Seventeen Seconds
by The Cure

Album
Seventeen Seconds by The Cure
Year: 1980
Release date: 1980-04-18
Overall rank: 614th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 708 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1980 (10th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1980s (96th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (614th)

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The Cure bestography

Seventeen Seconds is ranked 5th best out of 40 albums by The Cure on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Cure is Disintegration which is ranked number 28 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 25,400.

The Cure album bestography « Higher ranked (588th)
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me This album (614th)
Seventeen Seconds Lower ranked (697th) »
Wish

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Seventeen Seconds track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
A Reflection
Average Rating: 77 (136 votes)Comments: View 1
2.
Track pick (850 - 167 votes)
Play For Today
Average Rating: 85 (167 votes)Comments: View 1
3.
Secrets
Average Rating: 79 (138 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
In Your House
Average Rating: 81 (147 votes)Comments: View 1
5.
Three
Average Rating: 75 (132 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
The Final Sound
Average Rating: 71 (124 votes)Comments: View 1
7.
Track pick (900 - 299 votes)
A Forest
Average Rating: 90 (299 votes)Comments: View 4
8.
M
Average Rating: 81 (144 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
At Night
Average Rating: 80 (144 votes)Comments: View 0
10.
Seventeen Seconds
Average Rating: 83 (144 votes)Comments: View 1

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Seventeen Seconds rankings

Seventeen Seconds rankings summary
Overall rank: 614th | 1980s rank: 96th | 1980 rank: 10th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)

Seventeen Seconds collection

Seventeen Seconds ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 708 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 708 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !		09/24/2026 08:10 nextorgd  Ratings distribution  1,22984/100
 
70/100
 !		07/30/2026 20:37 Special  Ratings distribution  3,04072/100
 
80/100
 !		07/22/2026 19:18 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,60475/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.4/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.


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Seventeen Seconds favourites

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Seventeen Seconds forum mentions

This album has been referenced 78 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/24/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5445): By MW19704U
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by MW19704U () 1. by (1973) 2. by (1967) 3. by (1972) 4. by (1998) 6. (1970) 7. by (1968) 8. by by (1969) 10. by by by (1994) 15. by (1982) 16. by (2003) 17. by (1968) 19. by (2002) 20. (1966) 21. by by (1979) 23. by (1970) 24. by by by (1980)…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/18/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5439): By joedec
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by joedec () 1. (1989) 2. by (1982) 4. (1990) 5. by (1980) 7. by by (1993) 10. by (1985) 11. by by by (1988) 14. by (1977) 16. by (1987) 17. by (1987) 18. by (1971) 19. by (1979) 20. by (1984) 22. by (1972) 23. by (1979) 24. by (1968) 25. by by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 08/18/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5408): By Vasco
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Vasco () 1. by (1994) 2. by (1979) 3. by (1977) 5. (2012) 7. (1982) 9. by by (1990) 12. by (1989) 14. by (2023) 15. (2019) 16. (1998) 17. by (2013) 20. by (1973) 21. by (2024) 22. (1992) 23. by (2022) 24. by (2006) 25. by (1975) 26. by…”
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Seventeen Seconds comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 34 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
100/100
From 02/05/2018 02:14 | #207234 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
My favourite album by The Cure.

It's one of those albums perfect for a dreary rainy day.

Feels very minimal as if Smith produced the whole thing in his basement, it all builds up momentum to "A Forest" which is probably their best song.

"Play for Today", "In Your House", and "M" are other highlights.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 4
Reply
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/23/2013 08:52 | #74236 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This is minimalism at its finest! Everything from the music to the lyrics to the album art is reserved and subtle. Not nearly as dark the The Cure following two albums would be but a pleasant sort of melancholy. This is the perfect album for an overcast day. For those who find a bit of comfort in sadness, yet not enough to hang themselves.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Reply
Rating:  
65/100
From 03/09/2014 20:33 | #105826 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
woosh! that one really freaks me out! how on earth did they get this together?
absolutely flawless - even the noise-parts make sense.
and a forest is priceless.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Reply
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/24/2015 18:29 | #153405 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This album is one of my top 100 albums you can check out on this site (including additional comments on my history in music).
I first listened tothis album at a friend's house. I suppose this album was one of my first introductions in what we later called New wave (or in this case maybe cold wave).
The chilling atmosphere of songs like "A Forest" (which has long been one of my favorite tracks") and "Play for Today" really struck me, even if the guitars were not really the most important element on this album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 1
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Rating:  
100/100
From 01/22/2010 20:10 | #8551 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Possibly The Cure's best effort, and, retrospectively, the one that stands on its own best. Amazingly coherent.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
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Best Albums of  1980
1. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
2. Closer by Joy Division
3. Back In Black by AC/DC
4. Scary Monsters by David Bowie
5. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys
6. Peter Gabriel (1980) by Peter Gabriel
7. The River by Bruce Springsteen
8. Permanent Waves by Rush
9. Pretenders by Pretenders
10. Seventeen Seconds by The Cure