{"product_id":"the-cure-three-imaginary-boys-vinyl-lp","title":"The Cure – Three Imaginary Boys [Vinyl LP]","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Cure – Three Imaginary Boys [Vinyl LP]\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eDetails\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBarcode:\u003c\/strong\u003e 602547875327\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGenre:\u003c\/strong\u003e Post-Punk \/ New Wave \/ Punk Rock\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLabel:\u003c\/strong\u003e Fiction Records \/ Polydor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOriginally Released:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8 May 1979\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReissue Released:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9 September 2016\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e New \u0026amp; Sealed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eDescription\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThree Imaginary Boys\u003c\/em\u003e is the debut studio album by The Cure — \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar, vocals), \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Dempsey\u003c\/strong\u003e (bass, vocals) and \u003cstrong\u003eLaurence Tolhurst\u003c\/strong\u003e (drums) — originally released on 8 May 1979 on Fiction Records. Recorded and mixed at \u003cstrong\u003eMorgan Studio 4 in Willesden, London\u003c\/strong\u003e and produced by \u003cstrong\u003eChris Parry\u003c\/strong\u003e — Fiction Records' founder, who had previously signed and produced The Jam for Polydor — the album was made when all three members were barely eighteen years old, and captures a band whose instincts outpaced their experience. It is a record that has aged more interestingly than most of its contemporaries: what seemed raw and unfinished in 1979 now sounds purposeful, its economy and directness a strength rather than a limitation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album's production history is notoriously complicated by Robert Smith's well-documented dissatisfaction with it. Parry exercised considerable control over both the track selection and the presentation: the song titles were deliberately absent from the original sleeve, tracks represented only by pictorial icons and images, and the cover art — three household appliances photographed by \u003cstrong\u003eMartyn Goddard\u003c\/strong\u003e and illustrated with reference to the band members — was chosen without Smith's agreement. Most controversially, Smith wanted the album to open with an original composition but Parry insisted on including a cover of Jimi Hendrix's \u003cstrong\u003e\"Foxy Lady\"\u003c\/strong\u003e as the first track on Side B, and the album's track selection omitted several songs Smith considered stronger in favour of others the label preferred. The result was an album Smith has rarely spoken warmly about in retrospect, and which was subsequently superseded in the US market by the 1980 compilation \u003cem\u003eBoys Don't Cry\u003c\/em\u003e — a revised tracklist with different song choices tailored for American audiences. Despite all this, \u003cem\u003eThree Imaginary Boys\u003c\/em\u003e contains several defining early Cure performances: the crystalline, ticking tension of \u003cstrong\u003e\"10:15 Saturday Night\"\u003c\/strong\u003e, the taut post-punk energy of \u003cstrong\u003e\"Grinding Halt\"\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003e\"Accuracy\"\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the eerie minimalism of \u003cstrong\u003e\"Subway Song\"\u003c\/strong\u003e. The closing hidden track, \u003cstrong\u003e\"The Weedy Burton\"\u003c\/strong\u003e — an unlisted 34-second piece that ends the record — remained officially unnamed until the 2004 Deluxe Edition remaster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album found immediate favour with the British music press, receiving enthusiastic reviews that compared the band favourably to \u003cstrong\u003eWire\u003c\/strong\u003e and early \u003cstrong\u003eJoy Division\u003c\/strong\u003e — two of the most significant reference points for the angular, stripped-back post-punk emerging from the UK at the time. It peaked at \u003cstrong\u003enumber forty-four on the UK Albums Chart\u003c\/strong\u003e, a respectable debut position for a band on an independent label with no mainstream radio support, and established The Cure as one of the most promising acts of the nascent post-punk scene. The trajectory from this record to \u003cem\u003eSeventeen Seconds\u003c\/em\u003e (1980) and \u003cem\u003eFaith\u003c\/em\u003e (1981) would be extraordinarily swift — within two years the band had transformed from an energetic but relatively conventional post-punk trio into the creators of some of the most atmospherically distinct and emotionally affecting music of the decade — but \u003cem\u003eThree Imaginary Boys\u003c\/em\u003e documents the beginning of that journey with a directness and unpretentious charm that rewards revisiting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \u003cstrong\u003e2016 reissue\u003c\/strong\u003e on \u003cstrong\u003eFiction Records \/ Polydor\u003c\/strong\u003e presents the album on \u003cstrong\u003e180 gram vinyl\u003c\/strong\u003e, remastered by \u003cstrong\u003eRobert Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e from the original recordings. The pressing is housed in a sleeve reproducing the original artwork and comes with a \u003cstrong\u003eprinted colour inner sleeve\u003c\/strong\u003e and a \u003cstrong\u003edigital download voucher\u003c\/strong\u003e. Made in the EU.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTracklist\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSide A\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10:15 Saturday Night\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAccuracy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGrinding Halt\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnother Day\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eObject\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSubway Song\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSide B\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFoxy Lady \u003cem\u003e(Jimi Hendrix cover)\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMeathook\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSo What\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFire in Cairo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt's Not You\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThree Imaginary Boys\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Weedy Burton \u003cem\u003e(unlisted)\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCredits\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRobert Smith – Guitar, Vocals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMichael Dempsey – Bass, Vocals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLaurence Tolhurst – Drums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChris Parry – Producer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMike Hedges – Engineer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRobert Smith – Remastering (2016)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMartyn Goddard – Photography\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBill Smith – Design, Illustration, Photography\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLabel – Fiction Records \/ Polydor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"The Cure","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504263766403,"sku":"602547875327","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0932\/9757\/4275\/files\/b54b1ece-b748-4340-8a48-900140ce41a1.webp?v=1772720734","url":"https:\/\/vikingrecords.co.uk\/products\/the-cure-three-imaginary-boys-vinyl-lp","provider":"Viking Records Ltd","version":"1.0","type":"link"}