Reviews by plasma

"Orchustic" is indeed a good way to describe it like the Wikipedia text mentions. I dig it.

Calming. I like how the title uses the NATO phonetic alphabet. I really gotta learn the full alphabet...

The Cure at their darkest. No longer the angst of Seventeen Seconds or the dull and grey depression of Faith - this album is angry. With very little use of hi-hat and cymbals, the drums feel tribal and drive the relentless gloom.

One of my favourite aspects of this album is the cohesiveness. Of all the albums I know, this is the only one where I feel all tracks equally belong. Nothing feels out of place, and yet each track is quite unique - truly a masterpiece of an album.

As for album covers, this isn't usually The Cure's strength, especially post-Wish (except Songs Of A Lost World, that cover is great and deserves a longer explanation). Anyhow, Pornography's cover is superb and really catches the despair. It is worth noting that Damnation A.D. did a metal cover of the album, complete with their own great remix of the cover.

Further comments on each track:

1 - One Hundred Years

Doesn't waste any time by opening with "It doesn't matter if we all die". Second only to Plainsong in terms of Cure album openers.

2 - A Short Term Effect

"With teeth of madness jump, jump, ..." is so satisfying.

3 - The Hanging Garden

The best drums on the album. The "fall, fall, fall, fall" and "as the animals die" parts are so good.

4 - Siamese Twins

"I chose an eternity of this" - wow, great opening. Like many Cure songs, the lyrics aren't explicitly clear, but the presumed theme of 2 people in a (not healthy) relationship is done very well.

5 - The Figurehead

A dirty song ("I can never be clean again"). "I laughed in the mirror for the first time in a year" also hits really hard here. Supposedly has shared themes of love from Siamese Twins.

6 - A Strange Day

Gives a strong sense of not belonging - feeling disconnected from the real world and drowning. It is as if there is a fog covering the senses. "Move slowly through the drowning waves".

7 - Cold

The organ is done so well. Continues from A Strange Day with a sense of drowning, but now frozen and can no longer move.

8 - Pornography

In a twist of events, this is actually the most positive track, ending with "I must fight this sickness, find a cure. I must fight this sickness". The distorted vocals really push confusion and desperation for the first half (lyrics don't come in until 3:15 halfway through, there's no rush on this track). The distorted vocals come back at the end to round off the track nicely.

I have to say, I really enjoy the sudden positive glimmer of hope at the end of the closing track. It is one of my favourite parts of the album.

I really wanna rate it higher but it’s hard to justify. I wanna rate it 3/5 but would probably need more listens first... I like certain other Talking Heads stuff a lot, just not this album. Take Me to the River is cool though it gets a pass

HIT ME ~~HARD~~ SOFT AND SOFT

(It didn't hit me that hard)

Edit: changing to a 3 on Oct 5 2025, I like jazz a bit more now

Sabrina Carpenter levels of horny

"Give a little biiiit, give a little bit of your looove to meeee"

Okayyy fiiine, wrong album, but anyways this album is great stuff. And so catchy: "RIGHT, RIGHT, YOU'RE BLOODY WELL RIGHT". I love the use of piano on this album. The entire instrumental of the closing track goes so hard.

Also they album cover is super cool. Somebody cooked here. Really I just love space-themed album covers in general. If you (the one reading this) ever make an album for the 1001 albums list, if you want to give me a good first impression, make it a space-themed cover :)

Needs more electric guitar solos with lots of distortion

(Hahaha just kidding I actually really liked it)

Edit on Jan 20 2026: changing from a 4 to a 5. I really like this one now, and have been regularly spinning it