The Cure (Fiction/Elektra)
Read this and weep: Robert Smith, the floppy-haired maestro of mope, is back, and—happily—he's miserable. Since their 1980s heyday, songwriter Smith and company have strummed, hummed and moaned through a string of international hits, all pretty much focusing on lost opportunities in love and other small agonies. And though the British band's lineup has changed over the years, they have always kept the quality of their lush, dark music uniformly high, with the exception of 1996's unsatisfying search for a new sonic identity on Wild Mood Swings. Fans of the Cure's signature echoey guitar-in-a-bathroom sound—a major influence on younger bands like the Cranberries—will enjoy hearing Smith again confidently bleat lines like "It used to be so easy/But the last day of summer never felt so cold." With more than 27 million records sold, how unhappy can he be?
Bottom Line: Sad rockers cry again
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