21 for 21: #2—The Cure, "Wish"

My silver medalist at #2 in my countdown of my top 21 favorite CDs is "Wish" by The Cure. I simply love this album more than words can say, but I'll try. Released in 1992, the album made it all the way to #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the U.S. It's four-star review in Rolling Stone included this quote: "For its cult of millions, the Cure offers the only kind of optimism that makes sense."

That's what I love most about this album—the balance between slow songs that mourn lost love and sing of the sadness of loneliness and the absolute joy that love and friendship brings. Both the guitars and Robert Smith's masterful vocals express this tension and balance.

Each song has a primary melodic theme that is carried by the lead guitar—think about that unforgettable opening riff on their poppiest, peppiest single ever, "Friday I'm In Love"—da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dum! Each song has a central riff like that, and it ties the whole album together thematically.

The songs are a balance between the jarring, dissonant chord-crunching alternative sounds of songs like "Open," "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea," "Wendy Time," and "Cut," to the quiet introspection of ballads like "Apart," "Trust," and "To Wish Impossible Things," and finally, to that pure, blissful optimism that the Rolling Stone reviewer wrote about in "High," "Doing the Unstuck," and "Friday I'm in Love."

However, the true pinnacle of the album is the song that puts all three together, "A Letter to Elise." It's a break-up song that laments the end of love while, at the same time, celebrating it's sublime beauty. Smith's voice is at his most emotional, pleading, plaintive, and finally, bittersweetly accepting that all things must end. The lyrics build to what I think is perhaps the most beautiful, soaring, aching guitar instrumental I've ever heard. It's not unusual for this song to bring me to tears; it's that beautiful.