The Cure albums Robert Smith hates: “Nowhere near what I wanted”
When musicians craft extensive discographies with more peaks than troughs, the lesser successes will inevitably hit harder. And, for someone as meticulously perfectionist as The Cure frontman Robert Smith, navigating the potential ambiguities of uncertainty and mixed reactions feels particularly challenging, especially when he knows that fans know he is more than capable of delivering unmatched excellence.
That said, the one thing that’s particularly unique about The Cure’s mishaps is that they’re far more complex than the typical black and white definitions of “good” and “bad”, and Smith knows it, too. For instance, while it’s easy to disregard some albums as bad purely because they’re not Pornography or Disintegration, the reason why the others fall short is usually because they’re fundamentally different.
At the same time, they were written, recorded, and inspired by different things, which naturally sets the tone for different styles and atmospheres, the kinds that some might not enjoy as much as others. Rather than simply lacking quality, these overlooked records instead show a different side to a band that never stops trying, even when all else fails, and giving up seems like the only option.
For Smith, however, two of the band’s biggest slip-ups centre around the two pillars of great artistic expression—sufficient creative freedom and personal standard setting. The former was the case for Three Imaginary Boys, the band’s debut, which was also, incidentally, the worst time to feel deflated about their output. For Smith, his ideas being ignored in the studio made it falter.
“The first one is my least favourite Cure album,” Smith told Rolling Stone. “Obviously, they are my songs, and I was singing, but I had no control over any other aspect of it: the production, the choices of the songs, the running order, the artwork. It was all kind of done by Parry without my blessing. And even at that young age, I was very pissed off.”
He also said that this was particularly disappointing because he had “dreamed” of making an album, and the result was far from what he had in mind. “Suddenly we were making it, and my input was being disregarded,” he said, adding, “I decided from that day on we would always pay for ourselves and therefore retain total control.” However, if there’s one silver lining, this decision shaped Smith’s desire to be at the forefront of everything thereafter.
The other album Smith developed an estranged relationship with was 4:13 Dream, although this time it was because he had wanted it to be much longer. “It was nowhere near what I wanted it to be,” he told Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw last year. He also explained that he was trying to make a double album, which was “odd”, but he was pressured into making it shorter.
“I have never felt happy about it,” he admitted.
Evidently, the moments when Smith feels less pleased about their material are when restrictions are applied, whether in the studio or while considering which tracks make the cut. Sometimes, his vision misaligns with others’, leading to decisions that detriment the record in more ways than one. Now, however, Smith remains more committed to his own vision, pushing boundaries in ways only he can achieve without anybody holding him back.
