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The Cure
Three Imaginary Boys
Deluxe Edition
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Before the spiky hair, the black lipstick, the eyeliner and every other facet of The Cure that we know today, they was a group of normal looking, gangly youths who released an album entitled “Three Imaginary Boys”. While the album is barely recognizable from what The Cure have evolved into, there is no doubt of the influence this album had on the post punk, modernist scene that arrived in the UK at the tail end of the 70’s. Taking the angst and anger of Punk, the flair of Glam rock and a bit of Reggae sparseness, this movement went on to inspire the subsequent Goth, New Romantic and New Wave movements. Influential British journal, Melody Maker, ran a very appropriate headline with its review for the album that stated simply: “The 80’s start here”.
“Three Imaginary Boys” is not much more than the sum of its parts: voice, guitar, bass and drums with very little in the way of overdubs. The album is also surprisingly ‘present’ sounding with very little in the way of effects added. The performances are a bit raw and unpolished but that’s to be expected for a record that was recorded nocturnally over a five-night period. While it does not scale the dark heights of later albums, when all is said and done, the album is quite simply The Cure, however embryonic.
Most surprising and kind of cool are the ‘punkier’ numbers such as, “Object”, “So What”, “It’s Not You” and a bizarre reading of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”. Rarely has the band played with this much vim and vigor but that is not (nor ever was) what the group is known for. These songs definitely sound like period pieces but they are interesting footnotes in the bands sonic evolution. “Another Day” and “Three Imaginary Boys” show vocalist/ guitarist Robert Smith touching upon the chords and sounds that would later become his trademark. Also noteworthy is bassist Michael Dempsey, who stands out with his distinctive, driving bass lines on every song.
Interesting to note that this is the first time “Three Imaginary Boys” is appearing in its original running order on CD in the US. We got a revamped album called “Boys Don’t Cry” with new cover art, a different track listing, and a few songs that were actually hits such as “Boys Don’t Cry”. It is quite nice to have the album back in its original form.
As part of Elektra/ Rhino Records 2 CD Expanded and Remastered series, “Three Imaginary Boys” gets the deluxe treatment with a second disc of 20 period rarities. Some of these tracks include very rare home and studio demos, live recordings, outtakes and early singles. It is interesting to note that the demos for songs that were eventually re-recorded for the “Three Imaginary Boys” album, are much more full sounding here with beefier, distorted guitars. This is apparent on “Fire In Cairo” and “It’s Not You”. The studio outtake “Winter” is most representative of the later Cure sound with its swirly, modulated guitars and dreamy, ethereal vocal effects.
As with most of their reissue projects, Rhino Records has done an incredibly thorough and exhaustive job here; the package looks and sounds fantastic - all of the tracks benefit greatly from their new, digital remastering. This two-disc set also features the original artwork with an informative booklet packed with rare photos. The announcement of more two-disc sets of the subsequent Cure album has left me positively giddy! And how could you blame me when things get off to such an excellent start as this! Bring ‘em on!
