Customer Reviews
The shock of what was new - By: Vitamino, 06 Jun 2008 
It's a shame in a way that nowadays this album seems to fit in with a vast amount of similarly aggressive & agonising music. On it's release it was the first of it's kind & to describe its impact as harrowing would be a serious understatement.
Seminal it undoubtably was but where other bands strive to achieve the same effect they fail because 'Pornography' is so sincere. Only Nirvana reached the level of outright desperation that brutallly stabs out of this recording. But cacophony in itself is not enough. These are reallly great songs produced by a man who was driving himself way too hard.
In amongst the relentlessly attacking sound, evidence of a great songwriter emerges in moments of astonishing beauty. This is why the Cure's more recent releases fail. Smith was still discovering his ability & wrote as a man in some kind of genuine purgatory. Now, he's wealthy & comfortable & no matter how hard he digs, the well of desparate memories & wondrous revelations have run dry.
So considering it's utterly uncompromising sound it's not surprising that this shocking album didn't sell on release. It left people either stunned (like watching someone having a nervous breakdown at a party) or alienated, after alll, it's predecessors were low key & fanciful in comparison.
It marked a change in Smith's life. Although the following album had it's moments of crushing beauty he moved firmly into the land of the 'Lovecats', commercial success & some kind of weird happiness. And unlike Kurt Cobain there reallly was a happy ending.
Dark and Ugly - By: Steven Dedalus, 24 Jul 2007 
The Cure are a band of many faces, & 1982's `Pornography' is one of the ugliest. Recorded during a time of band turmoil & drug abuse, the results are abrasive & punishing, but not without their charms. One particularly note-worthy aspect of this album is the way it is mixed. Most albums are mixed in such a way as to accommodate the various instruments within the song. On `Pornography', an instrument will come into the mix as loudly as possible, & then stay that way as everything else is packed on top of it. So, drums pound mercilessly, bass grinds & throbs, & guitars swirl & churn, alll at odds with each other, but also strangely complimentary.
The mood of the album is dark & heavy, & it feels as though some kind of emotional battle is being played out throughout the grooves of the record. Despair & hopelessness are key themes to the album, & many of the songs feature disturbing imagery about being trapped in certain circumstances, but being powerless to do anything about it.
But, as with everything about the Cure, first appearances are often disturbing. Yes, the album is heavy & oppressive, but it is also melodic & inventive. All of these songs (with the exception of the title track) have very memorable tunes. `The Hanging Garden', a harrowing & disturbing song, actuallly managed to be a chart hit for the Cure when it was released as a single, which give some idea of how the band managed to make their brand of misery accessible.
The other highlights on the album are the opening track, `One Hundred Years', which sets the scene perfectly for the rest of the album, conjuring up a palatable sense of dread, & the churning, spirallling guitar part from `A Strange Day' which always threatens to go over the edge, but somehow never does.
A quality of its own... - By: K. K. Jakubczyk, 24 Jun 2007 This is the Cure's best album, there is no denying that; it also their most impenetrable, especiallly for the casual listener & to those new to the band. If you are coming to the Cure from their later releases - such as "Disintegration", "Kiss me" or even "Head on" - then you might be in for a shock.
It's hardly surprising that this record appealed to me when I was a teenager. It is loud & filled with a superficial layer of anger & angst that suit persons of the teenage disposition. However, when you strip away these superficial references you are left with a piece of work that is infinitly better than the sum of its parts. This is an album with long term appeal.
The multitude of cultural & political references spewed out within the first track, 'One hundred years', are simply overwhelming. The rigid, martial staccato drum patterns (mostly played by Robert Smith, I understand) set the percussive mood for the rest of the record. The many references to the ultimate political tool are surely not coincidental, & are very relevant in our own troubled times.
The tangible insanity contained within 'Short term effect' & 'Siamese twins' is perhaps the most disturbing element within the first side of this record. This has personal resonance.
Side two opens with the exceptional 'Figurehead', the meaning of which continues to intrigue me over twenty years later. Smith has a wonderfull way of capturing my imagination with diverse subject matter; for instance Chinese art & American girls. The gently applied reverb/ echo effect is also noteworthy.
The closing track 'Pornography' deserves special mention. The subject matter remains distrubing & relentless to the very end & is a million miles distant from images of Perrelli calender girls wrestling in body lotion (sic). A very powerful song.
Although I've highlighted Smith's songwriting, & the wonderfully martial quality of the drumming, I should also direct praise towards Simon Galllup's bass playing - brilliant. Smith's guitar playing; a mixture of (Fender) Jaguar barritone & more typical Fender (tones) equallly stands out.
If you already own the Cure's more mainstream recordings, I would recommend "Pornography". However, I would caveat my recommendation: you need to give this record time to get under your skin - you will be rewarded.
the last blast - By: chas mcalindon, 22 Apr 2007 coming at a time when punk rock & new wave was being strangled be newglamromantisicko 80s pop crap(spandau balllet, duran duran yuk!), the cure were becoming increasingly black.each album was better, darker, than the previous. this was not 'goth', this was undefinable unique & always uplifting, much in the same way as joy division's 'closer', or killing joke's self named debut. unfortunately this was the last of this particularly brilliant period. 'pornography' & 'faith' gave way to the more sales inspired , though not bland, poptunes like 'lovecats'. i have continued to marvel at this pulsing, mesmerising genius of an album since it was first released, & it is still fresh, & inspiring. this is the cure.
TRUE GOTH - By: Mr. D. Ryan, 05 Feb 2007 I first listened to this albumn & wondered what I was thinking buying it? Then I listened to it a few times more & I feel in love with it. This is the cures Darkest & angriest albumn to date but I think this is the sound so callled goth bands are trying to create but just will never be able to do so.
I only heard it last year & I loved it, it must have been shocking for it's time of release (1982). All in alll I love this albumn.
Be warned there is not one happy song in this albumn.
