Three Imaginary Boys was released on 8 May 1979 by record label Fiction. The record company decided which songs were put on the album, as well as the cover artwork, without Robert Smith's consent. For all Cure albums since, Smith has ensured that he is given complete creative control over the final product before it goes on sale. The "Foxy Lady" soundcheck, with vocals sung by Michael Dempsey, was not supposed to be on the album, and was removed for the American release. Smith has stated that "songs like 'Object' and 'World War' and our cover of 'Foxy Lady' were choice". The album was reissued on 29 November 2004 and featured a second disc of unreleased material, including songs recorded under the band name Easy Cure with Porl Thompson. It was originally supposed to be released in early 2004 along with the band's next three studio albums, but was delayed multiple times before being released by itself at the end of 2004. As it featured a variety of old songs, it was the only Deluxe Edition by the band that did not include an alternate version of each song on the first disc. Some of the early booklets in the reissue had missing lyrics, which were made available on the Cure's website in PDF form. All copies since contain the lyrics. A one-disc reissue was released on 5 September 2005, containing only the original album. It was also released in the standard jewel case rather than in a box. In some countries, the Deluxe Edition has become a collector's item as production was phased out, being replaced by the more economic single-disc version.
Reception
Despite Smith's displeasure with the record, Three Imaginary Boys was well received critically at the time of its release. Sounds' Dave McCullough praised it in a 5-star review and noted: "The Cure are going somewhere different on each track, the ideas are startling and disarming." McCullough noted the variety of the material and qualified "Grinding Halt" as a "pop song that reminds you of the Isley Brothers or the Buzzcocks." Red Starr, writing in Smash Hits, described the album as a "brilliant, compelling debut." However, NME's Paul Morley did not share the same point of view and wrote: "Most of the time, it's a voice catching its breath, a cautiously primitive riff guitar, toy drumming and a sprightly bass." Chris True of AllMusic retrospectively called the album "a very strong debut" and a "semi-detached bit of late-'70s English pop-punk". Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork likened the album to a "new wave Wire... Joy Division" and called it "as original a record as anything else to spin off from the tail end of punk." He also called the album "spiky post-punk." The BBC said "Smith was forging his own take on the post-punk zeitgeist," while critic Martin C. Strong said it "remains among the Cure's finest work," adding that "their strangely accessible post-punk snippets lent an air of suppressed melancholy." The album was also called "a collection of melodic but slightly kooky power-pop" by Chris Gerard of PopMatters.
Track listing
Note
The album included an uncredited, final instrumental track informally called "The Weedy Burton". This fact was not acknowledged until the Deluxe Edition reissue.
