Three Imaginary Boys [Import]

The Cure | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 6, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: PID
• ASIN: B000AKSS90
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,009,175 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. 10:15 Saturday Night

2. Accuracy

3. Grinding Halt

4. Another Day

5. Object

6. Subway Song

7. Foxey Lady

8. Meathook

9. So What

10. Fire in Cairo

11. It's Not You

12. Three Imaginary Boys

13. The Weedy Burton

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Though this 1979 debut album by The Cure would scarcely dent the Top 50 in the UK and entirely forego an official American release (though a handful of tracks would appear on the US-only compilation Boys Don't Cry), it remains equal parts touchstone and curiosity for Cure faithful. It's easy to see why mainstay Robert Smith has long had mixed feelings about it: The spare, angular performances and New Wave-y production cliches often seem more akin to Devo or the B-52's. Smith himself hadn't quite perfected the moody wail that would make him a pioneering goth icon, though there are hints of dark things to come on the title track and "10:15 Saturday Night." The real attraction here is the set's 20-song bonus disc, a treasure trove of primal Cure that includes key A-sides ("Boys Don't Cry," "Jumping Someone Else's Train"), early outtakes and demos (including the Ziggy-esque "I Want to Be Old" from '77, more emblematic tracks from the following year and a haunting Smith home-recording of "10:15" that shows how focused the singer's instincts were when left to his own devices) and some energetic, if sonically flawed live tracks. It's a must for Cure fans, an intriguing, warts-'n'-all portrait of a seminal rock band finding its true voice. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

The classic Cure album from 1979 has been digitally remastered. Comes complete with an 8 page booklet containing lyrics, rare photographs and sleevenotes by Johnny Black. Polydor. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a better reissue, December 13, 2004

By 

L. Gray - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Imaginary Boys (Dlx) (Dig) (Audio CD)

Why can't record labels get it right? We fans have no problem shelling out cash for reissues, but it sure would be nice for them to be worth the money. What's positive? It's great to have all the bonus material, especially to have World War on CD, finally. I no longer have my TIB vinyl, but I believe all the original cover art is reproduced. Now for the bad news:

1. The sound is good, but other than being louder, it's not much of an improvement over my original Three Imaginary Boys or Boys Don't Cry CDs. I'm no golden-eared audiophile, but I've got plenty of other remasters that are noticeably better than the versions they replaced.

2. No Killing an Arab. This is just ridiculous.

3. The cover art colors look horrible. I know it's not a great cover, but heck, they could have at least reproduced the original colors properly.

4. No plastic slipcase like other "Deluxe Edition" reissues. The slipcase is cardboard and will start wearing. Mine came slightly dented because of this.

5. World War is finally on CD... but it's either a different mix from the Boys Don't Cry LP, or there's just absolutely no high end on the tape they used - it's so muddy you can hardly hear the cymbals compared to the vinyl.

6. The faint talking bit from the beginning of "The Weedy Burton" is missing (my player's time seems to skip about 15 seconds between the last two tracks, so this could be a CD indexing problem).

7. The liner notes are a bit skimpy and some are hard to read over the background.

Are these picky issues? You bet they are, but if record companies are constantly going to pump out reissued product, make it worth it for the fans.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Cure - Quirky Pop-Rock That's Waaaaay Addictive, July 29, 2006

By 

Rich Latta (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Imaginary Boys (Dlx) (Dig) (Audio CD)

There's something about the primitive innocence of early Cure that makes me want to listen to it again and again. As a dyed-n-the-wool Cure fan, I like or at least appreciate nearly everything they do, but this early stuff is really melodic and could potentially appeal to a much bigger crowd than, say, their PORNOGRAPHY album ever could. Sure, one could say the American release of THREE IMAGINARY BOYS (renamed BOYS DON'T CRY) is superior, but Disk 1 presents the album in its original form - that's history, baby! Yes, "Killing An Arab" belongs here, but that song's pretty easy to come by anyway so no biggie. "Plastic Passion" is also missing, but you can get that one on the JOIN THE DOTS B-side collection which is worth getting for the first disk alone (and, of course, there's always downloading..). Obviously, this expanded package is aimed at the die-hard fans, but some of the unreleased tracks on Disk 2 are actually superior to many of the TIB tracks (IMHO). There's a lot of really cool music on Disk 2 that's worth discovering even if you're not a big fan. In addition there's a few well-known singles and some demos that are mostly of interest to the diehards.

The following is a song by song commentary of Disk 2 from an old-school Cure fan (since '85). I've never been dedicated or savvy enough to collect a lot of bootlegs, so for me most of Disk 2 was a thrilling discovery. ---------------------------------------------------->

"I Want To Be Old" (studio demo) - this appropriately cynical song totally rips. Very punk. Robert Smith has said his main influences starting out were The Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Buzzcocks, and that influence is very evident on several Disk 2 tracks including this one. Great sound. *****

"I'm Cold" (studio demo) - many Cure fans are familiar with a slowed-down, wiggy version of this song which served as an early B-side. This is a straight-up version, upbeat and rocking. The lyrics are perfectly clear without the wicked reversed echo heard on the B-side and they're so cool - cold, actually. Guitar wizard Porl Thompson appears on several of these early tracks including this cut. After a falling out with Robert Smith, he later rejoined the band. Great sound on this one. *****

"Heroin Face" (live) - a harsh blast of punked-up energy. Fairly decent but certainly not great sound (I believe it's an audience recording). Those fortunate enough to have a copy of the rare CURIOSITY cassette released back in the day have heard this track. ***1/2

"I Just Need Myself" (studio demo) - Robert Smith quite obviously cops Sex Pistol singer Johnny Rotten's on this cut (as he does on the TIB track "So What"). He even sounds a bit like a sneering Rotten but whinier. Pretty basic rock n' roll with Porl wailing on guitar. I love it. ****

"10:15 Saturday Night" (home demo) - I am so thrilled to have this version. Just a young Robert Smith, home alone on Hammond organ, guitar and drum machine. This version captures the bare essence of the song. Robert sounds so anguished! *****

"The Cocktail Party" (home demo) - an amusing lark with Hawaiian-sounding guitar, poorly recorded but fun. ***1/2

"Grinding Halt" (home demo) - early document, mostly of interest to those who study the band. Not much different from the final studio version, has bad sound. ***

"Boys Don't Cry" (studio demo) - pretty good, straight-up version. A very good pop song (but far from my personal Cure fav). ****

"It's Not You" (studio demo) - cool song, very good version, some different lyrics. ****

"10:15 Saturday Night" (studio demo) - great version, not too different but way cool. *****

"Fire In Cairo" (studio demo) - cool version, slightly grittier sound on the guitars. *****

"Winter" (studio out-take) - this is a great lost track. So soft and dreamy, I can understand why it wasn't included on the debut. A harbinger of more mellow and emotional songs to come from the Cure. *****

"Faded Smiles" aka "I Don't Know" (studio out-take) - another great lost track, this one rocks. ****1/2

"Play With Me" (studio out-take) - wow! yet another great unreleased song, this one has a prickly old-school guitar groove that just works. ****1/2

"World War" (rare album track) - Robert Smith hates this cut and was appalled when label head Chris Perry added it to the original album line-up. If memory serves, this song was on my old BOYS DON'T CRY tape and I've always found its primitive, almost bone-headed approach strangely appealing. It's got a sort of sinister post-apocalyptic feel to it. ****

"Boys Don't Cry" (extra album track) - the (should've been) hit single. Undeniably catchy..and truly great (but again, not my favorite Cure song). ****1/2

"Jumping Someone Else's Train" (extra album track) - This frantic, runaway-train track is one of their best singles. A biting commentary on poseurs. *****

"Subway Song" (live) - previously available on the CURIOSITY tape. An otherworldly sounding, very cool bootleg. ****1/2

"Accuracy" (live) - To my amazement, Smith has claimed this to be one of his favorite Cure songs (although it was back in the 80s when he mentioned this in some interview). I don't share his opinion. "Accuracy" is too "sing-songy" for my tastes. This early bootleg does nothing to change my opinion of it. **1/2

"10:15 Saturday Night" (live) - a totally punked-out, hyper-kinetic blast through "10:15." Quite a vast difference between this one and Robert's home demo, but both of them are absolutely fantastic in their own way. This live version gets into some totally groove-worthy rhythms near the end and reaches a head-spinning climax. A must for Cure fans! *****

UPDATE:

Just for the fun of it, I made my own "alternate reality Cure album" composed of the "new" songs on this disk along with some early B-sides from the JOIN THE DOTS collection. I think it's great and I've been listening to it a lot lately. As someone mentioned elsewhere, "See The Children" is another great early track that should've been included here. Robert Smith probably left it off because it's a song sung from the point of view of a child molester! LOL, I think he had enough headaches from the "Killing An Arab" debacle. But you can hear it on [...] (that popular sight that plays videos).

"SICKNESS"

I Want To Be Old
I'm Cold
I Just Need Myself
Do The Hansa
The Coctail Party
Heroin Face
World War
Plastic Passion
Pillbox Tales
Faded Smiles
Winter
Play With Me

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The album, February 27, 2002

By 

Dan d'Auteuil (Neuilly sur Seine France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Imaginary Boys (Audio CD)

These songs are more than 20 years old, and remain some of the best musical experiences around. Time has not altered their strength. Much the contrary.

I discovered the Cure when this album was released in France. Those were the days. Therefore, I guess I'm sort of stuck with my fond memories of these fantastic tunes, as I don't quite agree with other reviewers. To put things simply : this first album is my favorite.

I remember that upon discovering this record, I thought : How did these guys manage to construct such a powerful debut ? The first tune was arresting (10:15), then it got better and better. I was amazed. They were confident enough to keep the best tunes buried inside !

Sure, the Cure evolved after this first opus, they got more experimental (Seventeen seconds, my second best), onright depressing (Pornography, "the black gem"), or playful (Japanese whispers), and then they toyed with these ideas, fleshing them out, creating variations (Disintegration, Kiss...). But they never captured again the brilliance of their debut, this obvious display of Robert Smith's genius.

My guess is that Robert was disappointed with the response to his first songs, got weird, depressed, then gradually decided, I'm able to give them the tunes they want. Consequently, the Cure released "Japanese whispers" and the others. I confess I listened to each one of them. But at the time I did not want to admit that I was gradually losing interest (yeah, that's right, I was getting older. But hey, I don't dribble all over yet).

This first record has got it all. This IS "the Cure". Any "real fan" should, in my opinion, listen to it. Try to forget about those "synth layers". Had this first record been the succes it deserved, my guess is that the Cure would have subsequently followed a quite different path. But then again, who knows ? Art is such a mystery...

So, there we are. I don't think I'm a purist. I'm glad the Cure got the immense following it rightly deserves. I don't systematically consider first albums as the best albums. But. This one is the one. Believe me. Treat yourself. Do it for Robert Smith. Whatever. THIS IS THE REAL STUFF.