The Cure Three Imaginary Boys 180g LP (Vinyl)

1979 Debut Album Reissued On 180g Vinyl LP!

Remastered By Robert Smith!

Includes Cover Of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady!"

The undisputed leaders of the early gothic scene, and a seminal band that contributed to the rise of British post-punk, the Cure recorded their debut album Three Imaginary Boys at London’s Morgan Studios and released it on May 8, 1979. After touring for almost all of 1977, the band changed their name to The Cure and rearranged their line-up giving birth to an unusual power trio. This line-up lasted only for their first album, making it unique in its essentially minimal sound.

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, few were as enduring and popular as the Cure. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for its slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance, a public image that often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, the Cure played jagged, edgy pop songs before slowly evolving into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the band had crossed over into the mainstream not only in its native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe. The Cure remained a popular concert draw and reliable record-seller throughout the '90s, and their influence could be heard clearly on scores of new bands during the new millennium, including many that had little to do with Goth.

"Maybe it was youthful exuberance or perhaps it was the fact that the band itself was not pulling all the strings, Three Imaginary Boys is not only a very strong debut, but a near oddity (it's an admittedly 'catchy' record) in the Cure catalog. More poppy and representative of the times than any other album during their long career, Three Imaginary Boys is a semi-detached bit of late-'70s English pop-punk. Angular and lyrically abstract, its strong points are in its utter simplicity. There are no dirges here, no long suites, just short bursts of energy and a rather strange cover of Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady.' For some, this is the last good Cure record, many fans of this album being in no way prepared for the sparse emptiness and gloom that would be the cornerstone of future releases. For the most die-hard Cure-head, however, it's an interesting sidenote, hard to place in the general flow of the band's discography. Cure leader Robert Smith has voiced many times over his mixed feelings about the record, most notably the cover art (the three "representative" appliances on the cover, the lack of a real track listing -- all the songs are represented with arty type pictures -- and in no real order) and the production, which at times is admittedly a little muddy, but even that lends it a certain youthful charm. What the Cure would do next wasn't entirely obvious to the listener of this album, but there are some definite hints. " - Chris True, allmusic.com

Features:
• 180g Vinyl reissue
• Remastered By Robert Smith

Selections:
Side A:
1. 10:15 Saturday Night
2. Accuracy
3. Grinding Halt
4. Another Day
5. Object
6. Subway Song
Side B:
7. Foxy Lady
8. Meat Hook
9. So What
10. Fire In Cairo
11. It's Not You
12. Three Imaginary Boys
13. The Weedy Burton