The Smiths

Feeling sorry to see I'm not part of the Smiths best audience given to their albums average ratings.

My personal 'The Smiths' ranking albums :

1- The Queen Is Dead (1986) => 78
2- Hatful Of Hollow (Live session 1984) => 75.6
3- Strangeways, Here We Come (1987) => 74
4- Meat Is Murder (1985) => 72.8
5- The Smiths (1984) => 68.5

If I had to create a 'Best of The Smiths', it would be made of 16 tracks :

⦁ Reel Around the Fountain (1984) => 85
⦁ What Difference Does It Make ? (1984) => 80
⦁ William, It Was Really Nothing (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ These Things Take Time (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ This Charming Man (Live session1984) => 85
⦁ How Soon Is Now (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ Still Ill (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Live session 1984) => 80
⦁ I Want the One I Can't Have (1985) => 80
⦁ The Queen Is Dead / Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty (Medley) (1986) => 80
⦁ I Know It's Over (1986) => 80
⦁ Bigmouth Strikes Again (1986) => 85
⦁ The Boy With the Thorn in His Side (1986) => 80
⦁ There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (1986) => 90
⦁ Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (1987) => 80

Foo Fighters is in the rock and roll hall of fame. The Smiths are not. Let that sink in.

From Larcx13 11/04/2022 09:43

I'll get downvoted for this but I wonder if I'm alone to think this way: It's strange. I find the music is good... I like punk, so post-punk music always sounds fairly good to me... when production and singing isn't over the top... but that voice... He's a decent singer no doubt, but that voice just isn't to my taste no matter how hard I try to listen and like this band... I rather listen to Bob Dylan's infamously bad voice over Morrissey's smooth but odd singing 100 times over... sorry. Maybe I just need to give them some time.

Incredible band. Marr's genius on guitar and Morrissey's melancholy lyrics - it's a perfect storm. Shame we only got 4 studio albums but what a legacy they have left.

Hell yeah!

From indieshins 10/04/2021 23:23

Rediscovering this band and oh boy, I forgot just how good they were - hardly a bad song in their career, a product both of their immense talent and their short lifespan. On top of that, they were one of the most important bands in my formative years as a music fan. As with many of my early discoveries, my dad introduced them to me, and as an introverted and bookish teen, Morrissey's lyrics spoke to me deeply, while Marr was one of my biggest influences as a guitar player and composer. It's a shame that Morrissey has only gotten more jaundiced, but it hasn't affected his music very much (at least in the case of the Smiths - not as familiar with his solo work). These guys are still one of the greatest bands of all time, in my opinion - but then, I am biased.

P.S. Shout-out to Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, who often go under-appreciated and unmentioned but provided a solid foundation for the band. Rourke's bass lines were often really melodic and catchy, while also providing a great rhythmic bounce, while Joyce, though unflashy, played with a lot of power and always provided just what was needed for the song.

a bit too banal for my tastes...but really nice melodies and guitar work...

From StefanR10 06/13/2020 17:43

Good band from the 80s with my favorite album the queen is dead in my top 10.

From InsanityPrawnBoy 06/12/2019 03:32

Some of the comments here..."Morrissey may be an awful person...", "Despite Morrisey's questionable remarks", "The Smiths succeed despite Morrissey's obnoxiousness".. etc...

Such comments come across as nothing more than insincere virtue signalling. The Guardian would be so proud of you... if they cared.

From AvalancheGrips 04/21/2019 23:43

Morrissey may be an awful person, but damn if he isn't a fantastic poet. In conjunction with Johnny Marr, the Smiths were destined to make classics.