Three Imaginary Boys

Three Imaginary Boys is the debut album by The Cure, released on 8 May 1979 on Chris Parry's Fiction label and recorded at Morgan Studios in London with Parry producing. It reached number 44 on the UK Albums Chart.^[1]

The record was assembled largely by the label. Parry and the company chose the songs, the running order and the sleeve without Robert Smith's consent, and Smith has insisted on full creative control ever since. He later called the album lightweight and said the criticism of it was justified.^[1]

Critics were warmer at the time. Sounds gave it five stars, praising how the band went somewhere different on each track.^[1] The single "Boys Don't Cry" was not on the original UK album, but appears on its expanded editions and on the 1980 American compilation named after it.^[1]