10 Greatest Bands Who Mixed Music Genres

10. The Cure

These days Robert Smith’s gang of goths are better known for their bittersweet pop than their years dedicated to doom and gloom. The best known Cure tracks are in the main their soaring, sugary upbeat numbers, “Just Like Heaven”, “Friday I’m In Love” and the like. But in their lengthy career, they’ve played a little bit of everything.

They started off playing spiky new wave and post punk, and in their first two singles, “Killing An Arab” and “Boys Don’t Cry”, they ably illustrated the light and shade they had to offer. By the second album they were descending into darkness, with the shuffling, full goth “A Forest” a highlight.

Things got gloomier up until The Head On The Door, whose second single “Close To Me” embraced prettier sounds and alternate instrumentation - a plinky synth, a jazzy trumpet. Soon after, they were experimenting with every album - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me alone sees the band whip between genres from track to track.

Maybe their most outre offering is spooky jazz number “The Lovecats”. While it’s not a song for long-time Cure obsessives, it demonstrates how much more there is to the group than moping and bouffants.