The Cure Albums Ranked Worst to Best

Not many bands can claim to be single-handedly responsible for an entire genre and musical movement, but the Curecan.

The post-punk sound on their 1979 debut album,Three Imaginary Boys, quickly evolved into a gloomier, moodier style on their second LP, the following year’sSeventeen Seconds.The next few years gave birth to the goth subgenre, as dark music, darker moods and a super-dark outlook went on to inspire a generation of sad-sack kids — and plenty ofinferior music — over the nextseveral decades.

But the Cure wasn’t done yet.As the ’80s progressed, so did the band, led byRobert Smithsince its founding.By the decade’s end, their music had steered them into new territories, including psychedelic, jangly alt-rock and cheery pop.

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Their LPs over the years have swung through all these almost effortlessly, as you’ll see in the list below of the Cure Albums Ranked. There were some stumbles along the way, but without an album like 1984’s bleak The Top, they may have never gotten to The Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Disintegration.

Their influence continues four decades after songs like “Killing an Arab,” “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” introduced them to the world. Their 2019 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Famemay not be the culmination of their long career, but it stamps validity on a music catalog that helped shape an era.