Seventeen Seconds

I’m not crazy for The Cure but this was pretty good!

When I started listening to the alternative music station in the late 80s, the Cure was one of the pillars of radio play, and were about to release their landmark Disintegration album. As I dove into the Cure's back catalogue I quickly discovered that their albums alternate between a more pop sound and a darker brooding sound. After a pretty standard post punk debut album, this album begins a trilogy of darker sounding albums. And though I wouldn't consider this their strongest effort, it certainly defined that darker sound that the Cure would revisit throughout their career. A Forest, Play for Today and M stand along many of their best songs.

As a first introduction to The Cure, this was pretty strong. The dark sound mixed with effective catchy lines and tunes makes for a cool combination. I doubt it’s their best but it’s an interesting release early in their careers with some great tracks. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Play for Today, A Forest, M, Title Track, At Night

The familiar sound of their lead singer carries this album for me. Enjoy their style of melodic pop with intermixed rock. This hovers at 3-4 and I'm fairly confident will rise to 4 with more time. So that's what I'm going with.

This is good. Sparse. Nowhere near my favorite Cure. But I do love The Cure.

snooze

Moody goth rock. Hauntingly good.

Difícil acreditar que este é apenas o SEGUNDO álbum do Cure. Que banda fantástica, que som especial. Sua trilogia inicial é realmente intocável. Ambientação suprema, execução impecável de todos elementos dessas canções, do baixo pulsante, às guitarras chafurdadas, e os vocais maravilhosos de Smith. Conteúdo lírico rodeado de mistério e intriga. Combinação viciante e encantadora, eu gostaria de morar dentro desse álbum, de preferência com um cobertor, porque parece ser frio. O título segue sendo uma das minhas aliterações favoritas. O disco é composto de maneira bem inusual, com algumas canções servindo como chaves peças, e outras servindo papel transitório. Seventeen Seconds realmente envolve o ouvinte, o cobrindo inteiramente na penumbra sonora tão gentilmente tecida aqui. Fudido. Perfeito. 5/5

The 2nd Cure record I bought in high school and so much different than The Top. The moodiness threw me when I was 15 but I love it now

This has been a “greatest hits” band for me, and while reading about them I saw that they have a lot of non-album singles. I had only heard “A Forest”, which I like, but I really enjoyed this album. It has a mood, the bass is incredible and I found the music interesting.

I only started liking the Cure about 10 years ago. And I’ve never listened to the majority of their albums. So this was totally new to me. I enjoyed the mood of it. The only song that stood out was Secrets- which I effin’ love- but as a moody, unified sound it was super successful.

Just ok

sehr gut! goth by heart I've never been...c

Their second album and featuring two bona fide classics in Play for Today and A Forest that helped bring about Goth rock and basically a whole scene. A membership change came about when the original bass player wanted to go in an XTC direction whereas Robert wanted to follow in the Banshees wake - with whom he ended up working. I guess what puts this above other albums with only two major songs on them is the fact that this style was being 'invented' and a new chartering of territory. I was too young to like these weirdos when I was 10 - it took til love cats.....

Nice sparse guitar sound. The mood is good but it stays a little too quiet for me.

Pretty ok

I like them, but this album is a little boring, compared to later albums I like more.

Rate: 8/10.

Repeat listen

Seventeen seconds - Great basslines and guitar tones. Really liked the instrumentals, felt like good previews for each half of the album. Felt kinda sad but in a confused way

Post-punk, gothic rock, new wave, dark wave.

enjoyed that

Gear: SIMGOT EA1000 Fermat Artwork: ᯓ📷🌳 Production:👂🩺🧈 Music: 🌧️🛋️👻 Rating: ⏱️⏱️⏱️⏱️/5

Could be described as an album you put on when its drizzling outside and you don't want to go anywhere. The Cure definitely has better albums (more cohesive, more technical) but there's something there after listening through start-to-finish. I could easily see myself returning to this again. I wouldn't recommend this as The Cure Album but it fits well in their discography, and I like the dreamy, smeared effects and echos in the tracks.

1/5 reminds me of old classic polish rock like lady pank or smth, but didn’t liked it at all

I like the Cure and this was the perfect album vibe for a rainy fall morning. Really great vibe and I will always enjoy the music they create.

sombrio, melhor disco que escutei deles

An excellent listening experience! Smooth synthy piano and guitar with driving bass throughout. Excellent album

Not into this, pretty boring. Probably some great tunes for an 80s film soundtrack.

Not overly invigorating. Maybe I'm not depressed enough to listen to this today.

I wish Robert Smith sung more on the first have of the album. The second half is awesome though.

As a long time fan of The Cure, I was embarrassed not to know this album already and excited to listen to it. I read that this album intentionally had a lot of instrumental openings to the songs and that the band had some specific musical experimentation going on with this album. I appreciated learning that The Cure was more punk before this record but was understanding that Robert Smith had a unique voice that they could apply to different sounds. I listened closely for the stripped down instrumentals. I felt like the first half of the album sounded more like The Cure I am most familiar with and the end got more punk, which was cool to hear. I don’t know that I would go back to this album though except for “In Your House.”

6/10. Their second album, it has a completely different feeling from their debut. It brought a much darker, haunting feel to it, but this was by design by Robert Smith, wanting a more introspecctive and atmospheric style, which he said was his true vision for the band, much unlike their first album. The album is decent, if not a little boring at times, but all the songs togetether create a unique sound that influenced theirs and others music for decades, spawning into the massive band we know today.

2 of my favourite cure tracks on here and just a brilliant album to listen to. Easy 4 stars.

Lindo disco

Mellow, kind of slow moving album. Probably great for a rainy day. It’s relatively bare bones with somewhat simple synth melodies and drum tracks. The vocals are the stand out. 3.1/5.0

I know the cure but not any of these songs. It was really the vibe for the rainy morning we're having here

I only knew a few of the tracks from this one but it's a very interesting time capsule for early Cure (and indeed alternative music at the time, 1980, as a whole) - the sound is so very sparse and bleak... it's borderline arctic in temperature. They really did tread the fine line between gothic and post-punk even when both were still quite fledgling. I by no means think this is their best output but I can understand why it was chosen for this list. 3.5

Dug this, just needed a rainy day but alas can't change the weather. 3.5 stars on a partial scale, enjoyable so we will do a little bumpity bump up to 4 stars.

its alright, i'd appreciate it a lot more if i was in the right mood. kinda made me depressed to listen to. i much prefer disintegration, though this is also pretty good. 4/5 only because i know i'd love this if i'm in the mood for it

After Pornography and Disintegration, things are looking up for these guys. But Seventeen Seconds, with some of its more "experimental" tracks and also with the bog-standard title track (and others), just doesn't land for me. The number of 3-, 4-, and 5-star reviews here is kind of staggering. A very understated instrumental starts us off. Just guitar, bass, and piano playing very slow and simple lines, mainly the same melody and chords repeated ad nauseam. It's cool, though a smooth transition to track 2 would've sold it much more convincingly. Play For Today, though, is extremely different, and holy eighties, does it sound like, well, the eighties. The post-punk singing, the 100% artificial percussion sound, the loud, repeating bass. It's all there. And a bit strangely for the Cure, it's pretty dang upbeat. The "song highlight" award has to go to that outro, which does away with the drums and does a sort of alt-rock-anticipatory guitar section. Secrets does basically the same thing as Play For Today but without the vocals. Points taken away for lack of variation between consecutive songs. In my house?! Where!?! (The lyrics to this one are kind of nonsensical, and the music is just fine – nothing special. A slower tempo than the preceding tracks.) Again I'm irritated by the utter lack of humanity in the drum part, a problem which persists in the nondescript Three. I had the lyrics open for this one and was fairly surprised that there were lyrics at all (other than the poetic "Scream" near the end). Turns out they're mixed really low and are intended to a hidden, murmured conversation for only the biggest superfans. The dark, stripped-back piano interlude The Final Sound, extraordinarily weak by itself, leads into the more interesting The Forest. Bowiesque singing plus a decent (if clichéd) chord progression, a nice pre-Britpop feel, and instruments that slowly bleed in and out. You can definitely understand the hit factor of this one. It still sports that terrible drumming, though. And goodness me, is that an *interesting* series of harmonies? The song is called M (perhaps the first instance of a one-character song title I've encountered. Scratch that; Kendrick's got a couple). Cool. Every instrument does something interesting here (obviously barring the drums) including a weird distorted synth effect that keeps appearing every few bars. Really darkens and punctuates the atmosphere nicely. At Night is the same sort of "unremarkably decent" as In Your House. Not a fan of the two-chord snooze that is the title track, and I really wish they'd ended with something more upbeat, or more experimental, or just sonically interesting in any sense. Alas! 2/5 Key tracks: The Forest, M

i’ve never been a huge fan of the cure. robert smiths voice doesn’t really do it for me. however their instrumentals are always a winner, captivating and atmospheric. this album has a great balance between lyric heavy tunes and instrumental yumminess. i like the transitions between songs, particularly the final sound > a forest

Cool vibe as the kids of today says, never heard much from The Cure in general and no song from this album in particular, so this was a fresh find for me. Suggestive and a bit ominous synth pop, I will definitely listen to this for more than 17 seconds!

Fav track was M. Could not finished At Night. Quite a few skips, just not my vibe.

A reflection - 4/5 Play for today - 4/5 Secrets - 5/5 In your house - 3/5 Three - 3/5 A forest - 5/5 M - 4/5 At night - 4/5 Seventeen seconds - 4/5

Atmospheric

This album established the basic Cure sound, the foundation for further albums.

Very chill.

3 stars The evolution from their first album to this in less than a year is pretty incredible. Their first album had a mix of poppy punk and some Sex Pistols lite, but Robert Smith figured out the sound very quickly. “A Forest” is classic. Other songs work well. I’ll say that overall as an album it’s less interesting than other stuff they’ve done.

A great album by The Cure. I was a fan of the band even before my goth phase, and I still am, even though I’ve pretty much moved on from the genre. This album may have been groundbreaking for goth music, but you don’t hear much about it. In that sense, I think it remains timeless. 5/5

Loved it

3.5

RATING: 7/10 HIGHLIGHT: A Forest LOWLIGHT: Secrets

Not their best album but still a good listen

not my favorite cure album, had two good songs on this one but this was a weak one for me

This feels much darker than I remember. There's a solemnity, with brooding under currents of despair and angst. Which is what we've come to love and adore with The Cure. It's on the shelves. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ ★★★★☆(7/10) Total reviewed : 424 Already owned : 94 Purchased : 21 To buy : 5 Nope : 304

It was not bad, I quite liked the instrumentals. However, the album didn't make me want to listen to any of the songs again by themselves.

GOOD ALBUM

I’ve heard this before and I own it. I’m kind of surprised to see this one on here because it’s usually looked at as a weaker album where they were still finding themselves and transitioning their sound from their early singles into the darker more gothy stuff that they kind of settled on at Pornography and continued through the early and mid 80s. Personally I like the minimalism to the sound and how it’s more guitar and bass forward with less emphasis on keys, though a few songs could benefit from more keys to round it out.

No lo pude escuchar, no está para mi país :(

Minimalist atmospheric bliss. The first of a three album run that defined goth rock.

It's the Cure. Love the voice, steady beat...classic. Four stars for this one.

Loved it

cool riffs

Moody goth rock from a man who ended up doing a duet with Olivia Rodrigo? Putting on Seventeen Seconds feels like stepping into a monochrome, dreary world where everything slows down to a crawl. Sparse? It's got it in abundance. Atmospheric gloom? We got jangly, reverb-drenched guitars, driving bass lines, and an eerie, hypnotic space that captures the absolute essence of early post-punk right here! While some might find its minimalist structure a bit too brooding, tracks like "A Forest" and "Play for Today" stand out as undeniable masterpieces that effortlessly bridge the gap between haunting despair and mesmerizing beauty.

Good one! Great band, one of the legendary alternative rock bands.

3,5/5

⭐⭐⭐+ Mörkt, mystiskt och dramatiskt. Ett exempel på album som är bättre som helhet än sina enskilda spår. Det är inte så många jättestarka spår men inga är dåliga och det är mer ett sound och känslan som är behållningen där spåren flyter ihop och bildar en helhet. Ett album man lyssnar på från början till slut Tycker om albumet och kan tänka mig att lyssna på det igen men bristen på riktigt starka spår drar ner till en stark 3a. Bäst är Play for today, A forest

Is the mix funny on this? Listening in the car, I could barely make out any vocals? I love the Cure but I’m afraid I might just be a fan of the hits

Seventeen Seconds was a pretty solid album. This is the album that i would put in the middle of the 3 Cure albums due to it not having as many heavy hitters as Disintegration but thankfully is much less dissonant than Pornography. The songs here have this gothic sort of feel that i quite enjoy, the musicianship is good, and i can absolutely appreciate this album's legacy as it inspired quite a few new wave bands after it. The main issue i have with this album though is the fact that many of the songs kinda just meander around without doing all that much. Other than that, this is a solid entry in The Cure's lineup, just not their best. Best Song: A Forest Worst Song: At Night Side note: To those of you that were expecting my album rankings for The Cure here, well too bad because i'm waiting to review Songs Of A Lost World when it gets added before i put my rankings so you will have to wait until then, sorry.

listened before

It’s fine jingly jangly music. The tone is pretty dark. Mostly I was bored.

3/5

Nice

Gothic

nothing about this album hooked me

hmmm probably my fave cure. not too pop, not too punk. tres soundscapisme. that cold wave guitar petal the kids these days all wanna use (im not a real head but u know what i mean). the image of this in my mind if i dont recall any songs is like wind in the trees. i also like how it just ends when it ends, like a kung fu movie after the bad guy dies. whooshh, pow pow

After frontman Robert Smith spends a tour playing guitar for Siouxsie And The Banshees, an inspired Smith returns to the studio wanting to create something much darker than what was found on the Cure's debut. This has a frosty atmosphere that you could expect to find from a Norwegian black metal project. New bassist Simon Gallup shows his worth by pulling out many memorable bass lines and the keyboards do a lot to enhance the somber feel of the album. The album's highest point and possibly the band's greatest song is "A Forest", which has a slow menacing build-up before that iconic jangling guitar comes in. Clocking at a breezy 35 minutes, this makes for a great introduction to the Cure's more atmospheric work, but they would top this record later down the line.

A goth classic. Love this early Joy Division influenced era of the Cure. Spooky and amazing.

2* didn’t hate but wouldn’t listen again

Not a fan of this new wave/gothic rock. I'm sure some people find it lovely. Just not something a appreciate.

A got damn vibe!!!!!

Shite!

Despise albums that are mostly instrumentals with very little lyrics.

A simple yet haunting album, ‘Seventeen Seconds’ shows the growth of the Cure in their second album. It’s pretty dark and chill with one amazing track… and the band was just getting started to move to bigger and better music. Top tracks: “A Forest,” “At Night,” “Play for Today,” “Three”

This seems to be the LP where the Cure discovers their Sound. but they haven't honed their skills enough to make this a great album ******************************************************************************* --A Reflection...moody instrumental --Play for Today...definitely can hear the Banshees influence --Secrets...pleasant and inoffensive --In Your House...see "Secrets" --Three...creepy fun instrumental. I guess there are lyrics but barely --The Final Sound...sure --A Forest...a good groove. a bit long --M...simple but the bass is elevating it --At Night...there's a nice heaviness to this. another track that could be one minute shorter --Seventeen Seconds...it certainly fits the vibe

Ok.

I'm already a fan of The Cure but had never heard this album in full, only the single "A Forest". Minimalist and brooding as early albums were before they got happier later on. This is the version of the band I prefer for sure. "At Night" was a standout track for me when that bass came through on my car speakers it drew my attention. Always enjoy listening to this band and I can bet there are more albums in this list.

Seventh albums in and the Cure remain the tops of the goth

Number: 230 Familiarity: Aware (2) Rating: 3 Before: ======= OMG, I just had The Cure exactly 1 week ago, Pornography. I gave that one 2. And exactly 1 day ago, I had my 3rd Bruce Springsteen album, which I gave a 4. Now if you had asked me back in the 80's, who I'd rather listen to, The Cure or The Boss, I'd have definately said The Cure. Nowadays, I'd say The Boss. Anyways, I'm not familiar with Seventeen Seconds at all, I think. But I'm sure I must of skimmed through it at least once before when I was putting together my best of 1980 list, unless maybe it wasn't available on my streaming platform back then. After : ======= Low 3. Should not be on this list, imo.

Really? I don't think I did.

Very distinctive and very Robert Smith, I don’t love it, and don’t own it, but it’s decent

Bit of a downer to be honest. Not curing anybody's blues are they.

this is the second album release by the cure. band leader robert smith started to yearn for an evolution in the band's music after playing alongside equally gothic group sioxsie and the banshees, and unfortunate creative differences between him and bassist michael dempsey caused the two to go separate ways. despite a very low budget and only recording material within a week, the album was a massive hit. i love this album. i've gushed briefly about songs from it in other places; i just love how mysterious and somber the album is... this is what i call a "reflection" album, an album you turn on when you want to reflect to yourself. song structures really seem to be a verse, chorus, a bit of lyrical content, and then the entire rest of the song is just a pounding beat and smoky guitars playing for eons. you could reflect at any point. it could be in your bedroom during a rainy day. you could be walking along the cold sidewalks of your town. you could be driving. it's momentous. it's bleak. it's downright beautiful.

J'adore!

4.5/5 I wasn't expecting this to be as good as Disintegration. Favorite Songs: Play for Today In Your House A Forest M At Night Seventeen Seconds

Very old fashioned sound

Excellent album

Bleak with a couple of brilliant highlights 3.4

Not bad considering I don’t like the cure!

Premature ejaculation

Excellent, some might say a bit repetitive, but I love the jams. I enjoy that a lot of it is instrumental.

A bit samey. A Forest is obviously a classic. Not sure on the rest...

Some albums from The Cure, I can dig. But this one just doesn't grab me. It's too uninteresting and dull. In my view, this album doesn't do enough to merit inclusion onto this list. An album can certainly be bad and included here, but I just feel like if this album had a lesser-known band's name on it, it would not be included.

SENTO ELEMENTI DEL LORO SOUND CHE CI SARANNO IN ALBUM FUTURI CHE MI GGGASANO. QUESTO PERÒ TROPPO MINIMAL, NONOSTANTE IL BUON SINGOLO “THE FOREST”. LE PARTI STRUMENTALI LUNGHE ANNOIANO LEGGERMENTE, AL CONTRARIO DI QUELLO CHE SUCCEDE IN DISINTEGRATION. 3/5 EDIT: DIVENTA 4 AL RIASCOLTO

1980. Second studio album. Robert Smith (singer) would go on to say that "Seventeen Seconds was the most personal record that we’ve ever done, strangely enough." Their bassist left the band before the recording of the album, because he did not like Smith's direction. Money was short, so the album was recorded and mixed in seven days. "The Final Sound" was planned to be much longer but the tape ran out while recording and they could not record it again.

love this for autumn & rainy days, would probably listen to this around halloween

3,6 1. "A Forest" 2. "M" 3. "Seventeen Seconds"

stroong 3.5/5

Subtle, moody and intriguing. This is the kind of Cure I like.

Really enjoyed this. Having only been familiar with Pornography and Disintergration previously, this was a little light relief. There’s something about The Cure bringing a feeling of doom to things. Whilst this is very much of its time, I liked it a lot. Will revisit too!

It is okay?

Day 5 I feel disoriented but like in a chill way Fav track: A Forest

Not bad

A fun listen throughout. Needs the right kind of atmosphere but I think I’ll be back.

That was chill. Not something for me every day but not bad one time through.

Good background listening. Enjoyable vibe

Reminds me of mornings opening at the coffee shop with a coworker who loved The Cure.

i dont exactly like it, i feel like i couldnt hear the lyrics being sung

kinda forgettable

meh – forgettable

spooky

First Listen Favorites: In Your House A Forest Secrets Honorable Mentions: At Night

Enjoyed it, would listen again

Even the fourth or fifth best album from The Cure is still an event.

extremely and relentlessly super fucking cool, even by the standards of Robert Smith and The Cure

I quite like the cure. This album almost didn't feel like a cure album. It felt like the trimming is on the recording room floor. It was interesting enough but nothing seemed to resolve in a meaningful way.

I think it was just kinda the same? Idk just kinda moody guitar. I liked A Forest and M best probably? I feel like the ones with lyrics made it more interesting because some of the instrumental ones were just very repetitive

I liked the album. It has very few lyrics and focuses more on the instrumentals. It’s the kind of album that’s perfect for rainy days or when you’re feeling down. I’d give it an 8/10.

Meh

Only notable thing on the album is a forest. The rest is more moody gothic mumbling music

very dark, album flows so well and the experimentation in the instrumentals are really clean

Not the cures best, bit on the boring side

The Cure is one of the best bands in the world. I fear this rating doesn't need an explanation.

With this Seventeen Seconds, we are really talking about a good atmospheric album, one that is built around a very distinctive and surrounding dark-nostalgic sound. It is not great, and some songs lack of being something more. I feel like there are some good ideas, a very interesting theme around loneliness throughout the album, some brilliant melodies and great lyrics, but, still, some songs feel short, just two verses and a chorus, and that is all. It is nothing wrong, but it makes the songs feel weaker, not outshine the way they could. However, it is a pleasure to find this beautiful record, to listen to this gothic poetry with that distinctive and melancholic The Cure sound that, at the end, makes it impossible to not like, and enjoy, this album. So, sure, there are some flaws, and it could be a huger record, but it is still great, it is great.

This album has all the foundations of just about every 80s song, but done really well. I have a feeling a lot of 80s music I don't like was failing at trying to be The Cure.

A refreshing sequence of tracks. Highly recommend. What immediately stands out from this album is how the band have masterfully written their music to allow the instruments to sing just as much as the vocalist. There are moments where there is an extended period without vocals that may feel awkward at first, but you eventually get accustomed to it and are reassured by the other band members as they continue to play their parts. The journey that this album takes you through is one that is unexpected, as it starts quite upbeat, somehow turns into a horror soundtrack, then brings you back out of the darkness. An unexpected journey, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A perfect post-punk/early goth album. I don’t listen to this as often as others. I can’t give this five since I love The Head on the Door, Kiss Me, and Disintegration more.

Much more mellow than i expected! Realizing I’ve had not a clue what genre The Cure is. Just read the term “gloomscapes” via wiki describing this album’s influence on “gothic rock” … gloomscape is so good jfc. A Forest is a vibe I want to like this a lot more than I do? Omg influence on Edward Scissorhands’ look is v good

381/1089 A Reflection was such a cool way to introduce the album The Final Sound into A Forest was pretty great really enjoyed this one, listened to it a couple times again after sleeping on it and it just creates such a strong atmosphere, very reminiscent of Silent Hill in some ways faves: a forest, m, a reflection (but tbh this list will grow for sure) 84/100

A Halloween album not about Halloween.

Un des albums de ma vie Tout y est, une ambiance magistrale, la basse se chante, certaines musiques t’envoient directement dans un jeu vidéo sombre, d’autres dans un film contemplatif. J’adore le synthé années 80, la voix de Robert Smith, le style

very vampy

This is their second album released in 1980. They have found their own gothic sound with Simon Gallup joining on bass and Robert Smith finding his voice. Top songs are Play for Today, Your House and A Forest (one of their best). It's a good album but not perfect. The riffs are good but sometimes repetitive without any sonic changes, especially when there is no singing. The production/engineering is simple and not as layered as their later work. Finally, the cheesy air effects sound dated and distracting especially on M.

peak

Had a creepy, zombie vibe to the singing but overall can’t complain, very middle of the road grungy rock to my ears.

Enjoyable, short and sweet

This album was not something I enjoyed. It was just plain boring. The intros to like half the songs were great, then went on for at least a minute too long, and then the song got going and just…went. I’ll give it 2 stars for the cool intros, but this was a rough one.

The great thing about short albums is that you can listen to them multiple times and give them the chance to grow and work their charms. Initially gravitated to the stand out tracks : AForest / Play For Today but on third play I am starting to really enjoy nearly all of the tracks and its a solid 5.

Great minimalistic, dark and broody album - the start of Goth? A Forest is one of their best songs.

I thought they were big?

Short and tolerable. I wish all the other mediocre albums on this god forsaken list were like this.

Bland and mediocre, I found very little to enjoy here. The Final Sound was a stupid waste of time inclusion, and I'm just glad the album was short.

A pretentious and boring album from music's most pretentious and boring band.

Cool drive, that was unexpected

5 stars, even though it's my 8th or 9th favourite Cure album. I'm a long time, and very biased, Cure fan.

I am a big fan of the Cure. It has Robert Smith’s distinctive vocals. Not as dark and gloomy as some of their work. Guitar stands out. Kind of a quiet album. Vocals come in late on some of the songs. Best songs: Play for today, A forest, and 17 seconds. An average album. Three stars

Okay ish. Cure can be good.

OG shoegazer

When I listen to Seventeen Seconds I am isolated from the rest of the world and transported somewhere cold, flat and claustrophobic, but also alive, deep and feeling. It's the way the drums orient everything around them. The way they sound is not the traditional pop 80s gated reverb sound and yet they are also unlike the live booming rock sound of the 70s. Each cymbal and drum carefully condensed and compressed. Everything on this album is expertly situated in space. Thick bass, almost tubby-fat, like flatwound strings on a Fender Precision (a classic choice), and yet there's that flanger twist making the bass just different enough. Robert Smith's guitar chorused and flanged as well but listen on headphones and you can hear other details come through (a run here, a comp there, was that an acoustic figure layered in for a moment?). Simple, restrained synths adding texture and depth. All this deliberateness and gloom, everything just a sliver above sedate, and yet a solid pulse pushes us into the trees. It's a formative record, firmly rooted, impassive and unyielding (and yet entirely generative).

Masters of gloomy entrancing goth! Very good

Great.

Great atmospheric album with some classic songs! Best: A Forest; Play For Today; In Your House; M; At Night Worst: Secrets (not counting intro+interludes)

But more mellow than interesting.

I just don't think I get the cure. Better than pornography was.

Classic of the cure. Feels all the same but still beautiful

This one was a weird one. The cure is so well renowned I expected more, but this came across pretty one dimensional with the same guitar tone, similar riffs and chord progressions and a lot of instrumental boring stuff. Not sure I get the concept?

The album is brilliantly cohesive, but it lacks the emotional depth, compositional richness, and sustained brilliance of Disintegration. It feels like the blueprint rather than the cathedral.

Actually pretty solid album. Was not expecting that. Enjoyed this one from start to finish.

Easy listening but a lot sounds the same

I was surprised by this one - moody, synthy, overall pretty decent.

Being a The Cure fan since my teenage years, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I haven't taken the time to listen through their entire discography yet. This album popping up when it did was great timing, since I'm seeing them in a couple of weeks for the first (and maybe last?? you never know with these older bands) time. This album is all about vibes, in the best sense. It's atmospheric, dark and hauntingly beautiful. A Forest being a song I listened to a lot as an angsty teenager, I have a love/hate relationship to it. Some might feel the album as a whole is a bit one note and boring, but for me it fits the theme and lyrics.

I quite like The Cure. This isn't anywhere near their best album, so it's probably 3.5 stars. That said, it gets a half star for not being another goddamned Beatles album.

231. not bad

I know and love a few songs from The Cure, but haven't really gone into their discography much... This one is not so much my thing, unfortunately. Really like a few of the songs, but the rest feels a bit too ambient, if that's the right word to use. I think I'll enjoy some of their later albums a lot more.

love the cure forever forever

para ser the cure me aburrio un poquito. mucho mas tranqui de lo que esperaba. igual destaco su sonido inigualable y característico, te amo robert smith

*Not incredible but not bad *A little too dreamy for me *If I'm going to listen to The Cure, it wouldn't be this album

More instrumental than I was expecting but still decent, wish I was more into The Cure tbh

-Spooky intro -drums on the first real track remind me of joy division

This is not really The Cure that I grew up with since I started listening to them around Disintegration. Still, I enjoyed it – was surprised at how much of the album is instrumental or has very few vocals. Almost reminds me of what you put on in the background for your dinner party or if you were studying. I see that it is at times moody and smacks of the dark, Goth Cure that we've all come to know and love, but overall I found this to be a bit more relaxed, and G-rated Cure.

It's... good? Or at least not bad, but The cure isn't really my thing anyway

This album's vibe is like those dreams where you can fly in. Or like an out of body experience. That's how it feels to me at least. It's a bit repetitive.

#39 - The Cure - Seventeen Seconds ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Cure is one of my absolute favorite bands. I was super happy to get one of their albums for today, even if it’s one of their mid-level ones. This was The Cure’s second album after Three Imaginary Boys(Uk - very good)/Boys Don’t Cry (US - excellent). You can hear their sound continue to develop here into what will culminate into 1989’s Disintegration. This is a good but not great album.

This was a tight 35 minutes, very nice. The ideas in here feel explored but not played out. It really just feels like a 30 minute long nirvana song. Neat!

Definitely a more accessible record than Disintegration, but with that accessibility comes less grandiosity. A solid starting point tho

The album was fine? Nothing really stuck out to me, in a good or a bad way. I'd say middle of the road, no takeaways for me.

Nice classic Cure sound. Post-punk/almost new wave with ambiguously shimmery sound but chords have a bittersweet aspect. Ooh, At Night gets sufficiently angular to remind me fleetingly of Slint Best track - Play for Today, Secrets, In Your House, M 4 stars

7/10

Ehhhh, not bad but not coming back

Meh just not my vibe. Super broody and slightly repetitive. The mix on so many of the songs had the vocals so low. I like the cure but this one just didn’t hit for me. Fave Songs: A Forest, Seventeen Seconds

Bien.

Enjoyed this hauntingly soothing album.

I know The Cure by their singles and reputation but to my great shame have never listened to their albums, not even their acclaimed recent one. This was a great point of entry I’d say, which is odd considering it doesn’t seem to even be an especially beloved album elsewhere. Really rare to encounter an album with such a sparse aesthetic on the generator.

has its moments

Friday, 17 July, 2026 Great album. Super atmospheric.

Also v synth, did not love but feel like I should relisten

the cure has some good songs but they aren't on this album apparently (a forest was p dope tho)

That was fun! Never was a goth kid, but I could appreciate the scene's aesthetic and music. And damn does this help define the scene. Late 70s, early 80s synth new wave thing with just enough darkness and poppyness added in. Great stuff!

A Reflection was fine especially considering it is an intro. I like the guitars in Play for Today, but I don’t care for the smash/whip sounds or the lyrics. Secrets was okay, but not too exciting. I liked In Your house musically, but not lyrically. Three was weird but cool. The Final Sound was spooky lol but just an interlude of sorts. A Forest has such great movement and buildup. I really enjoyed the guitars on M. Love the bass in At Night. Seventeen Seconds was okay. Just slow like most of the songs on the record.

Gorgeous.

when i want to chill, morosely

good album even tho it's not something i would casually listen to

guitars are freaking awesome this sounds so heavely great album honestly 4/5 i didnt know if would enjoy this one, and surprisingly i did

It’s great but when put up against something like Disintegration I think I have to knock it down to a 4. I really want to give it a 5 though.

Gotta love The Cure

Dark, spare tunes make this maybe the Cure’s least immediate record, but it rewards repeated listens and A Forest is a banger.

Perhaps the only Cure album I enjoy. The simplicity of their early sound is strangely appealing. An excellent example Our moment in music. What a time it was!

A Forest is maybe one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. So for that alone, this album deserves all of its flowers. Absolutely incredible guitar work. Incredible and distinct vocals. Their live performance of this song in 1992 is perfection. Look it up if you’re interested. This album gets a 5 from me. Just want to sink into it like a cloud.

I really love this album, it's so soothing in a way.

Early Cure is still great.

Zo rustgevend

Passend bij de werchter hype

Probably need headphones to get the full experience, as the vocal track seems much quieter than the instrumental track, but the general vibe of the album is good. Not anything different than any other The Cure album, so you know what to expect.

Emo can be moody AND groovy, wish more 2000s bands had taken note. This is just fucking cool. The album is an entire mood and I really don’t think anyone was doing that in 1980? I’m really listening in the context of classic rock and punk of the 70s, and it’s just damn fresh. They groove, they use weird chords, production is interesting. Not all the songs work well, but the album is cohesive in what it’s after. If some of the songs were better I’d give 4 stars but I really appreciate the swing they took with this one.

A wholeheartedly mid album. I really expected it to be more exciting or heavy-hitting, but it was pretty ambient overall. Not my thing but glad I listened. 5/10

This album would get 5 stars for "A Forest" alone but luckily the rest of it is pretty great too. Favorites: A Forest (obv), Seventeen Seconds Would I listen to it again: Yes

You can hear them figuring out their sound. A strong early effort.

sehr sehr cool und atmosphärisch würi gern nonel aktiv lose i d freu mi ufs paleo

the cure het mier bis jz immer recht gfalle! s albumcover passt bis jz seehr zude atmosphäre und sini weinerlichi stimm ich liebs uf secrets ischd stimm iwie vill lisliger? aber ich finds echt megaa omg a forest mitem langsame ahfang und denn chunnt d perkussion inne wo halt heert nach 80er tönt find au de bass super, ohni de würds vill meh disjointed würke hani s gfühl KEI AHNIG ICH BIN LANGWILIG aber d atmosphäre vo rhe cure gfallt mier eifach sooo guet!!

alright. a little boring for me 3/5

i love the cure. i love the chords in 'a reflection', driving, dancy, moody, reaching, anticipatory, personal, dreamyyy.

Deep, moody vibe. I love A Forest with the long build and entrancing chords.

Very boring

If you've never heard The Cure before, definitely see why this wouldn't be your thing. Thought this was really cool to hear where they started. The foundation and potential is clearly there. Really cool sound, but nowhere near what they ended up going on to make

Boring

Wow, that was dull.

Anaemic

underwhelming

It's no secret - I love the Cure! I have always liked them but in the last couple of years they became one of my favourites for a reason. I am seeing 3 albums from them on the list, this one being the first one I get and I figured I would give 2 others 5 stars, but re-listening to this.. This is just such a beautiful dark work of art, can't get enough of it, so what the heck, I increased my rating on RYM to 4.5 and I will round it up to 5 stars here. All hail Robert Smith!

...detuned piano effects. So, another Cure record that gives me the sensation of standing in a very long, slowly moving queue. But now with the addition of mild vertigo.

Piola

Incredible post punk. Really wish it had just a little bit more punch

Cool music. No stand outs tho.

This music is just kinda there.

So much atmosphere for a sparse little album. Perfection from start to finish.

It was alright

No not good creepy and not my vibe

i am a bit biased because i love the cure but trust me they are the quintessential eighties alternative bands. this album can be a good introduction to the band… or can be skipped for something like three imaginary boys… who knows!

Thin, moody, and withdrawn. Pretty evocative, if not always gripping. Interesting to hear this band’s much more atmospheric earlier albums as I mainly know them from their pop hits.

Хо-хо)))

I only got into these guys a few years ago. Although the singer does sound a lot like Ric Ocasek from the Cars, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, the songs are all first rate. Just like the Cars, very catchy and New Wave. I think the guitar work is outstanding.

It was ok but quite slow, not our favorite cure album

Lidt for stenet til mig.

An instant classic and one that is normally not talked about enough.

A Forest

Alltid lika trevligt gäng!

Ich mochte das Album, allerdings fande ich war es mehr wie so background noise, und nicht etwas was man hört wenn man mitsingen möchte. die Instrumentals waren immer gut obwohl ich sie am anfang etwas spooky fand.

I love the Cure, this isn't one of my favorite albums of them, but I'll definitely gonna listen to more of them.

spooky

I'll give it points for being atmospheric and brooding, with a cool guitar sound and overall vibe. That being said, this album is not the main attraction for me, rather the soundtrack to something else. It was fine in the background while I was doing some admin but not going to be a regular feature

Como fan de “The Cure” debo decir, que no es el álbum que debería estar en la lista de “1001 albums antes de morir”… 😪 Ps. Ojo! Gran album igualmente!

Never been that fussed, always thought they were a bit wet. This didn't adjust my opinion

Good Cure album but not their best

Nondescript and lacking memorability, could tell they really were unsure of their sound at this point

i grew up listening to the cure so i could never give this a bad ranking. play for today has been a favourite of mine for as long as i can remember, the title track has the classic dulled misery i love about the cure, i think this album is a great prototype of what their sound would evolve into in years to come. this isn't my favourite cure album, it's actually my least favourite of the three in here, but i think it has a brilliant melancholy sound that still holds up, and it was the main album that accompanied me through a major depressive spell so i really owe a lot to it. thank you robert smith you legend

I had never given this one the credit it deserved maybe because the very early Cure stuff had never really clicked for me but this time around I really loved it. This winter I will listen to every album by THE CURE.

So dark and moody. I loved it. One complaint is that the songs do all have a similar sound, so if you’re not paying attention they can kind of run together.

i mean it was good, but the cure isnt really for me tbh, all of these songs sound a bit repetitive to mw

LOVED this album. The first track A Reflection reminded me of the music that you hear in the show Twin Peaks. Also, doing this album a day is really showing me how many bands I know by name but never really gave a chance.

Nicht ganz fertig gehlrt hatte sber pssr echt gute songs

this album is absolutely perfect

It's like Halloween music, where it's so dark and depressing that it becomes comical and fun

J adore

4.5 favs: play for today, a forest, seventeen seconds

220626 15:34 4.5

A lovely collection of tunes, but they sometimes drone on into boredom.

Vibes for the night drives

In the main, this feels like atmospheric background music. ‘A Forest’ is a clear standout in that it is the only track that made me actually bother to check the title.

I should just copy and paste the review of the last album by The Cure…

Of all the artists I thought I'd probably like before listening to a full album, and it turning out I actually think they're disappointingly boring, The Cure are pretty high up the list. Disappointingly boring. But not totally shit. 2/5

I'm not too fond of The Cure, but so far they're just "alright".

Very good Cure record, I've always been a dan of their less experimental and dark work (though this is still somewhat dark)

Moody, engaging and short - just like me! Favourite track: A Forest

“A Forest” is a good track, and you can kinda see how The Cure started to go to it’s classic goth rock style here.

i freaking love A Forest. my favs are In Your House, A Forest and M.

I know I've never listened to this through before. It strikes me as very atmospheric. I have not been enraptured by The Cure in the past — not long ago, I had a conversation about how I had a hard time distinguishing between three bands of this era that have really strong followings. It's fine, but it doesn't make me want to delve deeper.

This was ok. Nothing really hit for me. It sounded like cure but not what I think of with the cure if that makes sense. Over incredibly fast.

Kinda melancholic

Grumpy goths

My theory on "The author of this book was a scene kid and promotes a disproportionate amount of post-punk/new wave music to validate his youthful energy" still holds

Un álbum muy corto, pero con canciones buenas como A Forest y Seventeen Seconds, una lástima que su duración sea poca. Las primeras dos canciones son buenas introductorias para el sentimiento que me transmitió el álbum de melancolía, tristeza y soledad.

A nice short album. I like The Cure but I’m picky about which of their songs I like, this album isn’t really it for me. Fav song is ‘Seventeen Seconds’.

I see the bridge between "Three Imaginary Boys" and where they went after this. That said I think this is weaker than what came before and after.

A solid album and one of the less depressing of The Cure’s earlier works. The whole thing has a sort of cool, eerie vibe to it especially with some of the instrumental tracks which makes the album pretty cohesive overall.

It was not horrible. The guitar work was better than the vocals

Not the best Cure but still good.

Good stuff man. I think I might be a The Cure guy.

This album has a lot darker sound than the other Cure albums.

love love love </33333!

Not a huge Cure guy unfortunately.

I am about to see The Cure play at a festival next weekend, so that is a nice coincidence. I was largely indifferent toward them until recently. I became a bit of a fan, but nothing too crazy. Which I feel you can say about this album as well, nothing too crazy. I feel this is a rare occasion in which an album is a bit too short for my liking. There are definitely some highlights, but just not enough to warrant a higher rating. 3/5

Not quite feeling this album. I see the appeal but it's just too slow for me

More instrumental than I thought

love

This is The Cure pretty much still finding themselves. All the building blocks that would lead to the seminal Disintegration are alreas here, they juat need some more refinement. This is definitely not among my fave The Cure albums, but it‘s still an enjoyable listen. Funnily enough the generator assigned me this album the day Robert Smith released a song with Olivia Rodrigo.

Meh. It was fine.

first good album in a while on here

Stabil gut, aber in Anbetracht dessen, was diese Band alles veröffentlicht hat, finde ich es recht unspektakulär.

This is what I want ever album to be