...In which our heroine disintegrates.

I am often reluctant to declare favorites on things. I don't know that I can pick a favorite book or movie, holiday or photograph, and certainly not food or word. I do certainly have Top 5s, but it is just too hard to pick something that is the end-all-be-all for any one category.

I do however have a favorite album. Its one I've been listening to through osmosis since I was little, as my parents would listen to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Disintegration by The Cure.

I know what you're thinking: gloom, doom, fair skin, and excessive eyeliner. Granted, The Cure are one of the originators of the "Goth" movement of music, but this album is far from some English lads whining about how the world hates/doesn't understand them. I will say that The Cure do have some songs in which they very much personify whiny emo kids, but not on this album.

When I think of Disintegration, the first word that comes to mind is atmospheric. The entire album is full of sonic textures. Every time I listen to it, I hear something different--can pick out a new string section or irregularity in the drum beat. The music is so layered, so dense that it requires many listens to fully "get" all of the sections. The length of the songs, with several over six minutes, fully builds to the atmosphere. I think one of the most major problems with music today is that bands record singles not albums. While Disintegration certainly has many of The Cure's biggest hits on it ("Lovesong," "Pictures of You," "Fascination Street") it begs to be listened to in full.

I've read that Robert Smith wrote many of the songs on the album for his then fiancee, but the appeal is far more reaching than some simple love songs. I've also read that Smith was hitting the hallucinogens pretty regularly when the album was recorded in 1989 (a good year) and I can see where this would contribute to a song like "Lullaby." I guess I do have a favorite song on the album,"Fascination Street," which along with "Lullaby," are the two most commercial songs on the album. I find myself drawn to the long, slow burners like "The Same Deep Water as You" or "Prayers for the Rain" as time goes by.

I love this album. Every time I listen to it, I find it more appealing. It has always been a good detox for me from whatever's going on in the world, like IB commentaries. Music has and will always be an escape for me, and this album is perhaps my favorite way to escape.

But hey, don't listen to me, just watch these guys:

Kyle says it, therefore it must be true.