Cure, The - Seventeen Seconds

After the college sounding album of Three Imaginary Boys album you can easily hear Robert Smith and The Cure finding themselves on this album. With a more with less approach the songs really have a b-side feel to them all. It doesn't detract though, it adds a bit of charm to these near 3 decade old songs. I like the minimalism of the sounds themselves and the rawness and compression on the drums, some bits are even very danceable like the cult classic "Play for Today". "The Forest" will probobly remain one of my favorite Cure songs I am sure. This album gives you a glimpse of whats to come during the 1980's and arguably one of the most successful decades in any music band ever with regards to musical expression and song writing beaming like a proud light in such a drab decade that was the 1980's. 7.8/10.0

A classic album that captures the dark and moody spirit of the times at the turn of the decade as punk rock's angry spirit was evolving into other styles.

Other Cure albums have eclipsed this dark treasure in popularity, but none of them contain anything like A Forest, a haunting song that, for many Cure fans, is the band's quintessential track.

Every great group has to start somewhere (and I'm sure I'll use it for their true debut release, Three Imaginary Boys).

Robert Smith reportedly wanted to make an album that reflected his (1979/1980) listening tastes: David Bowie's Low, Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left, Hendrix's Live Isle of Wight, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and Khachaturian's Gayaneh Ballet Suite. This synthesis is unlike the previous release, which was closer to punk and single sensibilities. Here Smith (and his new lineup) wanted to create something big using so little, a trait that will define The Cure between 1979 and 1983.

In retrospect, it was unusual in that it was etheral without going into the stratosphere of trendy spirituality or spacey melodrama. While in the context of The Cure as a whole, it doesn't quite reach a great height. Yet you can hear that The Cure was going somewhere really great and this was a really good start for them. It's exciting to listen to because this is an album one can truly call the first Cure album and all the sounds that go with it. And yet this is also Robert Smith finding himself musically, artistically and (in retrospect as well) personally.

All in all, it's neat to first the first marker in one's artistic/musical career... even with the inclusion of the small-time off-shoot project Cult Hero =]

Excellent. Subdued, pensive, plodding, distinct. Works very well as a whole. Production is very good, with subtleties which set it apart. Best album by The Cure, and that's saying a bit.