The Cure – Disintegration

This is a great album, but some songs keep it from achieving a five star rating. Going from the first two tracks into "Closedown" is jarring. This song sucks, its between filler and mediocrity. An uninspired and lazy sounding song. Then there is "The Same Deep Water As You". That song goes on for almost nine and a half minutes. But there is nothing remotely entertaining about it to justify its length. It is a better track than "Closedown", but that's easy. The rest of the songs are great, and one or two are fantastic. But with two stinkers, this gets dragged down to four stars. A truly great album, nonetheless.

The best album from the band. melancholic and absolutely wonderful. Incredibly good sound quality on this pressing

I had heard of the cure growing up and heard all their popular pop songs, but had never really looked into their catalogue. After a discussion with a guy from work, he recommended this album. Let's just say I was blown away. This is an absolute masterpiece and I'm amazed I had never heard of it before the recommendation. I suppose you need to be looking for something before you find it.

Buying vinyl can be difficult when there are a number of pressings / formats. Looking for the best vinyl edition of Disintegration is a bit of a minefield. I wonder if anybody can help? After the 2010 pressing there are a few subsequent pressings (16, 18, 20). So, is the 2010 pressing better than 16, 18, 20? Or does it not matter - Has the high quality been maintained for all the European double vinyls of Disintegration?

I do have a mint copy of the first edition vinyl (just because I happened to be there at the time). I like it enough. However, I would like to try the double album. Surely the music benefits from having the many tracks spread over double the vinyl space, allowing deeper bass (of obvious importance with Fascination Street), and the LONG playing time of this album demands it?

I am strictly concerned with the European, double vinyl pressings. I generally think first pressings are best, unless there is a determined effort to maintain quality with subsequent pressings (also having the idea the plates can wear out,). Vinyl production is temperamental and demands a sustained effort if high quality is wanted. The point with first pressings and some remasters, is the deliberate effort to acheive a high quality sound production, boosted with the finance from knowing there will be a market at a certain time. With first pressings there is a need to ensure high quality sound when a new product hits the market (!) + the actual band might be there to advise on what the sound should sound like. [To keep it simple, I'm ignoring the vagaries of temporal fashions in what sound should sound like such as recordings generally being louder now, certain lab preferences . . .].

Sorry to labour the point.

Reading the below vinyl v CD debate for Cure’s Disintegration is like watching the Trump V Clinton election debates. "I'm Better". "No, I'm better." “I’m a bigger fan” . . . how on earth can you objectively decide if both make identical, but opposite claims so emphatically? Why is consensus not agreed? It makes you wonder about people’s stubbornness and their need to be right, regardless of whether they are wrong, or whether there even IS a wrong. EGO. (And yes, I would like to know if one is better than the other, but I truly can't figure it out from reading the below.)

I bought the album on vinyl in ’89 and was pleased. Hearing Fascination Street the first time was a real blast. But truly, this isn’t even my favourite Cure album.

Regarding vinyl or CD for Disintegration I really don’t know, I haven’t compared the two together – it seems a difficult task to do. CDs are louder, so you have to up the volume of the vinyl in order for it to compare, on top of that the Disintegration vinyl album has to be played loud anyway. I have to it, there are some rare examples of vinyl I have where I immediately noticed a difference of clarity, and sometimes certain recordings seem ‘fuggy’, I understand the critical need for good sound production – but the whole thing is a minefield. Surely with our technological world you’d think they could achieve consistent standards for the paying customer? Or maybe the whole thing is a con. Recording standards were at the top of the game more than fifty years ago, it’s just there are options and you have to be able to pay for it.

With all the many options, the debate will continue. And when enough people say something is “definitely better”, well the price goes up and it becomes rare. I can definitively say I am glad I don't have the current most expensive Cure piece on this site – a test pressing of the Disintegration picture disc on vinyl selling for $7,000 Canadian dollars. Laughable. Apart from the poor quality sound of picture discs, it’s in flawed condition (VG doesn’t really mean “very good” does it?). It’s not meant for playing, it “crackles and pops”, and finally, as it is a test pressing picture disc – it lacks a picture! “Test pressing of the picture disc. Disc is dirty white with a black border and has no labels. Only 25 copies are believed to exist.” Of course it’s more of a collector’s piece than for listening – yes, yes, of course. Have we forgotten what the real attraction is with this item?

Fascinating.

Im wrighting about 3 CD edition 2020. In my opinion, 2020 sounds better, in more detail. The bass does not mutter and the drums sound very beautiful (as an example - track number 11). The recording volume is not increased, the level the same as of 2010. I just now listened to both and compared. I already have 2010 edition that is one CD, with the inscription "CD one. Original album".

Over 70 min, sprawling with love and angst where no songs could have been omitted to the journey.

No words will ever describe the beauty and the importance of this album to so many (myself included). At the tender age of 13, what more was there but "Disintegration"? The Cure's album eighth deep into their (late) 80s career, rich with stylistic shifts that never harmed their innovative consistency. The album that still is just light years away from now. The majestic opening that is "Plainsong" is so mesmerising, that powerful hi-hat/stabbing keyboard riff pouring in, keeps sweeping anyone off their feet to start with... Thirty years on, I think I'm old (and it's so cold) - and when we'll all be long gone, this album's splendour will continue to shine on new generations in the manner of the greatest big bang.

One of those albums that didn't need to be messed with, period. The original 1989 mastering on compact disc is the definitive version. Mastered with wide dynamic range and plenty of headroom so it can be turned up loud as the booklet instructs. The 2010 remaster simply adds compression and boosted bass that does the music no favors - it just kills the spaciousness and atmosphere of the album. There isn't any good vinyl version either, so don't bother. The old pressings, even though they cut a couple tracks, were still compromised because they crammed too much music on each side and the 2010 and onward reissues use the crappy remaster as a source. Find any old pre-2010 CD if you want to hear the album properly.

Has anyone out there encountered the same problem I've had with the 2010 Reissue? Omg I've tried 3 copies all of which have been returned thank goodness because at least here in Canada they are very expensive selling for around $50 New Sealed. The songs are clear and bright but the surface noise is unbearable right from the drop of the needle. The Rabbit is eating away destroying the beautiful songs before in-between and during most. Rhino reissue so not to surprised but for such a great Cure album not in my collection am super disappointed.
Also Discogs is saying that there was a 2016 Reissue but is it? All the local record stores when searching to order brings up the 2010 version only in stock to purchase and am not going to do that again.