Seventeen Seconds

Seventeen Seconds is the second studio album by The Cure, released in April 1980 by Fiction Records. It is the only Cure album to feature keyboardist Matthieu Hartley. The album's songs are described by critics as bearing vague, often unsettling lyrics and "dark", spare minimalistic melodies. Some reviewers felt that Seventeen Seconds represented a far more mature Cure, who had come very far musically in less than one year. The record, mostly a c... more

Seventeen Seconds is the second studio album by The Cure, released in April 1980 by Fiction Records. It is the only Cure album to feature keyboardist Matthieu Hartley. The album's songs are described by critics as bearing vague, often unsettling lyrics and "dark", spare minimalistic melodies. Some reviewers felt that Seventeen Seconds represented a far more mature Cure, who had come very far musically in less than one year. The record, mostly a collection of downbeat tracks, features ambient echoing vocals and minimally-treated instruments. Smith said the record was produced with Mike Hedges very quickly; indeed, the track "The Final Sound" was actually planned to be much longer, but was cut down to 53 seconds because the tape ran out while recording, and they couldn't record it again. Inspiration was also very high, as Smith wrote the lyrics and music for most of the record on just two occasions. Most of the music was composed by Smith in his parents' home, on a Hammond organ with a... less