History Music / TheCureBand

* AlternativeRock

%% Please explain why each member fits the respective trope, and move each trope to its proper alphabetical position instead of this sub-list.
%%* FiveManBand:
%%** TheLeader: Robert Smith.
%%** TheLancer: Simon Gallup.
%%** TheHeart: Roger O'Donnell.
%%** TheBigGuy: Jason Cooper.
%%** TheSmartGuy: Reeves Gabrels.

%%** TheChick: Roger O'Donnell.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

An influential English GothRock band formed in 1976 and one of the earliest successful AlternativeRock bands (alongside Music/{{REM}} and Music/TheSmiths), The Cure was formed as a response to PostPunk and NewWaveMusic coming on the scene. They've had a ton of members over the years, but the one you most likely know is the FaceOfTheBand, mastermind, guitarist, and nasal singer Robert Smith. For what it's worth, Lol Tolhurst was the band's original drummer, until he was sacked in 1989 (he wasn't drumming by then; he had been replaced by Boris Williams for five years) and is known for his now funny nickname [[note]] "Lol" has been a British shorthand for Laurence / Lawrence long before the MemeticMutation [[/note]], and bassist Simon Gallup is the second longest serving member.

They started out a UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} (or Post-punk, depending on who you ask) band, quickly moved into a {{goth}} phase, with a purposeful anti-image, and a generally somber outlook. After ''Pornography'' came out, Smith felt pigeonholed by their miserabilist image and wanted to escape from it. This caused them to go LighterAndSofter, arguably, which was much more commercially successful. Once they'd reached real success they returned to that image with ''Music/{{Disintegration|Album}}'' which won over the UK and gained them fans internationally. Their music ever since is just different degrees of accessibility vs. angst.

Despite their Goth Rock tag, they've also written pop songs, and dabbled in so many genres they're arguably close to eclectic territory.

->''"''Disintegration'' is the best album ever!"''

** "Charlotte Sometimes" to, well ''Literature/CharlotteSometimes''

An influential English GothRock band formed in 1976 and one of the earliest successful AlternativeRock bands (alongside Music/{{REM}} and Music/TheSmiths), ''The Cure'' was formed as a response to PostPunk and NewWaveMusic coming on the scene. They've had a ton of members over the years, but the one you most likely know is the FaceOfTheBand, mastermind, guitarist, and nasal singer Robert Smith. For what it's worth, Lol Tolhurst was the band's original drummer, until he was sacked in 1989 (he wasn't drumming by then; he had been replaced by Boris Williams for five years) and is known for his now funny nickname [[note]] "Lol" has been a British shorthand for Laurence / Lawrence long before the MemeticMutation [[/note]], and bassist Simon Gallup is the second longest serving member.

-->--'''Kyle Broflovski''', ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', "[[Recap/SouthParkS1E12MechaStreisand Mecha-Streisand]]"

Many bands like Music/JanesAddiction, Music/MyChemicalRomance, and Music/{{Deftones}} cite them as an inspiration.

They started out a UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} (or Post-punk, depending on who you ask) band, quickly moved into a {{goth}} phase, with a purposeful anti-image, and a generally somber outlook. After ''Pornography'' came out, Smith felt pigeonholed by their miserabilist image and wanted to escape from it. This caused them to go LighterAndSofter, arguably, which was much more commercially successful. Once they'd reached real success they returned to that image with ''Music/{{Disintegration}}'' which won over the UK and gained them fans internationally. Their music ever since is just different degrees of accessibility vs. angst.

* ''Music/{{Disintegration}}'' (1989)

* LesserStar: Literally. Lol Tolhurst's [[TheAlcoholic alcohol abuse]] reached a peak, during the ''Music/{{Disintegration}}'' sessions, and despite being credited for "other instruments," [[WordOfGod the band said]] he played absolutely nothing on the album, preferring to sit around, get drunk, and watch Creator/{{MTV}}, while the rest of the band bullied him (except Smith, who said his behaviour was like: "Some kind of handicapped child being constantly poked with a stick.") He was fired after a shouting match, over arriving excessively drunk to the album's mixing.

** ''Music/SeventeenSeconds,'' ''Faith,'' and ''Pornography'' are regarded as their {{goth}} era, but all of their albums since ''The Top'' have at least a few straight up Goth Rock songs, and some more that have many of the musical characteristics of the genre, but are somewhat more upbeat melodically (i.e. "In Between Days," "Just Like Heaven," and "Friday I'm in Love").

* ''Music/SeventeenSeconds'' (1980)

Despite their Goth Rock tag, they've also written pop songs, and dabbled in so many genres they're arguably close to NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly territory.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: While generally rooted in PostPunk and GothRock, they did delve into this territory, quite a bit in their later years, though mostly without abandoning, said genres completely.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Due to Smith being fed up with their image, the band followed the dark, depressing masterpiece ''Pornography,'' with a string of three poppy non album singles: The {{Synth Pop}}py "Let's Go to Bed," "The Walk," and the {{Jazz}} influenced "The Lovecats." At the time of their release, these songs were also the band's biggest chart hits, with "The Lovecats" making the Top 10 in the United Kingdom.

* IAmTheBand: {{Downplayed|Trope}} by Robert Smith. He's the sole constant member, the only one who appears on all their releases and is also the chief songwriter. However, he's stated that without bassist Simon Gallup (who has been a member since 1979, barring two brief hiatuses), the band wouldn't be The Cure.

* TrueCompanions: They may have had issues in the past, but Robert Smith and Simon Gallup have pretty much had each other's backs for over thirty years at this point. Smith's even gone as far as to say that "it wouldn't be The Cure" without Simon.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Most songs are 3-5, with some below, and a few ("Doubt," "One Hundred Years," "Shake Dog Shake," and "Give Me It") arguably reaching 6.

* ShoutOut: Robert Smith's look is inspired by Music/SydBarrett.

* ''Mixed Up'' (1990) - Remix album album best known for its hit version of "Close to Me" and the exclusive single "Never Enough"

!! Albums:

** ''Boys Don't Cry'' (1980) (US equivalent of ''Three Imaginary Boys'')

** ''Happily Ever After'' (1981) (The band's second album in the US, which combined ''Seventeen Seconds'' and ''Faith'' onto one 2 LP set. Now long out of print.)

->''"Disintegration'' is the best album ever!"

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A possible example: On its face "All I Want" is a BreakUpSong about how much he misses her.However, he talks about "feeling like an animal" and keeps saying "All I want is to hold you like a dog", which might be a euphemism for sex doggy style.

* TheSouthpaw: Perry Bamonte.

*** actually, Morrissey initially started the "feud", when an interviewer asked Morrissey whether he'd shoot Smith or musician Mark E. Smith, and Morrissey responded that he'd "line them up so that one bullet penetrated both simultaneously. . . . Robert Smith is a whingebag." Needless to say, Robert wasn't happy.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Lol Tolhurst's contributions slowly diminished after he switched to keyboards, and what finally fired from the band after spending the entirety of ''Disintegration'' drunk and watching MTV. He was credited with "Other Instruments" due to contractual obligations, but Robert and the band confirmed he contributed nothing.