cure tour 1988

The Cure Live at Giants Stadium in 1989

It was 30 years ago today: On Aug. 20, 1989, The Cure launched the U.S. leg of the “Prayer” tour behind their phenomenal Disintegration album. Since everyone loves an anniversary, here’s a set of photographs I took on the day, which I’ve previously only shared with a few friends.

On the day, I drove down with two friends from Connecticut to Giants Stadium, a former sports arena located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands, having procured general admission tickets for us all to access the ground level. Marianne drove; I had gotten my license but wasn’t yet comfortable (or allowed?) to drive across state lines or at least roundabout greater New York City.

Streaming onto the football field — general admission territory — we made it to within maybe 50 feet of the stage. It was a sweltering summer day, and staff fired a water hose over us at multiple intervals. Shelleyan Orphan opened, followed by Love and Rockets, followed by the Pixies. I remember the Pixies, who I love, didn’t quite seem to fill the stadium. As if the sound system and setup were optimized for someone else.

As dusk fell, smoke filled the stage to the sound of wind chimes and The Cure’s “Plainsong.” Writing about it even 30 years later gives me chills, as does seeing The Cure perform live this year, via YouTube, at the Sydney Opera House and later at Glastonbury.

Performing at the Meadowlands, they were immense, capturing the “emotional intensity and depth” — to quote Q’s August 2019 feature on Disintegration’s 30th anniversary — that the record had achieved, yet also live. The Cure’s set, including two encores, ran for close to 3 hours (if I remember correctly), never flagging in intensity. The stadium was rapt, in a frenzy, delirious at their presence. The show remains one of the best I’ve ever attended.

Five Imaginary Boys

Thirty years later, I’m struck by how the wonderfully lit stage so often echoed the hues of the group’s album covers, including the screaming red of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the group’s seventh album. Most of my photographs feature frontman and singer Robert Smith, who was front and center, with keyboardist Roger O’Donnell a haunted-looking presence directly behind. Capturing bassist Simon Gallup was more difficult, though I have a great photograph of him — more of a silhouette, wearing a big, round hat — that I have yet to relocate. And only grainy photos of guitarist Porl Thompson, and little of drummer Boris Williams, who was largely outside my sight line.

For me, Disintegration represents the group’s apotheosis, for reasons not just of musicality but also the time and place of its debut, in my teenage years, pursuing every bit of Cure music that I could find, mixed with the relative shift into maturity and gravitas — but still, so much fun — that Robert Smith and company managed to achieve on the album.

I still remember the smell of the plastic wrapper on the cassette as I snapped it off and slid the tape into my Hyundai’s car stereo, and the first chimes of Plainsong as I read the accordion-folded liner notes, obeying the order therein:

“THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED  LOUD  SO TURN IT UP.”

—- Thanks to The Cure Concerts Guide for the ticket, poster and set list.

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The Cure Live - 1989-07-24 Wembley Arena, London, England

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Disintegration by The Cure

Album Reviews 1989 Albums , 2014 Reviews , Album Reviews by Ric Albano , British Artists , The Cure 0

Buy Disintegration

The Cure’s roots stretch back to 1973 when Smith formed his first group with Laurence Tolhurst , while in middle school. With the emergence of punk rock in 1977, the remnants of this group became known as “Easy Cure” and added lead guitarist Porl Thompson . A year later, The Cure were signed to the newly formed English label Fiction , and they released their debut single at the end of 1978, followed by their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979, which did well critically and commercially. Through the early 80s, the band shied away from overt commercial efforts, with more sombre music that found a niche crowd. In 1987, The Cure released the musically eclectic double Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me , which sprang them back towards commercial success reaching the Top 10 in several countries. This was followed by a world tour which exposed some internal friction. Tolhurst became substance dependent and was eventually fired and replaced by keyboardist Roger O’Donnell , while Smith had developed a distaste for the group’s new found popularity.

When the group convened to rehearse for this new album, Smith played demos for his band mates that he was prepared for them to reject. He had already started making plans to record the material as a solo album, but was pleasantly surprised when the group liked the demos. By the end of the pre-production session, The Cure recorded over thirty songs. However, the final album was a bit of a shock to their American label Elektra Records , who expected a further migration towards pop/rock and requested a delayed release date because they believed the record was “commercial suicide”. In spite of these fears, Disintegration became the band’s commercial peak and remains The Cure’s highest selling record to date.

Setting the pace for the album with deep, multi-layered synths and slow, methodical beats, the album’s opening track “Plainsong” is soon joined by a droning guitar riff in the elongated intro, which lasts over two and a half minutes or half the overall song length. While Smith wrote all of the lyrics on the album, he acknowledges the significant musical contributions by the rest of the band, which forge the texture and mood that dominates tracks such as this one. “Pictures of You” is built on masterfully sonic guitar riffs by Thompson and a steady bass by Simon Gallup before the mood rises like a sunrise and the song steps up to the next level with the vocals in this steady and romantic song, which was a minor hit in spite of its seven minute running length. The album then returns to the heavy-synth goth rock with “Closedown”, featuring a rolling drum beat by Roger O’Donnell and only a single verse to break up the emotional groove.

Smith originally wrote “Lovesong” as a private wedding present for his fiance, Mary, but included it on this “dark” album as a concerted counterpart to the rest of the material. Here he certainly succeeded as the song contains a danceable groove, melodic riffs, accessible lyrics, and the perfect pop running time of three and a half minutes (extremely short for this album). A calm organ riff along with an animated bass drives the song with some orchestral keyboards runs between verses and a good guitar lead in the middle. The song was popular worldwide and reached #2 in America, becoming their highest charting single in the U.S.

The tracks which follow “Lovesong” on the album were also popular radio hits. “Last Dance” has some strong guitars, which arrive after synth intro. However, while Smith carries a strong melody throughout the track, the music is quite timid and does not keep up with the mood. “Lullaby” starts with an upbeat, bouncy guitar and bass riff which is soon joined by a strong drum beat by Williams during the intro. Smith’s breathy and desperate vocals are a unique contrast to the hipper mood of the music, and when O’Donnell’s fine keyboards join the mix, the Cure have a top notch music track. “Lullaby” was the group’s highest charting hit in the U.K., reaching #5 on the charts. “Fascination Street” is almost like the second part of “Lullaby” in the sense that it contains the same chord structure and nearly the same tempo (and was the replacement for “Lullaby” as the lead single in America). However, the vocal and melody approach is quite different, being more forthright and eighties twang.

The latter part of the album contains five consecutive songs which top six minutes in length. “Prayers for Rain” contains well processed guitars in the distance before some fine drums cut in to add a majestic effect, painting a scene of grandeur. Lyrically, this song is a sneak peak at the emotive American grunge which would soon arrive. “The Same Deep Water as You” is a long and moody ballad, almost in the same vein as “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors , and even contain similar rainstorm sound effects. The title track, “Disintegration”, is a more upbeat with wild sounds throughout, where “Smith showcases his own lead guitar talents. “Homesick” is the best of this lot, with a sound that is at once eerie and beautiful. Its long intro begins with a soft acoustic and minor-key piano before being joined by Gallup’s animated bass, Williams’ fine, rock-oriented drums and the flanged out guitar of Thompson. In spite of its name, the song’s lyrics tell of avoidance of home and responsibility, like a late night drunken stupor. An accordion introduces the “Untitled” closing track before it all breaks into a decent dance groove, almost funky but slower, as the album departs on an upbeat note.

Smith was distraught that the success of Disintegration further elevated The Cure as a “stadium rock band” and this album’s title seemed prophetic as the band began to slowly fall apart. While different lineups continued the group through the 1990s, this was the end of their golden era.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1989 albums.

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Turning The Cure into one of the biggest bands on the planet, ‘Disintegration’ remains a mind-blowing and stunningly complete album.

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Arguably their flagship release, The Cure ’s Disintegration sold over three million copies and raised the band’s status from cult icons to stadium-filling superstars. Yet this landmark album emerged from a turbulent 12-month period during which frontman Robert Smith battled with depression and fired The Cure’s co-founder, Lol Tolhurst, from the band.

Listen to The Cure’s Disintegration now .

Cracks first began to show following the release of 1987’s eclectic, double-disc set Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me . Though an artistic triumph that rewarded The Cure with a Billboard Top 40 breakthrough and their first platinum certification, the ensuing sold-out world tour left an exhausted Smith feeling uncomfortable with the side effects of international pop stardom and desperate to withdraw from the glare of the mass media.

‘Little Broken Hearts’: How Norah Jones Turned Hurt Into Art

Jack johnson announces ‘all at once sustainability’ winners, preps new track, “i would have been happy to make these songs on my own”.

His depression heightened by the fact he would turn 30 in April 1989, Smith and his fiancée, Mary Poole, moved to a new house in London where Smith began writing a series of new songs on his own. As he later told The Cure’s biographer Jeff Apter, he’d even devised contingency plans to record a solo album if his bandmates rejected the morose new material he’d composed. “I would have been quite happy to have made these songs on my own,” Smith said. “If the group hadn’t thought it was right, that would have been fine.”

However, initial sessions at drummer Boris Williams’ home proved The Cure were keen to get behind their leader’s new material. After they demoed over 30 new tracks, the band joined producer David M. Allen ( The Human League , Sisters Of Mercy, Neneh Cherry) at Hook End Manor Studios, in Oxfordshire, and pieced Disintegration together across the winter of 1988-89.

It’s well documented that the Disintegration sessions were sometimes fraught, and that they culminated in keyboardist Lol Tolhurst’s departure from the band due to alcohol-related issues. However, they were also intensely productive. When The Cure eventually re-emerged, they did so with a pivotal album that many long-term fans believe still best defines their work.

Thematically and sonically, Disintegration was primarily a return to the dark, gloomy aesthetic The Cure had explored across their key early 80s titles, Seventeen Seconds , Faith, and Pornography . Robert Smith may not have been suffering from the raging nihilism which drove him in the run-up to the latter, but the depression that descended upon him during 1988 moved him to write songs such as “Prayers For Rain,” “Plainsong,” and “Closedown”: intense, melancholic anthems garnished with icy synths, ponderous guitar figures, and Williams’ tom-heavy drums.

“It’s an open show of emotion”

However, while a somber mood largely settles upon Disintegration , the darkness is decisively leavened by a clutch of The Cure’s most accessible tracks, such as “Pictures Of You,” “Lullaby,” and “Lovesong.” Built around a supple groove and one of Simon Gallup’s most insistent basslines, “Lovesong” in particular remains one of The Cure’s most sublime pop moments, and its tender lyric (“Whatever words I say, I will always love you”) marked a major milestone for Robert Smith.

Written and sung directly for his fiancée, Mary, it was Smith’s first truly unadorned love song and, as he later told Jeff Apter, “It’s an open show of emotion and it’s taken me ten years to reach the point where I feel comfortable singing a very straightforward love song.”

“Lovesong”’s universal appeal took it to No.2 in the US and provided The Cure with their biggest Stateside hit. In the UK, meanwhile, Fiction Records chose the equally infectious “Lullaby” as Disintegration ’s first single, and it also went Top 5, despite Smith’s eerie, semi-whispered vocal and the song’s memorably nightmarish lyric wherein “the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight.”

“It was never our intention to become as big as this”

With its 12 tracks clocking in at well over an hour, Disintegration wasn’t for the faint-hearted, yet fans and critics alike agreed it was a tour de force. When it was released, on May 2, 1989, the NME rightly hailed it as “a mind-blowing and stunningly complete album”; it rose to No.3 on the UK chart and yielded multi-platinum sales.

Though Smith later admitted “it was never our intention to become as big as this,” the Prayer tour found The Cure graduating to stadiums and playing marathon, career-spanning sets, ensuring that when they waved goodbye to the 80s, they’d morphed into one of the biggest alt.rock acts on the planet.

Disintegration can be bought here .

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• December 6, 1987 Setlist

The Cure Setlist at NEC Arena, Birmingham, England

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• Hot Hot Hot!!!
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• Dec 03 1987 Patinoire de Mériadeck Bordeaux, France Add time Add time
• Dec 04 1987 Parc des Expositions de la Beaujoire Nantes, France Add time Add time
• Dec 06 1987 NEC Arena This Setlist Birmingham, England Add time Add time
• Dec 07 1987 Wembley Arena London, England Add time Add time
• Dec 08 1987 Wembley Arena London, England Add time Add time

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