I usually don’t put much stock in compilations. Most of them are cash grabs aimed at casual fans, and as someone who prefers to listen to songs in the context of their album, they offer little value to me.

There are, however, some exceptions. For instance, if a band has released a significant number of non-album singles—especially if those singles were as formative to the band’s career as The Cure’s non-album singles were.

While Standing On a Beach was, in fact, intended to introduce American fans to the Cure’s back catalog after the success of The Head on the Door, it remains the best collection of the singles that had a huge impact on their career despite never appearing on an album—even more than Japanese Whispers or 2001’s Greatest Hits, making it an essential bit of Cure history.

Unsurprisingly, the collection does take the singles from the full-lengths up to that point, and you can certainly do worse. “A Forest,” “Primary,” and “The Hanging Garden” are excellent snapshots of their so-called goth trilogy. “In Between Days” and “Close To Me” (which includes a horn section here) were huge hits at the time, so of course they would be included. Also, “The Caterpillar” is here.

The main event though are the tracks that weren’t available on an LP at this point. The regretfully named “Killing An Arab” (it’s a literary reference, okay?!) and “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” were better than anything on Three Imaginary Boys (and would be included when that record was repackaged for American audiences). The trio of singles released between Pornography and The Top saw them pivoting to the more straightforward pop they would embrace later with far more success than the album after them. “The Walk” remains the synthiest thing they’ve ever done, wearing their New Order influence even more prominently on their sleeves.

Obviously, the track of most import is “Boys Don’t Cry,” a single so explosive that it would become the title track on the repackaged version of their debut. It’s become synonymous with the band, and rightly so. It forecast the direction they would take on The Head on the Door and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me four albums early with almost frightening prescience.

However, the real high point in my eyes is “Charlotte Sometimes,” a standalone single released between Faith and Pornography that is often omitted from other compilations (it’s not on Greatest Hits?! What’s with that?!). It’s just as quintessential a Cure song as “Boys Don’t Cry,” making its frequently forgotten status positively tragic.

While my wife has owned a copy of the cassette edition of this compilation (which includes all the B-sides as well) since before we were married (I think she bought it at a garage sale we went to together), I’ve sadly spent little time with it. My recent heavy Cure phase made me realize how great it is, and I haven’t been able to escape these singles. Now, with them on wax, they’ll take up a much more prominent spot in my listening rotation.