My Heroes (Singles - The Smiths)

Member Name: basil40

Product:	Singles - The Smiths
Date:	29/01/05 (728 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Timeless guitar music, 1 duff track

Disadvantages: None

WHO'S THIS THEN?
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It's The Smiths. For those under 25, they were a band from Manchester whose day in the sun existed between 1983 and 1987. Morrissey, their singer, went solo in 1988 and disappeared from the music industry in 1997 only to re-emerge this year with a new solo album entitled You Are The Quarry.

Guitarist Johnny Marr has done various session work and played with a few mid-90s indie also-rans but is probably best known for forming Electronic with Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and Bernard "Barney" Sumner of New Order. They scored success in 1990 with "Getting Away With It" and then a few years later with the excruciatingly catchy "Get The Message".

Bassist Andy Joyce and drummer Mike Joyce have also done various session work but have chosen to stay out of the limelight. They won a legal royalties battle with Morrissey in 1996. Don't shed any tears for them, though, because with albums like Singles and various Best Ofs flooding the market, they're doing alright.

WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE?
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If you were a miserable, self loathing, unloved, girlfriend/boyfriend-less teenager in the mid-80s, The Smiths were your soundtrack of doom. They've taken a lot of stick for their depressing lyrics with titles such as Death Of A Disco Dancer, Unhappy Birthday and Girlfriend In A Coma, but for my money, they were only a lighter, wittier precursor to the murky nu-metal scene of the late 90's headed by Korn and Linkin Park.

Their music was jangly, guitar-led indie. Without Morrissey's poetic and dark lyrics, they would have been just another twee indie band. Yet with Morrissey's stage presence, self-deprecating lyrics and array of stage props (National Health glasses, gladioli inserted in his back pocket, hearing aid, flowery shirts and questionable sexuality in the early days), they suddenly had a trump card.

THE TRACKS
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I've given the tracks below marks out of five. To highlight Morrissey's by turn cocky, exquisite and depressing lyrics, I have added a TBM section (Typical Bloody Morrissey) . I hope this helps.

**1. Hand In Glove**
The song that followed This Charming Man into the charts at the tail-end of 1983, is also a duet with Sandie Shaw (of Puppet On A String fame). This was never one of my favourite Smiths tracks but showed early promise (it was originally released in the summer of 1983 and is thus rather rough around the edges compared to later releases). There are raw drums galore and Marr's guitar prowess was never in doubt.
Mark: 3/5
TBM: "Hand in glove/The sun shines out of our behinds"

**2. This Charming Man**
I love this track, even 21 years later! I remember seeing this on Top Of The Pops in October 1983 as an 11 year old and deciding straight away that Duran Duran were now my SECOND favourite band. He wore the flowery shirt and the hearing aid, Marr's squeaky guitar intro sounded fresh (albeit like a cat scratching a Coke can) and this was the start of what was to be commerically known as "indie".
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear"

**3. What Difference Does It Make**
I first heard this on Now 2! A brilliant guitar riff starts this track off before the drums crash in and Morrissey deadpans "all men have secrets and here is mine, so let it be known". Morrissey's vocal range is always something that a lot of people underestimate. Here the opening line is delivered in his baritone manner. By the end, his falsetto is breaking mirrors and making dogs take notice! Pure brilliance squeezed into three minutes.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "I would jump in front of a flying bullet for you"

**4. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now**
This is the one everyone who dislikes the Smiths likes to quote and mock them with. It's a simple sing about boredom and hangovers. A beautiful guitar motif starts the track off as light drums Morrissey's dismayed lyrics.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "Why do I give valuable time to people I'd much rather kick in the eye?"

**5. William, It Was Really Nothing**
Their last single of 1984 was very similar in feel to the previous track and Morrissey's at his miserable and disillusioned best on this tale of rainy days and non-fundays. More jangly genius from Marr in the backgorund keeps the quality of the album high.
Mark: 4/5
TBM: "The falls hard on a humdrum town...."

**6. How Soon Is Now**
Sampled by Soho in 1990 on their Hippychick single, this is The Smiths' piece de resistance. The growling, otherworldly guitar intro blew me away in 1985 and it wasn't until ten years later that I heard the same style again on REM's Monster album. This is the Smith's at a low as the downbeat lyrics, ghostly guitar wails and thumping drums formulate together to bring you six minutes of sheer genius.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "There's a club if you'd like to go/You could meet somebody who really loves/So you go and you stand on your own/And you leave on your own/And you go home and you cry and you want to die"

**7. Shakespeare's Sister**
The second single release from their Meat Is Murder album of 1985. It's possibly their shortest single at a little under two and a half minutes. Given it's furious tempo and it's central theme of teenage suicide, this is probably not a bad thing. The guitars still jangle, this time in acclelerated manner. Not a classic by any means and a strange choice of single as there are stronger tracks on the album.
Mark: 3/5
TBM: "The rocks below say throw your skinny body down son"

**8. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore**
The only Smiths single not to reach the top 40 was this track from Meat Is Murder. Not a bad track overall but the fact it wasn't a "hit" speaks volumes. It's a mid-paced, down in the dumps song, the style of which was a precursor to their Starngeways Here We Come swansong.
Mark: 3/5
TBM: "It's too close to home and there's a pain in my head"

**9. Bigmouth Strikes Again**
The fourth of five singles released in 1985, this uptempo track features some fantastic acoustic strumming courtesy of Johnny Marr. The lyrics are probably their most graphic and I wouldn't be surprised if this was about Margaret Thatcher rather than a disloyal lover. It was covered by Placebo to great effect on their Nancy Boy single a few years ago.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "Sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to mash every tooth in your head"

**10. Boy With The Thorn In His Side**
Very similar in pace to Bigmouth, and just as nicely strummed. This was mid-career Smiths at their best. Charming, acoustic, restrained but with just a hint of venom and dark menace in the lyrics. They yook a year off after the release of this track.
Mark: 4/5
TBM: "Behind the hatred there lies a murderous desire"

**11. Panic**
One of only two singles released in 1986 and another track used by the anti-Smiths Brigade as ammunition. It's usually the "hang the DJ" refrain they use and once again it's a track with a simple message: disco and soul music is crap. It's not a sentiment I share, but one I understand.
Mark: 4/5
TBM: "The music they constantly play says nothing to me about my life"

**12. Ask**
Another fantastic track that his high on spirit and pace and low on wasted sentiment. There's a great bit half way through that sounds like a freight train clicking over broken tracks but is actually some nifty symbol work. This is one of my favourite Smiths tracks.
Mark: 4/5
TBM: "Spending warm summer days indoors/Writing frightening verse to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg"

**13. Shoplifters Of The World Unite**
The Smiths went single crazy in 1987, their final year together. Mirroring 1985, this was the first and best of five releases and I remember John Peel announcing it on Top Of The Pops thus: "Here's one for all you disco dancers out there..." It's a slow-paced number that signalled a final direction for the band before their demise.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "Last night the plans for a future war was all I saw on Channel 4"

**14. Sheila Take A Bow**
Along with Shoplifters this was featured on their 1987 out-takes/bits and pieces album, The World Won't Listen. The melody is possibly Marr's best and it's a real singalong track. Oh, who am I kidding, it's the Smiths and is superbly depressing!
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "How can someone so young sing words so sad"

**15. Girlfriend In A Coma**
Crap, crap crap. Sorry.
Mark: 1/5
TBM: "Let me whisper my last goodbye/I know it's serious"

**16. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish**
From their Strangeways album, this can best be described as slow rockabilly. A pummelling guitar line and Morrissey's vocal range combine to produce a captivating track. The whispered fad out lyrics is almost like the band saying goodbye.
Mark: 4/5
TBM: "Hair brushed and parted/Typical me!"

**17. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me**
Their final official single. It's starts with a two minute intro that sounds like a medieval riot and burst into what is their saddest moist poignant song about love. Or lack thereof. A wonderous, emotional five minutes and a thrillingly fitting way to say goodbye.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "No hope, no harm/Just another false alarm"

**18. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out**
This fan's favourite album track was released as an afterthought in 1992 to accompany this album. It's a brilliant track and is mid-paced and jangly like a lot of their output really.
Mark: 5/5
TBM: "If a double decker bus/Kills the both of us/To die by your side/The pleasure is mine"

OVERALL
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Hey, listen, it's the Smiths. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I can listen to them constantly and never get bored.

You'll either love this or hate it. It's as simple as that.

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