This album is a whole ass vibe, as the kids would say. Not that they'd say it about this, mind you, because this is oldies meant for people from the 1900s, but you know what I mean. It's good, go listen to it. 4/5: fantastic.

Lo más oscuro y casi tenebroso que jamás the Cure ha podido grabar lo hicieron en este álbum. A mí me dna un pelín de miedo hasta acercarme a la portada en las tienda de discos. Entiendo que “The Hanging Garden” fuera lo más parecido a un single radiadle, porque el resto hay que escucharlo en penumbra y con velas para estar a tono. Todo esto no lo digo en un tono peyorativo, más bien lo contrario. Pero creo que hasta la misma banda entendió que si querían llegar a lo más alto, tenían que modular el tono y, sin perder la esencia, transitar hacia espacios melódicamente más accesibles. Mención de honor, sin embargo a “One Hundred Years”

Trash

Reći ću ovo bez imalo pristrasnosti, najbolji su!

My god does robert smith have a great voice. Really enjoyed.

This was alright. I like The Cure but it wasn't my favourite.

A title created to serve as a vehicle to attract publicity. Nothing else of note here unless you like whinging and self self self.

Possibly my favourite Cure record depending on the mood.

This album is terrible. Nobody needs to hear this one. The Cure are capable of good tunes, but clearly were in a mood on this one.

When I hear The Cure, I imagine a guy who has a super goth appearance - black nails, eye shadow, spiked leather, the whole nine - but instead of being dark and broody, he's really dramatic and whines about everything making sure everyone in the room can hear him. People avoid eye contact with him for fear that he'll regale them with his latest persecution at the hands of "the man". This is how I feel about The Cure. In typical Cure fashion, this album plods along with all the enthusiasm of a teen asked to clean the garage. If not for a moment of silence between tracks, I don't know if I could tell where one lamenting dirge ends and the next begins. Instead of releasing albums, this guy should have sought therapy.

Don’t know what happened to the notes I put in here when I listened to this album but I did enjoy it very much. I have not had the chance to listen to the earlier albums by The Cure so I’m glad this came up as I enjoyed it very much. I’m looking forward to hopefully one day sitting down and listening through their catalogue as I think they’re a great band with a distinct sound.

Great album. Hands down.

No me ha encantado en la primera escucha aunque me ha resultado interesante. El tipo de disco que me irá gustando más cuanto más lo escuche.

The whole album sounds identical. Of course they would pick the least popular Cure album. Ugh.

Nothing really thrilled me on the album Best for me was The Figurehead.

All Cure albums should be on here.

Not my favorite from The Cure but I still liked it.

альбом крутйший, вайбовый и кьюр любимая группа

diluted dread, i guess kinda what I expected for a Cure album, might be worth a revisit

Not my thing.

Mag die Stimme nicht

Without a doubt the worst album I have ever listened to the whole way through. I found no joy from any aspect of this album other than the name. I would absolutely give this zero stars if that was an option. Could not have hated it more.

I may be the worst music reviewer of all time as something has to really suck for me to talk poorly about it.

Goated goth rock

Pre Thoughts: - I've heard 100000 good things about this album, I hope they are true. - I think Robert Smith is cool and this band has tracks I like, I even thought their newest release was decent. During Thoughts: - Immediate right energy for me today. - Production is decidedly rough, but fitting for the aesthetic - Guitars are cool and sharp sounding Post Thoughts: - Nothing super jumped, but def think it was enjoyable. - Specific for a certain headspace and time, but services its environment extremely well. Standout Tracks: Hanging Garden, Figurehead, Cold,

Sounded like Halloween music. Could not even finish the whole album. I’m sorry

Captivating! Weird time shifts, key changes. I can feel the rebellion inside of what you could describe as pop songs met with punk. Not a huge fan of his voice but it’s interesting. Drummer stood out the most. I actually liked this and might check out their other stuff

I did not like this at all. Tough listen early in the am on the drive to work. My day was completely ruined after listening to this. Will never listen again

Not for me. I found the lead singers voice to be constantly distorted with an echo oraybe reverb affect which comes across as like listening to a mouse or a screaming cat.

I've always kind of wished I could have gotten into the Cure but after multiple attempts I am starting to see where Morrissey was coming from: (from Google) Morrissey made famously harsh comments about The Cure, calling their frontman Robert Smith a "whingebag" and claiming the band "adds a new dimension to the word 'crap'"

Reminds me of Depeche Mode!

last song sounds what my one and only panic attack felt like. This album made me feel all kinds of ways

Creates a gloomy atmosphere very well, some great layering, I wasn't as familiar with these songs as other Cure songs but they hold up well.

I LOVE The Cure and this album!

The music is great. Immediately upon starting the first song One Hundred Years I was drawn in and interested in what the album had to offer. Then, the excitement just faded away. I just don't think that, on the day I listened to it, I was super down for all the nihilism and depressing lyrics. Goth rock is a genre I'm not too into either solely based on lack of exposure to it. It was alright, I just think I would've liked it perhaps a bit more on a different day. I may revisit this down the line & update my rating but today it is a 2.

I love this list because it gives me the opportunity to discover bands/artists that I missed over the years. It's a revelation when I discover I like one of those albums. Unfortunately, too often I find that I was right to dismiss an artist/band/album without a listen. This is one of the latter. This is boring, depressing and just bad music.

This is a 4.5 that I'm rounding up, as it is a great album through, and even though I don't think it is perfect, it still stands out today, let alone at the time it was created - a breath of something completely new and beautiful and dark and dangerous and nostalgic.

7.5/10

Noise. Just a shit ton of noise. I honestly didn't know what to make of this album. I know I didn't really enjoy it for the most part, but I don't even think I "get" it. Like I can dislike something and still "get" it. But I neither like this nor "get" it. For one, the super whiny Brit Pop voice shows up again and I simply cannot stand that sound (look at "One Hundred Years" or "A Short Term Effect" for early examples of what I mean). I have a hard time imagining a record executive or a producer hearing that and thinking "Yup, that sounds great!" It makes me want to cover my ears and never uncover them. I will give it this - this is far from the pop rock sound I know they eventually adopted as the 80's went on. This is original, uncompromising, and at least feels like an honest and genuine attempt at something different, something bold. But it really just wasn't for me. Like, at all. It didn't cure my distaste for this era of British rock. Two stars. Standout Track: The Hanging Garden

Some decent songs but it gets samey after a while.

I don’t understand this music

The Cure's appeal is clear -- technically adept music and highfalutin lyrics -- but I cannot muster enough interests in their nothingness.

3,5

It's fine. A bit dull, but obviously some are classic.

Another album by The Cure in the same week? Honestly not looking forward to this. I was fairly unimpressed with Disintegration. And this album might have a touch more energy to it, but it sounds just as repetitive and one note. I literally can’t tell when one track ends and another starts. I’ve never gone through a gloomy goth phase so maybe that’s the issue for me. Overall this album sounds really whiney and it got on my nerves. 2/5

I'm a fan of later The Cure for sure, but I have never listened to this album. Wasn't my favorite.

Textural guitar work is pretty interesting. Sad-sack vocals drive me up the wall. Still can't get into The Cure. 2 stars.

It's certainly The Cure.

Going to be fully honest: I never dug deep into The Cure aside from their popular singles that continue to hit the airwaves and affect pop culture. So this is overdue, and a good place to start in the band for me. There's some great tone and aggression on the album: very fun listening and not at all slow or otherwise passive pop variations of some 'woe is me' stereotypes one would have of Goth music. Pornography is upbeat, ready to hug your ears with 1982's form of abrasive music. The Cure would later get lighter (less so lyrically for the most part, but certainly of this kind of sound) but I see its relevance in the 1001+ album, given how much influence that not just the band themselves had, but how this was very much postpunk inspired and how other bands can see this album of The Cure alone and mold it into their own gothic image. Great record.

Amazing album, I’ll definitely check out more of The Cure after this one.

None of the big hits and pop turn that would come in subsequent albums, this was the culmination of early moody Cure. Dark and existential, I don't have too much of a connection with this album but I enjoy letting it wash over me.

I enjoyed this album. I biked across the city listening to it and the darkness descended around in a good way.

Dark, gloomy, utterly depressing, like a psychedelic fever dream, very murky as if you're trying make out shapes in the dark, instills a feeling of hopelessness, evokative and immersive. Cold, very cold, freezing even. Feels like a shadow is constantly hovering over you while you listen to it, an incessant impending doom. But why is it called that? Key tracks: One Hundred Years A Strange Day

This gothic rock album builds from dense layers of drums, bass, and reverb-drenched guitars, with vocals aching in despair and urgency, shrouded in a fog of claustrophobic atmosphere and emotional collapse that feels both agonizing and strangely transcendent.

Solid album with a lot of driving bass and reverb on the vocals. Robert Smith’s vocal sound is still iconic. Highlights: “The Hanging Garden” and “Cold”

Tap into your goth side and this is a pretty decent listen. I probably won’t be back to it again, but I’m glad it’s out there for the folks who need it

Dark. Depressed. Lost. Beautiful.

Generally, not the biggest fan of The Cure; this didn’t really do much to persuade me.

Fav Song: A Strange Day

I had heard of the cure but never listened to them before. I can recognize their influence on the genre and overall I'd say this album was not bad.

I think this band’s got it where it counts and maybe they’re doing interesting things. Just not for me…

A cure album with none of their hits. An interesting and dark listen, but I'm more of the "alove Cats" type of Cure Fan

Definitely not the best album, but still the cure really like the beats and the guitar

It's just not for me by any measure.

01) One Hundred Years - 8,0 02) A Short Term Effect - 7,5 03) The Hanging Garden - 8,0 04) Siamese Twins - 7,0 05) The Figurehead - 7,0 06) A Strange Day - 8,0 07) Cold - 7,0 08) Pornography - 6,0 TOTAL: 7,31 (73/100) Current ranking: 336/698

Couldn’t get into this. Just seems slightly discordant

It’s not my favorite Cure record I’ve listened to, but it maintains their strong sense of atmosphere and the drums are quite cool. Viva la goth rock.

Great album

It’s a mood setter

The musical version of moaning at the smell of your own farts.

Bit of a 1 trick pony but at least they spotted the trick 30 years before The XX

I would loved it if I was still a teenager

Spooky Halloween Sound Effects CD behind PSA about the dangers of eating meat.

"Hanging Garden" is a bop, and "Cold" has such an interesting minor-key feel. I'll listen to this one again.

Like it, and tbf I already know I like Cure. But a bit boring, not as captivating as some of their other albums

Another solid cure project.

I liked this more than maybe any other work by the Cure that I’ve heard. It finally delivers on the promise of being dismally bleak, not only lyrically but musically. The first half of the album is a dark moody wreck and I love it. I think I was pretty done by the last two tracks, but I can see why the last track, which is mostly a droning song recorded in a basement, is there. It’s the final point of a miserable story that’s barely worth listening to because why would you! Nobody cares!!! Anyway this was good. I get it now.

Pornography is my second favorite The Cure album. Second only to Greatest Hits which coincidentally has no songs from Pornography on it. I always liked that The Cure was two bands, the poppy one that rose to superstardom and the dark brooding goth dudes whining about whatever. Had I been of music listening age at this time I may have accused them of selling out but I love both versions. Great stuff.

Good

I really wanted to like the album more :(

A powerful, bleak wall of sound, but very droning and repetitive

Bleak dark but compelling

I like the cure and this had some good sounds to it!

3.2

Vocals suck. Not for me.

I should like it but I don't. Too much of a dirge. You couldn't even put it on as background music as it is too depressing.

- I like goth rock in general, but Disintegration was my integration (heh) into the genre, and this is just missing those few elements that made that one great - from what I understand, this was one of the formative albums of the genre when it was just coming onto the scene, but I much prefer what it ended up growing into seven years later: less aggressively melancholic, more dreamily contemplative - still, the drum sampling is pretty cool and drives a lot of the songs forward. I'd channel my inner goth rage and go for a run with this in my ears

not a fan of "atmospheric" music

It was okay

This has to be one of my favorite albums. It helped build the new-wave and darkwave sounds. the distortion and Robert Smith's voice go just so well rate: 9.5/10

One hundred years: Holy shit the album sounds so far ahead it's time I mean 1982? Album sounds like it aired in y2k or something and it has the same drum intro from Racerx's which came after 5 years and the song overall has a spooky vibe but it's kinda long but lyric wise it tells stuff soo 8.5 A short term effect :it sounds soo emo I definitely feel the influence the band give to today's emo bands and the vocalist is soo unique but the song is nothing special and the mix is pretty dope I can hear everything comfortably 7.5 The Hanging Garden : I'm not a emo enjoyer but the experimental sound of the band damn it's unique I haven't heard something like this before I like the fact that guitar is kinda back on the mix and most of the songs are bass/drums driven It makes a great groove 8 Siamese Twins: I feel like Corey Taylor inspired of this song when writing Snuff and I love ballads like this i wish the song end around 4:30 or something outro part killed the thempo of the song soo 7.5 The Figurehead: Damn the bass riff from come as you are came from there I really liked the chorus effect on the vocals,one of the better songs on the album .I can relate myself with the song. the spooky bridge type of thing feels awkward at first but it fits perfectly in the aura of the song i think this is the best song of the album 9 A strange day: Great groove vocals fit in well too,as every song in the album outro is great and it sounds soo familiar 8.5 Cold:organ intro is amazing it sets the atmosphere great I like the way the vocals sound that huge.its simple and sounding great 8.5 Pornography:Experimental track sounds ok I guess 7.5

top 3: - siamese twins - the figurehead - a strange head

Sad but good

Almost a 2 but became more enjoyable. 3.

Noisy post punk.

One of their 3 great albums. 100 Years has always been a firm favourite

3.5

Great

Ei tää Curen voivottelu oo oikein ikinä iskeny

Yhtä ja samaa kappaletta läpi koko albumin. ⭐️⭐️

Decent enough. I don't recall spending much time on this record and have probably focused more on their later 80s and 90s work. Still that signature sound. High 2s.

Ehh

Not my favourite genre

Sad songs for sad bois. I am a sad boi

Would not buy.

This is a gloomy listen, and it sounds like the making of it was fraught to say the least. I missed this one during my peak Cure-listening years, so I appreciated the history lesson, even if it's not something I'd put on for funsies.

I know I just wrote a review of In Rainbows dissing anxiety-inducing records, but the critical difference here is that The Cure kicks ass and so does this album.

Not really into this type of music but mad respect

Langweilig

There are albums that intrigue, there are albums that bore, and then there are albums that consume you whole. Pornography is the latter. The opening notes don’t just set a tone; they suffocate. It’s Paradise Lost rewritten as a post-punk requiem, a descent where the angels are gone and only hunger remains. At its core, this is music as both punishment and pleasure. It’s rough, it’s erotic in its violence, it’s the sound of needing more pain just to feel alive. There’s a narcotic quality to the repetition, the droning basslines and pounding percussion that feel claustrophobic, hypnotic, and perversely addictive. Even the cover art, blurred faces bleeding into one another, mirrors the sound within: amorphous, disorienting, a portrait of identities dissolving. Pornography is the sound of the fight lost, and the strange beauty of giving in. For anyone who has felt themselves breaking and stayed just to see where the pieces would land, this album is for you.

Moody, crunchy, beautiful

Definitely a mood album, lots of atmosphere and layers, in some ways kind of fits into the same space as Joy Division. Worth a few more listens.

Oh man, The Cure never disappoint! I went in expecting boring goth crap, and they delivered!! Nice.

Good album. I liked it better than most of the singles played. It’s dark wave. I listened to the remastered version on Spotify. I would like to have heard the songs mixed with better separation between instruments; it’s a bit muddled. That’s a quibble - it’s a solid album except “Pornography” which seems more like filler

I like all of the ingredients but I just don’t enjoy the cake. 3/ 5

fuck i love The Cure. classic.

While I'm certainly aware of this as the pivot to goth rock, this is where the Cure started to lose me, as a fan in real-time. I CAN'T STAND the drum sound, even though I appreciate the atmosphere they're creating. Bring back Seventeen Seconds!

There were no real stand out tracks on this album and I tend to prefer the Cure's poppier stuff, but this was still good.

I fell asleep during the second song and woke up during the title track, at the end. Great nap. On second listen, this is The Cure at their darkest, and they have forgone choruses and hooks, and replaced it with drone, the melodies are sparse and Smith is wailing over drum machines. The songs are repetitive and heavily layered. Aside from The Hanging Garden, these are songs that I’m not familiar with. It’s no Disintegration that’s for sure, but it is not intended to be. I’ll be happy to listen to A Letter To Elise afterwards to remind myself of the joy of melody. Highlights - Siamese Twins (fascinating lyrics), A Strange Day (great guitar parts) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not for me, though I didn't hate it like I assumed. 80's alt/pop/rock stuff aint for me.

Always good to give a re-listen to this fantastic piece of art. Definitely requires a mood but what an album.

creatures kissing in the rain

honestly I think it might be one of the more overrated cure records but there's nothing else that sounds as pained as this album. this album sounds like they had robert smith doing the vocals while in one of those medieval torture devices that stretches you out while a really short guy gets commanded to turn the crank.

When you hear 80s Cure, you know its 80s Cure.

Jesus Christ I was already depressed

I had a hard time enduring the whining and finishing this repetitive and boring album. I guess their 3 songs I know/like are from a later period. 3/10

The album's opening line is "It doesn't matter if we all die," and it really well anticipates what's to come over the next 40+ minutes. Pornography is quite heavy to listen to at times, and it's not my favorite Cure album. But there are elements that lays the groundwork for the band's sound to evolve towards their later great albums

Previously during this project Disintegration made a huge impact to me. This isn't such level experience, probably because expectations were really high. Still a great album

Well shite. I knew before hand I don't care for cure. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I didn't enjoy it particularly either. Smith's voice and style of singing is just too whiney for me!

"Pornography" is a fitting title for this album—it's almost embarrassingly explicit, but sometimes seems unrealistic. Be that as it may, some of the songs are painful, and it's certainly in the eye of the beholder and depends on their mood whether that's a good or bad thing. In any case, this album is an impressive testament to the early days of gothic rock. Recommended tracks: “The Hanging Garden,” “The Figurehead,” and “Cold” have particularly stuck in my memory.

Not the best Cure album, but the Cure is one of the best. The outlet for 80's angst.

Homeopathic cure doesn't do shit

Me likey, would listen again

It was ok ~ pretty standard 1980s stuff. Not super my jam

I too prefer my sadness to be drenched in over the top gothic dramatics

Distorted guitars and synths, pulsing drums & Smith’s wailing vocals converge to evoke feelings of fear and despair. Not a casual listen, but a worthy one.

Nope

Such a downer. Did not enjoy.

Organic cocaine jazz

This is when The Cure truly grabbed me back n the day - superb album, moody as hell and quite obviously goth rock at its finest.

I must say this isn’t really doing it for me. A bit samey and unmemorable. They definitely improved with subsequent albums

I had to listen to this (and Joy Division's CLOSER) sandwiched between some cheerful albums, partly because of the content and partly because of the memories of what was going on in my life when I first listened to this. Great songs, great performances, but I don't know if I could put this on my regular playlist.

Loads of echoey chorus guitar effect slathered over virtually every track. Bit bloated.

A bit too ominous for me. Some songs were okay and others I wasn't a big fan of.

Terrible album by an awful band.

I’d describe this as the “deep cut” of The Cure anthology — just a buried gem that was both unique and prescient to what would come from them. Listening to it reminded me of the almost unfathomable way that music was consumed in the 80s. You couldn’t buy this album, and maybe some gloomy friend had an older college-age sibling that could dub it for you. I was nine years old when this came out, and would be another six years at least that it would even interest me. Sam Goody did not stock it, there was no internet and no eBay, and most independent music stores had a small section of “alternative” music that was basically a dozen copies of REM’s Green. It’s been a few weeks, but this is definitely an album lost in history but worth listening to.

I’ll never be mad at 1001 giving us The Cure for the day. I’m a long time Cure fan and this is maaaaybe my favorite Cure Album. It’s at least tied with a couple other of theirs. While Seventeen Seconds found the band dipping its toes in to darker waters, Pornography saw them diving right in. All the instruments on this album are all beautifully recorded and mixed. Robert Smith sounds so tormented through the whole album and mean that in the best way. Just a perfect album to me. Easy 5.

I'm not one who knows The Cure backwards and forwards, but I'm aware of, and enjoy, many of their songs. This album starts out with a driving, atmospheric darkness that I absolutely LOVE! The first couple of songs and A Strange Day ended up being my favorites. Overall, I think the songs were repetitive, but cool. I give this one a 3.5

I felt that this was sort of departure from what they usually do. I'm not the biggest Cure fan, but I do like some of their songs. This one seemed to not have the same atmospheric feel as some of their other stuff

The Cure, Pornography 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Hey, kids! Like Joy Division? Wanna hear what mopey, sad, sexy stuff kept getting recorded after Ian Curtis's death? This is it. Definite English through-line from punk to postpunk to JD to the Cure. So damn dark and droney and wonderful. Like. For a certain demographic, you caught on to The Cure as they were really rising fast. The Head On the Door if you're lucky. Kiss Me if you knew that edgy cool fun girl in high school or at work. Disintegration if you were alive and listening to the radio. So what I'm trying to say here is if you're just starting to hear what wasn't pop rock radio in the mid 80s, you missed all of the edgy really underground new wave. The monsters of it, New Order and The Cure and The Smiths, you probably caught later—you'd be lucky if you'd been exposed to The Clash. Certain subsets of suburban America, insulated from daring pop culture: we know this. So when you crack like Japanese Whispers or Staring at the Sea you think backwards. Oh, holy shit... This is what the cool rich kids from the academy were into. Or the mysterious college girls coming out of mysterious record shops on the campus. You knew these bands had an edge but they were just out of reach. And you hear Primary or The Hanging Garden and it flips yo wig. Then you spin the whole album and this idea opens up to you: Polydor or Island or BMI or whoever, they want hits. Like whoever got INXS to cobble together the generic platinum Kick spent the rest of his days between his yacht and his penthouse. And when we think of Echo & the Bunnymen we think Lips Like Sugar and The Killing Moon and whatever brought them commercial success. But you go and listen to INXS's Shabooh Shoobah or Echo's Heaven Up Here and that's when they were the really badass jangly guitarred club rockers driving all the kids crazy. And that's Pornography: The Cure before Smith got bored with postpunk, gothic themes. It's a masterpiece. There's really not a hit on it and that's what makes its even ebbing, receding tide so calming and evocative of anther time. LCD Soundsystem wrote a song called You Wanted a Hit, and it describes them but also this idea. Yo. We're putting down some tracks to be a recognizable album with a theme and a sound for our time. What's gonna get fed to radio or streaming or sold as the initial single? We don't care. That's you production wonks. You do the marketing; we'll stick to the music. And often the albums that say that are the genius albums. There aren't a ton of reccs I get on 1,001 that I wanna go out and buy, but this is one.

ну это крутяк. атмосферно, томно, готишно, интересно

Love the cure

Awesome

Essential Goth music for any spooky fall season.

are all the songs of the album the same ? or it my be my ears :'(

"It doesn't matter if we all die" musikhistoriens absoslut bästa öppningsrad och programförklaring i ett. Välkommen till nihilismen, paranoian, vansinnet och hopplösheten. Efter "Pornography" gick det inte att dra det längre, det är mörkare och brutalare än någon black metal kommit i närheten av. Föjldaktligen avslutas skivan med raderna "I must fight this sickness, find a cure". The Cure skulle aldrig återvända till det här ofiltrerade bråddjupet igen, man blev popigare och mer metforiska. Robert Smith har i efterhand sagt att han känner sig generad över hur han så öppenbart blottade sitt missbruk, sin depression, sitt mörker under den här perioden (Faith, Pornography och The Top) för allmän beskådan på skiva. Men det mod, det utlämnadet och med den nödvändigheten är det skapar riktigt stor konst. Soundet! Reverbet! Trummorna! En vattendelare skulle jag vilja påstå. Soundet du antingen fullkomligt älskar eller bara tycker är jobbigt. Få skivor, om ens någon, i nån form av mainstream fåra har så utmärkande och utmanande sound, allt är vridet till max. Det är ett ljud som aldrig lämnar dig ifred, gastkramande. De spöklika ekorösterna i "Short term effect", de rastlösa trummorna i "Hanging garden", den accelerande hopplöstheten i "Siamese twins", det aparta gitarrsolot i "A strange day", domedagssynten i "Cold" och det febriga obehagliga vansinnet i titelspåret. Det finns något i varje spår som sticker ut, stramar åt ens nervknutar eller tar strypgrepp pá en. Omslaget är också fantastiskt, det ser ut precis som det låter, förvridet, mardrömslikt. Såg nånstans, i samband med senaste Cure-turnén, att "The figurehead" var den mest frekvent spelade låten live efter "Play for today" genom deras karriär. Man förstår varför, den är majestätisk, en mörk gotisk katedral. Jag får fortfarande gåshud och nåt fuktigt i ögonvrån av den. Världens kanske bästa band när dom är som bäst, mästerligt! Starkast femman så här långt för mig, t.o.m. bättre än Elvis, för det här lyckas kombinera osviklig kvalitet med att oxå vara utmanande. Svårslaget! Lyssna också på The Cure - Seventeen seconds, The Cure - Faith, Pink Milk - Purple

Det är verkligen ett säreget album som man bör höra innan man dör. Det hypnotiska stelopererade trumkompet, de svävande effektdränkta gitarrerna, Robert Smiths sång som flyter runt utan några riktiga melodier. Liknar verkligen ingenting annat. Men från den här Cure-eran lyssnar jag personligen hellre på Faith och Seventeen seconds.

Visst har det varit en hel del tidigt 80-tal som slumpats fram än så länge. En epok som definitivt kan ifrågasättas. Cure höjer sig emellertid upp ur bottenträsket där flera av de tidigare albumen från tiden hamnat. Det finns något tilltalande med det fundamentala mörkret i skivan. Samtidigt blir det också väldigt enahanda. Någon större variation möts vi inte av vara sig inom enskilda spår eller mellan olika spår. Det blir att man tröttnar efter ett tag. Ser dock att albumet funkar som soundtrack i bilstereon under en nattlig långkörning. Svag trea.

Tyvärr kom jobbet ivägen för en ordentlig genomlyssning. Det låter som the cure brukar låta: bra. Ingen låt dom omedelbart fastnar hos mig. Men känner att albumet kan växa på mig.

For a Cure album, I found the first few tracks shockingly inoffensive. Then expectations were restored and it turned into a slog. The "gothic rock" stuff was fine and had some fun bass guitar; the "slow sad shit" was slow sad shit. I love plenty of sad music, and I know The Cure is often cited as influential for some of the emo music I love, but this ain't it. 1.9

The Cure for what? This was miserable. I liked the drums on occasion. Scrapes a 2.

okay perfect soundtrack for a vampire the masquerade game is what i walked away with. confirmed for me that goth music is not my vein! strikes me as no surprise that the faster paced songs were the ones i enjoyed. I dislike the kind of "cloud" of noise that makes up the majority of this album. liked: the hanging garden

Didn't loved songwriting much, as it feels a bit simple to me, but loved overall gloomy atmosphere. Quite an experience, which I'll probably revisit, but not too often. Best song: A Short Term Effect

Bland and uninteresting sound from The Cure

It’s a miserable dirge that gets worse as it goes on. I get it, i didn’t like it

Awesome album. Hanging garden and Siamese twins are staples of the cure

The cure är häftig men gillar nog mest deras mer popiga grejer. Atmosfäriskt album men gör det inte riktigt för mig.

This is so background music, I had to hear some songs again because they kept fading into the background. And wtf was the title track, that made no sense. Best song: The Hanging Garden

ok maybe the cure are good my bad my bad. 92/100

Second Cure album of the week. And much earlier in their career. Not as good as Disintegration. And if I was in a Cure mood it wouldn’t be my first pick. But I will listen again. Apart from the closing (title) track which is a bit of a mess. 3½

Ah, day 365... My 1st anniversary... Lo! A third Cure album. How lucky am I? I genuinely don't know how I've made it this far. There has been some absolute crap over the last year... I won't lie, I'm wavering a bit if the next few weeks don't pick up I can see this project being dead by Halloween.

I did not like this

This album is super super dark and depressing. Thrillingly feel-bad music. Must-listen #206.

Maybe there’s a time and place I’d enjoy this album but it’s not right now.

A personal favourite. Best paired with a dark room, a 3rd glass of your chosen spirit and sense of fear & dread having watched the 10 o’clock news.

I can feel that this album will hit all the right spots if I listen to it while feeling miserable. It's great.

Rating: 6.5/10 Not a huge fan of early the Cure, this album also suffers from a lack of ideas. Songs would generally be one idea or riff that they slowly expand upon but that is it, I simply do not think these ideas are that great. I commend them on the atmosphere and depressing lyrics but musically this band has albums that are miles better than this.

Classic old-school dirge-y atmosphere. This is what people who don’t know the full range of The Cure think of when they think of The Cure. Perfect for a gloomy day.

Fucking emo-rock. Sucked living through this crap in the 90s, being reminded of it 30 years later is painful. Music to suicide by.

5 stars, no notes, incredible. The Hanging Garden and Cold are my favorites, but the whole album is an epic immersion experience.

I am sure that this album is somehow important in the evolution of The Cure, and likely had an impact on the music of the time, but it's not a great album to listen to. There's not a single song on this album that is in their top 10 best songs. Pitchfork: 8.4 Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs

туманно мрачно депрессивно но если у тебя хорошее настроение - звучит для тебя как фон

Heel goed, niet zo vrolijk...

I had never listened to The Cure before so I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was okay

Damn, I really hated that.

Not my favorite Cure album. Probably won't give it another full listen, but not bad.

It's basically what I expect from The Cure. I understand the impact on the genre, but it's just not for me. The entire album felt like I could easily find anything to distract me that would be more interesting. 1/5 is harsh, but if there ever was going to be a 1 on this journey then it's surely something like this.

Classic cure!

This was definitely a 5 when I listened to it first in the 80's. Now? Still great, but a 4. Why? there are better Cure albums. ( but not many)

yum

I have never liked the Cure. When this album came up on here i kind of realized that I have never actually listened to a full Cure album from start to finish. So i did. And nothing has changed. There were a couple parts where there were some great guitar riffs, but other wise I find the vocals sooooo boring. The Cure is nap music. I don't really want to listen to it if I do not have to.

What did I just listen to? This was absolute trash.

4 stars. Quite nice, obscure, cool, gothic

Disappointing

Listened to the deluxe version. Didn't care for the sound, especially vocals. Because I didn't care about the vocals I didn't pay attention to the lyrics. I recognize the significance of this album. Maybe I would have been into it in the 80s.

A dark, moody record that does some interesting things with the guitar work and noise; however while listening to the record one can't help but call comparisons to predecessors like Joy Division which simply sound like an elevated version of this record. It's serviceable, even enjoyable at times but doesn't stand out much otherwise

I really like The Cure. Never thought I would say that, but this is a solid album. It my favorite, but solid 4 stars.

3/5 not very exciting, but not unlistenable

Interessanter stil der sich durchs ganze Album zieht. Etwas depressiv

Ok so I see the hype. Not exactly my sound but i thought it would be heavier. Digging the surreal vibes.

Unique sound, I like it but hard to listen to (depressing)

Not my thing

Cool sound, feels like it's inspired some big modern acts

Dissonant, atmospheric and dark. I liked this marginally better than Seventeen Seconds but it's not on the same level as Disintegration. A bit too dreary for me. Siamese Twins was a highlight though.

Perfect album.

I don't love all of The Cure's output, but this one is in the sweet spot for me. Great album with a good mix of guitar and synth.

i'm not even usually a cure hater but NO....every song was 40 mins long and took double that time off of my life

i cannot believe this exists.

I like the murky sounding production. It really added a lot to the tone of the album, especially with its dark dark lyrics. I know lots of Cure music, but hadn't heard this before, so it was nice hearing this earlier one. Liked Songs Added The Hanging Garden Siamese Twins A Strange Day

Don't like The Cure

OK, I get it. He's hyper-depressed and all in his head. The album cover tells the story, as concerned friends look through the haze at him as he fades from existence. Very heavy and challenging. Very different from their pop tunes like Friday I'm in Love or Like Heaven. I guess 'The Cure' was to put all of this melancholy in a record, freeing him to pursue joy on the other side. Thematically (not musically), it reminds me of The Wall, except that that tells a story, whereas this is just a funereal slog, start to finish.

As a long-time Cure fan, I rarely listened to Pornography, choosing instead to spend my time with their lighter, less lurid offerings. Upon revisiting, however, Pornography is a powerhouse of dark and dense atmospheres, dark lyrics, and Robert Smith's delivery is haunting. It's clear that Smith and Co. were not in a good place while writing this, and the change in direction after this album seems more necessary than ever. Still, Pornography stands as an impressive bookend to what would be their darkest era and stands as a cornerstone of the goth sub-genre. There honestly isn't a bad song on this record.

Started rough but brought it around quick. Some of the doom and gloom of Robert’s lyrics becomes tiresome, but the performances of the whole bad as well as some good variation in sound makes it worth a listen. 7/10

Kinda cool. Moody af. Not my favourite Cure album.

Their fourth album. Rock / New Wave / Post Punk / Indie. One Hundred Years is a dense and atmospheric opening track which sets the tone for this album. Very Joy Divison esque. Dark and Gothic too. Distorted guitars sound good. The edgier version of The Cure before they went 'Pop'. A solid album.

There are a number of Cure albums I love. This has never really been one of them. Initially dismissed by critics and loved by a fairly vocal subsection of the fanbase, its firmly in the middle for me.

Absolutely love this, reminds me of hearing dads music growing up.

At first, I only saw Pornography as a gothic rock classic and wasn’t interested. But “A Strange Day” really got to me — its floating feel felt strangely nostalgic and reminded me of The Killers, even though The Cure came first. I also felt that Robert Smith and Brandon Flowers’ high notes sometimes sound a little similar.

3.

Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5

A little too whiney for me.

Not for me but it wasn’t horrible.

Bland 1980s studio pop trying to be edgy. Marginally better than the other Cure album I had to listen to but just as monotonous.

1. One Hundred Years - 10 Vocals can be drowned out a little but they are brilliant and the sound from the guitars is so good. The chords on them are excellent and they are underpinned by a deep and excellent drum. Superb track. 2. A Short Term Effect - 6 It's alright. The sound is good but I feel like the drum is almost exactly the same as the first track. It's harder to understand what he's actually singing on the track as well. 3. The Hanging Garden - 7 Faster drum this time but a quintessential sounding song from The Cure. Pretty good sound but this time it's the drums that are the leading instrument. 4. Siamese Twins - 5 Lyrically very random but otherwise a decent track. The tracks are becoming a bit too monotonous in their composure though. They kind of all sound the same, which is okay if tempo or beat changes. Tempo has slightly but beat has very much not. 5. The Figurehead - 6 It's more of the same solid guitars and drum. Sounds almost exactly like the opening 2 tracks. 6. A Strange Day - 6 Rinse and repeat. 7. Cold - 8 Different pace and tone and very enjoyable. Much slower than the rest of the album but that bass has such a hypnotic and incredibly gripping sound. It makes you feel as if you're preparing for an epic. 8. Pornography - 2 Collection of noise to end the album which is extremely disappointing. The noise also drowns out any and all vocals. Average Rating: 6.25 Adjusted to 5-Point Scale: 3.13 Rounded Down: 3 Stars

Excellent cet album toute une partie de ma jeunesse 🙏 Ô temps suspend ton vol....

This is my second Cure album. I liked the first one, Seventeen Seconds, but also felt like it washed over me - it was maybe bigger on atmosphere than tunes. This one was much more intense but also held my attention more. So, it's a thumbs up for intense, attention-grabbing Pornography.

On today's pick of the 1001 albums I should listen to, I rolled The Cure's Pornography from 1982. Believe it or not this is one of the few The Cure albums I have heard in full and yet I distinctly remember not quite getting/understanding this project my first time through. I remember this album being very dreamy and the production and lyrics both bringing this chilly and quite depressing feeling across myself, but I don't think I was into the more melancholic ideas the album was presenting at that time. Now after an unknown of time in between my last listen, easily 3 years at the minimum, I have a new found appreciation for this project even if I don't think it is the best thing in the world. If you like your music moody and full of sad or angry expressions then I would suggest seeing a therapist, or becoming an /mu/ core head as a lot of those albums fit the bill. In all seriousness, this album is a great way to feel like you aren't alone with those emotions as Robert Smith and company put together. While the music does get a bit lost in the production of this album with its' sweeping waves, I do still think there is plenty here to "enjoy" for any sort of music fan. The lyrics are dense and really match the project, the soundscape is still so bold today even if the music may not be as prominent anymore, and it is a short enough runtime where anyone can zoom right through this album without too much thought or effort. With all that being said though I do think everything I said is done to a pretty solid degree and not to anything I am truly impressed with, especially with how messy of a closer the title track is at the end. Pornography is cool and definitely not an album for the summer, but despite that I really don't get what all the hype is about here as The Cure easily has better production and writing on many of their other albums. I'd take Faith over this any day.

Solid album, no songs that stuck out but all bangers.

anyways...

niets voor mij

Like the cure, but this one isn't my favorite

"Pornography" is a foundational goth album, yes; but it's just too depressing.

Very solid

This was listenable but not inspiring to me. The 'industrial' sound of the 80s was not my fave in general, and the dramatic singing voice was another aspect of 80s pop that doesn't translate to modern times very well. Glad for the listen but skipped through the last couple tracks and will prob not put this on again.

No standouts Downer of an album

Dark brooding, no idea if good or sucks. Might need to relisten.

Ok album. Some really good songs and a lot of just ok.

A good album that paves the way for the absolute greatness that is on the horizon.

sad 80s music

Can definitely tell there's something to these lyrics. Superficially, pondering our own mortality and some degree of nihilism comes through - but I can't properly appreciate the message of this album through 1.5 listens. The sound is not for me, not much at all. Maybe on the fifth listen I'd love this album, but for now I think I kind of have to leave it at a 2. Would be a 2.5 if I could. Title track isn't necessarily my favorite, but was certainly one that stood out on an album I couldn't seem to pay attention to for more than a few minutes.

Vielleicht mein Lieblings Album von The Cure. Schön düsterer The Cure Sound. 3,9 Sterne.

Decent album.

A couple of bangers, the rest decent

In general I'm not a huge fan of The Cure, since the instrumentals feel cheesy. Although the vocals really carry it.

not my jam,

Best The Cure Album!

Can’t say I was thrilled to get another Cure album, but let’s see how we go… Urrggghhh. Just be quiet please and turn down your intensity and increase your joy. Struggling with this one and the SMACKING intensity just makes it more unbearable. I don’t know if it’s just my mood, but this is really grating on me. Unskilled, droney, basic and so lacking. Couldn’t wait for it to end.

This is not my first try to appreciate The Cure. I know they are often cited as hugely influential and a big piece in the evolution of modern / rock music. However they just don't do it for me. I felt like this album was just dreary, a bit whiny and boring. I know that's not a hot take as dreary is probably exactly what they are going for.. I just feel like if I criticised them any more it would come of as bullying the emo kid... Truth is I like all sorts of "emo" music, the cure just present the genre in a way that almost gets on my nerves a bit. I will still give them the respect they deserve but feel confident I won't be finding any sort of epiphany of appreciation for their music anytime soon.