Bloodflowers
Over the years the Cure touched on many different styles. They’d started as a punk-pop group that receded into ethereal despair that then mutated into raging goth and suddenly discovered uplifting dancefloor-friendly pop and ‘80s-90s psychedelic shimmers. But Cure critics and fans always favored a delicate blend of singer Robert Smith’s pop instincts and his grandiose epic visions. Smith knew this and posited 2000’s *Bloodflowers* as the final part of a trilogy that included 1982’s *Pornography* and 1988’s *Disintegration*. Again, he would indulge in songs that took five-plus minutes to sufficiently unfold and that dwelled in the group’s slower, hypnotic range. He succeeded, since “Out of This World,” the 11-minute “Watching Me Fall,” and “The Last Day of Summer” work over their guitar and keyboard riffs with a death grip’s finality. These are not songs meant to be taken lightly and their intense emotionalism against the Cure’s unyielding wall of sound — sometimes psychedelic, always brooding — makes for solid Goth throughout.
The Cure edged into new territory with Wild Mood Swings, but nevertheless drew scorn from certain quarters because it eschewed goth rock for pop, both pure and twisted.