The Cure - 17 Seconds (1980) - €10,00

Seventeen Seconds is the second studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 22 April 1980 by Fiction Records. The album marked the first time frontman Robert Smith co-produced with Mike Hedges. After the departure of original bassist Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup became an official member along with keyboardist Matthieu Hartley. The single "A Forest" was the band's first entry in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
Retrospectively, Seventeen Seconds has been considered an early example of gothic rock. Its "gloomscapes" are considered to be "a sonic touchstone" for the forthcoming movement. The track "The Final Sound" is "so positively gothic you could almost be fooled into believing that it was lifted from the soundtrack of some Hammer horror gorefest". The album has also been described as new wave.
It's hard to believe that the Cure could release an album even more sparse than Three Imaginary Boys, but here's the proof. The lineup change that saw funkstery bassist Michael Dempsey squeezed out in favor of the more specific playing of (eventually the longest serving member outside Robert Smith) Simon Gallup, and the addition of keyboardist Mathieu Hartley resulted in the band becoming more rigid in sound, and more disciplined in attitude.
While it is not the study in loss that Faith would become, or the descent into madness of Pornography, it is a perfect precursor to those collections. In a sense, Seventeen Seconds is the beginning of a trilogy of sorts, the emptiness that leads to the questioning and eventual madness of the subsequent work.
Mostly forgotten outside of the unforgettable single "A Forest," Seventeen Seconds is an even, subtle work that grows on the listener over time. Sure, the Cure did better work, but for a new lineup and a newfound sense of independence, Robert Smith already shows that he knows what he's doing.
From short instrumental pieces to robotic pop, Seventeen Seconds is where the Cure shed all the outside input and became their own band.


Side A
A1.  A Reflection - 2:12 
A2.  Play For Today - 3:41 
A3.  Secrets - 3:20 
A4.  In Your House - 4:08 
A5.  Three - 2:36 

Side B
B1.  The Final Sound - 0:52 
B2.  A Forest - 5:55 
B3.  M - 3:04 
B4.  At Night - 5:54 
B5.  Seventeen Seconds - 4:00


Notes
Release:  1980
Format:  LP
Genre:  New Wave
Label:  Polydor Records
Catalog#  2442174

Vinyl:  Good
Cover:  Good

Prijs: €10,00