The Cure are weird. In fact that is part of their appeal. They are outsiders, the forgotten and the lost and so invite that subsection of society.
But what makes the band especially weird is that there are many different shades of Cure.
The muted greys of Seventeen Seconds, the candy floss pinks of Japanese Whispers through to the deep pained purples of Disintegration.
To quote the Cure's frontman Robert Smith: “The music's always reflected to a very large degree, how I am mentally.” They are the only band, Smith also notes, that are routinely perceived as both suicidal and whimsical.
All through the 80s, clad in black, smudged with crimson lipstick, they unleashed super-sweet pop (Let's Go To Bed), dour goth (A Forest, The Hanging Garden) and everything in between, loved by both their cult-like fanbase and the music-listening public at large.
They played by their own rules. But how did the Cure morph from suicidal oddities to whimsical new-wavers and back again within a decade?
00:00| Intro
01:33 | 1980: From Goth…
04:30 | 1982: To Pop…
08:06 | 1989: …and Back
12:29 | 1990 onward: The End?
15:10 | Outro