The Cure: Mojo's rankings of the 30 greatest songs and 15 best albums

“Songs Of A Lost World” opened a new phase in the long career of the Cure. The 2024 album is not only the English band's best record of the last two decades, but it also set a new commercial record in the United States for Robert Smith and co., reaching number 1 on no fewer than five Billboard charts and becoming the first release to do so in the storied English band's entire career. “Songs Of A Lost World”, the Cure's fourteenth studio album and their first since “4:13 Dream” (2008), has also cemented several songs, starting with the single “Alone”, among the elite of Robert Smith's band's songbook. The British magazine Mojo took the opportunity to update its list of the band's 30 greatest songs. It introduced the list with these words: “From tales of suburban alienation played in English church halls to symphonies on the mysteries of life performed on the world's most prestigious stages, The Cure's odyssey spans six decades and defies the logic of rock… The Monet of post-punk, Robert Smith has worked with a consistent palette for more than 40 years, but thanks to the rigour and complexity of his approach, there's always something new in him that manages to capture our attention…. Because the stylistic range of The Cure's songs is unmatched in pop, comparable to that of Smith's hero, David Bowie, for its creative shifts… A sonic landscape that ranges from fantasy to monochrome sadness, from the euphoric to the infernal, from “The Lovecats” (“So wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully pretty!”) to “One Hundred Years” (“It doesn't matter if we all die!”).”

Below is Mojo's list (full feature here), while on OndaRock you can find our own annotated OndaTop 30 of the Cure's greatest songs.

30. The Hanging Garden (da Pornography, 1982)

29. Alone (da Songs Of A Lost World, 2024)

28. Three Imaginary Boys (from Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

27. The End Of The World (da The Cure, 2004)

26. Friday I'm In Love (from Wish, 1992)

25. Killing An Arab (Small Wonder single, 1978)

24. I Can Never Say Goodbye (da Songs Of A Lost World, 2024)

23. Lullaby (from Disintegration, 1989)

22. Fire In Cairo (from Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

21. Charlotte Sometimes (single, 1981)

20. The Walk (singolo, 1983)

19. A Strange Day (from Pornography, 1982)

18. Let’s Go To Bed (single, 1982)

17. Catch (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

16. Primary (from Faith, 1981)

15. Lovesong (from Disintegration, 1989)

14. Play For Today (from Seventeen Seconds, 1980)

13. The Love Cats (singolo, 1983)

12. A Night Like This (The Head On The Door, 1985)

11. Pictures Of You (da Disintegration, 1989)

10. The Caterpillar (da The Top, 1984)

9. All Cats Are Grey (da Faith, 1981)

8. Close To Me (The Head On The Door, 1985)

7. Jumping Someone Else’s Train (single, 1979)

6. One Hundred Years (from Pornography, 1982)

5. 10:15 On A Saturday Night (from Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

4. Just Like Heaven (from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

3. Boys Don’t Cry (single, 1979)

2. In Between Days (da The Head On The Door, 1985)

1. A Forest (single, 1980)

Picking 30 songs out of that bottomless treasure trove of gems that is the Cure's discography is, admittedly, an impossible task – as we write in our OndaTop – What follows, then, is just one of many possible “Top 30s” of the British band's greatest tracks. A playlist that tries to do justice to all of Smith and co.'s various incarnations: from the three imaginary boys of their post-punk beginnings, to the champions of darkwave, right through to the makers of pop hits that are at once shadowy and brilliant. Here below is our top 30 of the Cure's greatest songs.

30. This Is A Lie

29. The Last Day Of Summer

28. Close To Me

27. Lullaby

26. Apart

25. Shake Dog Shake

24. Killing An Arab

23. Play For Today

22. The Walk

21. All Cats Are Grey

20. Last Dance

19. M

18. Trust

17. The Kiss

16. Cold

15. The Holy Hour

14. Just Like Heaven

13. Siamese Twins

12. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep

11. Charlotte Sometimes

10. 10:15 Saturday Night

9. A Night Like This

8. Plainsong

7. All I Want

6. Boys Don’t Cry

5. A Strange Day

4. How Beautiful You Are

3. A Forest

2. The Funeral Party

1. One Hundred Years

Back to Mojo: the British magazine has also recently published a ranking of what it considers the Cure's 15 best albums, which we present below (full feature here).

15. The Cure (2004)
14. Wild Mood Swings (1996)
13. Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
12. The Top (1984)
11. 4:13 Dream (2008)
10. Bloodflowers (2000)
9. Wish (1992)
8. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1988)
7. Japanese Whispers (1983)
6. Seventeen Seconds (1980)
5. Songs Of A Lost World (2024)
4. Faith (1981)
3. The Head On The Door (1985)
2. Disintegration (1989)
1. Pornography (1982)

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