Wednesday, June 09, 2010

My '80s Remastered - Disintegration

Among the stack of new releases this week is the deluxe 3 disc edition of The Cure's Disintegration. Curated by Robert Smith, the original album has been remastered, and the result is impressive - the overall sound much punchier and cleaner. The second disc is of demos and previously unreleased tracks and the third disc is Entreat, a live concert performance of the album, expanded to include a few extra tracks and resequenced to mirror the original album's track list.

Originally released in 1989, Disintegration came hot on the heels of the band's most successful forays into the realm of pop, 1985's The Head On The Door and 1987's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Where they were eclectic and poptastic, Disintegration bent back inward, all gloomy introspection - Robert's attempt at creating something "autumnal". It was a personal reaction to success, and one that was aided by Robert's use of hallucinogens. I must admit that at the time it came out I was unimpressed by it. I considered it a step backwards - I loved it's two predecessors so much because they moved the band into a new direction, and here they were getting all gloomy again. I never bought it. I heard it a lot - friends played it and, despite it's dour moodiness, radio embraced it. The singles were huge - Lovesong, Fascination Street and Lullaby - and the record a major success, the band's biggest seller ever. This remaster has been a delightful rediscovery for me - in my old age I am much more impressed by it than I was at the time! This set is probably not for the casual fan - most of them won't want to hear the demo stuff - but those of you who are big fans will enjoy seeing the progression of these songs from demo to the stage.
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The Cure - Lovesong (Demo)
The Cure - Lovesong
The Cure - Lovesong (Live)
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BUY IT NOW

5 comments:

KiDG said...

Yeah this reissue is definitely the best of the lot in the deluxe series.

Disintegration was pretty much a part of the soundtrack of my growing years, so it was great listening to this again.

Loki said...

plainsong is one of the best album openers ever and i love lullaby... fascination street always annoys me though for some reason... it's oddly evocative of Belouis Some...

Mbop Promotions said...

1989 was a top year for music, this and The Stone Roses' debut!

Michael said...

@Loki - Dissin' Belouis Some! I still rock my 7" of "Imagination" to this day.

La Vie En Persimmon said...

This progression post was brilliant stuff to read, thx & the cure too!
Having grown up on MixedUp, Entreat, & Wish, Disintegration was more of the same searching backwards... perhaps you'd have liked Wild Mood Swings more than I did. Although it was the darker KmKmKm bits that did it for me too & that's about as far as I could go back in the discography until I went back futher to Pornography thru Faith & 17 seconds.