The Cure
Three Imaginary Boys (Deluxe Edition) 2-CD set
Rhino Music
Since the early Eighties, completists have been paying top-dollar for imports, expanded singles collections, and colored vinyl. I own a poorly recorded 2-LP Faded Roots bootleg, and paid more than $20 for the then-import-only CD of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Songs To Learn & Sing back in the Eighties. With the advent of the World Wide Web, and the fact that that my childhood has become nostalgia and several of today’s bands are covering–and often ripping off–bands I loved as a teen, today it’s not terribly difficult to find unreleased songs and albums.
Lately, Rhino Music has been branching out from their early K-Tel-like compilations and TV theme collections. Their recent boxsets for Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, and The Cure, not to mention the Seventies punk box set (No Thanks!) and this year’s Eighties alternative set (Left of the Dial) set new standards for compilations so it is really no wonder they chose to release an expanded edition of The Cure’s 1979 debut, Three Imaginary Boys.
By the time The Cure made any real dent in the U.S. music scene, they already had 10 years and almost as many albums under their belts. Their continued success–the band now plays amphitheater and stadium gigs–is a testament to Robert Smith’s ability to write heartfelt songs that are poppy enough for the mainstream and dark enough for the underground. It’s their odd combination of pop and gothic melodies that keeps the audiences coming back after all these years.
Originally available in the U.S. as an import, Three Imaginary Boys shows The Cure developing their sound during their youth. Compared to the band’s later work, the songs are innocent and raw. Most of the songs weigh in at under three minutes, and none is longer than four minutes–a vast contrast to the band’s more recent work, much of which hovers at six or more minutes.
This new expanded two-disc set includes the original album, remastered of course, and also includes a disc of The Cure’s rarities from the same period, including six previously unreleased songs. Highlights of the set include their live cover of Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” and their early classics like “Accuracy,” “Fire in Cairo,” and “Grinding Halt.” Included among the rarities are several demo versions (both home and studio, depending on the song) of “Boys Don’t Cry,” and “10:15 Saturday Night,” the non-album tracks “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” and “Boys Don’t Cry,” a few studio outtakes (including “Play With Me” and “Faded Smiles”), and early live versions of “Accuracy,” “10:15 Saturday Night,” and “Subway Song.”
The set contains a booklet with new liner notes written by Johnny Black and also includes previously unpublished photos from Smith’s personal collection (sans makeup). The concert photos of the band from their early days is an excellent addition to the set, but certainly more information and photographs could have been included. The music of Three Imaginary Boys is stellar, however, and that’s what really counts. Even 25 years later, the album hints at what The Cure was to become, and proves that their timeless music hasn’t lost its edge.
–David A. Cobb
