Chris Martin’s Masterpiece

Chris Martin, Managing Editor of The Brag reveals his masterpiece:

The Cure’s eighth studio album, Disintegration, came out in 1989. It would be years before I discovered it myself – themes of heartbreak and general morbidity being too much for an infant to handle at the time – but when it finally hit me, it hit me hard. Much like South Park’s Kyle Broflovski, who shouts his love for the album after Robert Smith defeats a mechanical Barbara Streisand in the kind of showdown only South Park can conceive, Disintegration left a lasting mark during my impressionable and occasionally gloomy adolescent years. But more than that, it opened my eyes and ears to what the album, as an artistic enterprise, could achieve.

From first to last, Disintegration heaves with import; the desperation in Smith’s voice is matched only by its conviction, and despite The Cure’s patent subject matter (surely responsible for the great hike in sales of mascara and Doc Martens during the 1980s), it teemed with hooks – moments of pure melodic pop genius. I still stumble upon a new discovery each time I hear the record, be it the lick of a guitar on ‘Pictures Of You’ or the splash of a cymbal on ‘Fascination Street’.

Nowadays, musicians’ success is objectively judged by YouTube plays and Spotify streams – the album as a body of work is out of fashion. At its best, however, music accesses emotions that neither our breadth of language nor our senses of sight, touch, smell or taste can even perceive. Disintegration reminds me of this fact every time I hear it. It’s immersive, comprehensive, masterful.

– Chris Martin

To celebrate the Australian premiere of Quintett we’re inviting artists, arts commentators and luminaries from all walks of life to answer the question, ‘What masterpiece changed your life and how?’ Be it a dance work, theatre, film, book, painting, photograph, sculpture, or any other creative work.

We’d love you to send us your thoughts by commenting in the box below or sharing via your own social media channels – tag #SDCFrame and @SydneyDanceCo. Read more here

Image of dancer Todd Sutherland by Peter Greig.