release date: May 1, 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Robert Smith, David M. Allen
label: Fiction Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Plainsong" (3 / 5) - 2. "Pictures of You" - 3. "Closedown" (3 / 5) - 4. "Lovesong" - 6. "Lullaby" (2,5 / 5)
8th studio album by The Cure. During studio work on the album co-founder Laurence Tolhurst was fired from the band (allegedly after long-time alcohol addiction) and Roger O'Donnell took over Tolhurst's place as keyboardist. The style is in the same ballgame as the previous album, but with a stronger focus on a dream pop and neo-psychedelic sound, and a small move away from their most popular universe of sweet melodic love songs. Some see it as a return to darker gothic rock and post-punk but I find this progression more than hard to see. To me, this is just more of the same songs and compositions in new disguises, and my disappointment with the band had come to a final draw. I couldn't stand listening to Robert Smith and the band's lamenting songs. Yes, I purchased the album, but I never really got accustomed to it and resold it only a few years later. O'Donnell left the band in 1990 before they started rehearsals for a new album. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
