Boys Don't Cry (The Cure album)


Boys Don't Cry is the Cure's first compilation album. Released in February 1980, this album is composed of several tracks from the band's May 1979 debut album Three Imaginary Boys with material from the band's 1978-1979 era.

Release

Boys Don't Cry was released on 5 February 1980 by record label Fiction. According to AllMusic, the album " somewhere between official release and compilation", and was released "in hopes of increasing the band's exposure outside of the U.K."
A new version of the title track was released in April 1986.

Reception

Boys Don't Cry has been generally well received by critics. Debra Rae Cohen of Rolling Stone wrote that the album "proves they can transcend their Comp. Lit. 201 scenarios". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called the band's sound "dry post-punk, never pretty but treated with a properly mnemonic pop overlay" and was more reserved in his praise, adding, "I can look over the titles and recall a phrase from all but a few of these 13 songs. Intelligent phrases they are, too, yet somehow I find it hard to get really excited about them".
In 2000 it was voted number 775 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
In 2003, the album was ranked at No. 442 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 best albums ever. In the 2012 update of the same list, it moved up the list to No. 438.

Track listing

Personnel

The Cure
Technical