The World Won't Listen

This was the second compilation of A-sides, B-sides and rarities the Mancunian outfit released in its career. As you know, the first one was “Hatful Of Hollow“. In this case, the compilation has something of a broader appeal as there is a fair slice of non-album singles featured, and these include the crucial “Panic”, “Ask” and “Shoplifters Of The World Unite”. The single version of “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” is part of the compilation, too. And there are no radio sessions this time around.

Something that you can find here that was absent from “Hatful Of Hollow” is a handful of instrumental tracks. There are two of them: “Oscillate Wildly” and “Money Changes Everything”.

The rest of the album is made up of tracks that work out mostly well like “You’ve Just Haven’t Earned It Baby”, the loud “London” and two songs that come across as an item: “Unlovable”, and “Half A Person”. And there is also a piano ballad named “Asleep” which depending on your mood will go down better some days than the others since it is one of the starker tunes within their catalog.

On the other hand, songs like “Golden Light” showcase that the communication problem Morrissey had with Marr sometimes as regards which songs to cover was getting out of hand, and that was something which exhausted Marr’s patience in due time.

“The World Won’t Listen” also includes the phenomenal album tracks “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. I am not entirely sure what they are doing here, but they are always welcome.

Also, note that this album was released in America under the moniker “Louder Than Bombs”. The track list is quite similar, but there are some songs available only in each one. The most notable addition to “Louder Than Bombs” is the single “Sheila Take A Bow”, one of The Smiths’ most salient compositions in terms of chart performance.

Here we go again… this is something for fans and nobody else. The ones who want an overview should go for the “Best Of” and “Singles” packages. And you know which album I regard as their one pivotal contribution to the world of music.

What Do People Keep In Their Heads?

The career of The Smiths was characterized by the (back then) inordinate number of compilations they were to issue. The first one saw the light shortly after the release of their eponymous debut, and it was named “Hatful Of Hollow”. The album comprised many songs recorded for radio shows, along with assorted A-sides and B-sides.

As I am sure you recall, one of the main problems the debut album had was that the production was not as punchy as it could have been. That meant the impact of its songs was somehow diluted, and since about half of the tracks that were found on the debut are played live on “Hatful Of Hollow”, this compilation has added appeal. Of these songs, the ones that work best are “Reel Around The Fountain” (the drums are so booming that it sounds like a different song) and an acoustic “This Charming Man” that is even janglier than the original cut. Conversely, “Still Ill” is not that appealing – maybe the added harmonica at the start and at the end is the problem. It just does not fit in. And the live “What Difference Does It Make?” and “You’ve Got Everything Now” are not that removed from the original performances as to make you rethink those versions. However, it is admirable how well Marr plays “What Difference Does It Make?” live, as in the studio more than 15 guitars had been combined. That doesn’t make the song better or worse, but it places his skills in a very favorable light.

One of the featured A-sides is “William, It Was Really Nothing”, a song many propound was about a romantic relationship Morrissey had with some journalist. It is a short and sweet song, but it is easily one of their least effective singles. And while “How Soon Is Now?” is included, the song had not been released as a single yet.

The other A-side that found its way here is the brilliant “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”, a song that obviously lends itself to some gratuitous comments and criticism. Since the song is so good, that makes such criticism become more prevalent.

Conversely, a song which is short and sweet and poignant is “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want”. You might have become acquainted with it through the cover which is played at the end of the “This Is England” movie. That version is played by Clayhill. But the original version is the one which is truly majestic. Morrissey sings a short lyric about redemption and second chances in the first half, while Johnny plays a mandolin solo at the conclusion of the song.

Out of the studio rarities, the one that works best is clearly “Girl Afraid”, a composition that deals with the mental torture that people self-impose upon themselves in this “mad, mad world” as Tears For Fears used to sing.

The remaining tunes are nothing to go out of your way for. “Handsome Devil” is intermittently catchy, and the subject matter is one Morrissey knows how to milk, whereas “Back To The Old House” is somehow haunting in its arrangement. That is about it. “These Things Take Time” and “Accept Yourself” are not a very compelling listen, and the single version of “Hand In Glove” is a lesser one since it fades in.

I do recall I bought this album because I couldn’t find the debut when I wanted it. It is clear to me that it is something only a fan would enjoy. Casual listeners are better off buying any of their regular studio albums, or the two discs named “The Best Of The Smiths”.

Rating: 6/10

The Album's Title Is A Play On "Borstal, Here We Come" From Billy Liar

The Smiths’ final studio album is a very graceful way to bow out. Leaving aside the presence of some songs that spoil its second side and which are notoriously glaring, the record adheres to the formula that had worked so well before: self-questioning lyrics over jangly guitars and very solid grooves.

The album’s opener is (in my opinion) the best opener of all their albums. The song is called “A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours”, and it has a roaring vocal from Morriseyy while the main melodic instrument is a piano. It is abutted by “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”, a song which was released as a single. I agree with that decision – while it doesn’t lead the band into unchartered  territories it does play their formula to a hilt, and it plays it well. But I can’t disagree with those who claim “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” would have been a better A-side.

The other single, by the way, was “Girlfriend In A Coma”. Again, it incarnates their classic sound. It doesn’t take the listener anywhere he hasn’t gone before, but it lets him enjoy the ride for sure.

The album has the distinction of featuring Morrissey’s one and only instrumental contribution. The song upon which he bestows  his performance is “Death Of A Disco Dancer”. Basically, he randomly bashes the keys during the song’s long fade.

Moreover, a composition named “Paint A Vulgar Picture” has a long, essay-like lyric and a guitar solo  by Marr – something that is very rare, and which works so well it leaves you wondering what lay beyond the tip of the iceberg.

The songs that somehow mar the record are “Death At One’s Elbow” and “Unhappy Birthday”. They are quite frankly inexcusable (especially the former), and they make it clear that Marr and Morrissey’s relationship was becoming too strained too handle. Also, many people dislike “I Won’t Share You”. I don’t feel it is particularly good, but since it is a tale of possessiveness that stands as the song closing their final album and it features just Johnny Marr and Morrissey, I find it hard not to listen attentively.

The conclusion is that the album will leave any fan more than satisfied. And while I wouldn’t  recommend it as your first purchase (that accolade goes to “The Queen Is Dead”), making it your second acquisition is not a bad move. Not at all.

Rating: 8/10

The Front Cover

If you have read the general introduction you already know I regard this album as The Smith’s crowning achievement. In a certain sense, it does what was done in the previous albums. But the difference is that what was previously done either good or very good now is done in an excellent fashion. With the sole exception of “Vicar In A Tutu” (a rockabilly number that is best left alone) and the acceptable “Never Had No One Ever”, all the songs hit hard. Generally speaking, they make a solid point out of solid disappointment: “I Know It’s Over” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” deal with the anxiety of a love that ends and takes life away with it, and a love that ends without ever having started respectively. For its part, the bouncy “Frankly, Mr. Shankly” takes the form of a resignation letter from a disgruntled employer to his boss, in which (as much as he tries to refrain from doings so) he must finally “speak frankly, Mr. Shankly” and call a spade a spade.

A note as regards that song: it was about the head of their record company, Geoff Travis. The fact that he was also the recipient of the more direct and spiteful “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby” makes it all too clear Morrissey’s stance on authoritative figures within his life and career.

Speaking of authority, his political viewpoints (which were somehow announced in the song “Nowhere Fast” from the previous album) now occupy a more marked space. The fact that the song after which the album is named is the one starting proceedings can not be ignored. As I likewise mentioned on the general introduction, it features one of the best ensemble performances from the whole band. And it also has the priceless lines “I know you and you can’t sing/That’s nothing, you should hear me play the piano”. Listen to the next album if you didn’t get the joke, and look at the credits for the song “Death Of A Disco Dancer”.

The first single was seemingly an odd choice: “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side”. The single release was a different mix – you can listen to it on “The World Won’t Listen” compilation, it has no “orchestrations” (IE, Marr adding strings using a keyboard). It failed to ignite that much interest, but such a move was typical of The Smiths – they always defied the status quo of music as a whole, and the fact that this album is tailed by the seemingly lacking “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” instead of the powerful “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” just reminds us that The Smiths were never ones to pay any heed to conventions or the standard practices of music biz.

The second single was a different matter. You can not describe it using a lengthy definition, but it can be described in just one word: bestial. “Bigmouth Strikes Again” is one of the best compositions Morrissey and Marr would craft, and it spotlights the darker side of Morrissey psyche, a side which is actually present in every single person. He has the merit of discussing a somber matter (the role imminent and present violence plays in any relationship) in a somehow humorous fashion, but the humor (as it is often the case) actually helps the point be made more cogently.

The jangly “Cemetry Gates” is also a gem, and one which recounts Morrissey’s younger escapades. It ends up placing him in a bit of a paradoxical position, as Moz deals with literary appropriation and warns about its dangers when the lyrics themselves feature an extraordinarily lengthy portion from the movie “The Man Who Came To Dinner” (1942). “There is always someone with a big nose/who knows”, indeed!

I left the two most poignant songs for last, albeit they were already mentioned and somehow discussed above. “I Know Is Over” is the most sorrowful pronunciation of loss I have ever came across, and the actual structure (the opening line “Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head” being repeated incessantly at the end) does nothing but underline the fact that memories are nothing but phantoms of the heart, and no matter how cherished or loathed they stand, they are dispelled by the impact of even a single grain of reality. On the other hand, “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” was used to promote the “Singles” compilation two decades later, and it is a song that will have eternal relevance – where there is first love and its permanent disillusion, there is room for this song.

This is the first album I review here that I score so highly, and that was the reason I tried and provide you as much of an exhaustive overview as I could. It is unquestionably their finest moment as a band, and one of the defining albums of 80s music. If you are unsure whether The Smiths are for you or not, this is the record that will dispel all your doubts.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Album's Cover

The second album recorded by the Mancunian ensemble, “Meat Is Murder” features better production, a tougher sound and a broader subject matter. Morrissey now tackles issues such as the British Educational system (“The Headmaster’s Ritual”, the opening number and one of the album’s highlights) as well as vegetarianism (the track that closes the record and which lends its title to the album), whereas some songs like “Nowhere Fast” make clear the political stance of the singer for the first time on record.

As I said, sonically-speaking the album packs more of a punch than their previous offering. While it can be said that Marr stole the show instrumentally the first time around, now the rest of the band is given more breathing space, and their dexterity shines time and again. The album as a whole benefits from that.

In addition to the songs which were mentioned above, the album has the prototypical compositions everybody expects from Morrissey. These include “What She Said”, written from the point of view of a despondent female character and “Well I Wonder”, a mostly acoustic interlude that breaks the tougher-sounding mood of the disc and which includes one of the most hummable melodies here.

Also, a song named “I Want The One I Can’t Have” deals with one of Morrissey’s pet themes – whether “the mind rules the body”, or the other way around. He had already tackled the issue when he wrote “Still Ill”, and now he gives further context by adding elements like class distinctions and the impact of violence on young, impressionable minds. It seems to deal with the loss of innocence that Morrissey described in the song “Reel Around The Fountain” from a different light – a light which is darker yet somehow glowingly alive. Most of all, the role which aggression occupies next to (or within) the process of growing up and the impossibility of continue demanding and receiving things from the world like before (since the world is not just your family anymore) is well depicted in the song.

A track that has been added to the CD is “How Soon Is Now”, maybe their most popular song nowadays. Marr stated at the time that his aim was to create an opening that would make people say “Ah, it’s that song!”, much in the same way that people do whenever Clapton’s “Layla” starts playing on the radio. Although it is not my favorite Smiths’ songs I have to say that it encapsulates their MO representatively enough – guitar wizardry, a fluid groove, lyrics that deal with dark matters and paint them darker than they really are, a phrase used as a title that is not mentioned as part of the lyrics and which sets the scene perfectly… it is all here.

“Meat Is Murder” was the one and only record released during the comparatively short lifespan of the band to hit the top of the charts. I am ranking it higher than the debut because it is undeniably better, but out of all their four albums it is the one I spin the less often. Still, it is an unquestionably good addition to your collection, and one key piece in their development as a band.

Rating: 8/10

The Cover Showcases Morrissey's Obsession With Pop Culture

The Smiths’ debut is often regarded as an album that could have been much better, yet was marred by a production that did the songs no justice. You realize this is true the second “Reel Around The Fountain” starts playing, but it also dawns on you that some selections were not that strong to begin with either, and that no amount of production wizardry could have elevated them. The most obvious case is “Miserable Lie”, a song which actually worked quite well live. There are also a couple of tracks such as “You’ve Got Everything Now” and “I Don’t Owe You Anything” that are pure vitriol – Morrissey is yet to find how to articulate certain feelings and shape them into songs.

In any case, the album has enough praiseworthy tunes to merit a purchase. These include the unsettling “Pretty Girls Make Graves” (a tale of a homosexual besieged by a woman who keeps on making advances), the yearning “Still Ill” and one of the few Smith tunes that virtually everybody reveres: “This Charming Man”. I bet you know it, but just in case:

The album likewise includes their first single ever (“Hand In Glove”), albeit it was remixed and it doesn’t fade in like the single cut. A song which is often dismissed but which I greatly admire is “What Difference Does It Make?”. It was released as a single, and it was an obvious choice – Marr piled almost 15 guitars and played them all with his usual gusto.

There are also two controversial numbers (“Reel Around The Fountain” and “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle”) that approach affection and manifestations of love in slightly fitful settings – they were actually denounced in the press as condoning child abuse. A third song (“Suffer Little Children”) dealt with a touchy issue (The Moors Murders) in a way that some saw as opportunistic, but which turned out to denote genuine concern and tristfulness.

Summing up, while this album is not perfect it did more than enough to make the general public aware that something was making waves in the Manchester scene in 1984, and that those waves could sweep the entire country before too long. “England is mine and it owes me a living”, Mozzer sang in “Still Ill”. He captured the frustration of thousands in the aftermath of the punk years, and The Smiths’ first album still stands its ground – not as a flawless piece but as an authentic artifact of the despondency we all feel when we are leaving adolescence behind and we realize that there is something against us. And “it’s not time”.

Rating: 7.5/10

A Very Early Picture Of The Smiths

The Smiths were an enormously influential 80’s band that hailed from Manchester, England. The group comprised singer Morrissey, guitar luminary Johnny Marr and a rhythm section of Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (drums). The ability of the latter is often overlooked, if only because the band itself was not that democratic – as a matter of fact, Morrissey and Marr received 40 % each of the band’s income while the rhythm men received just 10 % each. The band broke up in 1987 (for the simple reason that Marr and Morrissey could no longer stand each other) and a lawsuit ensued in 1996 over royalties, effectively driving them further apart and wiping out any chance of a reunion (unlikely to begin with). Rourke would eventually settle for less than he was entitled to, but Joyce took it to the bitter end.

The truth is that the four musicians were top-notch. Marr was one of the top guitar players of his day, and the funny part is that he hated playing solos. He claims he seldom took one, referring to his guitar interludes on songs like “Shoplifters Of The World Unite” and “Paint A Vulgar Picture” as sort of mini-breaks. Joyce and Rourke had a very good interplay, just listen to the fade of the song “The Queen Is Dead” from the album that goes by the same name. It is unjust to discredit them.

For its part, Morrissey was a very characteristic singer. He has a style of its own, and not everybody likes it. As a matter of fact, those who are reluctant to listening to the band feel that way mainly because of Morrissey’s delivery. Listening to him is not always easy on the ear, granted. But credit where it is due – he had a knack for writing lyrics. As far as I am concerned, his forte was naming songs. He often picked up a phrase that had paradoxical value and that was not directly mentioned as part of the lyrics: “How Soon Is Now?”, “Nowhere Fast” and “Seasick, Yet Still Docked” are obvious examples. In terms of content, he conceptualized everything in a way that would make a smile light up your face, or even laughter come forth. Not any kind of smile, and not any kind of laughter. A bitter smile. A bitter laughter. He always seemed to be saying. “Life reeks, and it laughs at you. Do not laugh it off. Laugh right back in its face”. Needless to say, Morrissey as a lyricist will be the main theme of a forthcoming post.

The Smiths released four albums of original compositions, one live album and countless compilations. The latter have more than intrinsic value if only because they released a fair share of non-album singles, and all are worth being tracked down. This  is just an example:

There was a time I was mad about The Smiths. I thought I had outgrown them, but I recently picked up the two albums I was missing, and while I can’t say I am enamoured with them again I can honestly tell you that all their albums are worth having. I am reviewing all of them very soon. In the meantime, start with “The Queen Is Dead” and head forth from there. It is a quintessential album, and if you don’t have it there is a definitive gap in your music collection, especially if you are keen on British guitar music of the 90’s.