The Cure: Ranking the Albums - Three Imaginary Boys - Songs of a Lost World (1979-2024)

[@MrLovell1971]

Guys this 4 hour ranking was magical you all put a beautiful meaning on being a massive Cure fan . This was so awesome to watch during the beginning of Thanksgiving I was estatic when the new album was released and it is amazing . Bret you number 1 & 2 is dead on like mine I go back in forth too and it was awesome to see Jesse on the panel loved it have a wonderful holiday guys take care . Lovellandrew

[@jebfrost5357]

I was like "4 hours, no thanks", then loved every minute. Was a nice conversation

[@BretHelmsLifeOnThisPlanetBlog]

Thanks LC! Glad you enjoyed this one. And of course, great to hear that we have the same #1 + #2. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well!

[@BretHelmsLifeOnThisPlanetBlog]

Haha! Thank you!

[@olidb72]

You and Jesse recreating the old ranking! I watched that video many times and it meant something to me cz I don't know many ppl who listen to the Cure! Haven't watched yet but delighted to see u guys with a new ranking...& I expect I'll watch the whole thing :D love from Manchester, UK

[@mattscott78]

Wonderful topic about one of my favorite groups! I have listened to every album from beginning to end. Every b-side on non-album track. Here’s my 15 - agreeing that Japanese Whispers should be included: 15. 4:13 Dream 14. Three Imaginary Boys 13. The Cure 12. The Top 11. Japanese Whispers 10. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me 9. Head On the Door 8. Wild Mood Swings 7. Seventeen Seconds 6. Bloodflowers 5. Songs of a Lost World 4. Faith 3. Pornography 2. Wish 1. Disintegration Looking forward to the top ten non-album tracks!!

[@adootledo]

My personal ranking is; 15. 4:13 Dream 14. The Top 13. The Cure 12. Wild Mood Swings 11. Three Imaginary Boys 10. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me 9. Japanese Whispers 8. Faith 7. Wish 6. Pornography 5. Bloodflowers 4. Songs of a Lost World 3. Seventeen Seconds 2. The Head on the Door 1. Disintegration

[@nathanwelbourne116]

This was absolutely fantastic! You all did an incredible job. The opinions and hot takes were interesting and fun. As a long time Cure fan this was incredibly difficult but here it goes. 15) 4:13 Dream ( I do not like this one at all. No good songs on here) 14) Wild Mood Swings (not a big fan of this album but I love the songs Strange Attraction and Want) 13) The Cure ( not big on most of this album but Anniversary is a great tune) 12) The Head On The Door (an uneven album but some seriously good stuff on here. Easily my favorite song is In Between Days, such a great tune and top 10 Cure song) 11) The Top (Shake Dog Shake is a great tune!) 10) Three Imaginary Boys (some good tunes on this album but Fire in Cairo is my favorite song on the album) 9) Faith ( The Holy Hour is an underrated gem of a song) 8) Japanese Whispers ( a great singles collection, Let's Go to Bed is in my top 10 Cure songs) 7) Pornography ( whole album is a gem but my favorite song is The Hanging Garden) 6) Songs Of A Lost World ( the entire album is great but the lyrics to And Nothing Is Forever are just incredible) 5) Bloodflowers ( Maybe Someday is top 20 Cure song for me) 4) Seventeen Seconds ( A Forest is a gem of a song) 3) Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (so many great songs and this was the 1st Cure album I ever heard) 2) Wish (From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea is a top 5 Cure song. A true masterpiece) 1) Disintegration ( The whole album is a work of art and is amazing to hear. So many favorites but the album contains my favorite Cure songs Fascination Street and The Same Deep Water as You)

[@oliverkruse8144]

Totally agree

[@frankie__teardrop]

Great to see Bloodflowers ranking so highly for you! Some days it's in my top 3. I really truly love it, despite where it placed on my list...

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Thanks for listening/watching all the way through and for your comment. We're pretty aligned with our low ranking of Head on the Door and our high ranking of Bloodflowers. I love Maybe Someday so much, too; it was basically impossible to pick a top three from that album for me and I switched one out while we were recording. Glad you also appreciate "Strange Attraction," even if WMS is not your bag.

[@nathanwelbourne116]

@frankie__teardrop I understand completely. Ranking these catalogs can be incredibly difficult, but the beauty of it is you get to examine the discography of these bands and you get to see how their sound develops and sometimes certain albums resonate more with you than they used to.

[@nathanwelbourne116]

@KevinLarkinAngioli of course no problem at all the ranking was cool and you all look like you had a blast! I’m glad you agree on Bloodflowers it is one of those records that has aged really well I think. It could quite possibly go up with more lessons as the years go on. As for Wild Mood Swings it could very well change with me as it goes on. There could come a time where the record could absolutely click with me. That’s the beauty about a band like this. Their albums reward you after many listens with even more interesting rewards and treats.

[@russelljohnston6069]

Good to see dreampop jesse joining you again.

[@BretHelmsLifeOnThisPlanetBlog]

Yes! Was great to have DPJ back.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

So happy he was able to join us!

[@XMD5a8000]

15. 4:13 Dream 14. The Cure 13. Wild Mood Swings (would be 15 if not for "Want") 12. Three Imaginary Boys 11. Faith (probably my spiciest take!) 10. The Head on the Door 9. Japanese Whispers 8. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (has grown on my the most of all the albums. "How Beautiful You Are" is a dark horse candidate for best Cure song IMO) 7. The Top ("Shake Dog Shake" slays and "Dressing Up" is just magical) 6. Seventeen Seconds 5. Songs of a Lost World 4. Pornography 3. Wish 2. Bloodflowers 1. Disintegration

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Yes! Love this Bloodflowers and Disintegration top two! Actually, that's a hell of a top five, and it's nice to see Seventeen Seconds and The Top rounding out a top seven. Some artists, I can't do only a top five. Bowie, I have to present a top seven. But more on that later ;->

[@dillpepperoni2065]

Mine is completely different to mostly everyone here, but I love the appreciation that you guys have for Wild Mood Swings. Such an underrated album. My ranking for me is... 14. Three Imaginary Boys 13. 4:13 Dream 12. The Cure 11. The Top 10. Bloodflowers 09. Faith 08. Seventeen Seconds 07. Kiss Me 06. Head On the Door 05. Wild Mood Swings 04. Songs of a Lost World 03. P*rnography 02. Disintegration 01. Wish (Also all of the albums are good, there really isn't a bad Cure album in my opinion, so even the bottom two I still enjoy)

[@BlackHun-wf7hb]

Mine's a bit close. Wish # 1 100%. Faith is # 2 for me though, and I'm not a Mood Swings fan

[@frankie__teardrop]

Great to hear the WMS love - and also that we have the same placement for 3IB. Some great tracks, but some really silly stuff on it, too. Boys Don't Cry comp forever.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Hey! Glad to hear you appreciated the love we showered on Wild Mood Swings. There's a good issue of the magazine DEK which goes further into the making of, which I wanted to show during the video but didn't have on hand; worth pursuing. The album is singled out for maligning, it seems, and I just don't think the songs or production really merit the scorn. While I've always liked WMS plenty, I was surprised as I revisited the albums for this ranking video how I just couldn't get enough of it. I just kept spinning it. And of course its b-sides are an embarrassment of riches. But more on that later...

[@179rich]

Well done y'all! Some great commentary. The Cure is my favorite band, so I really enjoyed this.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Glad you enjoyed! I've had periods where other bands are my favorite for a few years, but The Cure return to the top time and time again throughout my life. I trust our collection passion for them came through.

[@179rich]

One more thing about Japanese Whispers that I haven't heard yet - None of these songs appear on any other proper studio album, so it completely functions as a regular studio album. Yes, it's comprised of singles and B-sides, which you can say about regular studio albums as well.

[@oliverkruse8144]

Interesting fact: "Mr. Pink Eyes" (the second B-side for "The Love Cats") was not included on this compilation.

[@179rich]

@@oliverkruse8144 While I do dig "Mr. Pink Eyes," every song on Japanese Whispers is gold for me and "Mr. Pink Eyes" is silver at best, so I think it would have slightly hurt the album as well as disrupt the nice balance it has, four tracks on each side.

[@oliverkruse8144]

Yes! 👌 I think also too. 😊

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

@@oliverkruse8144 I mostly just enjoy "Mr. Pink Eyes" as the source of the "It's got to be jazz; that's what she wants" line Robert whispers on "The 13th."

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

I agree. It functions and flows so perfectly as an eight-track studio album. That's why we decided to include it in our ranking. It's an essential part of the story, what happened between Pornography and The Top, the end of the early days of The Cure and the beginning of who they became. And for people like Frank and me, who were teenagers in the nineties, we weren't going around and finding and buying various 12" and 7" EPs and singles by The Cure yet. We got Japanese Whispers on CD and it seemed like as much an album as The Top or The Glove's Blue Sunshine, all a bit more elusive quarry all the more rewarding once apprehended.

[@Bioklastik]

The first album, both the UK/USA version, will always be the style I prefer. Too bad they didn't go a little further with that.

[@frankie__teardrop]

I did like a lot of the Easy Cure stuff (Need Myself, See the Children, I Want to Be Old, World War etc.) - sometimes when you want that style, nothing else will suffice! Just wish we never got Weedy Burton or Foxy Lady, and Meathook, etc. was never a fav.

[@Bioklastik]

@@frankie__teardrop I believe I read somewhere that Smith was never a fan of those tracks either, but that they were necessary album fillers at the time. Smith said he felt that the earlier style was much darker and was let up after a couple of albums, but outside of a couple of tracks, it seemed like it progressed into a dirge-ish style for a while afterward. However, I can usually find appreciation for most musical evolutions an artist goes through, even if they aren't my cup o' Tea. Thank you, sir :D

[@179rich]

I love their early punk stuff which you can hear on Disk 2 of the Three Imaginary Boys deluxe edition. I made of 12 song album of their early songs and it's great. Would have made a great debut album - better than TIB (but not Boys Don't Cry).

[@179rich]

Great commentary on Seventeen Seconds Kevin.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Thanks!

[@179rich]

The low placements for THOTD are stunning.

[@GreenGerg]

It’s a very spotty album! 😉

[@179rich]

@@GreenGerg 😲

[@GreenGerg]

@@179richwhat can I say. I felt that way the day the album came out in 1985. Some of their very best songs and some of their most annoying songs.

[@frankie__teardrop]

Yep. Not to re-state what I did in the video, but the only time I was head over heels for that album was when I first heard it. The mix of great vs. mediocre on that record is too equal for me to have ranked it higher, and it's always been a mystery to me why it's rated SO high compared to other records, though as I allude to in the video, it's probably because the album broke them the in the US and was the first with Boris. The beginning of their stadium takeover phase... I also find most of it overplayed, live, radio, and in clubs. Definitely still like it, but nowhere near as much as many of their other works. The b-sides from this era on the other hand... Well, stay tuned.

[@oliverkruse8144]

👌

[@179rich]

Hopefully all my comments will help the algorithm! Cheers!

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

We're getting quite a bit of engagement and views for this one. The algorithm moves in mysterious ways but perhaps all things serve the beam.

[@179rich]

Open is clearly not just about drinking! Don't forget that someone slips him "heaven," which, judging from the lyrics, I would guess is LSD. He seems to have a bad trip as things get painfully introspective.

[@frankie__teardrop]

Right. I tried not to allude TOO much to drug use, minus the 82-84 era, bc wow. I'm still impressed by how much work was completed then vs... well.. you know.

[@179rich]

@@frankie__teardrop no doubt!

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Yes, good call out. In the interest of time, I couldn't completely parse out the lyrics to any one song, but there's definitely an air of regretted obligatory rock star hedonism as the album opens. One could argue "Club America" continues this line of disenchantment with rock star excess. And maybe the line extends further back to "Fascination Street" and further ahead to "Watching Me Fall."

[@179rich]

Faith is a gorgeously gloomy album, but I do think "Primary" sticks out like a sore thumb. Its mood just does not fit the rest of the album, and I find it's one of my lesser favorite Cure songs anyway (still dig it though). Had they bumped "Other Voices" up to be the second track, omitted "Primary" and added "Charlotte Sometimes," it would be pretty much a perfect album. "Doubt" is indeed my least favorite song on it, but it does offer a change of pace and its mood fits the album much better.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

I really can't argue with anything about FAITH. I think it's perfect, top to bottom. It's such a bass-rich album, I think the twin bass guitar attack of "Primary" is a nice touch, and basically the one up-beat moment you're going to get on this descent. At track two, it parallels the "Play for Today" placement on Seventeen Seconds. "Doubt" is not amazing, but it also breaks up the texture a bit and adds an element of vented spleen which is right at home on a darker, early Cure album. While "Charlotte Sometimes" is an early masterpiece and roughly contemporary, I don't think it would have quite fit. Sometimes an amazing song is left off an album that it would have elevated. "Silver Springs" was not on RUMOURS, and it could have been. So when people say it's perfect, I disagree. But I really think FAITH is faultless.

[@179rich]

Ha ha I used to think the Faith cover looked too much like a thumbnail. Then I finally saw a clear photo of the actual building.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

An alien's thumbnail.

[@179rich]

Kevin seems to have overlooked the fact that the first words on the Kiss Me album are the album's title.

[@KevinLarkinAngioli]

Ha! You're absolutely right. Of course they are. Amazing song. Was quite a bit stressed and flustered going into this recording session, so little flubs like that and calling "All I Want" and "Like an Animal" resulted.

[@BlackHun-wf7hb]

These are nice rankings, but the definitive ranking is 15. The Cure 14. Wild Mood Swings 13. Bloodflowers 12. The Top 11. Three Imaginary Boys 10. Seventeen Seconds 9. Head on the Door 8. KM KM KM 7. 4:13 Dream 6. Pornography 5. Japanese Whispers 4. Disintegration 3. SOA Lost World 2. Faith 1. Wish