Pornography

Description

For a band thats known worldwide as the premier purveyors of goth-rock gloom and doom (though hardly incapable of sparkling pop gems), its no small thing to identify a particular album as their darkest, most disturbing sonic statement. Nevertheless, PORNOGRAPHY surely fills the bill. Reportedly created during a time of great psychological upheaval for group leader Robert Smith, its a gloriously no-holds-barred existential angst-fest, from the very first line, It doesnt matter if we all die.

Not since Leonard Cohens SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE had despair been so lovingly ladled into album form, but its not just Smiths Prozac prescription that was upped during these sessions. His lyrical approach expanded as well, incorporating more stream-of-consciousness poetic imagery. And the rhythmic attack of bassist Simon Gallup and drummer Lol Tolhurst reached new heights of propulsiveness and viscerality as well, whether pounding out a churning syncopation on The Hanging Garden or delivering the heavy-hammered nail in the coffin on A Short Term Effect.