the DISINTEGRATION poll

title track

^^^ great bass from Simon.

Impossible poll.

Running through the track list, I got chills just thinking of "Disintegration" the title track... so that's how I'm gonna vote and it's the only way I can decide, honestly.

it's funny, i think of this album so much as a unified whole that i forget it has their biggest hit single on it. (in the u.s., anyway.)

Fascination Street, 12" remix or not, is one of my all-time fave Cure tracks. I can't not vote for it here.

i think the longer version as the original mix with the album version being the edited version of that song.

Kinda my thought as well, yes.

This poll is impossible so instead I'll just say that the picture above is from the Head On The Door era... ;-)

damn, you're right!

only know that now that is was pointed out but remember that is from the album before.

or two album before, you know what i was getting at.

Shit I was hoping this was a Basinski poll.

Each song on this has been my favorite at some point or another

i'd vote for the run of 8-10 if i could

― the pains of being melissa joan hart (donna rouge), mercredi 1 avril 2009 02:52 (6 hours ago) Bookmark

This OTM basically. I find it hard not to simply vote for "side 2" (8-12).
I guess ultimately I'll vote for "Homesick" but let's sleep on it

The Same Deep Water as You

I came back to this album a couple of years ago after not listening to it for 15 years or something, and I'd forgotten that song even existed, and it's beautiful, still and meditative, but moving (in both senses) at the same time. The heart of the record.

i think the longer version as the original mix with the album version being the edited version of that song.

Hmmm ... why didn't the longer version end up on the album? There was a shorter, radio edit of "Pictures of You" as well but of course the long version on the album is 100000X times better. Is it because the album was long enough already, without yet another eight minute track?

Title track.

My turkish brothere-in-law, whose tastes were somewhat more of the Prince/disco type, loved "Lullaby" back in the day, I'd bought the (3" CD) single...

He dashed out and got "Disintegration" as soon as it came out, and was all like "WHAT IS ALL THIS?????"

His loss, my gain.

This is nearly impossible, but went with the title track. High class gut wrenching drama.

Plainsong >>> you know, pretty much every other song ever.

He dashed out and got "Disintegration" as soon as it came out, and was all like "WHAT IS ALL THIS?????"

Yeah, I think this is an album where the singles don't really matter unless they're heard within the context of the whole thing.

I've always said The Same Deep Water As You, so I think I'll stick with that. The bassline is extremely hypnotic and the way it starts (and ends) with the sound of rain is perfect for setting the atmosphere.

I came back to this album a couple of years ago after not listening to it for 15 years or something, and I'd forgotten that song even existed, and it's beautiful, still and meditative, but moving (in both senses) at the same time. The heart of the record.

I listened to this song on repeat for 4 hours one day while I was in high school. It's easily one of my favorite things of their, possibly my all-time favorite Cure song.

'Pictures of You' is one of my least favorite songs.

I feel like "Pictures of You" was the last major song with a rambling narrative Robert wrote that actually worked (honorable mention to "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea").

otm

Pictures of You interrupts the flow on this so I don't like it as much, but it was awesome the first time I heard it after Plainsong

yeah i get kinda bored w/ PoY around minute 4 or so

it's funny, i think of this album so much as a unified whole that i forget it has their biggest hit single on it. (in the u.s., anyway.)

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, March 31, 2009 10:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

was it really their biggest US single? maybe it's an age thing but i'd always assumed it was "friday i'm in love"

(in terms of radio play at least)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure_discography#Singles

yeah i get kinda bored w/ PoY around minute 4 or so

This is true for almost every song! I like this album and love its singles, but it does drag.

no YOU drag

I voted for "Pictures of You", maybe it drags but it's a gorgeous drag.

Especially difficult, once again, but I guess... "Untitled"? Like Alfred says, it's the way it's so simple that makes it perfect, after all the enormity of the preceding record.

Second choice would be the opposite extreme, "Plainsong."

christ, impossible, almost every song on here is absolutely classic except maybe Last Dance. My gut says "Homesick" so I'll vote for that, although I love the way the weird time changes in Plainsong as soon as the vocals come in.

the only song on here that isn't classic is "Closedown" IMO

title track here too.

ffs the poll is broke for me...would probably vote "Homesick"

Wait until tomorrow, you can vote (again).

I'd take the title track second, probably. I always think of that and Same Deep Water As You as like the real center of the album, a one-two punch of sadness and misery. It's hard to count the number of times those songs have helped me deal with shit.

Pictures of You interrupts the flow on this so I don't like it as much - I agree that it sticks out, but it is still one of the most mindblowingly awesome singles ever and gets my vote. The rest of the album is so cohesive, as others have mentioned, that it is a painful process to isolate just one track, instead of a block of two or three.

xp How is sadness + misery a one-two punch?

a one-one punch

A knife with a twist

HOW DO I PICK JUST ONE?

Oh, okay. "Plainsong" it is.

Also. Hello, ILM. Been awhile.

"Last Dance" is so underrated. Great intro and the lyrics are just beautiful (I like his songs that mention Christmas for some reason). I always loved it and it gets my vote.

By a lot of people, this is seen as their pinnacle. I am not disputing it being a good album. A lot of the songs are indeed really great.

But I guess my problem about "Disintegration" is first and foremost that, to such an extent, it has 1989 written all over it: Big gated drums, lots of reverb, harsh digital synth sounds. To me it sounds a bit too much like a timepiece to really score compared to other Cure albums.

That being said, there are exceptions, at least in the case of the reverb. On "Lullaby" and "Lovesong", the reverb was toned down considerably, letting the actual songs come better to their right. And even though I wasn't that much of a fan at the time, I really stand by those two being great pop singles today.

So, in the end, ending up voting for "Lovesong", maybe because I prefer the snare drum sound used on the single version of "Lullaby" rather than the album version. :) Oh, and yes, other great tracks (although all of them with way too much reverb) include the two other singles, plus "Plainsong", "Prayers For Rain", "The Same Deep Water As You" and "Untitled".

Oh man this is so hard but I think that I have to vote Plainsong. It's just amazing.

BTW - this was the first CD I ever bought.

How is sadness + misery a one-two punch?

It's because whereas Same Deep Water As You is resigned to everything and sad, Disintegration wants to fight against it all. I love that these two songs are right next to each other.

shit wait

Homesick was my fave when I was 18

my tastes have changed massively since then

will have to listen and decide anew

The Same Deep Water As You
Disintegration
Prayers For Rain
Untitled
Homesick
Lullaby
Fascination Street
Pictures of You
Plainsong
Last Dance
Lovesong
Closedown

You crazy DJP

I'd put Lovesong last and swap Pictures with Closedown but other than that DJP OTM

I had this old CD my dad bought back then and it got scratcher enough for the first two track never to work, Closedown was my official and personal opener and I enjoyed it a lot as such.
Then I got proper files from the album and yeah, it is the lesser song of the album, but I still value it.

Disintegration
Fascination Street
Lovesong
Plainsong
Pictures Of You
Prayers For Rain
Untitled
Closedown
Lullaby
Last Dance
The Same Deep Water As You
Homesick

Released 25yrs ago today. Still remember breaking the seal on the cassette copy I bought that day. Remains one of my favorite albums 25 years later.

"The Same Deep Water As You" really is my favorite Cure song, I've decided. "All Cats Are Grey" and "Siamese Twins" are both wonderful but I never filled an entire C-90 with either of those so I could just listen to them on repeat.

Posted this before I know but again

http://www.rogerodonnell.com/disintegration/

hard to believe this came out in the month of May. didn't know about this but i did hear "Plainsong" today.

Happy Birthday "Disintegration"! Bought the cassette on release day as well. Listened and studied and did *everything* to this thing for months. 25 years...

Just wore my original Prayer Tour t-shirt to the Knife concert the other day. The only Cure t-shirt I kept all these years. Didn't realise it was 25 years old until now ! Still looks great :-)

Played my crackly second hand copy yesterday and thought this should have been released as a double album. So happy to find the 2010 reissue in the local record shop today

happy to see plainsong win, it's one of those songs where sure, there are probably songs as good, but no song could be better

I always feel some weird, irrational guilt when my fav track on an album is the opener, as if I haven't listened properly, surely the real treasure isn't going to be that obvious

I still remember the shock of putting it on for the first time and it just broke over me like a wave. Smith was never as assured and instinctive as in this record - the songs are seamless and unforced (with a couple of exceptions, Last Dance has never worked for me).

I always feel some weird, irrational guilt when my fav track on an album is the opener, as if I haven't listened properly, surely the real treasure isn't going to be that obvious

Hail to thee, neurotic soulmate

pollster bee okay otm. easing into it with that siren then that bass rumble is totally the way to go. love this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cty6qH-7mTw

I bought this in the week it came out, while caravanning with my family. Wasn't able to listen to it until we got back home almost two weeks later. It was the last Cure album I would buy.

(Apart from a few reissues)

so that's how it ended, this last dance together?

pictures of trickery amirite

1. Fascination Street
2. Plainsong
3. Homesick

So, "Prayers for Rain" is one of the most badass guitar lines of all time, isn't it?

Bass VI, buddy https://post-punk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/prayertourshirt.jpg

Yeah, many/most of his leads are Bass VI, Robert Smith's secret weapon.

Yeah. Also that slightly detuned string iirc

"Last Dance" – 4:42 1

robbed!

even the voteless song is fantastic

My Cure dreams were fulfilled when I bought a VI a few years back, even the simplest riff sounds like a grand piano

So it's a 6 string bass? I always thought it was a baritone guitar. You learn something new every day etc.

Bass VI is different from a baritone or a six-string bass. I'm probably missing a few differences with this explanation, but basically:

Baritone = essentially a guitar with thicker strings in BEADF#B tuning.
Bass VI = Short-scale bass (30" neck) tuned one octave lower than guitar EADGBE
Six String Bass = standard- or longer-scale bass tuned BEADGC, with both an lower and a higher string

Bass VI pops up in some surprising places. I think it's on a few Beatles songs, when John or George are playing bass because Paul is doing something else. Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" is I think played with an octave pedal, but my guitar teacher is convinced the main riff sounds like a fuzzed out Bass VI.

"Last Dance" – 4:42 1

robbed!

That was my vote !

Bass VI pops up in some surprising places. I think it's on a few Beatles songs, when John or George are playing bass because Paul is doing something else. Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" is I think played with an octave pedal, but my guitar teacher is convinced the main riff sounds like a fuzzed out Bass VI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfdxB8Tv98A

I would have voted for Closedown, which sounds to me like the gentle, sweet release of death. Lullaby is just as great, though I prefer the extended version on Mixed Up--it's a groove to ride into infinity

Bass VI is different from a baritone or a six-string bass. I'm probably missing a few differences with this explanation, but basically:

Baritone = essentially a guitar with thicker strings in BEADF#B tuning.
Bass VI = Short-scale bass (30" neck) tuned one octave lower than guitar EADGBE
Six String Bass = standard- or longer-scale bass tuned BEADGC, with both an lower and a higher string

― peace, man, Friday, 8 January 2021 14:17 (six hours ago)

Makes perfect sense. I've played guitar for 30 years and I've never heard of these.

https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/lennon_fender_vi_bass-jpg.204607/

This album is probably the world's greatest extended mope.

The title track is up with “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea” as the band’s finest hour. Incredible lyrics and production. It’s so beautiful and sounds incredibly urgent