New wave was never like this. The Cure's 1987 double album is extremely uneven both in the variety of genres in the tracks as well as its quality. It is a classic, as important as the gothic Pornography and in some sense more accomplished due to the reasons implied above. One of the motifs that occur a lot is that the music goes on a long time before any singing starts. Like the first track 'The Kiss', 6 minutes long, singing only starts with about 2:30 left. At its best, this album is pure layered pop art-- if you reduced tracks from 17 down to 12 it's pretty much the perfect album (and at that would be the Cure's best). Lyrically, it's themed for teenagers grappling with 'existential angst.' One complaint is the order of the tracks, I would prefer it to evolve from one genre to another instead of jumbling up, jerking back and forth between said genres. Tracks 1 and 16 are FCC. Rec: 12, 16(FCC), 14, 2, 6, 17, 1(FCC), 7, 11, 4, 8, 10, 3

1 Epic rock song, wall-guitar, D minor, watch out FCC 'Get it out, get that fucking voice out of my head.'
2 Pretty, warm and short, 'I used to try to catch her, but never even caught her name', A major
3 Ambitious gloom pop but I don't like the horns, too commercial in that. D minor
4 Nice, almost eastern types of motifs, slow, melancholy. C minor
5 This was a big hit in 1987, I don't like it but lyrically perfect for teenagers. D minor
6 Existential themes in in a lovely A minor 'No one ever knows or loves another' pop
7 Similar to 1 in tone, but slower
8 A major, this was also a big hit, arguably a bit better than 5
9 Lyrically a bit bizarre and loutish 'All I want is to hold you like a dog'
10 This is a bit slight, and was a dance club hit
11 Slower, F# major, ballad and well done
12 Wow, this is mysterious and magical (lyrically AND musically), excellent use of tape loops and mandolin guitars, experimental, layered, repetitive but accessible, F# minor
13 tribal, diffuse
14 Perfect pop hit, innocent, D major
15 Slow ballad, stupid, D major
16 Hateful lyrics, FCC, classic rock song for those willing to dig a little deeper than 5, 8, lyrically like 1, F# minor
17 Very good song, dramatic, drum machine, G minor, perfect lyrics for depressed teenagers