Pornography

Siamese twins and the caterpillar were highlights.

really enjoyed it. the instrumentals are great.

Yooo

HarD

Grr… mom brought me the wrong dip sauce for my chicken nuggies… she just doesn’t GET me… goth 4 life

Zornography

A classic!

As the darkness fell across the land so began his descent into the deep well of desolation. His love that once had been the shining beacon for his life has become the crimson eye of despair. Yeah, go to Whitby, listen to some cure and write some gothy shit. Only saw about 10 goths while I was in goth central, half of them were Japanese so could just have been baby metal fans and one of the goths I saw was mooching round in a pair of knee high boots and a pair of Kecks that left half her arse hanging out. Quite the juxtaposition with the scent of fish and chips and the penny slot casinos.

I just cannot stop wanking to this. Fuck me, my dick hurts. Somebody stop me. Don't stop me. I need this to feel alive.

If this is the cure, what was the disease?

Opener sets the tone, with just wicked, haunting guitars and drums so distant in the mix, like they were recorded down the hall in another room. A little less droning, a bit more melodic and touch more energetic than Seventeen Seconds. Still brooding but not as comprehensive a gloomfest. Is this record to emo what Gregorian Chant is to contemporary classical music? 3.65 but a reluctant 4 due to lack of hits and because their best work was still ahead.

Dark. Gloomy. Synthy. Really good. 8-9/10

Introductions to The Cure are mostly their brighter and more jovial offerings. "Pornography" however is a bit dark and moody with a seriousness throughout. In a way, one almost wonders if this was The Cure at all as nearly all subsequent releases were brighter, more in-line with the decade trends. With that in mind, this album is incredible albeit the subject matter indicating a certain depth that should be uncomfortable. Misery loves company, and misery may in fact love this album.

Goth, man :(

A great vocalist and a great sound. You're transported away to a forest of danger and melancholy. Great stuff

Liked this a lot, a darker diversion from the pop-Cure and all the better for it.

Much darker than I thought it would be - the album felt more of an overall mood than any specific standout tracks, I enjoyed it.

Love The Cure. Just have a place in my music heart for that darkness. Had not listened to this album, and it has a different feel than the overly played "LoveSong", "friday I'm in love", "just like heaven" type of tracks mostly associated with them. Definitely enjoyed.

Good, but you definitely need to be in the right frame of mind to get this one.

Great stuff from The Cure, one of their darker, bleaker records

Thought I knew it and didn't like it, that 1980s one TWO three FOUR drum beat on a few tracks was annoying, I'd probably enjoy a remixed version. However after repeated listens decided it was quite good.

Really liked this album. Had only listened previously to a handful of tracks by The Cure. Especially liked The Hanging Garden. Album was a bit dark and moody with great instrumentals.

Much better than I expected. I appreciate the darker notes.

Jesus, just go see a therapist. Best track: Cold

The force of the rhythm section is honestly breathtaking

Liked it more than I thought I would. I might actually like The Cure.

Heftiger Sound

Another overlooked band by me, the Cure is great

Dark and moody, a fabulous album from start to finish, with Robert Smith’s characteristic vocals present throughout. Musically more down tempo than it’s sister album, Seventeen Seconds, but showcasing the band as they rise to become a global presence. Top tracks: One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, Cold

I love the Cure and it's really easy to get lost within any of their albums. Pornography is brilliant, though no my personal fav. I do struggle with the title track though (not the best ending to an album)

Another Cure Album, much darker than Disintegration, but still fantastic.

The Cure before they discovered the playfulness that gave them hit singles.

Really unsure what to rate this, I think its probably better than I give it credit for m, but Jesus it's dour. Will have to come back to this again one day

Wow. This was really good. A great sonic journey. 4 stars.

Sad boy hours. I like it.

Ovo je u top 3 definitivno najboljih The Cure albuma. Tako mračan, ritmičan, depresivan, hladan album, ujedno pun ljepote ako se to može tako i navesti. Ako si fan ovog benda, ovaj album moraš ispoštivati.

Le pongo 4 estrellas por lo que significa. No es que me haya parecido espectacular, pero cuando terminó el disco Spotify se siguió con rolas similares y me puse a pensar que este disco es parte de la base para un gran capítulo en la base de la historia musical global. Amén.

Excellent Cure offering. It captures the melancholy perfectly. Not my favorite from the trilogy cure album, but it is still a remarkable piece of work.

The first Cure song I ever fell in love with was "Burn" from the Crow soundtrack, and this whole album sounds like that, so I am very much on board. Digging the abject gothiness of the whole thing. Fave track - "The Hanging Garden", perhaps, or "A Short Term Effect". I like this album as an album, though, rather than discrete tracks.

Plenty of classic cure angst but lacks the hooks of other records. Still a great moody and atmospheric record though

I'm not that big a fan of The Cure, didn't knew any of the songs of the album, but it's quite interesting. Somehow raw, feels kind of unfinished sometimes, but overall is nice.

sounds like the talking heads if they were trying to not sound like the talking heads. also has a similar but unique sound to molchat doma. good album, added one of the songs to my playlists.

the cure fans when they google pornography not my favorite cure album but solid enough

So doom-y and quite a bit gloomy. They're all just so genuinely affected and the music just drones on and on and somehow becomes more all encompassing. Like a hug from a demon. Real goth stuff.

So this led me to the album before this from the Cure which I liked more, but I thought the cure sad tones really come through here

In Conclusione: Aspettavo un po' il momento in cui avrei incrociato i The Cure su 1001 perché sono un gruppo che non ho mai approfondito, che mi ha sempre intrigato e che però quando ho incrociato con qualche pezzo di solito mi ha deluso. Dall'aspetto, dal nome, da come ne parlano i fan m'ero sempre fatto un'idea dei The Cure ma poi quando mi capitava di sentire dei pezzi erano molto diversi da quello che mi sarai aspettato... ma non questo album! Finalmente i The Cure hanno un senso per me. Devo dire che l'ho apprezzato davvero molto, col tono dark e un po' marcio che mi aspettavo e che non ho mai ritrovato. Stilisticamente è un blend davvero molto interessante e personale di influenze ed è impossibile non sentire come poi a loro volta hanno influenzato una generazione di musicisti venuti dopo di loro. La produzione non è il massimo forse ma non per i soliti motivi anni '80 (o forse sì?). Forse i suoni elettronici sono un po' acerbi ma è difficile capire se fosse intenzionale, sicuramente oggi avrebbe avuto un'altra estetica. Comunque so contento di aver trovato pace coi The Cure.

E' stato un ascolto impegnativo ma che mi è piaciuto e sono un fan della produzione. Lo stile canoro è al limite per me ma comunque funzionale alla musica. Sicuramente è un disco che riascolterò spesso.

did listen

bacaninha (jack bauer nao curtiu)

Excellent!

dark as fuck, but really enjoyed that. will listen again.

decent but pretty weird. 7+

Nunca he entendido el fandom extremo que causó The Cure en las culturas underground, por así decirlo, a mí me parece poco entrañable y no me atraen sus ocasionales sonidos sucios, quizás porque es un poco como lo que me pasa con Lana del Rey en el pop, quizás si le bajaran un poco al clonazepam más frecuentemente me llamarían más. Por otras parte, el disco tiene sonidos interesantes para mi antigua alma gótica y me recordó a una crush de la prepa a la que le gustaba mucho esta banda. Canción favorita: The Hanging Garden, porque es la que tiene un ritmito más pegajoso según yo. mood: con el litio al cien, pero recostado en un lecho de muerte.

Alright, very chill emo Vibe

Das titelgebende Stück ganz zum Schluss ist schon irre großes Tennis, verstörend, lauernd, droney. Und dabei ist es nicht das einzige Highlight in einer an Hits armen dafür aber fast durchgängig hochkarätigen Songauswahl. Gitarren zerschneiden mehrere Schichten wabernden Trockeneisnebel, Drums unmenschlich monoton eben doch menschlich leidenschaftlich und immer mit einem klein-perkussiven Extra-Kniff; die Eskalation in den Strukturen und eine wirklich großartige Stimm-Modulation flößt selbst nüchtern ein sehnsüchtelnd Bauchgefühl nach heftigem Rausch ein. Das ist irgendwie schon das Beste, was Dark Wave kann. Headphones please! 4.1

Depressive self-indulgence; less fun than the album name suggests. Music is still awesome. 8

Nice blast from the past and to reminisce about high school. Definitely different from the Cure everyone (thinks) they know, me included.

I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was good.

Chilling, ethereal, and sometimes hypnotic - this is a good first look at a genre that has been much imitated since this release, but in the opinion of these fresh ears, not replicated. STANDOUTS: -One Hundred Years -The Hanging Garden -The Figurehead -A Strange Day -Cold

Siempre he tenido una relación extraña con la música de The Cure. El género del goth como tal me agrada bastante en muchos otros grupos y ellos creo tienen merecido su lugar. Su música por un lado tiene muchos sencillos que musicalmente suenan casi a pop y por otro pueden estar entre los mejores para dar variación emocional y ponerse la camiseta del género. Este es creo un disco bastante dificil y no es para nada de sorprenderse que cuando haya salido no hubiera pegado ni tantito. Aquí no hay un solo sencillo, no hay casi variación tonal, todo el disco sale de un pozo de desesperación y depresión. Las letras tienen a una persona que se siene incapaz de volver a sentir felicidad, lleno de autodestrucción y como si fueran su última declaración al mundo. En realidad se siente como si fuera una foto del punto más bajo en la vida de Robert Smith. Se toman esas letras y se pegan a una música que de verdad te desgasta, el bajo y la batería podrían ser los mismos en cada canción que no te das cuenta. La guitarra simple siempre discordante al resto de la música y la voz atascada de eco. El disco debiera ser aburrido pero de alguna forma todo se mezcla en algo casi empoderante, casi a decirte "mira que tan bajo se puede caer, da gracias de no estar ahí." De nuevo, no es un disco agradable ni facil, se siente el combustible de drogas, alcohol y depresión del que salió y el bajo estado mental en su creación. Sin embargo quizá justo es esto lo que debería de ser este género y menos "Friday I'm in Love." Amalgama de tortura que puede a veces sentirse indulgente pero es preciso en ser un proyecto grande de rock gótico.

#2 behind disintegration

I have never heard this one before. It definitely sounds like they are still developing their “sound”. I understand why it came up in this list. I would have to listen to more before I could find songs I like. Nothing reaches out to me like other artists and songs in the past.

Awesome 80s.vibes

Good music. Not the best to be listening to over Sunday brunch, just a lil grim.

Great!

Aunque parezca raro creo que este es el disco más oscuro de the cure en muchos sentidos. La música es lúgubre, las letras son sombrías y crudas

This is the kind of Cure that I like, not so much the more new-wavey stuff. This albums feels like it came from resentment and pain. Gleefully miserable. Also more experimental than I was expecting, which was pleasing.

Not my favorite album from The Cure but a good listen nonetheless.

Good listen. I remembered some of these songs but had never heard the entire album.

Surprised by how much I liked it. Dark pre new wavy cure

Very dark and melodramatic. Liked the opening track, "Siamese Twins".

Good record

Amazinf album the cure is goated 8,8/10

ahhhh I wasn't paying much attentionnnnnnnnn it sounded good but dark.

Before listening: I generally enjoy the cure. Not listened to loads of their stuff, so this should be fun During: as expected so far. Feels a little less polished than their later albums, not necessarily a bad thing After: enjoyable, less poppy than some of their songs. You can see where they’re headed

It was decent, sounded like The Cure. I didn't dislike it but they're not really my favorite type of music or whatever.

3 spins of this album. It’s classic cure but not the easiest listen. In terms of light and shade, there’s a lot of shade.

Pretty good

Very dark and dense. Like the drums but it's quite a heavy mood for a whole album.

Wasn’t their best album, the cure is a lot better than this, I wasn’t really too fond of the vibe I got from this album

I’ve never been a huge Cure fan, and this album didn’t really change that. I’ve always preferred The Smiths when I’m in the mood for miserable British music. Pornography is darker and more oppressive, almost to the point where the whole album feels like it’s taking place in the same dimly lit room. “One Hundred Years” is a strong opener, and “The Hanging Garden” has a great tribal drum pattern that gives it some movement. “Cold” was probably the track that best fit the album title for me. Everything about it feels bleak and drained of color. Robert Smith sounds completely miserable throughout, which I realize is probably part of the appeal. I can respect how committed it is to that mood, but after a while all the gloom started blending together. Nothing here was bad, and I understand why Cure fans hold it in such high regard.

The Cure have always been accessible goth-y music and this is a good example of why that is. I didn’t recognise any of the hits, but I wasn’t put off. There’s enough sensibility to be accessible but this isn’t pop music. It’s darker, more interesting.

The cure has always intrigued me but I’ve only ever listened to their biggest hits so this was a fun album to go through A lot of these songs sound really similar which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since I like the cure sound but it still makes not a lot of the tracks standout I really like all the sounds on the title track Favorites: the having garden, Siamese twins, pornography 3.5/5

6/10

Outstanding songwriting and guitar sounds as always - this sounds like what depression feels like The drummer changed to keyboard after this album, thank god, that was truly rubbish

We're not quite at the cosmic glory of Disintegration, but this is as sharp and glistening as broken glass.

The rolling drums made this heavier and better than some of the later stuff: I like this better than the pop version of The Cure singing about love cats

not a good cure album

Fine. Kind of good background music but interesting enough. It's also very much a The Cure album and you can tell

Sounded pretty depressing, but not terrible to listen to. 3/5

Ta bueno, si lo escucho más veces creo que me va a gustar más.

I thought it was ok. I like it for the most part but sometimes it feels a little drawn out. I liked Disintegration better than this one.

Decent record, but I didn’t walk away wanting to listen to it again. Had a specific mood for sure, but just not enough great songs to pull me all the way in

Pornography The Cure 1982 Genres: Rock, Punk Styles: New Wave, Post Punk, Goth Rock 1. One Hundred Years (★★★★☆) -Contexto: tema que abre el disco marcando el tono general: nihilismo, sufrimiento y la futilidad de la vida. Arranca con la frase "It doesn't matter if we all die", que funciona casi como declaración de principios del álbum. Musicalmente es denso y opresivo, con una base de batería casi metálica que refuerza la sensación de fatalismo. 2. A Short Term Effect (★★★★☆) -Contexto: sigue en la misma línea oscura pero enfocado en el consumo de drogas y la desorientación que producen. Hay imágenes de deterioro y muerte (un pájaro cayendo, "cold as it hits the bleeding ground") que funcionan como metáfora de un efecto que es intenso pero pasajero, dejando al narrador más perdido que antes. 3. The Hanging Garden (★★★★☆) -Contexto: el tema más accesible del disco y el único single. La letra es deliberadamente ambigua pero mezcla imágenes de sexo y de animales/violencia (gritos en la noche, referencias a un entorno casi de matadero), sugiriendo el instinto o la pulsión sexual como algo primitivo y perturbador, no romántico. 4. Siamese Twins (★★★★☆) -Contexto: mezcla sensualidad con paranoia. El narrador describe un encuentro cargado de tensión sexual que deriva en imágenes violentas (una cuchilla, subir una escalera, sangre), dejando ambiguo si se trata de una fantasía, un asesinato o una alusión al suicidio. Termina con la pregunta repetida "Is it always like this?", como si el propio protagonista no entendiera lo que le pasó. 5. The Figurehead (★★★★☆) -Contexto: probablemente el tema más oscuro del disco a nivel letra. Gira en torno a la culpa y la vergüenza que no se pueden lavar, con el estribillo repetido "I will never be clean again". Hay imágenes de pesadilla (figuras con arañas adentro, una "visión del infierno") que refuerzan la sensación de un colapso psicológico, tanto interno como externo. 6. A Strange Day (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: transmite alienación y disociación. Las letras describen algo parecido a ahogarse o flotar, con una sensación de fin del mundo que, sin embargo, tiene momentos de belleza extraña en medio de la angustia. Es uno de los pasajes más "flotantes" del álbum, menos violento que los que lo rodean. 7. Cold (★★★⯨☆) -Contexto: la desolación se vuelve directamente emocional: hielo en el corazón, frialdad como estado permanente. El arreglo con cello refuerza esa sensación de vacío casi cósmico. La letra habla de mirarse al espejo y sentirse completamente desconectado de una misma persona. 8. Pornography (★★★★☆) -Contexto: cierre del disco y su tema más asfixiante. Para la producción se usaron fragmentos grabados de un documental de TV sobre sexo, mezclados como ruido de fondo, generando una sensación claustrofóbica. Termina con la frase "I must fight this sickness", una especie de resignación/lucha final. Smith llegó a decir después que, pese a lo sombrío, la consideraba levemente más "esperanzadora" que otros temas del álbum, en el sentido de que hay una decisión de pelear contra ese estado, no solo de hundirse en él. -TOTAL = ★★★⯨☆ (3,88) -Debería ser un 4, pero sinceramente no conecto con el estado en que intenta sumergirme, porque me parece derrotista, es un sonido de un estado, que parece que será permanente porque ya ni esperanza o un leve color hay en las canciones. Es un 3 para mí porque suena muy bien, y un 2 sería muy bajo, pero sinceramente no concibo un álbum desde una posición tan derrotista sonoramente, donde todo suena oscuro y no hay nada más, distintos matices de negro musicalmente hablando.

I really like the cure. This album was after they found their sound but prior to when they figured out how to create a dynamic range between songs. I don't hate it but I don't love it either.

Not bad.

Yeah, seems alright. Nothing to write home about, really. Definitely shifted to a more radio-friendly and less experimental style after this, which makes this worth listening to but probably not that often.

A few half decent tracks but not enough to keep my attention for the whole album

It was a nice listen. Cold was the only song that really stuck out to me. Not sure if I would come back to the album as a whole.

It's The Cure! One of their better albums, even. 3.5/5

As another reviewer said - "it's depresing" but alas it works for me.

Det har sine oppsiden, men læll.

Monday, 17 August, 2026 This album has some interesting parts, but is far inferior to *Seventeen Seconds* and *Disintigration*.

Unsure about this one. Love Cure, they are intelligent songwriters but apart from the Hanging Garden it all seemed to whirl through me without touching the sides.

Definitely got the dark and gloomy aspect of the cure in this, wasn't my favourite of theirs. Fits their aesthetic more than their more popular tracks but I definitely prefer the latter. The general vibe was alright but felt like each song needed a little something more to break it out of its routine, so I'm struggling to remember any tracks that stood out. Might grow on me with another listen but not sure I'll ever do that. 2.5.

Soundtracked a dreary afternoon in Pimlico, looking at dreary art. Couldn't really say too much more, passed by in a rocky haze. The Hanging Garden was my favourite track.

Yeah that's the cure all right! Moody, atmospheric, all that stuff. Wasn't familiar with any of the tracks here though. Was ok, but nothing blew me away or surprised me especially 3

Okay! I liked this, finally after a run of unlikeable sh*t. Solid 3

Man there are some songs by The Cure that are so uniquely good. Then there's the rest. The Cure, for me, is a best of album band in my collection. And I'm good with that.

Looking forward to a later album

Openly honest about wanting to kill others on songs that somehow melodically worked. Cold is a banger.

2.88

I'm not a brooding, sad teenager but I used to be one. So I understand how this resonates with people. Smith seems to tap into that with lyrics that hopefully will help you see that you not alone & there are people like you. Sadly, the other way can be true as well. Not my style of music. 2.5 & I'll round up to a 3. Smith is that much of an influence

Sad to say that this didn't do much for me.

Tycker att soundet är coolt och känns fräscht och nice att lyssna på. Men låtarna kändes inte särskilt speciella. Ingen som verkligen fastnade på huvudet. Men om jag var en angsty tonåring som hatade livet under 80-talet hade detta nog gått desto hårdare. 6/10.

I like The Cure but I think only in moderation. I listened to this whole album on a dog walk, and the walk went quite quick which was good. Overall good listen for sure, but not a favourite new addition to my collection methinks.

hay algo que me da mucha rabia cuando se trata de the cure y es que sus canciones, por muy buenas que sean, se me hacen eternas y a veces tal vez demasiado parecidas entre sí. el álbum no está mal, pero no es para mí. por mucho que lo intente, no soy capaz de disfrutar de más que un par de canciones suyas

Сара 3 Марко 3,5

Cure's gonna Cure.

favs: one hundred years the hanging garden siamese twins a strange day cold rating 3.2/5

Songs to cry to during sex

not as good as “Disintegration”

I was underwhelmed by this. The Cure are a great act with a brilliant back catalogue whereas this is just solid.

fine. i don't really connect to this at all

I usually like the cure but getting this one on a beautiful sunny day just didn’t mesh. I needed some overcast to enjoy it

Dreary but dressed up and still ready to go out. The lyrics and performance are so melodramatic it's almost campy. Pretty good. Maybe not something I revisit frequently. I particularly liked One Hundred Years and Figurehead.

Quite easy to say this is more influential than it is enjoyable - it's a really high three

3/5 Was a decent album, chill and listened to it twice.

2.5 nothing for my playlist but I do like some goth vibes so I can appreciate this did I finish this tho? I don't remember lol

Gran disco pero creo que siempre voy a preferir el lado mas pop de The Cure

Early-stage Cure isn't exactly the best recipe after a tough work day, but these guys are talented (if more than a little moody).

Somewhat familiar with this band but didn’t recognize any of these songs. The highest rated song from this album in their overall catalog comes in at a mere 32nd. Album was pretty murky and gloomy and ultimately I’m unsure why this was included on this list.

I quite like The Cure. Three stars…

...

I am struggling between 3 and 3.5

Surprisingly rooted in Post Punk and very much driven by the rhythm section with a lot of echo on the hypnotic drums and a prominent bass. Lyrics and vocal performance are even more bleak than I expected from the Cure. Not bad, but also not my favorite of their albums in this list.

2.5

I like the Cure and they have a lot of good songs. My personal bias is I tire quickly of singers with a whiny, crying type vocal style. So an entire album of Robert Smith is a chore. If this doesn’t bother you, I’m sure you would enjoy the record more than me.

Really interesting. There were a few parts that REALLY hit for me - Robert smith's voice really worked, that trebbly bass sound, all that post rock type atmosphere. There was also plenty that passed me by a little bit and didn't feel so interesting. However it makes me feel like the whole album would 'click' like that for me eventually. Couple of listens in 1 day isn't enough

yeah, kinda repetitive

Songs ok

tears fall down the face or smth

Good

I only know the hits. i liked this plenty

snare drums high in the mix , heavy base lines jangly guitars , morose lyrics , check , check, check, check… patchouli… probably Goth rock by the masters . The 4th in this list for me and their best so far.

Very dour, some great sort of postpunky sound throughout, easy to get lost in the mood

Placeholder

It's easy for me to forget how good Robert Smith can be.

Не понимаю ажиотаж вокруг этого альбома и не считаю его настолько пугающим и завораживающим каким его описывают.

slop (i didn't listen carefully)

It sounds like a spooky 80's pop album and The Cure are famous for defining that sort of thing... but it's a 'meh' for me.

I like the cure but this record doesn't really hit for me. The songs end up blending into each other and becoming slightly monotonous.

This is way darker than I’m used to from The Cure but I liked it overall.

не лучший альбом конечно the cure, но все равно слушается приятно - 3.5

Tasapaksu, raskas kuunneltava. Ei huono, mutta vähän sellanen ajatuksenvirtainen. Yksikään biisi ei erottunut edukseen. Toisaalta hyvin yhtenäinen kokonaisuus. Maailmanlopun tunnelma.

Räväkkä alku ja sinnikkäästi läpi levyn jatkui toi ”kummituksellisen” 👻 rienaava äänimaailma. Jotenkin jumahti kuitenkin vähän semmoseen taustamusamoodiin ja lopulta parasta oli just se avausraidan intron komppi 🥲

Kitarat vallttavat kovin kauniisti. Mut laulaja taas jolisee. Aika synkkää, paha clash kesäpäivään mut tavallaan tykkään.

Ei parasta Curea, mutta onhan se nyt kova!!

Blandad påse. Ibland mycket bra, ibland oljud.

Ok but not compelling

Oh, I love some The Cure! But I'm not disappointed enough to find this a great record. ;-)

It's okay. Not the best of The Cure

Not fully my style of music, but I do think that they nail the vibes that they're looking for. It does feel very goth without being "emo" so to speak. It definitely comes across as a genre-defining kind of album, but some of those often end up not sounding all that great looking back. And I think that's how I feel about this album. I don't love it. I did enjoy it, but I'm not sure it's that good of an album. Favorite Song(s): Siamese Twins

I currently have a ticket to see "The Cure" in a few weeks. I bought it last year when I was going through a Cure phase. However, I feel rather indifferent to the band right now. I was hoping that re-listening to this album would change that but it didn't. My favorite album by them is ironically Bloodflowers, followed by Faith. One thing I can definitely say about this one is that it is the best kind of moody. It has a concept and it sticks to it. The feeling of existential dread permeates from one track to the other. It is gothic and it is nihilistic but it loses steam fast only to return and stick the landing. I guess if it was autumn or winter, I probably would have resonated with it more. The Cure just don't pair very well with summer heat wave. I'm even considering selling my ticket. There's still plenty to appreciate here including some fantastic tracks. They just require a very specific mood though. The best tracks are "One Hundred Years" and "Cold".

Was never a Cure fan, but many of the songs on this album are better than I remember. Good for short listens

Best was solid but I just couldn’t connect with it. It was dark and grungy which I liked.

Het voelt onderhand of we de laatste kliekjes aan het wegwerken zijn. Nog meer The Cure met vage, licht industriële jarentachtigmuziek met zo'n jammerstem. Niks dat we niet al gehoord hadden, en aangezien ik wat achter lig en toch wat tempo moet maken, is één keer luisteren wel weer genoeg.

Депресняк. Поспал под конец альбома, пойдет на любителя.

As someone who isn't really into The Cure, this just feels like a less developed version of Disintegration. Still enjoyable though.

Not for me

3.44 for Pornography. It was teetering on 3.5 but the title track sunk it for me. just random noises and weird backwards speaking ruined the whole atmosphere. Overall, this is much different than The Cure we hear later on in their career. Like you would not expect this group to go on and do a song called Friday, I'm In Love after hearing this album, but I love the early darkwave synth and guitar layers. Robert Smith's haunting voice is beautiful. A solid album but not one I'd plunk down money on the jukebox to listen to all the time.

Gražu, bet jų dainos labai vienodos.

I accidentally listened to Disintegration. This one wasn't as good.

A bit slow for my tastes, but alright Standouts - 3/5

This is what I've come to expect from The Cure. Pretty good emo 80s rock though I rarely seek them out. If you've heard Burn from Tge Crow soundtrack you know exactly how this sounds.

Невеликий фанат продакшену на цьому альбомі. Якийсь тут звук, не знаю як сказати... неакцентований, водяний... не знаю як це назвати. Ще монотонність альбому не сподобалась, особливо барабани. Ударки просто грають один і той же біт протягом піснень без змін. Мені така однорідність не подобається. Але не дивлячись на це все, мені альбом все ж сподобався. Є в нього якийсь вайб. Оцінка: низька-середня 6

Well, second The Cure album in a month, too. This is more the classic sound that I remember when listening to the The Cure. It is dark and gloomy. In retrospect it sounds almost comical in the extent of its emotionality. The Hanging Garden was one that I remember hearing in a certain clubs. It feels messy, noisy and almost ready to fall off the rails. There is a sonic beauty to it when you can immerse yourself. A younger me might find this more cathartic but an older me has been bled dry of those high emotions. Maybe dessicated me has less use for the rich loam of dramatic depression and the bloodletting of inner turmoil. For all the shade that I could throw here, it is important that I recognize that this is the soundtrack of someone hurting. It doesn't sound like parody but someone who is in a pain that doesn't feel real. And sometimes you can dance to it. It definitely affected others coming after. I guess I'll give it a three.

The looming, scary darkness of "Cold" was a real highlight.

Ooh, first track is very Cure but much more moody/gothic than their bigger hits. It's a bit rough and ready and doesn't have the shimmer or polish of more famous Cure. The Figurehead has a Depeche Mode feel to it? Still love the vocal style. Best track - A Strange Day 3 stars - I love The Cure and this album is clearly seminal for their sound, but knowing what they were capable of later and it leaves this album in the dust.

I had never heard this album before. Where Joy Division left off, it seems the Cure picked right up and then dropped the Joy Division sound again. Pornography was made when everyone in the band hated each other and there were a lot of drugs around. The music sounds like this album was made when everyone hated each other while taking a lot of drugs. This is probably not my favorite sound for the Cure. Not that I only like their pop-oriented music but this is all so dreary and the drums do not seem to differentiate on each song. My favorite songs: One Hundred Years The Hanging Garden Siamese Twins Strange Day

Very emo not really my kind of music, but it’s alright

Okayy

I liked 'A Strange Day'

Not much to say. Kinda ethereal. Will revisit the text here someday.

I think I love the Cure in small doses, but this one, as an album isn't mature enough in its sound. Its very them, ans that's great but it is also quite one note abd that does get a bit tiring with time

Big Cure fan. Will admit this isn’t their best.

I prefer their other works

100 yrs - cool sort of foreboding sound in the guitar and synths, vocals are rough for me, great ending Short term - great intro and instruments throughout, feels like an acid trip in a way Hanging Garden - vocals are growing on me, very awesome chugging feeling with the drums and bass, super cool how the vocals glide through it Siamese twins - feels like a ghost movie? Figurehead - Calls back with a similar feeling as the first two songs, great middle ground. Strange day - can you tell this album was made in the 80's? Great chord progression, percussion and cool ending effect. Cold - holy shit that beginning. This is what I imagine entering a dungeon in a castle would feel like, grim, dark, chords with that driving bass note. New favorite, hard to beat Pornography - continued the foreboding sound from the rest of the album, with the ending line being something like "I need a treatment for this sickness" its kind of cool implications with the band name

A solid early record by Robert and the lads. It’s pain and suffering and lashing out and misery, and Smith screaming out his feelings. Kind of a warmup for their later, sharper albums; there aren’t really any memorable standout tracks, more of the Cure working out their sound. But it’s the Cure, so it’s never bad.

Meh prefiero disintegration

Vuige opzwepende rock muziek. Op eerste geluid niet helemaal mijn ding, maar na 3 luisterbeurten toch wel lekker. Duister. Album begint heel sterk

Yeah, this is fine

Nice, dark pop. Just what I wanted from this album.

One Hundred Years The Hanging Garden A Strange Day Cold

As with Disintegration this is predictably what I expected from another album from The Cure.

The Platonic example of Gothic rock. Slow, minor-key songs drenched in chorus effects, with Robert Smith droning angsty lyrics that belong in a Vampire: The Masquerade character's backstory. It's not bad, mind you; it's a perfect example of what it sets out to be. But it's not a style that interests me.

me gusta, no es algo que escucharia en mi dia a dia, pero me gusta, tiene un tono sombrio y un poco aterrador que se siente raro pero no de una forma negativa

Dark and foreboding. I had to give it a second listen to do it justice. Good, but it isn't going to feature on my playlist.

So I just realized that, in the two other lists I've done, I rated Pornography 4 stars the first time I listened to it in Sept 2025, and 2 stars the second time I listened to it in January 2026. The first time was just after listening to In Rainbows which I just don't like (sorry), and I said this kicks ass. The second time was after hearing Maggot Brain which I gave 5 stars. I'm ashamed and fascinated. But perhaps a lesson in framing? Also I was much less happy in September than I was in January so chew on that. In any case I'm not listening to this for a third time in a year and I shall split the difference.

I don't come back to this album as much as some of the others, but it's still great. "Cold" stands out for me. I wish I had been listening to this when it came out, but I wasn't cool enough.

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 don’t know if it’s because I had this playing whilst I did my shopping, but this album didn’t particularly stand out to me. It kind of faded into the background, only occasionally drawing my attention. I think it was The Hanging Garden which was the most interesting to me. None of it was bad! But nothing really stood out as amazing either.

This is not my favourite work by the cure. But it’s so moody and goth-y and certainly stands out.

3/5

It's solid. I thought The Hanging Garden was the best song here, but to be totally honest I had trouble telling when one song ended and another began because they mostly all sounded the exact same. Not bad, but not really anything I was super into or made me feel strongly.

yes i’ve listened before i luv the cure

Early Cure surely has its allure but you’re gonna infer i prefer the later stuff!

hmmm

On Pornography, The Cure retreat fully into the shadows, emerging with an album so drenched in early-Eighties studio murk that you can practically see the dry ice pouring out of the speakers. Processed drums thud like distant artillery, guitars shimmer in endless echo, and keyboards hover over everything like storm clouds threatening never to break. Robert Smith spends much of the record sounding less like a singer than a man broadcasting from the bottom of a well — all frantic howls, muttered dread and theatrical despair. The atmosphere is undeniably committed, and there are moments where the band’s bleak vision locks into place with hypnotic force, but the album’s towering reputation can feel a little oversized compared to what’s actually here. When it works, though, Pornography is fascinating in its own frostbitten way. “The Hanging Garden” stomps forward on tribal drums and a nervy keyboard figure that gives the song real momentum, while “Siamese Twins” twists itself around an off-kilter rhythm that feels genuinely unsettling. “The Figurehead” finds the group at its strongest, anchored by a brooding bassline that cuts through the fog and gives the song a pulse beneath all the gloom. Elsewhere, the band leans hard into gothic excess: “Cold” practically defines the term “goth af,” all frozen synths and emotional paralysis, and the title track closes the album with ominous samples, pounding percussion and industrial-noise textures that seem to predict an entire genre waiting around the corner. The Cure deserve credit for going all-in on their nightmare aesthetic — even if the nightmare occasionally feels repetitive by the time the lights come up.

Edgy af

Very brooding. Very depressing. Not a bad album, but one that makes me glad that The Cure became a bit more upbeat over time.

liked it but didn’t love it. i think i kind of wasn’t it the right mood for it, will give it another shot in the future. 3.5/5

I've always enjoyed The Cure, and this album is no exception. It's not quite as good as Disintegration when it comes to their Discography, but Pornography does capture Robert Smith and company at their gloomiest, with "A Strange Day" in particular lamenting the end of the world.

Would've scored higher but found the unimaginative drumming grating across a whole album, every track has the same beat throughout with no variation. Drums sound very thin too which makes them stand out more.

moody

interesting dark sound going on. unique for sure

echo-y

Listened on 16th June 2025. Favourite song is One Hundred Years. Their other albums are better in my opinion.

Most of the songs sound like the singer's voice is being engulfed by a sea of music. I enjoyed the album very much, but I can't say that I would try to learn all the songs and lyrics in my spare time. Some of the songs made me have to pee.

Moody 80s sound

i gave this one a relisten. i’ve always liked the cure, never loved. always found their LPs to be a a bit inconsistent. although when they make a good song they make an amazing song which is why i never wrote them off. this album is considered one of their best, but id disagree. a pretty okay A side and a great B side. there are maybe two songs on here that i would consider great. also i think i prefer the cure when they write pop songs over their goth songs. i just think smith’s songwriting really shines when he’s writing pop music. moodiness and vibes can’t hide boring songs

3/5

sure they sound cool but not super interesting idk 2.5

Ein typisches Cure Album 3/5

Frekar dark og emó, en ég heyrði góða parta þarna.

The whole album, particularly the tracks: One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, and The Figurehead feel so ephemeral or transition-esque. One Hundred Years was a really good start. Really felt the gothic vibes in this album.

Not a perfect album, but very atmospheric

The Cure early days were just pure gothic depression and intense desolation. How not to love it?

Very atmospheric. I think I like the cures poppier stuff more, but I still enjoyed this.

Like most stuff with The Cure for me... it's eh. Not bad but not good, just kinda in the middle.

Yeah, this isn't my favourite Cure album, it's very dense and lacks immediacy. It's on my shelves. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ ★★★☆ (6/10) Total reviewed : 314 Already owned : 70 Purchased : 15 To buy : 4 Nope : 225

Sin más, no me ha encantado

I listened to this for the first time in earnest a year or so back, and it didn’t do a whole lot for me then. listening again now, I have more appreciation for the tones and sounds they pulled off, but still feel a sense of fatigue after hearing those minor key structures repeated for minutes longer than I’d like. Robert Smith’s voice also gets a little much after a while for me. I know people love The Cure, so I’m hoping one of their records hits for me.

A lot of drama, not enough action. Much prefer Disintegration.

Not sure when this album falls in their discography, but it’s definitely “them.” A good representation of a great band with an unmistakable sound. None of my favorite songs, but still solid.

It’s better than 17 seconds

Couldn't ask for more toms. I'm hearing Bowie and Tears for Fears in this dark chamber rock album, great contemporaries of the Cure. Parts of it were great, but as an album it felt one-noted and I got bored pretty quick. 5/10

Album is a little less my vibe than Seventeen Seconds is, but still a good album. Darker, more Goth Rock. 3.5 probably.

The drums and lyrics were great but the music of the songs felt indistinguishable.

I just did not get into this one like their others.

This album really met my needs today, given I feel like a ball of defeated anxiety. I also got to tell people I was listening to Pornography, which was itself a huge bonus. As for The Cure, there are other albums of theirs I hope come up on the list.

It was alright. Goth rock at its peak I would guess

I like The Cure. This album is good, but not my favorite of theirs. 3.5/5.

This kinda washed over me, mostly in a good way. Nothing stood out but i enjoyed the experience.

A lot of it sounded the same to me. Listened to the whole album, but no song stuck out to me.

A bit heavier than most Cure songs I know. Worth a listen but might not be something I’d listen to again.

Music from The Cure is very moody and atmospheric. And because it's moody, you're not always in the mood for it. This album is okay with some pretty brilliant bits throughout, but I'm probably not going to be listening to this one much outside of this project.

It was good but nothing crazy

i love the cure. this is not one of my favorites of theirs.

I can tell what's the appeal, I can tell what they influenced and how that includes some of my favorite artists and bands, I can tell how groundbreaking this kind of sound was at the time, but I just can't bring myself to rate this any higher. Entirely and completely competent, but not all that captivating for me personally. That being said, it piqued my curiosity for the rest of The Cure's catalog on this list, whenever that comes.

Heavy man. I very much appreciate the way these songs are structured. Undergirding it all is some of the coolest post punk drumming I've evr heard, upon which is layered dense slaps of atmospheric guitar, echo-y bass and incredibly expressive vocals wailing some of the darkest lyrics I've ever heard (check out 'The Figurehead', oof it's bleak). The atmosphere is something you need to be in the mood for though, because it's fairly unrelenting. Great? Yes. Enjoyable? Ehhhhh

I love the Cure, but Disintegration has way better gothic drama, and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me has way better pop melodies

Robert Smith loves kissing and things kissing. I like the atmosphere of this release brooding and with a lot of cool synth textures. Unfortunately it’s a little boring, nothing really stood out to me on this record. Maybe some October day I’ll throw it on and it’ll click more. I enjoyed the tracks ‘A Strange Day’ and ‘The Figurehead’. Back to back tracks on the album that called for my attention the most, however the final track was the most interesting wish they had done more experimental tracks like ‘Pornography’ on the whole record

Not the kind of porn I’m in to. Generous 3.

Created a moody vibe which is good if youre in the mood for it. Which i am. Sometimes. Not today: Guitars get repetetive and samey and Smith's repeating of lines meant it was all a bit samey. Was hood for what it is.

It’s called pornography because even if you found some moments of worth in the experience you mostly just feel sad afterwards

A high 3

Не поціновувач таких к'юрів.

1 stern

Man, if I hadn’t heard Disintegration first, I’d probably enjoy this a lot more. I hope Robert Smith is having a great day today.

Sounds like walking into the 80s!

Sorry cringer not bad

I love the cure, just not this album.

Kings of emo. Love the moodiness - just wasn’t in the mood for it today.

Perfectly fine album that didn't impress; there are better albums by this artist

Very goth, very Cure, very good. A 3,5

I found it started a bit weak but then built as the album continued.

Clumsy use of a drum machine, but settles into a couple spinning with echoes of Seventeen Seconds.

Eh, I'm not really feeling this one. It's low energy 80's synth rock and overall it just feels muddy and simplistic. I don't think it's bad per se, but I cannot see myself ever listening to it again - I would probably turn it off if someone put it on. It's right between a 2 and 3 for me. Might be 3 just because I didn't hate it... IDK

not my favourite cure album, but it’s the cure so i like it

I think my prime cure days are behind me. I like some of the components that make up this album. In some ways it should be a slam dunk for me as a person but as a dad pushing 40 now I can't take it as seriously as I might have before. The Cure has to be on this list in some capacity. I don't know how, I'm not a superfan but they definitely have something to their sound.

80's music for sure

Seems like one of the original indie bands. 3

ive listened to the first 4? by now, so far its ok, idk why I'm not into it, just i liked hanging garden. ok this is day 2s thoughts, listened to strange day to pornography. cold is by far my favorite track of this LP 🤓☝️, pretty tuff and I think it works much better as like a vibes song. overall album I think is a 3/5, I wish it leaned more into the instrumental soundscape vibe if that makes sense.

very bad . albums was good though

i am confusion

Its all so bleak

I’ve made it known that I’m not particularly fond of post-punk and my experience with the Cure (along with Cure-like artists) so far hasn’t moved the needle in a more positive direction. However, something about Pornography kind of works for me. It’s a bit odd because pretty much every track is fairly repetitive and sounds just like the previous – that would get really grating under normal circumstances, but I think it helps this album establish a unique, depressingly hypnotic loop. I was still considering giving this one two stars toward its end, but I started to imagine how much I’d probably enjoy these same songs if they were translated into an electronic/dance context and that made me more open to a middle-of-the-road score. I still wouldn’t call myself a fan of the Cure, but their fourth album has helped open my eyes to what post-punk can be when there’s someone at the helm with a strong vision! Highlights: One Hundred Years, The Hanging Garden, Siamese Twins, Pornography

While still a great album I’d put this about my fourth favorite album by The Cure. Everything is good but nothing is amazing, song wise. The bass player is amazing, always nice chunky tones and right in the pocket.

3,5

Interesting. Like a dark, reverb heavy British rock band. Definitely unique.

Mycket utan det instrumentala är fett men jag har svårt sångrösten. Svag trea landar jag nog på.

Jag överskattade min musikaliska kunskap. Trodde jag hade koll på the Cure men har inte hört någon låt från den här skivan tidigare. För dåligt! Hade behövt en till lyssning här, men min instinkt säger trea?

It was not my type. I respect this band; it's one of the greatest, but this disc wasn't good for me.

This is the third and final The Cure album from the 1,001 for our listening group (and the fourth I've heard myself, adding 2024's Songs of a Lost World). I've found I somewhat enjoy their sound, with everything landing in the 3-4 star range. I found Pornography to be on the weaker side (and Disintegration was their best).

me gusta la paicodelia intrinseca que tiene la musica de the cure, como que te deja un par de cables pelados y cruzados en la cabeza. igual despues de la cuarta canción se me hizo un poco repetitivo el disco, pero este no es el mejor disco de la banda, así que me lo banco. sí estuviese deprimido le doy las 5 estrellas, pero ya me terapié así que toma tu 3.

muy bueno

Its dark and deep. Instrumentally interesting. Robert Smith voice and artistry a great addition ...but then thats where it stays and sticks. An average that never really care to take off.

I like the Cure, but probably more their later stuff. This album is the last of their darkest gothic rock stage, before they switched to the lighter new wave genre. It's very interesting and paints a truthful picture of the bands mental state at the time, but don't listen to it if you are feeling down, this album won't help! The music is still sophisticated, but it definitely wouldn't be my pick of a Cure album.

Good but wanted more

It was an ok album, wasn’t offensive but didn’t knock my socks off

Never been a big fan of The Cure, and this album is very much what I might’ve anticipated hearing from them earlier in their career. To be sure, there are some good songs on here. The album got off to a great start with One Hundred Years, and I really liked A Strange Day. But outside of that, a lot of these songs just didn’t hit for me. That’s especially true of the title track, which was just bizarre. Overall, a three star album

I mean, its alright

I liked it for the most part.

The Cure rocks!! The best goth/early emo for miles. Their lyrics and production stand out.

0/8 bekannt 6,5/10 Beste Songs: Siamese Twins, the hanging garden, one hundred years

I like this album; it's way better in my opinion than Seventeen Seconds, but still has tons of dark and gothy gloom to it. There's elements of songs here that remind me of the song Burn from The Crow soundtrack which is probably my favorite Cure song. Not being super familiar with their catalog, I could see this as one I come back to while getting into more of their stuff. 3.25

Initially didn't care for this, but I warmed to it over the listen. It's still not 100% what I'm looking for from The Cure, but it's got some good stuff. 3.25/5

fav songs: a short term effect cold droning, repetitive, bleak 60/100