30 years ago today, Disintegration was released! This is The Cure firing on all cylinders. It’s a masterwork with the singles including four really excellent B-sides. This album was the capper to my senior year in high school with me riding around all summer in the 1979 Ford Mustang I had at the time blasting it at full volume. I also remember buying the cassette single of “Lovesong” at The Rhythm Section on a trip to Gatlinburg with my dad. I can’t remember where my mom and sister were and why it was just Dad and I on that trip. I do remember Dad napping in the passenger seat as we made our way home through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a bright sunny day. I eventually ended up buying the Integration box set so that I could have all the non-album tracks. Seriously. Those B-sides are so good.

I always find it strange and interesting just which albums make a big impact on our lives. I can say that The Cure have a few albums that have done that to me with Disintegration being the one with biggest impact. I suspect it’s because this album came right at the moment of a lot of change in my life as I went from high school (I was 17 when I graduated) and stumbled my way into adulthood and a schedule of full time school and full time work.

Anyhoo … if you are not familiar with Disintegration, you should immediately find it on your favorite streaming service or get old school and track down the excellent 3-Disc Deluxe Edition.