Disintegration is generally regarded as the Cure’s masterpiece, a sprawling testament to how certain Robert Smith was that his life was over since he was turning 30.
For context, this was 1989 and Smith will turn 60 this April. So maybe a tad premature, really.
In any case, the album was about his life falling apart due to his advanced age and the fact that time was clearly running out. It also marked the end of the relationship between the Cure’s remaining founding members, with drummer/keys player Lol Tolhurst unceremoniously given the boot during recording. Man, that title works on so many levels!
Anyway: it’s pretty much the most depressing album of all time.
It’s 72 minutes of Smith articulating just how pointless and empty everything is, filled with nightmares and loss and regret and lethargy and impotence and depression – oh god, the depression! – where even the happiest moments are about joys long since gone.
Even the classic ‘Lovesong’, written as a wedding present for his partner Mary, is a melancholy minor-key song about longing rather than a big jolly celebration of lurve.
Anyway: the annual Vivid Live festival at the Sydney Opera House has launched with the announcement that the Cure will be performing Disintegration from start to finish in May 24-25 and 27-28 (that’s four gigs, not that the album’s that long).
The six day long ballot has just opened where punters can apply to buy tickets, and… well, it’s been popular.
Look, I turned 17 in 1989. This album was my goddamn life. Don’t judge me.
And given that so very many people are clearly willing to hang on the internet for hours to see a bunch of old men play some of the most miserable music ever… um, if everyone OK out there? Nation, do we need a hug?
And look, maybe whack on The Head On The Door or Japanese Whispers instead, that’ll cheer you right up.