![]() ![]() We were just called the emo kids now.Īll of this is to say that I really didn’t listen to Disintegration in its entirety until I was about 17 in 2011, when I had my own similar gazing-into-each-other’s-eyes-while-driving moment. Maybe outwardly the wardrobe changed (though some kids were still brave enough to fashion the black trench coats and white makeup and eyeliner), but the sentiments and sensibility were still there. As I said above, The Cure inspired an identity that every generation will have its own version of, and we were no exception. I didn’t understand why a song that was making little me feel so sad was making them look at each other like that.įast-forward to my teenage/high school years where The Cure were on heavy rotation on my Zune. But I’d look up to my parents in the front seats - the LA cityscape in a blur as we drove past - holding each other’s hands over the center console, my dad taking a sneak peek at my mom before returning his eyes to the road. I heard this song as a kid and just thought it was so sad. I would hear “Lovesong” and suddenly be overcome with something I couldn’t identify at eight or nine but was familiar with: melancholy. I distinctly remember the moment the playlist shuffle would hit a song off of Disintegration. The third I would mockingly sing to my younger brother whenever he threw a tantrum in the car. I grew up listening to their more radio-friendly, easier-to-digest songs: “The Love Cats”, “Why Can’t I Be You?”, and “Boys Don’t Cry”. I have memories of being a little girl in the backseat as my parents drove down the 710 in LA, singing along to “Just Like Heaven” off the band’s 1987 double album, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. I am the product of two Gen X-ers and grew up listening to bands like The Smiths, Joy Division, and, of course, The Cure. The Cure developed a distinct sound, their fans a unique look - complete with a wardrobe and sensibility - that helped nurture a whole identity of teenage kids, one that can be found in any high school during any decade. They were making great music, sure, but this is the time they managed to transcend from radio-friendly Brit-pop rock stars to deep goth icons. The band reached peak popularity, in the States anyway, in the late 1980s and early ’90s. It’s their culmination of growth and learning over the previous decade, a milestone in their career, and, most importantly, the record that captures the band at the peak of their creative powers. ![]() The Cure’s eighth studio album, Disintegration, turned 30 this week, and it’s safe to say there’s a consensus that this album is the band’s finest. ![]()
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