Bit bored so I thought I would do a top ent of Cure albums

1. Disintegration. Probably the most moody and downbeat album ever made but lyrically brilliant and technically well produced. Highlights include the title track and 'Lullaby' as well as 'Plainsong'. Very cinematic and atmospheric, an album crying out to be played on rainy sundays. Sadly the last decent album made after Bob cruelly sacked Lol Tolhurst.

2. Pornography. Excellent due to clastrophobic title track though almost too maudlin to listen to the entire way through. Excellent title track and 'One Hundred Years' make this one of the best albums ever made whilst 'The Firugrehead' remains a favourite with fans. I actually prefer the live version of the album on Trilogy.

3. The Head On The Door. Alternatively known as 'the pop album' as contains, 'In Between Days', 'Close To Me' and Push'. In terms of guitar work both Bob and Porl Thompson never sounded better.

4. Faith. A strong album in terms of mood and atmosphere which should be played as a whole due to the nature of the songs within. 'Primary' is probably the best song Bob has ever written whilst 'Other Voices' and 'Faith' contain some great bass and Lol deserves credit for 'All Cats Are Grey'.

5. KMKMKM A double album with too much filler but containing 'Just Like Heaven', 'Why Can't I Be You' and 'The Perfect Girl'. Would have made a classic single album.

6. Seventeen Seconds Most Cure fans think that this is either the best album they did or is a close second to Pornography. Not a big fan of this album though love 'A Forest' and 'Play For Today'. Drumming is irritatingly weak on this album.

7. Boys Don't Cry I'll take BDC over the original 'Three Imaginary Boys' just for its inclusion of 'Jumping Some-Else's Train'. '10.15 Saturday Night' remains amusing but aside from 'Boys Don't Cry' not many of the tracks on this warrant a second or third listen.

8. Japanese Whispers. Far too poppy and unsubstantial for my tastes though has 'Lets Go To Bed', 'Love Cats' and 'The Walk' on it. Synth-pop rather than a proper rock album.

8. Mixed Up Excellent remix best-of album deserving its place in the top ten for a great version of 'Never Enough' while the acid/ambient version of Caterpillar' is a must for post-pub/night out relaxation

9. Wild Mood Swings A return to form from listening to the first track, 'Want' whilst 'Strange Attraction' appears pretty decent. Overall not a great album but worth listening to if hankering after the early days of KM3 or HotD.

10. Bloodflowers. Honourable mention for ' The Last Day Of Summer' but otherwise there is a definite vibe that Bob should stick to performing the greatest hits live rather than continuing to record albums no-one really wants.

Wooden spoon for the god-awful The Top (made by Bob alone and clearly a work of egotistical insanity) as well as Wish which aside from 'Friday, I'm In Love' and 'A Letter To Elise' is unbelievably twee and sub-par. I'm not cruel enough to mention the last two albums by the Cure which are barely worth using as Frisbee or place-mats

Thoughts?

1. Disintegration
2. Pornography
3. Wish
4. Faith
5. Bloodflowers
6. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
7. The Head on the Door
8. Seventeen Seconds
9. 4:13 Dream
10. Three Imaginary Boys

Wish contains my all-time favourite song, "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" which alone makes it worthy of a top 3 place.

I regard Japanese Whispers and Mixed Up as compilation albums. I'll take the deluxe version of Three Imaginary Boys as it includes the missing tracks from Boys Don't Cry.

Wish as third

Get a grip, it really isn't that great

Wish is also one of my favourites. Get a grips a bit harsh.

Actually I searched t'interweb and this album seems to be overwhelmingly loved, I can only think this is due to the sheer dross that followed

Tbh I couldn't care less what reviews say, I enjoy it, so that's all that matters.

Disintegration, Kiss Me Kiss Me, Head on the Door and Pornography are my favourites.

So you ask for "thoughts", they're offered, but because they're not the same as yours you respond with that?

Personally I think the only Cure albums that matter are:

1. Disintegration
2. The Head on the Door
3. Three Imaginary Boys
4. Seventeen Seconds
5. Pornography
6. Faith
7. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

I basically lost interest from Wish onwards.

You think Seventeen Seconds is better than Pornography?
A lot of Cure fans agree but I just can't get into 17s
Three Imaginary Boys has sadly aged badly, the production just doesn't sound that great now and lets the songs down

At least the poster I was responding to was discussing the band, have you just appeared to stir it up?

To be honest I had a hard time ranking Seventeen Seconds, Pornography and Faith - I'd put them all in my list of "Cure albums that matter" as I think they're important albums (as to a large extent they defined the early Goth sound and style) but the order I ranked them in is fairly random, I have no particular strong views on which of the 3 is the best album.

I don't think Three Imaginary Boys has aged badly, though, as I thought the production sounded bad at the time - it sounds no worse now than it did at the time and I'd still put it in my top 3.

Listening to 'Foxy Lady' I'm often surprised that Bob has never done a covers album, certainly there are some great albums of other bands covering his songs


I disagree as for me Pornography stands head and shoulders over the other two; though my opinion may have been formed by having Faith on cassette when it came out as it had the album on one side and Carnage Visors on the other

According to my iTunes Playlist (and in order of times played) my Top Twenty-Five would be:-

1. Push - The Head On The Door
2. Primary - Faith
3. A Night Like This - The Head On The Door
4. Just Like Heaven - KM3
5. One Hundred Years - Pornography
6. Disintegration - Disintegration
7. In Between Days - The Head On The Door
8. Six Different Ways - The Head On The Door
9. Close To Me - The Head On The Door
10. Pornography - Pornography
11. Plainsong - Trilogy
12. The Figurehead - Pornography
13. A Strange Day - Pornography
14. Charlotte Sometimes - Paris
15. Pornography - Trilogy
16. Intro - Trilogy
17. A Short Term Effect - Pornography
18. Pictures Of You - Trilogy
19. The Hanging Garden - Pornography
20. A Forest - Seventeen Seconds
21. Never Enough - Show
22. A Strange Day - Trilogy
23. Fascination St - Show
24. A Night Like This - Show
25. The Same Deep Water As You - Trilogy

I'm shocked at the lack of tracks from Disintegration frankly though it's obvious that the versions of Trilogy are superior and I have always enjoyed their live recordings.

Mint Car (26) The Last Day of Summer (27) Jumping Some-one Else's Train (28), got bored before I could check where anything from Wish appeared.

Just bumping this thread as I am a huge fan of The Cure.
On my iPod my most played song is Fire In Cairo by The Cure (it's great)
Then Lullaby, Fascination Street, Why Can't I be You, Lovesong, A Forest, Play for Today and Object.

Can't do ten, as never bought them all, but the order of the ones I have..

1. Pornography
2. Faith
3. Seventeen Seconds
4. Three Imaginary Boys
5. Boys Don't Cry (not sure why I included as it's a compilation)

For me.. the gloomier the better

Disintegration is definitley my favourite of the cure that i've actually listened too I love that album a lot.
i also quite like three imaginary boys and the head on the door.
For some reason i bought both of the last two cure albums on cd, think they were about £1 online or something.
Is 413 Dream really so bad? there are quite a few decent songs IMO wouldn't say it was great but maybe a 6/10!
may download pornography later but not really heard the others fully so i can't say.

My favourite songs are probably...
Plainsong, pictures of you, just like heaven,push and i really like cut here from their hits album too [from what i've heard their singles usually seem to be better than the rest of their albums?]

My favourite album by The Cure is probably Disintegration. I don't own all the albums but have quite a lot, may have a listen to 4:13 Dream and see what I think of it. The album seems to be quite split in opinions with the fans.

Only the most hardcore of fan could like 4:13 Dream

Yeah I agree. What a tired,old,plodding thing that is ! The self-titled one before it isn't much better although at least that ones got a few good songs on it

My favourites are

Disintegration
Faith
Pornography
Seventeen seconds
Bloodflowers


Not keen on The Top or Head on The Door - the latter has horrid synth sounds and the curse of 80s drum production. KMKMKM is ok but a bit bloated and over-indulgent.

Like Depeche Mode, I think it's maybe time for The Cure to call it a day. Sad to say that but........

I love Head On The Door, how can you argue with an album that has Push, In Between Days and Close to me

Oh no

I love The Head on The Door that's a fantasic album! With cracking singles too.

Recently I've been listening to Faith and I love it so much, my friends think I'm a bit grim listening to it :P but I don't care, it's great.

i know it's not a depeche mode topic but why do you say they should give up TOSSerr? do you think their recent albums weren't very good? just curious.
i really like the latest 2 depeche mode cds is all can't say i've heard all their older ones though to be honest.

Why should Depeche Mode and The Cure call it a day when they still sell out stadiums and arenas around the world and in Depeche Modes case still sell several million copies of every album they release, amounts bands today can only dream of.

The Cure recently sold out the Albert Hall in less than an hour with tickets costing upto £120. They still have it bang on live as there Bestival set from 2011 proves.

The Cure's albums have been a case of diminishing returns for some time and I don't think any of their fans buy concert tickets to hear their newer stuff. Depeche Mode haven't been the same since Alan Wilder imho but they are still producing interesting albums. I'd happily see either live

I swear I replied to this thread first time around. Maybe there's another one just like it...

Anyway, I just wanted to defend The Top. I think it's a work of addled genius. It's Bob's full-on druggy indulgence album (every band should make one and it's perfect if you want to just shift your mind into a very strange place for 40 minutes. And Shake Dog Shake and Give Me It are barking mad brilliance, like a really bad trip.

Indefensible garbage, sorry