Monday, June 23, 2008

Disintegration #14 on EW list

Disintegration is #14 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Albums of the Last 25 Years.
(Thanks Monkeybutt and Wyatt)

67 comments:

  1. On a style list in the same issue Robert is listed for his goth look.

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  2. jpx - cool.

    At least we're above Eminem.

    And the 100th record? (in Simon's voice, please)

    Michael George, faith.

    I found it amusing but I am the one that still quotes Simon from Play Out on a regular basis.

    "It's Freedom 90.............1" :)

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  3. I find it insulting that Radiohead's In Rainbows is listed ahead of it. In fact, that's not the only one ahead of them that I find to be insulting.

    Oh, and Craig, please respond to my e-mail when you get the chance. Thanks. :)

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  4. Wow, I've seen bad "top 100" lists but this takes the prize.

    Is Amy Winehouse really 8th? Where did they poll? AA?

    Kanye West? Did they poll frat boys #4?

    Late stuff Mariah Carey? REM at number 32 with pageant ?

    Ok Computer and Joshua tree all the way in the bottom?

    The Smiths "Queen is Dead" at #73 just above The Boss?

    Wow...

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  5. Yes, Uri, I too thought it a bad list but at least the cure are on there. I personally would put them at numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and so forth but they didn't ask me. ;)

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  6. Take that, pissant NYT reviewer! Robert's voice is so "irritating" that he has millions of fans and tons of hit records. Turn that pineapple SIDEWAYS!

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  7. i just kind of figured there's no point complaining about the list. it's 'entertainment weekly' for crying out loud.

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  8. Where is Nevermind from Nirvana?? Silly list.

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  9. What a craptastic list!

    I'd be interested to see what the list would be according to total sales... a hard thing to do in the digital era, i know.

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  10. Monkeybutt and wyatt - you guys beat me to it! I got my EW issue in the mail while I was in NYC for the weekend, and read part it last night...

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  11. Yep, that's a pretty bad list all right. So pretty weird choices in there.

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  12. Terrible, terrible list.

    But Disintegration did place pleasingly high for lists like this.

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  13. Erg. Some pretty weird choice in there... hell.

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  14. They got the wrong Faith.

    But I guess that was over 25 years ago, eh?

    Too bad The Cure has better albums than Disint and that those were overlooked. ;-)

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  15. Also, I agree with Monkeybutt. Such lists are superficial trivial and pointless anyway. I mean, hell, Rolling Stone dared to exclude Porl from its list of great guitarists. The audacity!

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  16. Nice to see that such an 'unhip' source even knows The Cure exist ...

    " ... Cure has released better records than Disintegration ..."

    I am still laughing at that comment. Ask 'The Man (rs)' himself which Cure record is the best, guarantee he says 'D' ... as long as he is not promoting a new release, that is LOL.

    BTW thank you Craig for posting that the FUSE MSG show was out there for download. Watched it last night.

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  17. they have quite a lot of shitty albums on that list.... the cure should be above all of them

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  18. cat - they excluded PORL??! WTF??
    hes one of the greatest guitarists in UK rock n roll history at the very least!
    *burns all copies of RS*

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  19. You can laugh at that comment all you want, rob. I should have put IMO, of course. Oh, and I don't care which album Robert prefers; I only care which ones I prefer. And I prefer many others to Disint, as gorgeous as parts of Disint are.

    So there. ;-)

    Death to supercilliousness... even my own.

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  20. no! superciliousness must live on! :D

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  21. dj, i don't put much stock in RS or ANY music mag for that matter. don't read them much anyway. would rather read political mags.

    but i do find it shameful how overlooked porl is regardless.

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  22. Okay, viva la supercilliousness! :-D

    I am always perplexed when I get attacked over my assertion that I prefer many other Cure albums to Disint. People are so possessive over that album. I used to love it more than I do now, but these days I prefer others. However, Disint does have some gorgeous songs, several of which I would name in my top 15, and one of which (PS) is in my top five. But as an album, for ME, it's overlong and somewhat disjointed.

    Let the flames begin! LOL...

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  24. CAT: I love Disintegration, but that's not my point here. I agree with you when you say it doesn't matter what album RS prefers, it matters what the album makes me feel when I listen to it.

    These lists are just plain stupid. A few weeks ago RS (Rolling Stone) had the "100 Best Guitar songs EVER" list. "Gravity" by John Mayer placed in the 80's - not a good song, not a guitar song. "Where the streets have no name" placed #23. The last thing I think about this song is "Wow! The guitars are fucking awesome!"

    A few years ago Uncut mag named Robert as one the 100 best guitar players. It mentioned his lack of technique, but it said that very few guitarists can express so many feelings with the guitar as RS does.

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  25. Craig, might be a good time to put back the "favourite album" poll on the site...

    I have to say that while I think Disintegration has many brilliant moments, it has things that don't fit in like Fascination Street and to a degree POY and Lovesong which are just so popular they Eclipse stronger less poppy songs there. Plainsong still does to me what few other songs do (though UTS is now putting a dent in that). Maybe Disintegration is in the list because of South Park.

    My favourites are still Pornography and Bloodflowers, though I would happily hand pick specific songs from KMKMKM and Wish.

    Also, I spend most of the time listening to Join the Dots. It's amazing how many quality stuff never made it into albums. There was enough good BSide material to produce a couple of excellent studio albums.

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  26. I got a kick out of what Rob said. Because he's right. As soon as a new album is out for release, Robert Smith invariably says "its the best thing we've ever done".

    I remember when the 2004 album came out. And Robert said something like "If you don't the album, then you don't like this band". And I sat there depressed because I that meant I was no longer officially allowed to love the band :(

    As for the Disintegration nod. I'm glad to see it there. Even though I get sick of the fact that every time that album is mentioned in the mainstream, it is always referred to as "the album that was a bible to so many lost and lonely teeneagers". (OK, though I do admit that description did apply to me when it came out when I was 15).

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  27. Uri, I agree about Fasct. St. For me LS and POY work perfectly, though, even though I don't care that much for LS. But for me, Disint works better without any pop songs and only the dirges. I do like Lullaby, but I would put it on an EP with Fasc. St. And I would take out Last Dance and Prayers for Rain. Sorry, they bore me! I know i will get crucified for that; already have in the past. But I just don't find them interesting in the least. Used to, though, and it's true that once upon a time Disint was my bible, in a sense. Not anymore. Other Cure albums have eclipsed it for me.

    Plus, no matter what RSX says - I can think for myself. ;-)

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  28. Ah, Plainsong. Now that is a song I love. I think there should be some 11th Commandment that says all Cure shows should begin with Plainsong. The loud sudden blast of music that comes in after the windchimes. Dude, that gets me all teary-eyed every time they do that.

    The song that I least like from Disintegration in Lullaby. For me, that was the song that seemed totally out of place. And then they had to go and do that re-mix version. How long is that re-mix version anyway? I think its about 47 minutes long. It goes on forever! :)

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  29. I actually got very tired of Lullaby, but it is a good song, esp live with this line-up.

    PS is great, but as for haunting openers, I think it will now be eclipsed by UTS.

    Although Holy Hour is my favorite opener ever, but then Faith is my favorite album.

    Lost and Want and The Kiss are other preferred openers. Don't care for Open, and OOTW is nice, but not my fave opener by far.

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  30. Actually, IMHO the last album was one of their best, but only if you consider the Japanese Release.

    Taking out "Going Nowhere" (which was actually played in the US tour, what gives)?, Fake , and "Truth Goodness and Beauty" would be like taking UTS out of the US release of the upcoming album (which I can totally see happening).

    Speaking of this, I lost my CD with the Japanese version and only have the US one. If anyone has the missing songs, let me know.

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  31. Plainsong and UTS both have that amazing opening that fits so well for concerts.

    I can't tell you how disappointed I was in Cleveland when we started with "Open". I mean, Open works well in the boyish charm of Wish, but it doesn't start a concert well. Especially with Robert preserving his voice in "End" the way that he did. He was pretty much reciting, just like he did in Us or Them.

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  32. BTW, Wasn't "A Boy I Never Knew" supposed to have been in the previous album? I hope it finally makes it this time.

    To me what's great about the Cure are the dirges that combine with the really rockish but touching and sad songs.

    Wish did it perfectly with "To wish" and "Apart" and "Trust" and "Elise" along with "From the edge" (I'd drop Friday I'm in Love, never liked it). Bloodflowers had great dirges like "Last day of summer" (which was released early). KMKMKM had "Thousands Hours" among the noise.

    I'm probably also the only cure fan who thinks that "Wild Mood Swings" was actually good, apart from a filler or two.

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  33. uri: absolutely agreed that the jap version of "the cure" is amazing. a fucking sick crime they had to have so many versions, leaving out the best songs. i fault the greed of geffen and the lack of foresight on the part of rsx.

    tgb is one of the cure's best ever songs.

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  34. I never understood this thing with "The Cure". Surely Robert could have put his foot down on that one, especially since these songs weren't on the singles. At least finish with Going nowhere in the US the same way they did everywhere else. What's the point of having two different endings? It's like watching that horror flick "The Descent" that ends differently in the US.

    Actually, when I think of it, The Cure had three endings, since there was a really great song ("This Morning") only in the Vinyl (which seems to have lost a lot of the sound quality). Too bad that the last album was digitally mastered, or I could have at least hoped for a rerelease.

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  35. By the way, if anyone is not familiar with the missing tracks from the last album, here are two (streaming):

    This morning

    Fake

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  36. Disintegration can't be beat, IMO. 8^.

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  37. Okay, so I'm sitting in a hotel in Silver fucking Spring, MD after a thoroughly boring day of class, here to revisit a few high points from the tour...

    As for this topic, 'Disintegration' is my fave; it might get eclipsed in September, but for now, it's my personal #1. The operative word here is 'personal'. Taste is, as they say, relative. What is bilge to you may be manna from heaven to me. I also love the pop songs. That doesn't mean that I'm a cretin, and devoid of the ability to appreciate great art. It simply means that my tastes are different. These arguments over which album or song is better are absurd, and will be until such time as taste becomes an absolute rather than a relative quality.

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  38. @7bluestars: Don't feel bad about loving the pop songs. JLH is still my favourite and that's as poppy as poppy goes.

    In some albums, however, the pop songs simply don't fit with the sound of the album. Wish is an example, IMHO.

    In disintegration they at least sound like one cohesive piece, except for fascination street.

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  40. uri, i prefer the pop songs on wish to the rock or lush songs on it. go figger. taste is an interesting thing. :-)

    except for edgs - that is one blistering rock song!

    the rest - meh.

    IMO! :-D

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  41. i've never really liked open or end. open at least has a bit of melody, but end is boring and dirgelike in the worst way. plus it's whiny, mopey and self-referential. don't get me wrong- i love robert. but i hate that song.

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  42. mb: me too. :-)

    i find open to be the least interesting opener of all cure albums.

    but it's better than end.

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  43. Hi everyone!!!
    Just a quick "hullo.... again"

    Would love to stop and chat, but it's time to go to work (here in the future)

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  44. uri, darling, I don't feel bad! As I said in my Sunrise review, those dour, arrogant types who look down their snooty noses at those of us who fancy the entire catalog can suck it! I mean that -- sincerely! :-)

    I'm perfectly happy with my tastes in music, art, literature, poetry, etc. They are as refined and substantial as I wish them to be.

    @Cat -- Hello, sweetie! How was Tom?

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  45. elise, how dare you tease us like that!

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  46. "those dour, arrogant types who look down their snooty noses at those of us who fancy the entire catalog can suck it! I mean that -- sincerely!"

    yes, but WHAT can they suck? sounds tempting!

    Tom was FUCKING GREAT! the perfect antidote to Cure blues. No other musician could help me move on from my Cure PTSD. Not that I'm not still a bit depressed - it's just that now I am depressed over yearning for TWO amazing artists! And the bf goes to see Waits on Weds AGAIN! i can't go cuz i spent all my moolah on Cure. not that I'm complaining.

    Cure and Waits = a pair of cat's tatas!! big huge luscious ones!

    btw, let's talk this week, t. before i leave for smelly france.

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  47. Use your prodigious imagination! >:-D

    Yes, let's talk. I'll call tomorrow.

    Glad to learn that Tom rocked your titties, etc. (I shall pray that if nips were lost, they were also quickly found and reattached.) ;-)

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  48. Yeah, I know, off-topic...

    So, I just listened to the Fuse version of UTS *again*. I get all tingly up and down every fucking time I hear it. Don't we have a doctor in the house? What is this affliction from which I suffer? And is there a 'cure', as it were?

    *SIGH*

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  49. See... and I *like* Open and End. Very much, actually. :^D

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  50. Ugh EW is utter rubbish anyway, and placing 'In Rainbows' a turd masquerading as innovation higher than Disintegration is just ludicrous!

    F off EW...disintegration is the best album ever.

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  51. That's because Disintegration is an Amazing Album. I rather think it should have placed higher.

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  52. Catters:

    "Cure and Waits = a pair of cat's tatas!! big huge luscious ones!"


    Wait, you have more than one pair?
    I met you, even hugged you a few times, and I didnt see or feel anything out of the ordinary?!

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  53. you're ALL WRONG! only MY opinions count!

    anah: i have one real pair, and one cerebral pair.

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  54. also, did you read that i actually did talk to porl??

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  55. I thought it's cool that Disintegration is listed high in this chart, but I changed my opinion once I see what other albums are in it, too... just another list that doesn't make much sense, as most of lists liek this do.

    Disintegration is unbeatable IMO. But that's just me. :)

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  56. OT
    cat, i saw your setlisssssssst on eyeball kid today!!!
    did you love it?! i need to hear all about it!

    here was my setlist from '99:

    Black Rider/Lucky Day Overture
    Down, Down, Down
    Jesus Gonna Be Here
    In the Colosseum
    Get Behind the Mule
    Chocolate Jesus
    Jockey Full of Bourbon
    Hold On
    Step Right Up
    Eyeball Kid
    Tango Till They're Sore
    Picture in a Frame
    Invitation to the Blues
    Cemetery Polka
    A Little Rain
    Innocent When You Dream
    16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six
    Cold Water
    Who Are You
    Straight to the Top
    I'll Shoot the Moon
    Filipino Box Spring Hog
    What's He Building?
    Lucky Day
    I Don't Wanna Grow Up
    Pony

    my favorite waits songs are 'who are you' (which scarlett johansson fucking BUTCHERED, btw) and 'broken bicycles' so one out of two made me DELIGHTED. he walked right down my aisle throwing confetti and singing through a bullhorn. i damn near had an aneurysm...

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  57. I think Scarlett has done a nice job with her album, she has really given something new to the songs which is the best thing an artist can do with a cover, she has a definite Elizabeth Fraser vibe, though not as great of course

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  58. sofia, it was fucking fabulous. words cannot encapsulate the tom waits experience. if you click on my link to The Kiss (in the Forever! The Kiss post), you will find there two Tom Waits clips as welll - Innocent When you Dream, and Jesus Gonna Be Here. My boyfriend took those. I will add the third and final one today - it's basically just witty banter from Tom at the piano.

    Highlights for me were Make it Rain - stomping mad! - Day After Tomorrow, Innocent When You Dream, Eyeball Kid, Cemetery Polka, and so many more I can't quite recall right now. More about it later, but suffice it to say he is a fucking GOD and the ONLY person who could help me overcome my Cure blues. He surpassed all my expectations, really - I had seen him twice before, but this was even more riveting, if that is possible. The place was PACKED and people were SO reverently watching him.

    My bf sees him tomorrow in Tulsa. I expended all my funds on The Cure, and can't go. The plane tix were outrageously expensive.

    If he plays Ol' 55, I will shrivel into nothing and melt away into oblivion. The bf says he will video it if he does. I am praying he does not.

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  59. PS I saw What's He Building in There in Nashville and about exploded. Fucking phenomenal and so funny.

    I would die to see Chocolate Jesus.

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  60. Disintegration is still my fav...not just of The Cure, but of all time, by anyone. It may not be against the grain, but it's my opinion nonetheless.

    I seem to be one of the few that absolutely loves "Last Dance." The stretch from LD to TSDWAY is the most surreal, ethereal, gorgeous, deep, and moving stretch of music I've ever heard, period. Maybe only rivaled by Jeff Buckley's Grace.

    And I love that, although there are different moods on the album, to me it flows extremely well. Changes it up enough to keep you on your toes, but is cohesive enough to build upon itself.

    Although, Faith is growing on me faster than any other album right now. My problem has always been The Funeral Party, but I think even that song is beginning to grow on me.

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  61. EW sucks & I never take poll like this much thought but it's cool the cure are on it. Disintegration is one of my favorite albums of all time but I still think The Top is the best!!!

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