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| PVC 7916 |
release date: Feb. 1980
format: vinyl (PVC7916) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Chris Parry
label: PVC Records - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: 1. "Boys Don't Cry" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Plastic Passion" - 3. "10:15 Saturday Night" (4 / 5) - 4. "Accuracy" - 5. "So What?" - 6. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" (4 / 5) - 7. "Subway Song" - 8. "Killing an Arab" (4 / 5) - 9. "Fire in Cairo" - 10. "Another Day" - 11. "Grinding Halt" (4 / 5) - 12. "Three Imaginary Boys"
Alternate studio debut album by The Cure, which is a bit hard to determine as some simply regard it a compilation album. When one has the original debut album, it's hard to see this as just a different version despite the fact that they share eight tracks in common but this one has an additional four tracks included whilst five are omitted from the original debut, and the added tracks have all been released as singles. It also seems awkward to release a 'new' studio album only three months before the release of the band's sophomore studio album, but fact is, the original studio debut had not been released on the American or Australian market, so they decided to put together an alternate version with the inclusion of some single releases with fine reviews that had not been included on the debut. AND because of this considerable change in the tracklist, they also provided the album with a new title and cover. Anyway, the vinyl version that I bought is an American import released on the American label PVC Records under license of Polydor Records (owner of Fiction), but the album was entirely released by Fiction Records for the European market on a later occasion. I always liked this release more than the band's debut because of the immediate fast hit singles on this. The track "Killing an Arab" led to some controversy as critics had the band associated with the far right, and for racial discrimination, however, Robert Smith silenced the media and critics by revealing the song's reference to the Albert Camus novel "The Stranger".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
[ collectors' item - from ~ €50,- ]
