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Faith-A Hauntingly Beautiful Record

Joseph Mccabo | 04/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Faith, As I see it, is the point where "goth" rock lost all of its Violence and Raw agression,(I.E Joy Division, Bauhaus, etc.) and became something of a more, well, lyrically stimulating and Musically haunting genre. The Cure had progressed from post-punk masters to Goth Rock visionaries, and the visions represented here, as mentioned in the title of the record, are of the abscence, or loss of faith. I've always interpreted the record as Robert Smith's search for something to believe in, A faith in something that can comfort him, but to no avail. Stunning in it's sheer simplicity Musically, but ability to be as dense as they would ever be (Disintegration, Wish, etc.). The opening track, "The Holy Hour" is one of disturbing qualities lyrically; "I live/ A vow of Silence/ As one by one the People Slip away", and lets you know that the direction of the record will be just as bleak and depressing as their follow up, "pornograughy." The second track, "Primary", is as poppy as the band would get on this record, and by the time it shifts into "other voices" all aspects of this Pop-oreintation are lost completely. Heavily Reverbarated more and more as the record progresses, "all Cats Are Gray" takes the desolation to a point where their is some sense of hope, but those thoughts are lost upon the opening of "Funeral Party". Now, Funeral party can be looked at from many different perspectives, but in my perspective, it is simply Loss. Loss of a family member, A Lover, anything like that. It is my favorite Cure song in it's Beauty, and in it's lush, lush sadness. The Cure wouldn't attain these values of Ache-ing sadness again until Disintegration. We then have "doubt", the fast-paced tale of Love gone wrong, and then the listener is dropped into the winter-laiden depression of "The Drowning Man." Another beautiful track, it contains disturbing imagery much like "one Hundred Years", and, although deceptively misleading, it had potential to reach even more disturbing heights than the work of pornograughy had. Finally, "faith" arises from the ashes of "The Drowning man", and by doing so, ends the album on the lowest note possible. Despite what many Cure Fans think, Particularly that "Pornograughy" is the bands best album, I Declare "Faith" not only my favorite, but their best, Not only Lyrically, But Musically as well. It may not have had Chart Topping material, and the Catchiness that "Kiss Me" and "Disintigration would have, but in it's doom-laiden Dispondency, it retains some of the most dark, gloomiest, and, (Yes) beautiful music ever captured on Recording.

Highly Recomended, but not for first time listeners of the Cure."