OVERVIEW
Faith is the third album by The Cure, releasd in 1981.
Released: 21 April 1981
Recorded: -
Genre: Gothic Rock
Length: 36:54
Label: A&M
Producer(s): The Cure,
Mike Hedges
HISTORY
The front cover of the album features a picture of Bolton
Abbey in the fog, where Robert Smith would later marry his childhood sweetheart Mary.
Faith is generally a brooding, atmospheric, and sombre album, although it has a flash of anger
in the form of the song Doubt, and some edge in the driving single Primary. It is often seen as a mid-point in a "Dark Trilogy"
that begins with Seventeen Seconds and ends with Pornography. One of the songs on the album, "The Drowning Man",
is inspired by the Gormenghast novels by Mervyn Peake.
The album, released on lead singer Robert Smith's birthday, is essentially about his lack of faith and his desire to find it.
Faith is the first album by The Cure to feature baritone guitar/six-string bass.
2005 RE-RELEASE
Faith was reissued in the UK on April
25, 2005 (26th in the
U.S.) as part of Universal Music's Deluxe Edition series. The new edition features a remastered version of the album,
as well as the song "Carnage Visors" on disc one, while
disc two contains demo and live tracks, as well as the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes". It features a few never-before-heard tracks (in demo form, all instrumentals) while each song on the
first disc (except Carnage Visors) has an alternate version on the second disc, whether it be a demo or live rendition.
There also exists a one-CD reissue. It was released on September
5, 2005 in the UK and
April 4, 2006 in the US. The CD, released in the standard jewel case, rather than a digipak, features the original
album, but does not contain the bonus disc. It also excludes the song Carnage Visors. In some countries, the "Deluxe Edition"
has become a collector's item and the production has phased out, being replaced by the more economical one-CD version.
TRACK LISTING
All songs by Simon Gallup, Robert Smith and Laurence Tolhurst.
Original 1981 release
- "The Holy Hour" - 4:25
- "Primary" - 3:35
- "Other Voices" - 4:28
- "All Cats Are Grey" - 5:28
- "The Funeral Party" - 4:14
- "Doubt" - 3:11
- "The Drowning Man" - 4:50
- "Faith" - 6:43
Long-play cassette bonus track
9. "Carnage Visors" - 27:29
2005 Deluxe Edition
Disc one
Original album, as above
- (including "Carnage Visors" as track 9)
- A later re-issue that features only the first disc, excludes Carnage Visors.
Disc two (Rarities 1980-1981)
- "Faith" (Robert Smith home demo)
- "Doubt" (Robert Smith home demo)
- "Drowning" (group home demo)
- "The Holy Hour" (group home demo)
- "Primary" (studio out-take)
- "Going Home Time" (studio out-take)
- "The Violin Song" (studio out-take)
- "A Normal Story" (studio out-take)
- "All Cats Are Grey" (live)
- "The Funeral Party" (live)
- "Other Voices" (live)
- "The Drowning Man" (live)
- "Faith" (live)
- "Forever" (live)
- "Charlotte Sometimes" (single)
PERSONNEL
PRODUCTION
- Producers: The Cure, Mike Hedges
- Engineers: Mike Hedges, David Kemp
- Assistant engineer: Martyn Webster
CHARTS
Singles - Billboard (North America)
