Faith is the third album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 band The Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

, released in April 1981.

Overview

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

Primary (song)

"Primary" is the first single from The Cure's third studio album Faith, released in 1981 on Fiction Records. It was the first song by The Cure to be remixed as a separate extended mix for release on 12" single...

". It is often seen as the mid-point in a 'Dark Trilogy' that begins with Seventeen Seconds

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...

and ends with Pornography

Pornography (album)

NME reviewer Dave Hill wrote, "This record portrays and parades its currency of exposed futility and naked fear with so few distractions or adornments, and so little sense of shame...

. At least two songs on the album, "All Cats are Grey" and "The Drowning Man", are inspired by the Gormenghast novels

Gormenghast series

The Gormenghast series comprises three novels by Mervyn Peake, featuring Castle Gormenghast, and Titus Groan, the title character of the first book.-Works in the series:...

 of Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...

.

It is the first album by The Cure to feature baritone guitar

Baritone guitar

The baritone guitar is a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. It first appeared in the classical music realm...

/six-string bass. The front cover, designed by former and future member Porl Thompson

Porl Thompson

Porl Thompson is an English musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:Thompson is the oldest of four children; he has two brothers and one sister...

, is a picture of Bolton Priory in the village of Bolton Abbey

Bolton Abbey

Bolton Abbey is the estate within which is located the ruined 12th-century Augustinian Bolton Priory in North Yorkshire, England. It gives its name to the parish of Bolton Abbey.-Bolton Priory:...

 in the fog.

In 2011 The Cure performed the album in its entirety over two dates for the Vivid Live festival at the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

, Sydney, Australia. The performances billed as The Cure: 'Reflections'

The Cure: 'Reflections'

The Cure: "Reflections" refers to a set of shows in which The Cure played their first three albums Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds and Faith in full at the VividLive festival at the Sydney Opera House on 31 May and 1 June 2011...

 were recorded for potential DVD release.

Carnage Visors

The instrumental piece "Carnage Visors" (a antonym for rose-coloured spectacles), originally available only on the long-play cassette release, is the soundtrack of Carnage Visors, a short film by Ric Gallup, Simon

Simon Gallup

Simon Jonathon Gallup is an English musician and bassist of the post-punk band The Cure.-Early years:...

's brother. It was screened at the beginning of shows in place of a support band on the 1981 Picture Tour, and featured animation of several dolls in different positions and stances. The film has since disappeared and only Lol Tolhurst, Robert Smith

Robert Smith (musician)

Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...

, and Simon Gallup own copies of it, though during a televised interview in the mid-1980s the host of the program surprised the band by playing a clip of the film on set.

2005 re-release

Faith was reissued in the UK on 25 April 2005 (26th in the U.S.) as part of Universal Music

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

's Deluxe Edition series. The new edition features a remastered version of the album and the "Carnage Visors" soundtrack on disc one, while disc two contains demo and live tracks, as well as the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes

Charlotte Sometimes (song)

"Charlotte Sometimes" is a 1981 single by The Cure. The lyrics to both sides were based on the 1969 children's novel of the same name by British writer Penelope Farmer...

". 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 5 September 2005 in the UK and 4 April 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".

Original 1981 release

Side one

1. "The Holy Hour" – 4:25
2. "Primary
   Primary (song)
   "Primary" is the first single from The Cure's third studio album Faith, released in 1981 on Fiction Records. It was the first song by The Cure to be remixed as a separate extended mix for release on 12" single...
   
   " – 3:35
3. "Other Voices" – 4:28
4. "All Cats Are Grey" – 5:28

Side two

1. "The Funeral Party" – 4:14
2. "Doubt" – 3:11
3. "The Drowning Man" – 4:50
4. "Faith" – 6:43

Long-play cassette bonus track

9. "Carnage Visors" – 27:51

Disc one

Original album, as above

• A later one-CD re-issue that features only the first disc, excludes "Carnage Visors".

Disc two (Rarities 1980-1981)

1. "Faith" (Robert Smith home instrumental demo) – 2:56
2. "Doubt" (Robert Smith home instrumental demo) – 1:09
3. "Drowning" (group home instrumental demo) – 1:52
4. "The Holy Hour" (group home demo) – 4:48
5. "Primary" (studio out-take) – 4:22
6. "Going Home Time" (studio out-take) – 3:31
7. "The Violin Song" (studio out-take) – 3:38
8. "A Normal Story" (studio out-take) – 3:04
9. "All Cats Are Grey" (live "somewhere Summer 80/81") – 5:37
10. "The Funeral Party" (live "somewhere Summer 80/81") – 4:38
11. "Other Voices" (live "somewhere Summer 80/81") – 4:45
12. "The Drowning Man" (live "Australasia Summer 80/81") – 5:48
13. "Faith" (live at Capitol Theatre Sydney 8/81) – 10:23
14. "Forever" (live "somewhere Summer 81") – 9:19
15. "Charlotte Sometimes
    Charlotte Sometimes (song)
    "Charlotte Sometimes" is a 1981 single by The Cure. The lyrics to both sides were based on the 1969 children's novel of the same name by British writer Penelope Farmer...
    
    " (single) – 4:13

Personnel

• Simon Gallup
  Simon Gallup
  Simon Jonathon Gallup is an English musician and bassist of the post-punk band The Cure.-Early years:...
  
   - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Robert Smith
  Robert Smith (musician)
  Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
  
   - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , keyboard
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , 6-string bass, bass, Vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Lol Tolhurst - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Production

• Producers: The Cure, Mike Hedges
• Engineers: Mike Hedges, David Kemp
• Assistant engineer: Martyn Webster

Charts

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"Primary"	Club Play Singles	25