The Smiths (1 Viewer)

[Hector Grey]

No actually, I'll collect my dole in the afternoon.

Some interesting points you make, and I abhor the production on the 1st album, which is why I listen to the Tate version or session versions. And TQID is great but Strangeways pisses all over it. An extraordinary album.

As regards frivolous tunes....sure there are but a heap of bands would give their right arms to have them as they almost all contain at least a killer riff, a clever lyric or a mind boggingly good bassline.

And for the record, the Boy With the Thorn in His Side is in my top 5. The guitar in it is just sublime. Great outro too.

There's lots of great bits, but I can't subtract them from the whole with quite the facility you can. And though I like lots of Rourke's basslines, I find the production tended toward the tinny. Frankly the auteurish angle that Marr had marred, if you will, much of the music. They needed some outside influence, to temper their egos, if you ask me. There's much good stuff in there that's ruined by tweeness, twanginess or Morisseyness.

Once upon a time, I was like you. But it was twenty something years ago, and the more I learned about them, the less I liked them. I don't actually expect Morissey to have lived the lines he sings about, any more than I expect Stephen King to have been terrorised by a demon clown in his youth, but within the lyrics there's a sneering condescension that I can't quite get down with no more. As a teenager, i was seeringly condescending, so that probably helped.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

Interesting. I now want to listen from the beginning this weekend and see do I still love it all.

I should mention though that I don't give a bollox about egos or whatnot, just what's coming out of the speakers. I read Johnny Rogan's book when I was 16 and it didn't make any difference to me.

 

[Hector Grey]

Interesting. I now want to listen from the beginning this weekend and see do I still love it all.

I should mention though that I don't give a bollox about egos or whatnot, just what's coming out of the speakers. I read Johnny Rogan's book when I was 16 and it didn't make any difference to me.

I hear ya. But sometimes it's hard to remove one from the other. When Morissey warbles on Heaven Knows, and my skin begins to crawl, I can't help myself thinking that he's some cunt altogether.

 

[travispickle]

I'm guessing that originally linked to something else
I'm a bit confused

I think it was just in reply to the link of the practice demo put up the other day. I've lost the thread of this thread since anyway.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

There are still some Smiths songs that I think are incredible. But probably less than there are U2 songs that are pretty awesome. Yeah, I went there. Sue me.

First band I saw live: U2
Second band I saw live: The Smiths

Both awesome and made a big impression on me.

The Smiths distilled so much into four brief years of recorded output. There really were no bad songs [just a few near-mediocre misses like Vicar In A Tutu, Death At One's Elbow and Golden Lights].

The Meat Is Murder LP is pretty flawless. The first four tracks are rush buzz.

I think they could have gone on longer [maybe one more album] but Morrissey's ego will sink all.

U2 on the other hand are still with us. I think they should have packed it up after Pop.

 

[shidheat]

i was out the other night in a bar and i accidentally put "back to the old house" on the jukebox when i meant to choose something else. it's an awful song. i was embarrassed that i made everyone in the place listen to it.

 

[Richie]

i was out the other night in a bar and i accidentally put "back to the old house" on the jukebox when i meant to choose something else. it's an awful song. i was embarrassed that i made everyone in the place listen to it.

No way, the Hatful of Hollow version is great.. One of Marr's best parts.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Agreed. Richie. The studio version isn't as good [that's the one on Louder Than Bombs]

 

[Hector Grey]

No way, the Hatful of Hollow version is great.. One of Marr's best parts.

Here goes the self contradiction: I love that version. That's why I find it had to reconcile that with, I dunno, Sheila Take A Fucking Bow.

 

[rettucs]

Morissey is a terrible thing altogether.

making this my new sig

 

[Hector Grey]

making this my new sig

Better put in a disclaimer: Not Marty Morrissey.

I realise that The Smiths polarise people along visceral lines, and that those that love tend to do so unequivocally and that. I know, cos I was like that once, but the songs stopped resonating with me on an emotional level as I grew into a handsome, strong man. I no longer needed the succour of knowing that other people were awkward and confused and read the occasional line of poetry outside of English class. But away from the emotion, decades away from it, with mad critical eyes and ears, a lot of it just sounds twee. Maybe that's partly because they spawned so much twee shit.

It's also interesting that people can remove Morrisey, the dude from Moz the lead singer in the Smiths in a way that's never afforded Mr. Bono (seeing as we're talking U2 turkey too). Why is that?

If u2 split up ater The Unfogettable Fire, we'd be talking about one of the greatest bands ever, perhaps. The greatest gift the Smiths gave their legacy was not reforming. Imagine they'd never split up. Imagine all those crap Moz albums were Smiths albums. UGH.

I really must find out how to spell Morriseee.

 

[Hector Grey]

30 Years of The Smiths - try our Morrissey lyrics quiz - Manchester Evening News

Dangerous Minds | Unknown Madonna opens for The Smiths, completely fails to impress them, New Year’s Eve, 1983

 

[David Kronenbourg]

10/10

 

[rettucs]

9/10

 

[CinnamonBoy]

9/10

Ashamed

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

7/10

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

8.3

 

[travispickle]

10/10

 

[Lili Marlene]

6/10!


which is great because I only actually knew one. I mainly just guessed based on what rhymed.

 

[Jerry Twig]

8/10.