Where to start with the Cure?

Plus you get the lovely Charlotte Sometimes on Standing On A Beach.
Disintegration though...that album is massively overrated, even boring in parts but it was a massive seller and remains the 'best' Cure album for a whole generation of people. For me they went too poppy after that and the previous Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me album was the career highlight. I would get that and work backwards.

 

Still a better front-to-back listen than either of those, imo. That's why I say Staring first, then Galore (If you don't feel like getting the albums yet).
Or, maybe better, get them both as starters!

 

Lot's of good ideas here, folks. Thank you!

 

Definitely Disintegration.

 

I don't think I saw this mentioned, but keep in mind that the song "Hey You!!!" was omitted from the original cd release of Kiss Me x 3 due to time constraints. It is included on the 2006 reissue.

 

Staring at the sea & Disintegration

 

What's neat about this poll is it highlights something really cool about the Cure: Staring at the Sea looks to be the winner which highlights what a great singles band they were. And FYI: I voted for that one because its a great overview that has lots of non-album singles, and is a great overview that doesn't steal any thunder from the albums it borrows from. (My "version" of Staring at the Sea was also the cassette version that had all the B-sides on side two of the tape. To me, that made it the greatest "greatest hits" album by a very wide margin.)

But they were also one of the best album artists of their time. Lots of stylistic/thematic/mood shifts to be found as you watch the band develop, leading to a series of uniquely themed albums. It would be incredibly difficult for me to pick my favorite album by them. It could be Boy's Don't Cry or Faith or Pornography or Head on the Door or Kiss Me (or even The Top, my first.) Turns out it's Disintegration because it's so great it reaches heights that transcend even The Cure themselves––but that doesn't mean there's not a ton of worthy competition despite all those albums I noted being very different from each other. So they're also a great albums band, too. It's really unfair to the competition in their peer group to be that balanced.

 

What was interesting to me and one reason I was drawn to the Cure was that they were one of the bands that transitioned out of the 60s style of psychedelic music and moved into the 80s. They had a perfect blend of heavy psychedelic jams mixed with wonderful sad pop songs. Listening to some of their earlier works and focusing on the jam portions of the songs really was a through back to the hey day of the late 60s however it was definitely an updated approach to the song structure and subject matter with a move that relied heavily on synthesizers and a pop sensibility, hence why Staring at the Sea is so popular.

 

I am a Cure fan since 1987... I think, for someone who starts with The Cure, Disintegration is not a very good advice. That album is beautiful, really, but it is not very easy for someone who does not know The Cure. It took me more than 10 years to discover it was an absolutely great album, until then, I just thought it was a dead one. I've got friends who love The Cure and has the same difficulties with Disintegration and now, they really love that album.

I am telling that because to tell to someone to start with Disintegration is absolutely not a good idea. The personn highly risks leave The Cure thinking it is an inaccessible group and will certainly not wait 10 years to check if s-he was right or not to think that.

In my opinion, the best Cure album to start with is The Head On The Door.

 

Starting with Bloodflowers would be worse.

 

I went with Staring at the Sea for the great singles. Pornography is the best album of theirs I've heard thus far.

 

Agreed head on the door is a great place to start but completely disagree that you can't dip your toes into disintegration. It's accessible by all modern means.

 

Kiss me have all of the trademarks of the cure. The doomy side, the poppy side, the hits.

 

I am not only talking for myself, Cyclistsb...

Many Cure fans I know has had problems with Disintegration before finding it beautiful and strong. So I could not be completely wrong...

So, the least you can say, then, is that it is not an easy album to access for everyone.

Yes, that's true, but we also have to let pleasure for someone who does not know The Cure to discover that excellent double album for later, as a beautiful and excellent present from The Cure. Not to start with. We have to keep it for later discovery, I think, when the personn has entered in The Cure's trip, after the discovery of the first album, in a second time.

In addition, a double album contains maybe too many tracks in it for someone who starts with a group s-he does not know. I guess a simple 10 tracks album is easier to start with a group than a double, 18 tracks, one.

 

Disintegration. Though I dig Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me more, this is trademark Cure to me - and Fascination Street is a darkly beautiful song I never get tired of.

 

If I didn't know of The Cure and someone forced me to listen to Pornography I would have been grateful to them for life - I love it more than anything, but as someone on another site (I think Discogs) posted: "nothing will ever beat this album - it's as hardcore as it gets".
The only thing I feel is similar to its relentless industrial bleakness is side 2 of Iggy's The Idiot. That's the problem though - it's not for everyone.
My second choice would be The Head On The Door, which is a perfect mix of pop and experimentation and every track hits the bullseye, but I'll have to go with Standing On A Beach/Staring At The Sea (cassette version has B sides), which although it misses out on the classic Lullabye, was released way before the dismal Friday I'm In Love was born.

 

Yes, I LOVE Disintegration, it is very somptuous and beautiful, one of my favourite Cure albums, but it is not an album to start with when we don't know The Cure... Even if they know the group, many people need to make several listen to come into that depressed album.

Yes, Pornography is the most dark and violent album from The Cure, it is very impressive for someone who doesn't know The Cure, I think it is a good album to start with, even if I keep on thinking the less risky to start with is The Head On The Door.

 

Be your own judge.
Listen to their albums on the web and buy the one you like the most.

 

Staring At The Sea, obviously...

 

.... or the ones you like the most !

True, but sometimes people need help, advices, from others. This is an important part of the discovery, to talk with people who know the discography of a group for a long time. It is more user-friendly, interesting and fun than to discover things all alone.

And the sound quality is not always there in Internet. Youtube, for instance, has many lossy files with distorted sounds. Some mouths ago I would advice Spotify to listen to full albums from a group. The sound is excellent in Spotify... but the problem is that recently they decided to insert ads inbetween tracks ! It is very important to discover albums in the best conditions. And the best conditions mean lossless audio files and no ad.

 

Even though Kiss Me would be a great place to start, I have reconsidered my choice, casting a vote for Three Imaginary Boys. The premise is that when diving into any band with such a rich catalogue, it's an awesome experience to start at the beginning as if you were there when it all began.

 

I'm always wary of fans' opinions. It can often lead to disappointment. There is no point forcing to like something because it is considered excellent.
Like what YOU like.

 

Not a fan of compilations but The Cure have so many different phases that I'd give an interested person "Standing On A Beach" - the long, 17 track version.

 

The Cure are very special live.

One could do worse than watching Trilogy blu ray to catch three of their best albums performed front to back!

 

I think Bananarama knew where to start with The Cure...