Robert Smith’s RSD exclusive
For Record Store Day on April 18, Robert Smith curated and remastered a 25th‑anniversary Cure collection — the exclusive set pulls together 2001-era material and boasts four UK Top 10 singles plus four UK Top 20 singles, making it a high-priority collectors’ release (delcotimes.com). The package underlines this year’s RSD mood of scarcity-meets-prestige, which is why shops and collectors are already gearing up for big turnout ( ).
One of the hardest Record Store Day buys this year is a Cure album that was already a hits package once before. On Saturday, April 18, Robert Smith is putting out a 25th-anniversary edition of 2001’s Greatest Hits as a Record Store Day exclusive, newly curated and remastered and pressed on silver bio vinyl for the first time. (recordstoreday.com) This is not a random catalog dump. The official release notes say the 2001 collection includes four United Kingdom Top 10 singles and four United Kingdom Top 20 singles, which is why a single set can pull in songs from “Boys Don’t Cry” all the way to “Friday I’m In Love” and still feel like a concentrated version of the band. (recordstoreday.com) The release is also tied to a second Cure title on the same day. Record Store Day is issuing Acoustic Hits, a companion set recorded at Olympic Studios in London in August 2001, with acoustic versions of the same 18 songs, also newly remastered by Smith and also on 2 long-playing records of silver bio vinyl. (recordstoreday.com) That pairing tells you what Smith is selling here: the public-facing version of the band and the stripped-back studio version from the same moment. Greatest Hits gives the singles as people knew them in 2001, while Acoustic Hits replays that same track list with the drums and guitars pulled closer, like hearing the same movie with the special effects removed. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.com) Record Store Day works because these records are not meant to sit on shelves for months. The official 2026 list says the special titles arrive at participating shops on April 18, and the store locator warns that a shop being listed does not mean it will carry every release, or that it will have the specific one you want. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.com) In the United Kingdom, the rules are even blunter. Record Store Day UK says the 2026 titles will be sold exclusively over the counter at independent record shops on Saturday, April 18, which is why collectors plan these mornings like concert queues instead of normal shopping trips. (recordstoreday.co.uk) The Cure release adds one more pressure point: charity copies are part of the pitch. Record Store Day UK says £1 from every sale of Greatest Hits and Acoustic Hits will go to War Child, which turns each purchase into both a collectible object and a small fundraiser tied to an official limited-day event. (recordstoreday.co.uk, recordstoreday.co.uk) There is a numbers game underneath all this. The United States Record Store Day page lists Acoustic Hits at 7,200 copies, and retailers listing Greatest Hits are already describing that set as a limited pressing too, with some shops posting allocations around the low-thousands range and purchase limits of one copy per customer. (recordstoreday.com, roughtrade.com, banquetrecords.com) That is why this Cure package is drawing outsized attention before dawn on April 18. It is a familiar album, rebuilt by the band’s own frontman, tied to a one-day retail event, split across two prestige editions, and aimed at stores that cannot promise enough copies for everyone in line. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.com)
