''Boys Don't Cry'' is

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

'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 ''Three Imaginary Boys'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 8 May 1979 by Fiction Records, and reached number 44 on the UK Albums Chart.Roberts, David (ed.) (2006). '' British Hit Singles & Albums'', 19th edit ...

'' (which had yet to see a US release) with material from the band's 1978–1979 era. Behind the scenes of these albums, Bill Smith was the mastermind behind the concepts for both covers, while Chris Parry assumed the role of producer for both projects. Additionally,

Tim Pope Timothy Michael Pope (born 12 February 1956) is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career. Early life and career Pope grew up in the north London suburb of Enfield. Both his ...

played a crucial role in directing the music videos for "Killing An Arab" and "Jumping Someone Else’s Train," which were later featured in the 1986 video compilation. These behind-the-scenes efforts contributed significantly to the albums' artistic vision.

Release

''Boys Don't Cry'' was released on 5 February 1980 by record label

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, the album " allssomewhere between nofficial release and compilation", and was released "in hopes of increasing the band's exposure outside of the U.K." Early North American pressings of the album used "Jumping Someone Else's Train" as the opening track, pushing the title track down to track 2. A new version of the title track was released in April 1986. In the majority of CD releases of the album, "Object" was swapped for "So What", while the final scream in "Subway Song" was trimmed and "World War" was left out altogether.

Reception

''Boys Don't Cry'' has been generally well received by critics. Debra Rae Cohen of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote that the album "proves they can transcend their Comp. Lit. 201 (Elementary Angst) scenarios."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' called the band's sound "dry

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, 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, ''Boys Don't Cry'' was voted number 775 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

''. In 2003, the album was ranked at number 442 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of

the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

. In a 2012 update of the list, it moved up to number 438.

Track listing

Personnel

The Cure * Robert Smith – guitar, vocals, harmonica *

Michael Dempsey Michael Stephen Dempsey (born 29 November 1958) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the Cure and The Associates (band), the Associates. Biography Dempsey was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now known as Harare, Zimbabwe ...

– bass guitar *

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

– drums Technical * Chris Parry –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Cure compilation albums 1980 compilation albums Fiction Records compilation albums Elektra Records compilation albums