With some steadiness in the preceding two releases, The Cure had to prove they could make the next step. They had done so once before with Pornography but it very nearly ended the band as we know it. New wave pursuits followed, with Robert Smith joining Siouxsie and the Banshees briefly. He continued meddling with The Cure’s sound, and eventually landed on The Head on the Door, a brilliant piece of work which sounds as though it directly informs the right direction. From punk-adjacent to new wave notes, The Cure finally finds a tonal consistency on Disintegration, a monumental achievement from the band which improves on those optimistic, jangle-like remarks on Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. Urgency prevails, an attitude and persona come to life on Disintegration, which remains the cornerstone of their discography. It is what we compare their future works to, and rightly so.
Soft gothic rock tones are what separates Disintegration from the new wave-tinged songs behind it. Standout works like Pictures of You find Smith no longer torn between the fundamental sound of the group and the seemingly popular, future choices of pop. He and the band sound comfortable on Pictures of You, and the preceding song, opener Plainsong, is just as strong in affecting the mood and continued tone heard on Disintegration. A beautiful balance of informed, loved-up wordplay which never veers into soppy territory and instrumental works which are memorable but not overwhelming. This is a perfect balance of The Cure at their best, though some may hear this and think they have softened since their Pornography days. A heartfelt message still comes through; the band maintains an honesty and openness with their listener, which informs the slightly darker pangs of Closedown. They also hold firm with the instrumental depths, the lengthy pieces which open Last Dance are a style the band would use on Songs of a Lost World. Patience is not required, but The Cure makes clear that the wait is part of life.
The Cure once more provides a solid core of music with an elevated instrumental flourish. Their stock moments are of a higher quality than most bands of the time. When they hit their stride, as they do on songs like Fascination Street and Prayers for Rain, there are moments of contempt which erode the lighter style, the loved-up momentum. Nothing short of phenomenal from the band, with those whirring instrumentals backing the pout-faced frontman railing against all the personable injustices. There is another attempt here to marry the gothic rock feel with the modern sound. Those previous records are great, but only satisfactory when we consider the image The Cure had hoped for off the back of them. Disintegration goes a long way in re-establishing the band.
Murmurs of happiness on the title track are a direct response to the conditions of unhappiness, the annoyance which comes at being wrongly defined. A desire to redefine success so soon after it is achieved is an ambitious moment for The Cure, one which comes through on a song like Homesick. An Untitled closer is the icing on the cake for Disintegration. They take the title literally, effectively liquidating the lighter charms of their preceding works. This is no small feat considering the double album before Disintegration. But dissatisfaction rages through Smith once more, and with hindsight, it is easier to say he was making the right call. What he wanted for the group was success on their own terms. He and the band achieve it with Disintegration, and they never look back.
