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The Smiths

The Smiths - The Smiths Audio CD

A fair review of the The Smiths "The Smiths" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Smiths reviews here, or go back to the The Smiths tabs.

Band: The Smiths
Title: The Smiths
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Reel Around the Fountain 2: You've Got Everything Now 3: Miserable Lie 4: Pretty Girls Make Graves 5: Hand That Rocks the Cradle 6: This Charming Man 7: Still Ill 8: Hand in Glove 9: What Difference Does It Make? 10: I Don't Owe You Anything 11: Suffer Little Children

An alternative music primer.
Deliberatly underproduced and raw, this LP was the antithesis of everything 80's pop was supposed to be. Back in the mid-80's, when the term "Alternative" actually meant something, this album quietly forced its way in amongst the Flocks of Seagulls and Spandau Ballets that were dominating the UK and American charts. It was lyrically negative, musically cold, and visually bleak. (The Joe Dallasandro image on the cover speaks volumes). Also remember that England did not share in America's 1980's prosperity and optimism. The Smiths were the voice of the lonely, the isolated, the sexual sideliners. If you're wondering what alternative music was all about in the 80's, or if you just need a good dose of cynicism, this is the place to start. Alternative 101, if you please.

An album that grows on you with time; A Masterpiece!
Not for any particular reason, mind you. Full disclosure here; when The Smiths started inching closer to becoming my favorite band, I didn't, initially, think that their first album was that great. . . I just didn't find any of these songs clicking the way tracks from their other albums had done. It was sheer laziness that lead to me to realize how great this album is (it's amazing what you can discover when you want to listen to "Reel Around the Fountain" and are too lazy to turn the rest of the album off). This 1984 debut album from Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce is a perfect example of the music that they would continue to bless us with until their breakup a mere 3 years later. The songs are upbeat, poppy, and melancholy with bitingly true and poignant lyrics with a beauty that only The Smiths could provide.

Out of the album's 11 songs, only two stood out the first several times I listened to the album. The opening track "Reel Around the Fountain," a beauty, moody opener. It's one of The Smiths most beautiful songs without a doubt. . . The other was "Pretty Girls Make Graves," with the incessantly catchy refrain "I'm not the man you think I am. . . "

But this album has 9 more songs and every single one is great. With that said, there are songs on here that reviewers of this album have already pointed out; You've Got Everything Now, Miserable Lie, This Charming Man, and Hand in Glove. I love each and every one of these songs, but I want to talk about the more underrated tracks.

First of all, "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," one of the most beautiful songs in The Smiths catalogue. The lyrics are terrific, but it's the way they all flow together and the way Morrissey sings them with a subtle sense of urgency that makes it so great. "Still Ill" is a great song, a sort-of nostalgic memory converted to music. . . Morrissey has said that "What Difference Does It Make?" is one of his least-favorite Smiths songs. Moz is a little too self-judgmental it would seem, as I've loved this song since I heard it. "I Don't Owe You Anything" is rarely spoken of, but here's another slow-moving song. The amount of longing and pathos that Morrissey injects into these lyrics is very powerful. No other singer/lyricist could sing "I don't owe you anything. . . But you owe me something, repay me now" and make it sound important. The album closes with "Suffer Little Children," a song about the Moors murders. This is the least accessible song on the album without a doubt. . . It's the song I never thought I would really start to enjoy, but after several listens this is a great song too. Not the kind you'd put on just to pass time, certainly. . . But it's great.

This album and the rest of The Smiths catalogue show why the band has had the staying power it has. Recorded in 1983 and released in 1984, this album has a sound that identifies it as an `80s production but this is nothing like any of the music that was coming out of that era. The Smiths, in their brief career, created something that was beautiful and unique. . . And it's remained the same since then. This debut album is one of their strongest works and is either my favorite or second favorite of the band's work.

The Smiths aren't a band for the masses and I like that; the fact that some people can't appreciate or enjoy this band only makes them more special in my opinion. . . A budding Smiths fan or a long-time Smiths fan will not want to pass this album up, as it's a musical masterpiece and, if you are a Smiths fan, I'm sure you'll agree.

GRADE: A.

Superlative Debut & A Sign of Better Things to Come!
" So begins the eponymous debut album by seminal eighties band The Smiths. "It's time the tale were told of how you took a child and you made him old. From there, the record unravels to reveal layer after layer of complex lyrical arrangements that touch on everything from distresses concerning social economics to denouncements of abject murder.

In defiance of their contemporaries, The Smiths adopted a back-to-basics approach - which their very name suggests. They dressed down in t-shirts and denim, rather than gaudy costumes or stage outfits. They utilized the standard structure of guitar/bass/drums at a time when synth was everything.

Frontman Morrissey wasn't afraid to wordlessly vocalize or display an almost comical falsetto on tracks like "Miserable Lie. " Guitarist Johnny Marr was just coming into his own as an accomplished arranger, as if he was only then realizing the power his instrument held to impel tracks like "This Charming Man. " In short, The Smiths were young yet eloquent, and what they lacked in experience they made up for with surprisingly erudite sentiments.

Take "This Charming Man", for example, an early single penned with such ace insight that an inscrutable line like "Why pamper lifes complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat" doesn't pan out as obtuse but rather quite fetching.

The bulk of the album continues this trend of shrewd awareness for humanity's darker recesses: "Pretty Girls Make Graves" is a sexually-androgynous ode to romantic frustration, and "Hand in Glove" continues this theme with lines like "No, it's not like any other love. This one is different. "

The Smiths was a landmark album and a sign of great things to come. This album and the ones proceeding it would influence acts as diverse as Belle & Sebastian, Radiohead, Doves, and Suede in the years to follow.

Ok..
"This Charming Man" is a dance number that heats up the life of the new wavers and anyone who loves to dance. So this is fantastic musically. The lyrics are a muffled gay thing if you ask me. Morrissey once declared himself celebate. "Never Had No One Ever" might be more of a song about that though. (Off The Queen Is Dead). "Pretty Girls Make Graves" is more Mo type stuff,with a sharp and funky beat. "Hand In Glove" is a surprise with a harmonica and is perfect. "What Difference Does It Make?" is perfect. It almost approaches the perfection of "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" off (Strangeways, Here We Come). . "Reel Around The Fountain" has good lyrics. . "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" is pretty and "Suffer Little Children" is an amazing perfect song with gripping lyrics. Probably not as good as "That Joke Isn't FUnny Anymore": "At the car at the side of the road,you should know. . Times tide may smother you,and I will too. When you laugh about people who feel so very lonely their only desire is to die,well I'm afriad it doesn't make me smile. I wish I could laugh. . But that joke isn't funny anymore. . It's too close to home and it's too near the bone more than you'll ever knoW. . I've seen this happen. . In other peoples lives and now it's happening in mine. . "(Meat Is Murder). . .

suffer little metal heads
1 of all time. This album recorded so long ago, should merit No. If it were
not for a "competitive world", of breathtaking music it would be!
The flamboyant Morrissey, prancing around the stage with a bush of flowers
in his back pocket. . . . who can beat it? Johnny Marr playing his beloved
Fender Telecaster, perfectly in time, complete with mirror sunglasses. . .
who can beat it?
Let's not forget Andy Rourke laying down the bass lines, impecable mixture of notes, arpeggios and chords. . . who can beat that?
I cannot fault one single song on this album. If you love the Smiths. you
might understand. It is a fascinating progression of songs that will leave
you wanting to investigate the rest of the Smiths' catalog of excellence.
And for the record, Amazon have the best selection for anyone to chose from.
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You can see a complete list of all The Smiths discography, or go back to the The Smiths tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.