The Most Underrated Cure Album Ever

[revolt]

The Cure!

I really love the crude emotion on the self-titles album. This dark wild coarseness of songs like 'lost', 'labyrinth' or 'the promise' to me is really close to the pronography songs. no kidding! these songs do all have such an incledible furious power. (the only song beside these two albums having that may be 'the kiss')

You are right, there. Those songs have something of the dark power of "Pornography" in them and are really worthy of praise. The problem is that the rest of the album doesn't have the same intensity or inspiration...

and there are other great songs on it like 'anniversay' (not everyone's cup of tea, i know ) 'going nowhere' or the sparkish 'before three'. and all the rest more or less are solid cure songs. and album really worth the work...if not as good as the highly praised 'wish' (really like 'wish'!)
8)

Agree with "Anniversary", the 4th thumbs-up song on "The Cure". The problem is the other songs - most are listenable but sound like The Cure are not giving their best. "Before three', for example, is the kind of softly melodic but tired song that seems to have been taken from 'Blooodflowers' (it really would have fit there quite well instead of "Maybe someday"). And "Going nowhere" - I've already said it too many times, maybe - is also soft and nice but really "goes nowhere" in particular... All in all, the album just doesn't come out right as a whole - unlike albums as "The Top" or "KMKMKM", which were also very diverse in terms of music styles but somehow managed to sound "coherent".

[KingOfSomeIsland]

I think the most underrated album is Wild Mood Swings, alot of people peg it as their worst whereas I think it has alot of great songs. It shows both sides of the Cure better than any other Cure album really. It has some of their darkest and most depressing songs like This Is A Lie and Numb, some great wistful ballads in Treasure and Bare and one of the best angry songs the Cure has ever done, Want. The pop songs are awesome too Mint Car, Strange Attraction, The 13th and Return all are catchy as hell.


The only big problem I see with it is that its a very "studio" album and the songs just lose alot of their power live. Want is a notable exception and sounds amazing live.

[revolt]

I think the most underrated album is Wild Mood Swings, alot of people peg it as their worst whereas I think it has alot of great songs. It shows both sides of the Cure better than any other Cure album really.

Better than KMKMKM!!??

great dark songs: The Kiss
beautiful ballads: If only tonight we could sleep, One more time
great pop songs: Just Like Heaven, Catch, How beautiful you are

Plus:

great rocking tunes: Torture, All I want
great psychedelic tunes: Like cockatoos, The snakepit

I could go on...

[cure89]

For myself the most underarrated album is "Wish". I remember well the shock when it came out many fans where still mesmerized by "Disintegration". Me too. I was shocked by Roberts new hairstyle and uncool clothings. I liked the "High" single and hated "Friday I'm in Love". Then I bought the album and I was really disappointed. Many of the songs sounded "to much heavy" or "poppy" or "wannabe sad". Less electronics and less atmosphere than on "Disintegration". I went to a concert of the "Wish" tour and was disappointed again. Strange set at this time, I think. But now, 16 years later I like the album.

[figurehead]

Hmmm...
The problem is : Underrated from who?
Critics?The Band?Cure-fans that i know?Or by myself?
So you see it depends...

[cure89]

Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out. This was the case in my circle of friends. So I guess that "Wish" was underrated ... at that time.

[japanesebaby]

Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out.

yes, i remember this too, people complaining that the band had sold out and were finished, and that 'from the edge...' was the only song worth a listen on the whole album and so on.
might sound surprising today, especially for newer fans(?).

i suppose the question "most underrated cure album EVER" is a pretty difficult one since the word "ever" should include both "back then" and "today" and those are often two completely different things. but perhaps that's what also makes it an interesting question at all, that friction between "back then" and "today".

[Trust...]

Well I think that's it depends off what you heaved first.
When I was 15, 16 years old I wasn't able to buy all the albums, so I had for a very long time only Wish and Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me and than also 3 non official live albums, two dubbles and one single. Of course all these live albums where with the best songs. And I liked the Cure!
Than a few years later I received the Trilogy DVD and greatest hits DVD as a present. Then I bought the selftitled album The Cure, and a loved this whole album.
And after that I bought in following order: Faith , Pornography, Disintegration, and than all the rest of the albums all together. And I loved them all. My favourites are Faith and Pornography (masterpieces for me), and I see all the others on there own way as all good albums. I hate non of them. I have an album for every feeling, every mood. I just love THE CURE.

[figurehead]

No...actually i didn't meant about 'wish' my question was going to the author of the topic.'Most Underrated Album,for whom?'
Me?
Fans in general?
Critics?
The othe music world?

So it depends...

[revolt]

Well, I mean that many fans were disappointed when "Wish" came out.

yes, i remember this too, people complaining that the band had sold out and were finished, and that 'from the edge...' was the only song worth a listen on the whole album and so on.
might sound surprising today, especially for newer fans(?).

Well, that "the band had sold out" perspective is very difficult to understand!   I mean, if fans were able to accept "The Head on The Door" and all the top-oriented singles, I cannot understand how they could view "Wish" as a selling-out move... As a whole, it is certainly less commercial than THOTD.

That exception for FTEOTDGS is also surprising... Even if those fans were of the kind that only likes the dark and moody stuff, they would also have at least "Apart", "Trust" and "End".

As far as I'm concerned there are only two possible REASONABLE motives for a disappointment with "Wish": it was their 1st album that showed The Cure incapable of moving forward artistically, their first album to sound "predictable"; and also the quality of the songs is a bit uneven.

i suppose the question "most underrated cure album EVER" is a pretty difficult one since the word "ever" should include both "back then" and "today" and those are often two completely different things. but perhaps that's what also makes it an interesting question at all, that friction between "back then" and "today".

Point well made. For instance, "Pornography" received mixed reviews in 1982, it took time for it to be more or less widely recognised as a Cure classic. Perhaps other similar examples could be mentioned...

[cure89]

The difference is probably that "The Head On The Door" was a well-mixed album full of highlights of pop and dark sounds. A typical Wave classic for my liking. Much better than "The Top". For myself "Wish" had the hard cloack to be the follow-up album of their 1989 masterpiece. They should never reach that deepness ... After "Disintegration" the "Wish" album sounded exerted and enforced ... especially in the darker parts. That was my impression, at least.

[othervoices13]

This would be a good topic to get going again as it probably changes in people's minds over time. I don't think that The Top is underrated at this point. I think the album that Cure fans underrate the most is Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me It is the Cure at the top of their game musically. It is basically a double album with no filler and you can't say that very often. So many more styles than any other album:

Dreamy classic Cure - "How Beautiful You Are" "The Catch"
Exotic and Surreal - "The Snakepit" "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" "Like Cockatoos"
Dark guitar driven: "The Kiss" "Torture"
Manic Pop: "Hot Hot Hot" "Why Can't I Be You"

Disintegration is a better album (and I think their best) but to me Kiss Me... is right behind it.

[Whiskers]

A couple of years later, and I have to say that I've somewhat changed my mind. I think the most underrated album of theirs is The Top, followed by a toss-up between WMS and the self-titled album.

[MeltingMan]

"Underrated"is probably not the right word,from my point of view.Overlook would fit better.
Some albums were highly anticipated,but the reception was low (WMS,The Cure,4:13 Dream).
The most overlooked album,for me personally,is Bloodflowers,undeservedly.
"The Top" is no longer underrated,at least by the fans.

[cheyler]

I'd have to give the most under-rated award to 'Three Imaginary Boys'.  None of the rest of them is under-rated, really.  They all seem to slot in pretty much where they deserve to be.  Is 'Bloodflowers' under-rated?  It won a Grammy award.  Is 'Wish' under-rated?  Wasn't it number one in England?  Number two in America?  One of the earlier posts asked just who exactly was doing the under-rating, critics or fans?  That's the crux of the matter right there.  'Three Imaginary Boys' seems to qualify on both counts.  It is definitely the most unlike any of the other albums by The Cure; it's a bit like 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' in that respect.  Excellent album ('...diamond geezer in his own right...') and completely different than anything that came afterward.