Homogenic is the fourth studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in September 1997. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B and Markus Dravs, it was released on One Little Indian Records. The music of Homogenic was a new style for Björk, focusing on similar sounding music combining electronic beats and string instruments with songs in tribute to her native country Iceland. Homogenic was originally to be produced in her home in London, but was later recorded in Spain.

Homogenic marked the first of several production collaborations between Mark Bell and Björk, whom Björk would cite as a major influence on her musical career. The album peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200, and at number four on the UK Albums Chart. Five singles were released from Homogenic: "Jóga", "Bachelorette", "Hunter", "Alarm Call" and "All Is Full of Love". Homogenic was highly acclaimed on its initial release and continues to be praised by critics, with Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine stating that "if not the greatest electronic album of all time, it's certainly the greatest of its decade".^[2]

Production[link]

Maida Vale sessions[link]

After an extensive tour in 1996, Björk returned to her home in Maida Vale with an urgent need to write new songs as a form of therapy.^[3] Björk would let audio engineer Markus Dravs into her home studio to start creating new songs. Björk wanted to create an album with "a simple sound" and "only one flavour".^[3] The album began with the working title of Homogeneous, but Björk shortly afterwards changed it to Homogenic.^[3]

The sessions with Dravs and Björk were casual, with Björk allowing Dravs freedom with the album. Björk only left the studio to cook meals for the both of them.^[4] One of the first songs created during the sessions was "5 Years" which Dravs created the fast beat for.^[4] The progress of Homogenic in these sessions was halted due to a media sensation caused by the suicide of Björk's stalker Ricardo López.^[5][6] To deal with the stress of being at home during this incident, Björk imagined herself as the protagonist in a Spanish soap opera.^[6] The character's image inspired a song titled "So Broken" which she sang to herself in her kitchen.^[6] The song was later included on the Japanese import of the album.^[7]

Málaga sessions[link]

To record in privacy away from the sudden unwanted media interest, Björk's tour drummer Trevor Morais offered his studio in Spain. Björk went to Málaga and arranged to meet with flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador.^[6] Björk had originally intended to stay in Málaga only briefly, but later decided to record the entirety of Homogenic there.^[6] Björk made a final trip out of the country before staying in Spain. As she had done since moving to London, Björk returned to Iceland for Christmas.^[6] While there, she wrote more new songs for Homogenic, including "Jóga".^[8] Before returning to Spain to record, Björk was sidetracked by a two week worldwide press tour for the promotion of her remix album Telegram, which had just been released.^[9]

After returning to the studio in Spain in late January, Björk decided that producer Nellee Hooper, who had produced both Debut and Post, would not return, as Björk stated that they had "both stopped surprising each other".^[10][11][12] Björk had intended to produce the album alone, but she abandoned the idea and sought out a group of close collaborators including Dravs, Howie B, Guy Sigsworth and LFO's Mark Bell.^[10] Howie B had worked with Björk previously on Debut and Post and Sigsworth had played harpsichord on Post.^[11][12] The American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan almost contributed to the production of Homogenic, but were unable to due to their production on the album Wu-Tang Forever, which had taken longer than planned.^[10] Most of the melodies on the album were created mentally by Björk, who then composed string sections on a Casio keyboard and brought them to programmers who would add suitable rhythmic patterns.^[13] Björk desired to have Mark Bell contribute to her albums Debut and Post, only finding him available for Homogenic.^[14] Mark Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "Pluto", "Alarm Call", and the bass line in "Jóga". Björk stated about her collaboration with Bell that she "trusts and respects what [Bell] does for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell".^[10] Other unorthodox methods of recording were used during the production, including Björk wanting to record outside on the porch and using non-professionals to help aid with production, such as Rebecca Storey, who was hired as a babysitter, but added to the production staff after showing interest in the equipment.^[15][16]

String arrangements were added late in the recording process.^[16] Björk had friend Eumir Deodato conduct, transcribe and compose original pieces for the few songs that Björk did not arrange for herself.^[16] To keep with the Icelandic theme of the album, Björk ordered the services of the Icelandic String Octet.^[16] By June 1997, the album was behind schedule and Björk was uncertain of the final track listing and unhappy with some of the recorded vocals.^[17]

Style[link]

	"Hunter" noicon "Hunter" the third single from Homogenic by Björk. "Hunter" showcases the hybrid elements of strings and electronic backing beats through the album.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Before production began on Homogenic, Björk wanted to create an album with "a simple sound" and "only one flavour".^[3] Heather Phares of Allmusic described the sound of Homogenic as a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica".^[1] The album differs from her previous two releases stylistically, and Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone stated the album was "certain to be rough going for fans looking for the sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases".^[18]

Björk wanted Homogenic to have a conceptual focus on her native Iceland. Producer Markus Dravs recalled Björk wanting it to sound like "rough volcanoes with soft moss growing all over it..."^[3] In an interview for Oor, Björk explained that "in Iceland, everything revolves around nature, 24 hours a day. Earthquakes, snowstorms, rain, ice, volcanic eruptions, geysers... Very elementary and uncontrollable. But at the other hand, Iceland is incredibly modern; everything is hi-tech. The number of people owning a computer is as high as nowhere else in the world. That contradiction is also on Homogenic. The electronic beats are the rhythm, the heartbeat. The violins create the old-fashioned atmosphere, the colouring."^[19][20]

Björk's vocals on Homogenic range from primitive sounding screams to a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men, a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song "Unravel".^[21][22] The majority of songs on Homogenic have lyrics about love and failed relationships. The song "Jóga" was written as a tribute to her best friend and tour masseuse of the same name.^[8] Björk called "All is Full of Love" a song about "believing in love" and that "Love isn't just about two persons. It's everywhere around you".^[23] "All Neon Like" contains snippets of a poem Björk wrote called "Techno Prayer" in 1996. The song "5 Years" appeared in live form a few weeks after her breakup with musician Tricky and music journalists considered it a response to it.^[1][24] "Bachelorette" was originally written for director Bernardo Bertolucci for his film Stealing Beauty.^[24] Björk later faxed Bertolucci, informing him the song would be used for her album instead.^[24] "Bachelorette" and "Jóga" were written with Icelandic poet Sjón, because Björk wanted to use epic lyrics.^[24][25] "Immature" was written about mistakes in past relationships, shortly after the breakup with Goldie.^[26] Björk described "Pluto" as about "being plastered, that need to destroy everything so you can start again".^[27] "Unravel" is a song about lamenting love, with brief flashes of hope.^[28] The themes of the album are reflected in the album cover designed by Alexander McQueen.^[29] Björk approached McQueen explaining to him the person who wrote Homogenic's songs was someone who "had to become a warrior. A warrior who had to fight not with weapons, but with love. I had 10 kilos of hair on my head, and special contact lenses and a manicure that prevented me from eating with my fingers, and gaffer tape around my waist and high clogs so I couldn't walk easily".^[29]

Release[link]

Homogenic was released later than One Little Indian Records had intended. Björk was behind schedule and the album's cover design by Nick Knight needed a reshoot.^[17] Towards the end of August 1997, One Little Indian delayed the album by a month.^[17] Homogenic was released on September 22, 1997 on One Little Indian in the United Kingdom and on September 23 Elektra Records in North America on compact disc and cassette.^{[1][30][31][32]} The album was later issued on vinyl and DualDisc formats.^[1] The Japanese import version of Homogenic included several bonus tracks and remixed versions of songs.^[7] The DualDisc release featured the full album on the CD side and the DVD side included the album with superior sound quality and the music videos for the singles.^[33]

On the album's initial release, it charted in the United States on October 11, 1997, and stayed in the charts for nine weeks peaking at number 28.^[34] Homogenic entered the charts in Canada for one week at number 20.^[34][35] In the United Kingdom, Homogenic entered the charts on October 4, 1997, stayed in the charts for thirteen weeks and peaked at number four.^[36] Of the ten songs on Homogenic, five were released as singles. A music video for "Jóga" directed by Michel Gondry was filmed in the middle of 1997 and was the first single for the album.^[37][38] "Bachelorette" was released in December 1997 with another music video directed by Gondry.^[38] In 1998, two singles were released: "Hunter", which had a music video directed by Paul White, and "Alarm Call", which had a video directed by Alexander McQueen.^[38] The final single from Homogenic was "All Is Full of Love", released in 1999 with a music video directed by Chris Cunningham.^[38] "Jóga" was the only single to not chart in the United Kingdom and "All Is Full of Love" was the only single to chart in the United States, peaking at number eight the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.^[36][39] In Canada, the Canadian Recording Industry Association certified Homogenic as a gold record on June 12, 1998, and in the United States the RIAA certified the album as Gold on August 31, 2001.^[40][41]

Tour[link]

Björk performing at Ruisrock, Turku, Finland on June 28, 1998.^[42]

When the release of Homogenic was delayed by a month, its tour began with the audience not being familiar with the album's songs since it had not been released yet.^[17] The tour started at the beginning of September with a backing band that consisted only of Mark Bell and made stops in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, and England. These shows were brief live shows lasting about half an hour consisting of only new material.^[17] Another tour took place in late October and lasted less than four weeks. Stops on this tour included Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, and Denmark.^[43] In late November, Björk was diagnosed with a kidney infection and while she was still healthy she was advised to take a three week rest and was forced to cancel her American tour.^[43] In 1998, a North American tour with Radiohead was announced but canceled later due to difficulty of changing the stage between performances of the acts.^[44] Björk had another tour in the middle of 1998 through Europe, and outside of the continent through other countries, including Chile, Brazil and Argentina.^[44] Opening acts for portions of the tour included electronic musician µ-Ziq.^[45]

Reception[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The A.V. Club	(mixed)[46]
Robert Christgau	[47]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)[48]
NME	(9/10)[49]
Pitchfork Media	(9.9/10)[50]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Slant Magazine	[2]
Spin	(9/10)[51]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[52]

Homogenic has been met with acclaim by critics since its initial release, winning multiple awards, as well as being placed on several "best of" charts. The album was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Performance category at the 1998 Grammy Awards, losing to Radiohead's OK Computer.^[53][54] Michel Gondry's music video for "Bachelorette" was nominated for best Best Short Form Music Video at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jonas Åkerlund's video for the Madonna song "Ray of Light".^[55][56] Homogenic landed Björk the award for Best International Female at the BRIT Awards where she accepted the award stating "I am grateful grapefruit".^[44]

Initial critical reception was positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A rating, stating that "Homogenic could have been stuffy and dull — Sting with a sex-change operation. It's a testament to Bjork's continued weirdness that even overtures toward adulthood come out delightfully skewed".^[48] Rolling Stone gave the album four stars out of five, calling it "one of the boldest – and most exciting – albums of the year".^[18] NME gave the album a nine out of ten rating, noting the record as "probably her most weird, it is also her best....It is here...that Bjork has delivered her most emotional, highly-charged and groovy record, as well as a stinging triumph for the spirit of adventure."^[49] A more negative review came from Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club, who said "Homogenic is stylish enough, and it's as restlessly creative as you'd expect, but the album rarely gives Björk's songs a chance to assert themselves".^[46]

American critics rated Homogenic highly in end of the year polls. In Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 1997, the album placed at number nine.^[57] Spin ranked the album at number four on their list of "Top 20 Albums of the Year".^[58] British critics listed the album in similar polls, with Melody Maker ranking the album at number thirty-three on their list of "Albums of the Year" and NME placed the album at number fifteen in its Critics' Poll.^[59][60] Later reception to the album has also been generally positive. Ryan Schrieber of Pitchfork Media gave Homogenic a 9.9 out of 10 rating, claiming the album was "absolutely brilliant".^[50] In 2002, Homogenic placed at number ten on Slant Magazine's list of "The Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century".^[61] In 2003, Homogenic placed on number 21 on the music webzine Pitchfork Media's list of the top one hundred albums of the 1990s, claiming it as "one of the most perfectly formed records of any era, and it is entirely possible that Björk will never approach this level of consistently enrapturing beauty again".^[62] In 2007, Slant Magazine gave the highest possible rating of five out of five stars, describing the album as "gorgeous and evocative" and praising it as one of the best albums of the 1990s.^[2] In a career retrospective in 2007, Spin gave the album five out of five stars.^[63] In 2011, Slant Magazine placed the album at number one on their list of best albums of the 1990s.^[64]

Track listing[link]

All songs written and composed by Björk,^[1][30] except where otherwise noted. 

Personnel[link]

Charts[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Pytlik, Mark (2003). Björk: Wow and Flutter. ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-556-1. http://books.google.com/?id=bill263dqDAC. 
• Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner, & Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-058-0. http://books.google.com/?id=ib4MyAIpe3MC. 
• Lysloff, René T. A.; Leslie C. Gay (2003). Music and technoculture. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6514-8. http://books.google.com/?id=MPRBF1wqmcoC. 
• Randall, Mac (2000). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Delta. ISBN 0-385-33393-5. http://books.google.com/?id=ib4MyAIpe3MC. 

External links[link]

• Homogenic at bjork.com
• Homogenic at Google music
• Homogenic at Rate Your Music

The Cure
The Cure performing in Singapore in 2007. Left to right: Porl Thompson, Jason Cooper (back), Robert Smith, Simon Gallup.
Background information
Origin	Crawley, England
Genres	Gothic rock,[1][2] alternative rock, New Wave, post-punk
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Fiction, Suretone, Geffen, Polydor, Elektra, Asylum, Sire
Associated acts	Malice, Easy Cure, The Glove, Siouxsie and the Banshees
Website	www.thecure.com
Members
Robert Smith Simon Gallup Roger O'Donnell Jason Cooper Reeves Gabrels
Past members
Lol Tolhurst Michael Dempsey Matthieu Hartley Andy Anderson Phil Thornalley Boris Williams Porl Thompson Perry Bamonte

The Cure are an English alternative rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with its debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and New Wave movements that had sprung up in the wake of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre.^[1][2][3]

After the release of Pornography (1982), the band's future was uncertain and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 single "Let's Go to Bed" Smith began to place a pop sensibility into the band's music (as well as a unique stage look). The Cure's popularity increased as the decade wore on, especially in the United States where the songs "Just Like Heaven", "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart. By the start of the 1990s, The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004.^[4] The Cure have released thirteen studio albums, 10 EPs and over thirty singles during the course of their career. Since 2010, they have been working on a fourteenth studio album.^[5]

History[link]

Formation and early years (1973–1979)[link]

The first incarnation of what became The Cure was The Obelisk, a band formed by students at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, Sussex. The band made their public debut in a one-off performance in April 1973, and featured Robert Smith (piano), Michael "Mick" Dempsey (guitar), Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (percussion), Marc Ceccagno (lead guitar) and Alan Hill (bass guitar).^[6] In January 1976 the band took a more substantial form of what would be when Ceccagno formed Malice with Smith and Dempsey along with two other classmates from St. Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School, with Ceccagno on lead, Smith on guitar, and Dempsey switching to bass. Ceccagno soon left, however, to form a jazz-rock fusion band called Amulet. Increasingly influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure in January 1977.^[7] By this time, Smith and Dempsey had been joined by Lol Tolhurst from The Obelisk on drums, and new lead guitarist Porl Thompson. Both Malice and Easy Cure auditioned several vocalists before Smith finally assumed the role of Easy Cure's frontman in September 1977.^[8]

That year, Easy Cure won a talent competition with German label Hansa Records, and received a recording contract. Although the band recorded tracks for the company, none were ever released.^[9] Following disagreements in March 1978 over the direction the band should take, the contract with Hansa was dissolved. Smith later recalled, "We were very young. They just thought they could turn us into a teen group. They actually wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused."^[9] Thompson was dropped from the band in May, and the remaining trio (Smith/Tolhurst/Dempsey) were soon renamed The Cure by Smith.^[10] Later that month the band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex, which were distributed as a demo tape to a dozen major record labels.^[11] The demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, who signed The Cure to his newly formed Fiction label—distributed by Polydor—in September 1978.^[12] The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. "Killing an Arab" garnered both acclaim and controversy: while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is actually based on French existentialist Albert Camus's novel The Stranger.^[13] The band placed a sticker label that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue on Fiction. An early NME article on the band wrote that The Cure "are like a breath of fresh suburban air on the capital's smog-ridden pub-and-club circuit" and noted "With a John Peel session and more extensive London gigging on their immediate agenda, it remains to be seen whether or not The Cure can retain their refreshing joie de vivre."^[14]

The Cure released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979. Because of the band's inexperience in the studio, Parry and engineer Mike Hedges took control of the recording.^[15] The band, particularly Smith, were unhappy with their debut; in a 1987 interview, he admitted, "a lot of it was very superficial – I didn't even like it at the time. There were criticisms made that it was very lightweight, and I thought they were justified. Even when we'd made it, I wanted to do something that I thought had more substance to it".^[16] The band's second single "Boys Don't Cry" was released in June. The Cure then embarked as the support band for Siouxsie and the Banshees' Join Hands promotional tour of England, Northern Ireland, and Wales between August and October. The tour saw Smith pull double duty each night by performing with The Cure and as the guitarist with The Banshees when John McKay quit the group.^[17] That musical experience had a strong impact on him: "On stage that first night with the Banshees, I was blown away by how powerful I felt playing that kind of music. It was so different to what we were doing with The Cure. Before that, I'd wanted us to be like The Buzzcocks or Elvis Costello, the punk Beatles. Being a Banshee really changed my attitude to what I was doing."^[18]

The Cure's third single "Jumping Someone Else's Train" was released in early October 1979. Soon afterwards, Dempsey was dropped from the band because of his cold reception to material Smith had written for the upcoming album.^[19] Dempsey joined the Associates, while Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) from The Magspies joined The Cure. The Associates toured as support band for The Cure and The Passions on the Future Pastimes Tour of England between November and December—all three bands were on the Fiction Records roster—with the new Cure line-up already performing a number of new songs for the projected second album.^[20] Meanwhile, a spin-off band comprising Smith, Tolhurst, Dempsey, Gallup, Hartley and Thompson, with backing vocals from assorted family and friends, and lead vocals provided by their local postman Frankie Bell released a 7-inch single in December under the assumed name of Cult Hero.^[21]

Early Gothic Phase (1980–1982)[link]

	"One Hundred Years" (1982) noicon Sample of "One Hundred Years" from Pornography.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Due to the band's lack of creative control on the first album, Smith exerted a greater influence on the recording of The Cure's second album Seventeen Seconds, which he co-produced with Mike Hedges.^[22] The album was released in 1980 and reached number 20 on the UK charts. A single from the album, "A Forest", became the band's first UK hit single, reaching number 31 on the singles chart.^[23] The album was a departure from The Cure's sound up to that point, with Hedges describing it as "morose, atmospheric, very different to Three Imaginary Boys."^[24] In its review of Seventeen Seconds the NME said, "For a group as young as The Cure, it seems amazing that they have covered so much territory in such a brief time."^[25] At the same time, Smith was pressed concerning the concept of an alleged "anti-image".^[26] Smith told the press he was fed up with the anti-image association that some considered to be "elaborately disguising their plainness", stating, "We had to get away from that anti-image thing, which we didn't even create in the first place. And it seemed like we were trying to be more obscure. We just didn't like the standard rock thing. The whole thing really got out of hand."^[27] That same year Three Imaginary Boys was repackaged for the American market as Boys Don't Cry, with new artwork and a modified tracklist. The Cure set out on their first world tour to promote both releases. At the end of the tour, Matthieu Hartley left the band. Hartley said, "I realised that the group was heading towards suicidal, sombre music—the sort of thing that didn't interest me at all."^[28]

The band reconvened with Hedges to produce their third album Faith (1981), which furthered the mood of misery present on Seventeen Seconds.^[29] The album peaked at number 14 on the UK charts.^[23] Included with cassette copies of Faith was an instrumental soundtrack for Carnage Visors, an animated film shown in place of an opening act for the band's 1981 Picture Tour.^[30] In late 1981, The Cure released the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes". By this point, the sombre mood of the music had a profound effect on the attitude of the band. The band would refuse requests for older songs in concert, and sometimes Smith would be so absorbed by the persona he projected onstage he would leave at the end in tears.^[31]

In 1982, The Cure recorded and released Pornography, the third and final album of an "oppressively dispirited" trio that cemented the Cure's stature as purveyors of the emerging gothic rock genre.^[32] Smith has said that during the recording of Pornography he was "undergoing a lot of mental stress. But it had nothing to do with the group, it just had to do with what I was like, my age and things. I think I got to my worst round about Pornography. Looking back and getting other people's opinions of what went on, I was a pretty monstrous sort of person at that time".^[16] Gallup described the album by saying, "Nihilism took over [. . .] We sang 'It doesn't matter if we all die' and that is exactly what we thought at the time."^[33] Parry was concerned that the album did not have a hit song for radio play and instructed Smith and producer Phil Thornalley to polish the track "The Hanging Garden" for release as a single.^[34] Despite the concerns about the album's uncommercial sound, Pornography became the band's first UK Top 10 album, charting at number eight.^[23] The release of Pornography was followed by the Fourteen Explicit Moments tour, where the band finally dropped the anti-image angle and first adopted their signature look of big, towering hair and smeared lipstick on their faces.^[35] The tour also saw a series of incidents that prompted Simon Gallup to leave The Cure at the tour's conclusion. Gallup and Smith did not talk to each other for eighteen months following his departure.^[36]

Increasing commercial success (1983–1986)[link]

	"Just Like Heaven" (1987) noicon Sample of "Just like Heaven" from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

With Gallup's departure from The Cure and with Smith's work with Siouxsie and the Banshees, rumours spread that The Cure had broken up. In December 1982, Smith remarked to Melody Maker, "Do The Cure really exist any more? I've been pondering that question myself [. . .] it has got to a point where I don't fancy working in that format again." He added, "Whatever happens, it won't be me, Laurence, and Simon together any more. I know that."^[37]

Parry was concerned at the state of his label's top band, and became convinced that the solution was for The Cure to reinvent its musical style. Parry managed to convince Smith and Tolhurst of the idea; Parry said, "It appealed to Robert because he wanted to destroy The Cure anyway."^[38] With Tolhurst now playing keyboards instead of drums, the duo released the single "Let's Go to Bed" in late 1982. While Smith wrote the single from as a throwaway, "stupid" pop song to the press,^[39] it became a minor hit in the UK, reaching number 44 on the singles chart.^[23] It was followed in 1983 by two more successful songs: the synthesiser-based "The Walk" (number 12), and "The Love Cats", which became the band's first British Top 10 hit, reaching number seven.^[23] The group released these studio singles and their B-sides as the compilation album Japanese Whispers, designed by Smith for the Japanese market only, but released worldwide on the decision of the record company. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie and the Banshees, contributing as guitarist on their Nocturne live video and their Hyaena studio album. Meanwhile, he recorded the Blue Sunshine album with Banshees bassist Steven Severin as The Glove, while Lol Tolhurst produced the first two singles and debut album of the English band And Also The Trees.

In 1984, The Cure released The Top, a generally psychedelic album on which Smith played all the instruments except the drums—played by Andy Anderson—and the saxophone—played by returnee Porl Thompson. The album was a Top 10 hit in the UK, and was their first studio album to break the Billboard 200 in the U.S., reaching number 180.^[23][40] Melody Maker praised the album as "psychedelia that can't be dated", while pondering, "I've yet to meet anyone who can tell me why The Cure are having hits now of all times."^[41] The Cure then embarked on their worldwide "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and producer-turned-bassist Phil Thornalley on board. Released in late 1984, The Cure's first live album, Concert consisted of performances from this tour. Near the tour's end, Anderson was fired for destroying a hotel room and was replaced by Boris Williams.^[42] Thornalley also left because of the stress of touring.^[43] However, the bassist slot was not vacant long, for a Cure roadie named Gary Biddles had brokered a reunion between Smith and former bassist Simon Gallup, who had been playing in the band Fools Dance. Soon after reconciling, Smith asked Gallup to rejoin the band.^[44] Smith was ecstatic about Gallup's return and declared to Melody Maker, "It's a group again."^[45]

In 1985, the new line-up of Smith, Tolhurst, Gallup, Thompson, and Williams released The Head on the Door, an album that managed to bind together the optimistic and pessimistic aspects of the band's music between which they had previously shifted.^[46] The Head on the Door reached number seven in the UK and was the band's first entry into American Top 75 at number 59,^[23][40] a success partly due to the international impact of the LP's two singles, "In Between Days" and "Close to Me". Following the album and world tour, the band released the singles compilation Standing on a Beach in three formats (each with a different track listing and a specific name) in 1986. This compilation made the US Top 50,^[40] and saw the re-issue of three previous singles: "Boys Don't Cry" (in a new form), "Let's Go To Bed" and later "Charlotte Sometimes". This release was accompanied by a VHS or LaserDisc called Staring at the Sea, which featured videos for each track on the compilation. The Cure toured to support the compilation and released a live concert VHS of the show, filmed in the south of France called The Cure in Orange. During this time, The Cure became a very popular band in Europe (particularly in France, Germany and the Benelux countries) and increasingly popular in the U.S.^[47]

[edit] Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and worldwide success (1987–1993)

In 1987, The Cure released the double LP Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which reached number six in the UK, the Top 10 in several countries^[48] and was the band's first entry into the U.S. Top 40 at number 35 (where it was certified platinum),^[23][40][49] due to the combination of the band's rising popularity and the success of lead single, "Why Can't I Be You?".^[50] The album's third single, "Just Like Heaven" was the band's most successful single to date in the US, being their first to enter the Billboard Top 40.^[51] After the album's release, the band embarked on the successful Kissing Tour. During the European leg of the tour, Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform so The Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him.^[52]

	"Lovesong" (1989) noicon Sample of "Lovesong" from Disintegration. "Lullaby" (1989) noicon Sample of "Lullaby" from Disintegration.
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In 1989, The Cure released the album Disintegration, which saw a return to the gothic atmospheres of earlier releases like Faith and Pornography.^[53] It became their highest charting album in the UK to date, entering at number three and featuring three Top 30 singles in the UK and Germany ("Lullaby", "Lovesong" and "Pictures of You").^[23][54] Disintegration also reached number twelve on the US charts.^[40] The first single stateside, "Fascination Street", reached number one on the American Modern Rock chart, but was quickly overshadowed when its third US single, "Lovesong", reached number two on the American pop charts (the only Cure single to reach the US Top 10).^[51] By 1992, Disintegration had sold over three million copies worldwide.^[55]

During the Disintegration sessions, the band gave Smith an ultimatum that either Tolhurst would have to leave the band or they would.^[56] In February 1989, Tolhurst's exit was made official and announced to the press;^[57] this resulted in Roger O'Donnell becoming a full-fledged member of the band and left Smith as The Cure's only remaining founder member. Smith attributed Tolhurst's dismissal to an inability to exert himself and issues with alcohol, concluding, "He was out of step with everything. It had just become detrimental to everything we'd do."^[58] Because Tolhurst was still on the payroll during the recording of Disintegration, he was credited in the album's liner notes as playing "other instruments", however it has since been revealed that he contributed nothing to the album in either performance or song writing. The Cure then embarked on the Prayer Tour, which saw the band playing stadiums in the US. On 6 September 1989, The Cure performed "Just Like Heaven" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.^[59] In February 1990, the song won the Brit Award for Best British Video.^[60]

In May 1990, Roger O'Donnell quit and was replaced with the band's guitar technician Perry Bamonte. That November, The Cure released a collection of remixes called Mixed Up. The album was not well received and quickly slid down the charts.^[61] The one new song on the collection, "Never Enough", was released as a single. In 1991 The Cure were awarded the Brit Award for Best British Group.^[62] That same year Tolhurst filed a lawsuit against Smith and Fiction Records in 1991 over royalties payments, and claimed joint ownership of the name "The Cure" with Smith; the verdict was handed out in September 1994 in favour of Smith. In respite from the lawsuit, the band returned to the studio to record their next album.^[63] Wish reached number one in the UK and number two in the US and yielded the international hits "High" and "Friday I'm in Love".^[23][40] The Cure also embarked on the "Wish Tour" with Cranes, and released the live albums Show (September 1993) and Paris (October 1993). As a promotional exercise with the Our Price music chain in the UK, a limited edition EP was released consisting of instrumental outtakes from the Wish sessions. Entitled Lost Wishes, the proceeds from the four-track cassette tape went to charity. In 1993, the band were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for Wish.^[64]

In the years between the release of Wish and the start of sessions for The Cure's next album, the band's line-up shifted again. Thompson left the band once more during 1993 to play with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Bamonte took over as lead guitarist. Boris Williams also left the band, and was replaced by Jason Cooper (formerly of My Life Story).

Period of transition (1994–1998)[link]

The album sessions began in 1994 with only Smith and Bamonte present; the pair were later joined by Gallup (who was recovering from physical problems) and Roger O'Donnell, who had been asked to rejoin the band at the end of 1994.^[65] The Cure performed "Burn" in the movie The Crow and "Dredd Song", the theme song of the 1995 movie Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone (The former song despite never being released as a single nor ever played live, is regarded a fan favourite of Cure fans and fans of 'The Crow'). It was not released on a Cure album until 2004 on Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978–2001 (The Fiction Years).

Wild Mood Swings, finally released in 1996, was poorly received compared with previous albums and marked the end of the band's commercial peak.^[66] Early in 1996, the Cure played festivals in South America, followed by a world tour in support of the album Galore. Galore contained all of the Cure's singles released between 1987 and 1997, as well as the new single "Wrong Number", which featured longtime David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Gabrels also accompanied The Cure on a brief American radio festival tour as an onstage guest guitarist for "Wrong Number". In 1998 The Cure contributed to the soundtrack album for The X Files feature film as well as the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses, with their cover of "World in My Eyes".

	"Out of This World" (2000) noicon Sample of "Out of This World" from Bloodflowers.
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Later years (1999–2009)[link]

With only one album left in their record contract and with commercial response to Wild Mood Swings and the Galore compilation lacklustre, Smith once again considered that the end of The Cure might be near and thus wanted to make an album that reflected the more serious side of the band.^[67] The Grammy-nominated album Bloodflowers was released in 2000 after being delayed since 1998.^[68] According to Smith, the album was the third of a trilogy along with Pornography and Disintegration.^[69] The band also embarked on the nine-month Dream Tour, attended by over one million people worldwide. In 2001, The Cure left Fiction and released their Greatest Hits album and DVD, which featured the music videos for a number of classic Cure songs. In 2002, the band headlined twelve major summer music festivals, and played three extended concerts (one in Brussels, two in Berlin) in which they performed the albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their respective entireties each night. The Berlin performances were released on DVD as The Cure: Trilogy in 2003.

In 2003, The Cure signed with Geffen Records. In 2004, they released a new four-disc boxed set on Fiction Records titled Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years). The compilation includes seventy Cure songs, some previously unreleased, and a 76-page full-colour book of photographs, history and quotes, packaged in a hard cover. The album peaked at number 106 on the Billboard 200 album charts.^[40] The band released their twelfth album The Cure on Geffen in 2004, which was produced by Ross Robinson. It made a top ten debut on both sides of the Atlantic in July 2004.^[23][40] To promote the album, the band headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival that May. From 24 July to 29 August, The Cure headlined the Curiosa concert tour of North America. While attendances were lower than expected, Curiosa was still one of the more successful American summer festivals of 2004.^[70] The same year the band was honoured with an MTV Icon award in a television special presented by Marilyn Manson.^[71]

The Cure in concert in 2004. From left to right: Robert Smith, Jason Cooper, and Simon Gallup

In May 2005, Roger O'Donnell and Perry Bamonte were fired from the band. O'Donnell claims Smith informed him he was reducing the band to a three-piece. Previously O'Donnell said he had only found out about the band's upcoming tour dates via a fan site and added, "It was sad to find out after nearly 20 years the way I did but then I should have expected no less or more."^[72] The remaining members of the band—Smith, Gallup and Cooper—made several appearances as a trio before it was announced in June that Porl Thompson would be returning for the band's 2005 Festival summer shows, as well as their set at Live 8 in Paris on 2 July. Later that year, the band recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Love" for Amnesty International's charity album Make Some Noise. It is available for download on the Amnesty website, while the album was released on CD in 2006. On 1 April 2006, The Cure appeared at the Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust. It was their only show through to the end the year. In December a live DVD, entitled The Cure: Festival 2005 including 30 songs of their 2005 Festival tour was released.

The Cure began writing and recording material for their thirteenth album in 2006. Smith initially stated it would be a double album.^[73] The Cure announced a last-minute postponement of their autumn 2007 North American 4Tour in August in order to continue working on the album, rescheduling the dates for spring 2008.^[74] Titled 4:13 Dream, the album was released in October 2008. The group released four singles and an EP—"The Only One", "Freakshow", "Sleep When I'm Dead", "The Perfect Boy" and Hypnagogic States respectively—on or near to the 13th of each month, in the months leading up to the album's release. In February 2009, The Cure received the 2009 Shockwaves NME Award for Godlike Genius.^[75]

Reunion with former members and next album (2010–present)[link]