LOS ANGELES – 25 years after The Smiths’ final studio album, the band have grown to be one of Britain’s most influential groups. No group since has truly captured the incredible dynamic of Johnny Marr’s musical genius and Morrissey’s lyricism. Completed by Andy Rourke on bass and Mike Joyce on drums, the band is often cited as the key precursor to the Britpop movement.
Last fall, The Smiths’ entire catalog, recently remastered by Marr, was released in the acclaimed boxed set Complete. On April 3, each individual album from that set will be released on CD from Rhino including all four of the band’s studio albums – The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986), Strangeways, Here We Come (1987) – their sole live album, Rank (1988) – and three fan-favorite compilations: Hatful Of Hollow (1984), The World Won’t Listen (1987) and Louder Than Bombs (1987). Johnny Marr and engineer Frank Arkwright remastered all eight albums using the original tape sources. Each album, several of which were previously out-of-print, will be available at physical retail outlets for suggested list prices of $18.98 (CD). This marks the first time that The World Won’t Listen will be released on CD in the U.S.
Arriving in an era dominated by synth pop and gloomy post-punk, The Smiths’ eponymous debut was the beginning of a new era. Marr’s inventive song writing and ringing guitars were catchy and melodic and were made all the more original by Morrissey’s vocal style and lyrics. Although The Smiths continued to improve over the course of their career, the songs here are vital and alive, making sure that their debut remains startling and exciting to this day.
With their second proper album Meat Is Murder, The Smiths began to branch out and diversify, while refining the jangling guitar pop of their debut. "The Headmaster Ritual" and "I Want the One I Can't Have" are fine elaborations of the formula they laid out on the debut, while "Rusholme Ruffians" is an infectious stab at rockabilly. Such was their creative thrust at this point; they were seen as the most important British band since Joy Division. Above all though, there was no other British group making music quite like this in 1985.
The Queen Is Dead is the Smiths’ great leap forward, taking the band to new musical and lyrical heights. Opening with the storming track, the album is harder rocking record than anything the band had attempted before. Johnny Marr has created here a wide range of guitar styles that provide a musical bed for Morrissey’s best set of lyrics. From which is crafted some of their finest, most affective songs, particularly “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” and the epic “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” two masterpieces that provide the foundation for a remarkable album.
With producer Stephen Street, The Smiths created a subtly shaded and skilled final album Strangeways, Here We Come, one boasting a fuller production than before. Morrissey and Marr labored hard over the songs, working to expand the band’s sound within their boundaries. In doing so they created the classic tracks "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish," "Girlfriend in a Coma," "Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before," and "I Won't Share You". This, the highest charting of all their albums, easily offers a summary of the band’s considerable strengths.
Recorded live at the National Ballroom, London, in October of 1986, roughly six months before they disbanded altogether, Rank captures The Smiths performing in full-on rock-star mode. The band’s performance is suitably epic, hit-packed, and engrossing. Morrissey is in fine form providing plenty of banter and personality. Similarly, Marr’s distinctive manic jangle demands much attention, especially on his solo creation “The Driaze Train.”
Several months after releasing their first album, the Smiths issued Hatful Of Hollow, a collection of singles and rarities, several of which are BBC versions of songs from their debut. The Smiths treated singles as individual entities, not just ways to promote an album, and therefore many of there finest songs were never issued on their studio albums. As if this wasn’t enough, this compilation contains the first appearance of what many consider the band’s finest moment. “How Soon Is Now” captures encapsulates everything good about the Smiths; Morrissey’s mocking lyrics, Marr’s stunning vibrato guitar and a rhythm section you could set your watch to.
Despite the music press initially declaring The World Won’t Listen “inessential”, fans soon grew to love this compilation of singles and b-sides as it offered a new selection of mixes including “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” and “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby.” The title, picked by Morrissey, represented the bands frustrations of the music industry at the time and The Smiths reacted in the only way they knew how: directly through their music and now iconic artwork.
Another compilation of singles, B-sides, album tracks, and BBC Sessions this time assembled for the American market, Louder Than Bombs is a sizeable collection that boasts a wealth of brilliant material. It includes hits such as the irresistible “Ask,” the bouncing pop of “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” and the sad “Unloveable.” With a solid collection of singles and a number of tracks virtually unavailable elsewhere, Louder Than Bombs is a necessity for any Smiths fan.
The Smiths Catalog
Track Listing
The Smiths
1. “Reel Around the Fountain”
2. “You’ve Got Everything Now”
3. “Miserable Lie”
4. “Pretty Girls Make Graves”
5. “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”
6. “Still Ill”
7. “Hand in Glove”
8. “What Difference Does It Make?”
9. “I Don’t Owe You Anything”
10. “Suffer Little Children”
Meat Is Murder
1. “The Headmaster Ritual”
2. “Rusholme Ruffians”
3. “I Want the One I Can’t Have”
4. “What She Said”
5. “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”
6. “Nowhere Fast”
7. “Well I Wonder”
8. “Barbarism Begins at Home”
9. “Meat Is Murder”
The Queen Is Dead
1. “The Queen Is Dead”
2. “Frankly, Mr. Shankly”
3. “I Know It’s Over”
4. “Never Had No One Ever”
5. “Cemetry Gates”
6. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
7. “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side”
8. “Vicar in a Tutu”
9. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”
10. “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others”
Strangeways, Here We Come
1. “A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours”
2. “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”
3. “Death of a Disco Dancer”
4. “Girlfriend in a Coma”
5. “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”
6. “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me”
7. “Unhappy Birthday”
8. “Paint a Vulgar Picture”
9. “Death at One’s Elbow”
10. “I Won’t Share You”
Rank
1. “The Queen Is Dead”
2. “Panic”
3. “Vicar in a Tutu”
4. “Ask”
5. “His Latest Flame/Rusholme Ruffians” (Medley)
6. “The Boy With The Thorn in His Side”
7. “Rubber Ring/What She Said”
8. “Is It Really So Strange?”
9. “Cemetry Gates”
10. “London”
11. “I Know It’s Over”
12. “The Draize Train”
13. “Still Ill”
14. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
Hatful Of Hollow
1. “William, It Was Really Nothing”
2. “What Difference Does It Make?”
3. “These Things Take Time”
4. “This Charming Man”
5. “How Soon Is Now?”
6. “Handsome Devil”
7. “Hand in Glove”
8. “Still Ill”
9. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
10. “This Night Has Opened My Eyes”
11. “You’ve Got Everything Now”
12. “Accept Yourself”
13. “Girl Afraid”
14. “Back to the Old House”
15. “Reel Around the Fountain”
16. “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”
The World Won’t Listen
1. “Panic”
2. “Ask”
3. “London”
4. “Bigmouth Strikes Again”
5. “Shakespeare’s Sister”
6. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”
7. “Shoplifters of the World Unite”
8. “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side”
9. “Money Changes Everything”
10. “Asleep”
11. “Unloveable”
12. “Half a Person”
13. “Stretch Out and Wait”
14. “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”
15. “Oscillate Wildly”
16. “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby”
17. “Rubber Ring”
Louder Than Bombs
1. “Is It Really So Strange?”
2. “Sheila Take a Bow”
3. “Shoplifters of the World Unite”
4. “Sweet and Tender Hooligan”
5. “Half a Person”
6. “London”
7. “Panic”
8. “Girl Afraid”
9. “Shakespeare’s Sister”
10. “William, It Was Really Nothing”
11. “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby”
12. “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
13. “Ask”
14. “Golden Lights”
15. “Oscillate Wildly”
16. “These Things Take Time”
17. “Rubber Ring”
18. “Back to the Old House”
19. “Hand in Glove”
20. “Stretch Out and Wait”
21. “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”
22. “This Night Has Opened My Eyes”
23. “Unloveable”
24. “Asleep”
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