Twenty-five years ago today, the world became a safer, Cure-ier place as The Cure's immortal Disintegration album was released. A landmark album for the band and gothic alternative rock alike, it's maintained a position in pop culture's conscience as a downright daring masterpiece. In celebration of this feat, we at the Weekly have dressed in all black and recall five of the most important lessons we've learned in the 25 years since Disintegration
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1) Follow Your Heart
The Cure have always done two things very well – 1) wear their heart on their sleeves and 2) make sure those sleeves are very, very black. At the end of the 80s when the group was bigger than ever, Robert Smith famously made the demos that would become Disintegration alone and decided if the band wasn't into them, he'd make it a solo record. Fortunately, the band dug it and while the label was hesitant with this dark departure, Disintegration became the group's commercial highpoint. The lesson here is do exactly what you want to do and not only will everyone love it, but you'll be handsomely financially rewarded for it.
2) Your Masterpieces May Take Some Time
We've had The Cure in our lives for over three decades now. An absolutely beloved band, they've maintained a fanbase and a legacy thanks to evolving while remaining true to their traditions. The band's mastermind Robert Smith maintains that, in the group prolific discography, Disintegration is but the second part of the band's definitive history between 1982's Pornography and 2000's Bloodflowers. We're talking a 7/11 year gap. That's quite the big gulp of consistency.
3) Rap Weirdos Will Want To Sample You, You Don't Have to Say Yes
At some point in the 90s, after they had been blessed with a gigantic budget for sampling from Sony/Columbia, pre-famous rap prankster The Bloodhound Gang wanted to sample the group's song “Close to Me” for their song “She Ain't Got No Legs.” While the demo here contain the original sample, the group vetoed it, leading to horn players having to be brought in for the eventual studio version found on 1995's Use Your Fingers.
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4) The Music of Direct-to-VHS Comedies Contains Some Absolute Gems
Between albums, The Cure's Robert Smith and Jason Cooper linked up with David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels for the side project COGASM, whose name comes from the first two letters of each of the trio's last names. “A Sign from God,” produced by The Dust Brothers (Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique, Beck's Odelay, Hanson's “MMMBop”) was the group's sole outing and appeared in the direct-to-video comedy Orgazmo.
5) “Disintegration is the Best Album Ever”
Comedy Central's “South Park” has spent close to 20 years being one of the most consistently inspired shows on television. Along with being in the unique position of being both a cult classic and a pop culture phenomenon, it featured an incredible cameo from Robert Smith in its first season. Teaming up with Leonard Maltin and Sidney Poitier to take on Barbara Streisand, it became one of the series' iconic episodes. It's also helped introduce the band to generations of new fans thanks to Kyle's apropos declaration: “Disintegration is the Best Album Ever”
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