The Cure biography

During 1982 Smith joined Siouxsie and the Banshees as a temporary replacement for guitarist John McGeogh, playing live and in the studio with them for the next 18 months. The hiatus seemed to do something for The Cure's gloomy disposition however as, on their next three singles, the sun had definitely come out to play on the almost flippant, pop friendly, Let's Go To Bed, The Walk and Love Cats, the last of which gave the band their first UK Top 10 single.

After yet another lineup change The Cure returned to the charts in 1984 with the quirky, psychedelic whimsy of single, The Caterpillar, taken from the equally bizarre album, The Top. After a stop-gap live album, Concert, the band released new album, The Head On The Door in 1985 and it would become their breakthrough set. By now Simon Gallup had returned to the fold. Preceded by hit single, In Between Days, the album spawned a further hit with Close To Me, another mini classic of compelling claustrophobia that featured glockenspiel weirdness and mad brass. The track was accompanied by a celebrated video, directed by Tim Pope which featured the band playing inside a wardrobe. And why not?

A subsequent two-year lull was filled with a greatest hits compilation, 1986's Standing On A Beach, before the band returned with the sprawling double album, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, which further raised the band's profile in the US where they had slowly built up a cult following. The album spawned a trio of minor chart hits, including Why Can't I Be You, Catch and Just Like Heaven. By now The Cure were a formidable commercial proposition on both sides of the Atlantic but Smith fired Tolhurst for his increasing alcohol abuse just before the band's most successful album, 1989's Disintegration, was released. Despite providing the band with a huge US hit, Love Song, the album was The Cure's bleakest since Pornography and the label considered it almost unmarketable or, in Smith's words, "I thought it was our masterpiece and they thought it was shit." The public however agreed with Smith and the album went into the UK Top 3.

With Tolhurst now out of the band, Robert Smith saw in the 90s with a lineup consisting of Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams and Perry Bamonte. After more touring the band released a remix collection, Mixed Up, its dance appeal surprising critics who had previously only seen the band as doom-laden goth merchants. That was followed by a live mini album, 1991's Entreat, before the band recorded their biggest selling album to date, 1992's Wish. The album topped the UK chart and made the US Top 3, on the back of the hugely popular, jangly, (yes, almost happy-go-lucky!) nature of hit single, Friday I'm In Love. The following few years saw Smith in the courts, fighting a case brought unsuccessfully by Lol Tolhurst that alleged he was owed unpaid royalties. Two more live albums followed in late '93, Show and Paris. The remainder of the decade saw The Cure keeping a low profile. As well as the court case, Smith had grown weary of touring and had threatened (not for the first time) to break up the band. "I had never taken a break from being in The Cure up until 1993," said Smith back then, "but by that time I had grown sick of the sight of everyone associated with the band."

A low-key, pop-flirting set, Wild Mood Swings, was released in 1996 before the band reverted to type with 2000's Bloodflowers album, presented as the third part of the trilogy which had begun with Pornography and Disintegration. It was classic, gloomy Cure although failed to ignite the public imagination.

In September 2004 the band returned to the musical fold with a new, self-titled studio album, helmed by nu-metal producer and lifelong Cure fan, Ross Robinson who gave a new urgency to the songs. From the savage opening of Lost to the impending doom of single, The End Of The World, The Cure were back and as gloomy as ever. It would be, according to Smith, the band's final campaign but then he's been saying that for 15 years...

• Discography