matttkkkk wrote: Tue May 07, 2024 2:36 pm

ErikG wrote: Tue May 07, 2024 11:16 am was Lol actually the secret weapon?

I know you’re just being droll but reading the accounts of recording this album and KMKMKM are pretty sad, seeing a friend sink into alcoholism must have been hard to bear. Even watching him on rudimentary keyboards in shows from 84 / 85 it’s clear he wasn’t doing much or enjoying it. I must read his book sometime.
Actually I’ve come around to appreciate his drumming a lot more again. Zero swing and few chops, but absolutely crucial to the feel of that early stuff.

I'm actually mostly serious. Conventional wisdom is that he was little more than Robert's drinking buddy but compare the albums with him vs. without. He'd probably be the first to admit that he was far from a great musician but the albums he drummed on were the best. His live keyboard playing was certainly minimal but studio is a whole 'nother animal, one wonders if his contributions there weren't significant.

In his book he's very frank about his struggles and how they impacted his role in the band. Comes across as a lovely and thoughtful guy.

I also recommend checking out his podcast with Budgie. Really good stuff.

Yeah I don’t mean to downplay him entirely, but they were pretty openly saying he didn’t contribute to Disintegration at all, even at the time. Him being kicked out is significant because it was a shift from the casually brilliant, cult favourite band into something a lot more ambitious which couldn’t afford the extra baggage. Nearly all of Smith's decision making since then has been career focused, and the music hasn’t been interesting at all for me either.
I do have some hope for the new stuff they played on tour, there might be one more decent record to come.

I love The Cure but Disintegration is where I got off the boat, both then and now. I remember being incredibly disappointed upon its release. I went back and listened to it again a few years ago and yep, still nothing. Boys Don't Cry is a superb and unique debut, The Head On The Door is one of the most perfect goth/pop albums ever made and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is a beautiful sprawling psychedelic mess but Disintegration leaves me cold (save for a few tracks like Fascination Street). It seems to run out of steam about halfway through. Still, not crap because it's The Cure.

Maybe it was being 19 years old at the time, but the shimmer of Plainsong, the epic melancholy of Prayers for Rain / Same Deep Water, and the beauty of Homesick / Untitled packed immense emotional weight. Even today my partner won't let me play it in the house, it's too sad for her.

I think it's their best record.

Echoing what many have said, I remember the first time I heard Plainsong like it was yesterday. Great record and a total Not Crap. Was in heavy rotation when I was 16/17. Living on a farm in 2008.

Something I missed in my first post… the synths. Roger O'Donnell creates a wall of sound that makes the album.

It’s crazy Smith basically presented the demos to the band and said “if you don’t like it I’ll do a solo album”. It’s incredibly reliant on the ensemble playing.

I couldn't get into the sickly sweetness of the pop hits which informed my opinion of the Cure right through my 20s.
Disintegration convinced me I had made a grave mistake, and everything else started to click - I now think their catalog should be up on the mount olympus of songwriting. Disintegration is my favorite production, mood etc. I never get tired of it.
I think maybe I missed the chance of connecting with a couple girls over it, but that is a laughable amount of wishful thinking.

bIG OL nc

Interesting recollection of making the record from O'Donnell: https://web.archive.org/web/20100115062 ... ories.html

A masterpiece. I prefer Pornography, Faith, Seventeen Seconds, and, depending on my mood, The Top, but Disintegration is still miles beyond most bands' best work.

I think "Lullaby" brings it down a bit and would be much better as a b-side. It's too whimsical for the album, and I wish they'd replaced it with "Fear of Ghosts."

NOT CRAP.