Album 15

[rosetree]

The Cure have put some happy and popular known songs out on most of their albums to say they are a gothic band. They have compromised and become more famous through it, so now they are lamenting their early days in the new song. I don't see the realness in doing that to be honest. Unlike the Manics who don't pretend they are still their GT days.

[Bartek Wyre]

Well yeah, the Cure have gone from new wave to goth to pop, then back to goth, then for a brief period they've experimented with shoegaze and psychedelia, then they've pretty much gone back to goth. That's their definitive sound.

Whereas the Manics have gone from punk to hair metal to alternative rock/grunge to brit pop to whatever the fuck KYE is to synthpop to proper indie rock (IKTZG & TGW) to a puzzling amalgamation of the worst aspects of all of the above. They've dabbled with so many different genres that they don't even have a definitive sound at this point.

[IntlDebris]

Originally Posted by Bartek Wyre

They've dabbled with so many different genres that they don't even have a definitive sound at this point.

This is a really good point, and I think it kind of highlights why a lot of us are frustrated at the sound of the new song - it sometimes feels like the band believe they do have a definitive sound, and consciously lean into it a lot, but it always feels a bit false. That was how I saw SATT when it came out, and it's how PFAYM and RiF were received here, as well, and this feels like it too. But it's all the stuff in between that's kept fans happy over the years.