I know that everyone here knows that I tend to be a big 80s music fan. For some reason, I have never explored the discography of The Smiths despite liking what I have heard. Would anyone like to point me in the right direction? Best albums? Worst albums? Band members solo material?
Thanks in advance,
Library Jon
Last edited by Library Jon; 01-08-2017 at 08:21 PM.
My favorite Smiths related album is Morrissey's album "You Are The Quarry."
My brother was a bit of a fan. I remember liking "strange ways here we come" and "meat is murder." Maybe the best place to start would be the compilation album "hatful of hollow." Their first album was actually rather good also but probably not the one to start with. I would say that along with REM they were probably one of the first true alternative bands.
Meat Is Murder is a good place to start, with a couple of my favourite Smiths tracks in The Headmaster Ritual and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore. Some CD editions also include their most well-known track How Soon Is Now, previously only available on a single and the compilation album Hatful Of Hollow. The next album The Queen Is Dead is another good one, with Bigmouth Strikes Again and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, two more of their best tracks IMO.
I'd recommend either of those two, or one of the several compilation albums, which give a good overall view of their stuff.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
If you are just planning on getting one CD by them, get this one:
"The Very Best of the Smiths" it is an Australian import that is fairly easy to find, the cool thing is that it has 23 songs on it and 20 of them are great...!
The Queen Is Dead
Hatful of Hollow
"It was a cruel song, but fair."-Roger Waters
"Dear Abby, is it possible to really like the Smiths but can't stand solo Morrisey"?
I know a very old man this applies to.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
Like Echo & the Bunnymen, the Smiths are one of those 80s bands I had missed the first time around but am slowly getting into in my dotage. Their run in the mid-80s is quite impressive.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
This applies equally to a man in his mid-40s. The key ingredient? Johnny Marr.Originally Posted by progeezer
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I never heard a Morrissey solo track that I wanted to hear again. Not that I disliked any of them, but there was never that spark that made me go "Wow, what a great tune!" as it was with a great many Smiths tracks.
BTW, that Very Best Of The Smiths looks like a good compilation, but does not include Sweet And Tender Hooligan, another of their best tracks IMO. What they really need is an "anthology" type release, a Complete Works Of or something, since there were so many non-album tracks.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Just get these 2, and you're pretty well set:
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“the queen is dead”, a stone cold immortal classic. their final one “strangeways here we come” is good, too – get the oddball “the world won’t listen” for “panic” and “shoplifters of the world unite” especially. morrissey’s solo debut “viva hate”, nary a year later, also great. i happily admit to being an ally to the mighty SMiTHS and never had a problem with them sitting on a par with all the prog and metal that i listened to back in the day.
Is it me or can all these A & B sides and compilations with different tracks be a little confusing?
Library Jon
Absolutely brilliant band and one that, to my mind, don't have any bad songs.
That said, I think the first album is not essential. I don't really like the production and many of the songs were bettered on Hatful Of Hollow, which, although being a collection of radio sessions, sounds like a proper album. In some ways that would be a fine place to start. As a collection of songs it really is a terrific way into the band's unique world.
Meat Is Murder is terrific and perhaps every bit as good as the, rightly, lauded The Queen Is Dead. As mentioned earlier it opens with The Headmaster Ritual which is my favourite song by them. It's just so 'right' in every way and has this curious quality of sounding neither major nor minor.
When Strangeways Here We Come came out I thought it was the best thing they'd done. I'm not sure I do now but I still love it nonetheless. It also has one of my favourites, Paint A Vulgar Picture, half unrequited love song, half cynical take on the music business but more importantly the way the tune keeps modulating is something else and a really good example of what great songwriters Marr and Morissey had become by this point.
There are really, really good songs on every album and while they don't all reach the stratospheric heights of the above mentioned and also Reel Around The Fountain, Girl Afraid, I Know It's Over, Sweet And Tender Hooligan, Back To The Old House etc etc. They're all very good.
Morrissey solo is a mixed bag, in my opinion, but the album Vauxhalll And I is really something special. His voice is at its best and has matured into a lovely, powerful croon, it's certainly one to silence any of those dreary accusations of 'He can't sing'. The lyrics are consistently good and the songwriting and production are excellent. It's a fantastic record.
Last edited by Kavus Torabi; 01-09-2017 at 04:23 AM.
Precisely. While I was a huge Smiths fan back in my student days when otherwise mostly digging 60s psychedelia and 70s progressive, I grew to loathe the Morrissey phenomenon by the 2000s. I still get seriously turned off when people start talking of him or I accidentally happen to catch his stuff from a radio or whatever. My former girlfriend is 17 years my junior and a major Morrissey fanlass, and I tried to little avail to explain to her why I just couldn't stand the guy; "Smiths were great but about more than veganism, his solo crap is all about veganism and the badness of other folks and so has little value [blah-blah]..." We broke up on a high note. If you challenged her 'vegan spirit', there'd be no turning back anyway.
The Queen Is Dead is a fabulous 80s pop/rock record, to me pretty much the very sound of mid-80s Britain. Their debut is also very good, Meat Is Murder is solid. The only album I never really cared for back in the day was Rank, their attempt at an "authentic" concert recording.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
As one who was along for the whole ride, from the debut 45 onwards, I adored The Smiths. I have a full set of the vinyl singles, though am annoyed that I have a few on 12" as those 7" picture sleeves were little works of art and look wonderful together. I might have to go on an eBay search to round this off.
Kavus pretty much nails it above, and Hatful of Hollow is a great place to start, really cohesive from start to finish. There are so many compilations out there now, but one I bought my step-daughter recently was Louder Than Bombs which has a nice selection but strangely no How Soon Is Now? Personally i would get all of the studio albums (Rank is indeed not especially essential) and the singles collection.
This pretty much sums up my thoughts - although, mostly, I have all the singles on 12", including the infamous Terrance Stamp cover.
Ignore the comps - get all 4 studio lps (the weakest is Meat is Murder - but only because it tails off towards the end of side two with the overly long Barbarism & the dire title track [& I say that as a vegetarian of nearly 30 years]) & Hatful of Hollow.
I don't know if it were a consequence of being there at the time, but, contrary to Kavus, I'd say the self-titled debut lp is absolutely essential - the songs that conclude sides 1 & 2 are both difficult, painful, emotionally draining - & amongst the earliest that M&M wrote together. They would never do anything quite like these again. Also, there's the exquisite organ playing on Reel & I don't Owe You Anything (one of their very best songs, largely overlooked - again, with a vibe quite different from more or less anything else they did).
Together for less than five years, in that space of time they wrote & recorded between 50-60 songs of which getting on for 50 are top notch. It was an astonising run of form.
Are there any tracks that are not available on CD?
Library Jon
Not that I'm aware of.
There were some remixes of This Charming Man, some of which (eg a dodgy "disco" mix available on a separate 12") may not have been allowed to make it to cd...
yes
Morrissey does an absolutely AWESOME version of "That's Entertainment" that is way better than the original Jam version...!
I bought "The Sound Of The Smiths" CD and have been listening to it all week. I really like most of it. There were a few songs which might need to grow on me. So I guess that my next step will be to buy all four studio albums. However, when I start buying compilations for A & B sides, which compilations are the ones to buy all their songs while avoiding repeating myself.
Library Jon
I shopped at the local TUNES music store here in Southern New Jersey and bought 3 like new used The Smiths albums: The Queen Is Dead, Louder Than Bombs, and Rank. I hope to get through them next week. I noticed that they had several used copies of Morrissey's solo albums for cheap ($1.99). Maybe, that will be my next step.
Library Jon
Last edited by Library Jon; 01-17-2017 at 05:12 PM.
Louder Than Bombs and their debut are my favorites. Meat Is Murder and Strangeways, Here We Come are largely overrated, imo. Like REM, their best songs are terrifyingly great, even on on a subpar album.
"This Night Has Opened My Eyes" is one of those rare songs that I could happily listen to on repeat for decades.
I'm another one who can't be bothered with Morrissey solo, but his turn-of-phrase on the best Smiths songs is unparalleled, imo (the song "London" springs to mind, available on Louder Than Bombs).
Hope you dig 'em!
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