Dark, dreamlike and magical, Disintegration surely represents one of the Cure's finest hours. Although retaining the darkest elements of the earlier albums, it pointed the way towards the band's later, more commercial work on Wish. The intoxicating music draws the listener inexorably downwards, but somehow one remains buoyant - rarely since this album has Robert Smith surpassed the beauty and yearning of "Pictures Of You", or the poignant pop of "Love Song".

The nightmarish "Lullaby", however, increases the pressure, and by the final tracks, all hope quite literally disintegrates. A unique and emotionally raw album, Disintegration evokes the sensation of inevitable, but desirable, death by drowning.