Package includes THREE IMAGINARY BOYS (1979) and RARITIES 1977-1979.

The Cure: Robert Smith (vocals); Michael Dempsey (bass guitar); Laurence Tolhurst (drums).

Personnel: Porl Thompson (guitar).

Liner Note Author: Johnny Black.

Illustrator: Connie Jude.

Photographers: Bill Airey Smith; Martyn Goddard; John Taw; Bunny Lake; Tony Mottram; Porl Thompson.

Unknown Contributor Role: Mark Leviton.

The 2004 US release of THREE IMAGINARY BOYS was a momentous event for stateside Cure fans, as it marked the first time the band's 1979 debut album had ever been available on CD in America. Equally enticing is the bonus disc containing '77-'79 demos, live tracks, and other rarities. The Cure's first US release was 1980's BOYS DON'T CRY, which replaced a number of TIB's tracks with previously non-LP singles, presenting a significantly different picture of the band.

Far from the cloudy, effects-drenched goth-pop sound that later became its trademark, the Cure is in stripped-down mode here, delivering fairly straight-ahead post-punk tunes suggestive of a less angst-ridden Joy Division or a funkless Gang of Four. The stark, rhythm-guitar-dominated sound makes excellent use of space, suggesting a familiarity with dub that's confirmed by the reggae-tinged "Meat Hook" (one of the tracks left off BOYS DON'T CRY). The rarities disc completes the picture, showing the earliest developmental stages of the band and presenting staples such as "Boys Don't Cry" and "10:15 Saturday Night" in embryonic form.

How to handle the B-sides, rarities, and sock-drawer discoveries? It's the dilemma of any band with an exhaustive series of reissues ahead of it. The results, no matter what they might be, are bound to cause a mix of jubilation, confusion, and frustration throughout the fan base -- especially when the band in question is the Cure. There's no clean, obvious way to do it. Rhino's elaborate overhauling of the Cure's back catalog assumes that you have been a rabid follower throughout the years and will want every piece of the puzzle. Cure fans being Cure fans, it's not a foolish judgment to make, and it's the one that should cause the least amount of consternation. Following the four-disc Join the Dots box, Rhino continued with a two-disc expanded form of Three Imaginary Boys, originally released in 1979 as the band's first album. Since the B-sides from this era appear on the box, they aren't included on the rarities disc that accompanies the album proper. This allows plenty of room for demos, live versions, and orphaned songs. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" and "Boys Don't Cry" -- two non-album A-sides -- are included, as is "World War," a song that appeared on initial copies and was presumably extracted for being, as Robert Smith accurately claims, "a terrible piece of rubbish." ("Killing an Arab" is conspicuously absent, possibly left out in order to reel in fans when the deluxe singles anthology surfaces.) The four live tracks, due to poor sound quality, aren't worth a second listen, though the breakneck-tempo take on "10:15 Saturday Night" and the frantic "Heroin Face" are both jolting. Unsurprisingly, the demos and outtakes are key attractions for the insatiable fans. Four studio demos from 1978 are a major draw, with Smith's boyish and alluringly ho-hum vocals in stark contrast to what is heard on the album, and the relatively strenuous instrumentation isn't nearly as spindly. Not to be outdone, disc one contains a remastered Three Imaginary Boys that sounds far more crisp and bold than the initial, thin-sounding CD version. Plenty of photos and biographical liner notes are included. This all bodes well for the reissues that will follow. ~ Andy Kellman

Uncut (p.146) - 4 stars out of 5 - "In 1978, The Cure, suburban teens indebted to punk, sounded fresh and unusual even then, penning unorthodox pop like 'Fire In Cairo'."

Alternative Press (p.98) - "[A]mazing..."