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Meat Is Murder

The Smiths - Meat Is Murder Audio CD

A fair review of the The Smiths "Meat Is Murder" 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: Meat Is Murder
Rating:

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

Tracks: 1: 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: How Soon Is Now? 7: Nowhere Fast 8: Well I Wonder 9: Barbarism Begins at Home 10: Meat Is Murder

Best of the Smiths.
Even the vegetarian sing-a-long "Meat is Murder" (easily the weakest track) cannot take away the fact that this is an essential Alternative Music album (recorded in the mid-80's, when the term "Alternative" actually meant something). Their best LP, with Johnny Marr's acoustic and electric guitars in the forefront of the mix and perfectly balancing Morrissey's deliberately off-key, crooning vocal delivery. "How Soon Is Now?" is the soundtrack for every lonely isolated boy, with its recurring themes of celibacy, isolation, and self-pity. The blatant dancefloor mix of "Barbarism Begins at Home" proves that this band covered all musical bases with equal earnestness. A masterwork LP, and one of the decade's essentials.

One of the best
Classic trackas all the way - a complete record. Besides The Queen is dead this is the best record made by the Smiths.

The Burgeoning Creative Growth of The Smiths. . .
First of all, Morrissey's long time penchant for Elvis-esque rockabilly is in full gear (i. Meat Is Murder, the sophomore effort from pioneering English band The Smiths, found the act experimenting with a myriad of genre bending styles. e. "Rusholme Ruffians") as well as more sensitive, introspective ballads ("I Want the One I Can't Have").

Not immediately accessible, and with no standout radio single, the record would remain one of The Smiths least favored records. It's remarkable, then, to recall that Meat Is Murder is the only original album to chart at #1 in the U. K. The inclusion of the immensely popular "How Soon Is Now" on the U. S. release ensured that Meat Is Murder would also sell reasonably well stateside.

The politically charged ideology is abjectly confrontational but never quite approaching tiresome. Lettuce love lullaby "Meat Is Murder" is, like veganism, an aquired taste. Though a bit preachy and self-righteous, the lyrical content does hold some sad truths. Just recently, to the shock of no one, it's come to light that some slaughterhouses routinely employed torture.

"Barbarism Begins At Home" and sister song "The Headmaster Ritual" serve as compelling odes decrying the stringent disciplinarian tactics of English schoolhouses.

Perhaps the most amusing track is "Nowhere Fast" with it's giddy declaration of "I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen" amid typically dispiriting reflective imagery such as: "I think about life and I think about death, and neither one particularly appeals to me. " Brilliant.

Meat Is Murder is primarily regarded as an important step in the creative growth of The Smiths which reaches its peak with the monumental third release The Queen Is Dead.

Splendid Ruffian
This reviewer lived in Manchester at the time of its release and can fully attest to the record's dead-center portrayal of a tender hooligan's fight to survive the soot of a disused city. The second long-player by The Smiths is a revelation even today. The now classic "How Soon is Now?" warbles from its lair with the unforgettable post-clubbing line "You go home and cry and you want to die. " Instead of suicide, Morrissey urges the like-minded to moon the queen in the defiant "Nowhere Fast. " The lyricist par excellence routinely got bashed and parodied for his persona of mope (rightly so), but "Meat" comes rushing out of the gate with four breathless songs about sadistic headmasters, dodgy carnival rides, a railway rendez-vous that will never happen, and cigarettes intensely inhaled to bring an early death. Anyone trapped a whisper and a nudge from what they desire immediately senses in Morrissey a compatriot, a sensitive soul clutching secret treasures in a thuggish, merciless world. And as one perceptive critic once noted, Johnny Marr is the wind that blows Morrissey's clouds. The guitar work on "Meat" is simply superb. The twining figures and textures, buoyed by Andy Rourke's melodic bass lines, bring the bumps. "Every sensible child" knows what The Smiths mean. .

An Amazing, Must-Hear Album
I don't like the "emo" genre at all nor do I like many bands that are compared to The Smiths. The songwriting partnership of Morrissey (lyrics and vocal melodies) and Johnny Marr (music) has been called the Lennon/McCartney of the emo generation. . . But I love The Smiths and I adore Meat is Murder.

This was the first album and first collection of songs I heard by this band and what first struck me was how unique they sounded. The production of the album does mark it as a child of the `80s, but their songs were instantly memorable and fascinating.

The 10-track album begins with "The Headmaster Ritual," one of my favorite songs still. Its memorable rhythm combined with Morrissey's mopey vocals make for a great song. "Rusholme Ruffians" could instantly turn a new listener away, but once again I love it. It's a song that really takes you to the fair that Morrissey is singing about. The next two songs are "I Want the One I Can't Have" and "What She Said," which were the two songs I listened to the most upon first hearing this album. "What She Said" sounds particularly good when blasted through earphones.

"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" was the single from the album and wasn't very successful. I only began to appreciate it recently. The song has a lush arrangement and with Morrissey projecting as much emotion as he can muster while singing it, it's actually a beautiful song that even people who dislike The Smiths could probably get into.

"How Soon Is Now?" is one of The Smiths' most recognizable songs and what a great song it is. Not the best of the album, but a great tune. The riff, the layered rhythm, the atmosphere, the lyrics, and the vocals are just fantastic. "Nowhere Fast" was another one of my favorite's on here and still is; very catchy, with great lyrics.

"Well I Wonder" tones it down a bit. It's very melodic, with a great bassline; another song of beauty. "Barbarism Begins at Home" has a funk element to it and not a whole lot of singing. It's nearly 7 minutes long, but it's a song that will stay with you once you hear it.

Finally, we have the title track. I always thought of this song as a joke, but listening to it again I found it's actually quite a haunting song and the way Morrissey sings it is unlike anything he's ever done. You can hear what sounds like anger and disgust in the cadence of his voice. A very good song, but not the one I'll be putting on repeat.

Anyway, I heard this album once over a year ago. I enjoyed it a lot, but never listened to it again. Three weeks ago, I randomly played it again and have been listening to almost nothing except The Smiths since.

The Smiths defy genre. I can't just call them "rock," but pop-rock, alternative, nor emo seem to fit them either. The band is almost universally acclaimed for the lyrical capabilities of Morrissey and it is true, the man is a lyrical genius. He writes with such truth and realism, his lyrics ranging from brooding to sarcastic, sometimes at the same time. Even with sub-par lyrics, he could still pull it off as he's a great singer. He drones, moans, mumbles, mopes; it's sometimes very dramatic but that's not a bad thing. Some may find Morrissey's vocals annoying, especially when he goes from singing to just making noises (see the chorus of "The Headmaster Ritual" and parts "I Want the One I Can't Have). . . But, the fact remains, no one could sing these songs as well as he could.

I love this album and I have no doubt that any Smiths fan would as well. This was my introduction to the band and should serve as a perfect one for any budding Smiths fan out there.

Poppy, funky, memorable, witty, beautiful, and filled with great songs "Meat is Murder" is wonderful. Not everybody likes The Smiths and this is one of the CD's that just makes me wonder how you could not like something this unique and special.

GRADE: A-.

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.