The Cure -The Figurehead/INFO/(Pornography album) Live HQ1984

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Sharp and open
Leave me alone
And sleeping less every night
As the days become heavier and weighted
Waiting
In the cold light
A noise
A scream tears my clothes as the figurines tighten
With spiders inside them
And dust on the lips of a vision of hell
I laughed in the mirror for the first time in a year

A hundred other words blind me with your purity
Like an old painted doll in the throes of dance
I think about tomorrow
Please let me sleep
As I slip down the window
Freshly squashed fly
You mean nothing
You mean nothing

I can lose myself in Chinese art and American girls
All the time
Lose me in the dark
Please do it right
Run into the night
I will lose myself tomorrow
Crimson pain
My heart explodes
My memory in a fire
And someone will listen
At least for a short while...

I can never say no to anyone but you
Too many secrets
Too many lies
Writhing with hatred
Too many secrets
Please make it good tonight...
But the same image haunts me
In sequence
In despair of time

I will never be clean again
I touched her eyes
Pressed my stained face
I will never be clean again

Touch her eyes
Press my stained face
I will never be clean again

I will never be clean again

Released:4 May 1982
Recorded: January鈥揂pril 1982
Studio: RAK Studios, London, England
Genre: Gothic rock聽.
Label: Fiction
Producer: Phil Thornalley聽The Cure

Following its release, bass guitarist聽Simon Gallup聽left the band and the Cure switched to a much brighter and more radio-friendly聽new wave聽sound.While poorly received by critics at the time of release,聽Pornography聽was their most popular album to date, reaching No. 8 on the聽UK Albums Chart.聽Pornographyhas since gone on to gain acclaim from critics, and is now considered an important milestone in the development of the聽gothic rock聽genre. The band has performed the album live in its entirety as part of the聽Trilogy聽concerts.

Background and recording

Following the band's previous album, 1981's聽Faith, the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes" was released. The single, in particular its nightmarish and hallucinatory聽B-side聽"Splintered in Her Head", would hint at what was to come in聽Pornography.

In the words of聽Robert Smith, regarding the album's conception, "I had two choices at the time, which were either completely giving in [committing suicide] or making a record of it and getting it out of me". He also claims he "really thought that was it for the group. I had every intention of signing off. I wanted to make the ultimate 'fuck off' record, and then sign off [the band]"聽Smith was mentally exhausted during that period of time: "I was in a really depressed frame of mind between 1981 and 1982".The band "had been touring for about 200 days a year and it all got a bit too much because there was never any time to do anything else".

The band, Smith in particular, wanted to make the album with a different producer than聽Mike Hedges, who had produced聽Seventeen Seconds聽and聽Faith. The group settled on聽Phil Thornalley.

On the album's recording sessions, Smith noted "there was a lot of drugs involved".The band took LSD and drank a lot of alcohol, and to save money, they slept in the office of their record label.聽The musicians usually turned up at eight, and left at midday looking "fairly deranged". Smith related: "We had an arrangement with the off-licence up the road, every night they would bring in supplies. We decided we weren't going to throw anything out. We built this mountain of empties in the corner, a gigantic pile of debris in the corner. It just grew and grew".According to Tolhurst, "we wanted to make the ultimate, intense album. I can't remember exactly why, but we did".The recording sessions commenced and concluded in three weeks. Smith noted, "At the time, I lost every friend I had, everyone, without exception, because I was incredibly obnoxious, appalling, self-centered". He also noted that with the album, he "channelled all the self-destructive elements of my personality into doing something".

Polydor Records, the company in charge of聽Fiction Records, the label on which the album was released, was initially displeased with the album's title, which it saw as being potentially offensive.Following the album's release,聽Simon Gallup聽left the group.
Legacy

In 2005,聽Spin聽cited the album as a "high-water mark for聽goth's musical evolution".聽NME聽described聽Pornography聽as "arguably the album that invented goth".聽Slant Magazine聽listed the album at No. 79 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s.聽In 2011,聽NME聽listed聽Pornography聽at No. 6 on its "50 Darkest Albums Ever" list.Mojo聽placed it at No. 83 in their list "100 Record That Changed the World".聽AllMusic聽critic Stewart Mason also described the record as "one of the key goth rock albums of the '80s".

According to Apter,聽Pornography聽would prove to be "enormously influential", and has been cited as an influence by bands such as聽Deftones聽and聽System of a Down.
Personnel:
Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Laurence Tolhurst.

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