The Cure
Disintegration (Elektra) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) 1/2
The Cure`s 11th album finds band leader Robert Smith-newly married and not at all the merrier for it-venturing back into the bass-dominant near-drone of the band`s early-`80s Gothic rock (though with brightening touches of keyboard and guitar psychedelia) and squirming ever deeper into the snakepit of love. Smith`s lyrics always have been preoccupied with the easy slide from passion into hatred, but here there is almost none of the cheery, radio-perfect pop that provided a counterpoint to the darker tunes on the British band`s three previous records. ``Disintegration`` is an hourlong (perhaps overlong) tale of ruined relationships-of, to quote the title tune, ``songs about happiness murmured in dreams/when we both of us knew how the ending would be.`` ``Love Song,`` ``Pictures of You,`` and the potent current single ``Fascination Street`` just might be hits, but even they are not obvious ones. More powerful than ``Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me,`` its 2-million selling predecessor, this album is a stunning marriage of words and music from the edge.
