The Cure are an incredibly influential band. They have recorded thirteen studio albums to date and written songs in several different styles including; Pop, Punk, Goth and Alternative Rock. They are very transient in their song writing, constantly experimenting with new ideas. Even so, whatever type of song it is they record; it is blatantly obvious that Robert Smith is at the helm. But, personally speaking, I think that their Goth stuff will always be their greatest material.

They first met up in 1973 and played a single gig under the name of, ‘The Obelisk’. After this they adopted the title of, ‘The Easy Cure’ until Robert Smith decided that it sounded ‘too Hippy’. Their first single, ‘Killing an Arab’ (released under ‘The Cure’) sparked a lot of controversy. There was never meant to be anything insulting about the song and it was merely shaped around the novel, ‘The Outsider’.

After this Rocky start, the band soon began to make more constructive progress. Their first album, ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ was extremely successful, but then they had their first big change in style with their ‘Gothic Period’… The second and third records would be very different indeed. ‘Seventeen Seconds’ was a bleak and minimalistic album. It’s single, ‘A Forest’ was the only track to offer a chink of light and even that was not a very bright one. It is a cold and detached album that can leave you feeling the same way; but it was also absolutely brilliant. They followed this with ‘Faith’ in 1981 which was very similar with its sound.

In 1982, The Cure released, ‘Pornography’. This was their darkest offering yet and it is still seen as a masterpiece of Gothic Rock today. Anyone who had walked in the shadow of ‘Seventeen Seconds’ and ‘Faith’ was going to love this. Again, it was different; the bleakness was still present but ‘Pornography’ was darker, louder and more angst-ridden. The lyrics were tortured and angry and the instrumentation was hypnotic in many parts. This was The Cure in the finest hour of their Gothic years!

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