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, and was featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album reached number 20 on the British album charts. It is the first album to contain The Cure’s now-famous gothic rock sound. The record, mostly a collection of downbeat tracks, features ambient echoing vocals and minimally-treated instruments, with the album’s sonic direction driven by its drum sound. Due to budgetary restraints, the record was recorded and mixed in seven days on a budget of between £2000 and £3000, which resulted in the band working 16 or 17 hours a day to complete the album.