The Smiths-Strangeways, Here We Come

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/28/09.

After the release of the double-compilation album Louder Than Bombs in early 1987, the Smiths' commercial profile was risen three years after they released their first album. Already a band that's becoming popular with hit singles and albums, it seemed likely that great things were coming for them with help from major label EMI and their old indie label Rough Trade. However, not everything was great with the band as they faced the end while were preparing to record their fourth and final album.

Pressures from their labels intensified where in a recent rock documentary, guitarist Johnny Marr stated that the labels were wanting them to become the next U2. In Marr's own word, not everyone wanted to be U2. At the same time, the relationship between Johnny Marr and vocalist/lyricist Morrissey was becoming strained due to creative and personal differences. Recordings with producer Stephen Street in the spring of 1987 were problematic as Morrissey wanted to do more traditional style of pop music to Marr's dismay. In response, Marr would work with other acts and artists including the Talking Heads and Bryan Ferry. At the same time, business issues were hurting the band as they continued to record material including B-sides that would later appear in singles to come out for their fourth and final album entitled Strangeways, Here We Come.

Produced by Johnny Marr, Morrissey, and Stephen Street, Strangeways, Here We Come is a broader album filled with orchestral arrangements made by Johnny Marr's synthesizers with Morrissey providing lyrics that range from the personal to more dramatic narrative stories. With the rhythm section of drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke in tact, more experiments with drum machines by Stephen Street and a fuller sound in production would give the Smiths room to expand their simple sound. The result would be a graceful bow from one of Britain's great bands.

The album opens with A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours opens with 12-bar blues-based piano and Morrissey's atmospheric, choral-like vocal that becomes clear to the song's thumping rhythm provided by drummer Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke's wobbly bass. With a break of rapid percussion shakes and Morrissey's harrowing lyrics that are accompanied by Marr's melodic-flourish keyboards and piano tracks. The single I Started Something I Couldn't Finish is an upbeat song that features Marr's growling guitar washes meshed with chiming melodies, Joyce's pounding beats supplemented by Stephen Street's clapping drum programming, a horn section, and Rourke's thumping bass. With Morrissey's calm vocals and witty lyrics, it's one of the band's best singles that features a superb sound and Morrissey's unique sense of humor. Death Of A Disco Dancer is a haunting mid-tempo ballad led by Rourke's eerie bass line, Joyce's smooth, thumping beats, and warbling sounds from Marr's guitar and Morrissey's eerie vocals. With Morrissey providing morose lyrics and a coda that has him playing broken piano and shimmering, eerie arrangements led by Marr's guitar.

The single Girlfriend In A Coma features Rourke's twangy bass line, Joyce's smooth, thumping drums, and Morrissey's calm vocals about a man struggling with his comatose girlfriend wonder if she'll pull through as he's dealing with guilt. Featuring Marr's arpeggio, chime-laden guitars and striking string arrangement, it's a short but poignant song that is filled with Morrissey's superb lyrics and Marr's unique presentation. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before is another classic track that was supposed to be a single but scrapped. The mid-tempo song with rumbling rhythms, Marr's jangly guitar washes, and Morrissey's soft but engaging vocals filled with witty lyrics about love and heartbreak. It's a song that features everything that made the Smiths so brilliant. Another single is the ballad Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me that opens with a somber piano track by Marr featuring people talking in the background. After nearly two minutes, the song becomes this haunting, mid-tempo ballad with thumping rhythms filled by Rourke's low bass rumbles, Joyce's pummeling beats, and Marr's arpeggio flourishes. With Morrissey's dramatic vocals filled with melancholic-laden lyrics, it's one of the band's most poignant ballads.

Unhappy Birthday is a smooth, upbeat track filled with bouncy rhythms led by Marr's washy guitar riffs and Morrissey's somber vocals filled with morose lyrics. The song features a unique song structure with moments of Joyce's rumbling drums and no drums as Marr brings in soft guitar slides in the background. Paint A Vulgar Picture is a foot-stomping track led by Joyce's bass drum beat and Marr's jangly guitar wash. Morrissey starts to sing calmly with lyrics that are truly direct towards the music industry with witty words and a snarl. Featuring Marr's superlative, ringing guitar solo in the song's bridge, it's a unique track that proves that Morrissey can have a sense of humor on something that he's angry about.

Death At One's Elbow opens with a motorcycle rumbling with clap-driven beats by Stephen Street before a fast, rapid rhythm led by Mike Joyce's drums, Andy Rourke's thumping bass, Marr's washy guitar jangles, and Morrissey's smooth, wailing vocals. With witty lyrics about death, it's a wonderful little number from the Smiths going to the style of old dance-hall rhythms and melodies. The album closer is I Won't Share You, an acoustic ballad led by Johnny Marr's mandolin washes and Morrissey's superb yet somber vocals filled with melancholic-driven lyrics. With its rich production and simple performance, it's a fitting closer for the album and the band.

Released in September of 1987, the album came out one month after guitarist Johnny Marr decided to leave the band. Marr's departure would eventually cause the Smiths to disband altogether as they released three singles before the end of the year featuring B-sides they recorded from the sessions for the album. The album itself would become a hit reaching number two in the U.K. charts and number 55 in the U.S. charts. Despite its success, it was a bittersweet moment for music fans as the Smiths helped save music for a brief period of time. At the same time as the production team of Stock, Aitken, and Waterman were creating hits that were ruling the charts. The Smiths did lay the ground work for the British indie revolution in the years to come as in 1989, another Manchester band in the Stone Roses would take indie music as far as it can go.

Following the Smiths' dissolution, Morrissey would embark on a successful solo career that has lasted for several years. While guitarist Johnny Marr embarked on several projects including Electronic with Joy Division/New Order guitarist Bernard Sumner and playing guitar for several acts including Modest Mouse. Hopes for a Smiths reunion still lingered but a 1996 court battle with drummer Mike Joyce over recording and performance royalties dampened those dreams. Joyce's victory against Morrissey and Johnny Marr only strained relations while Andy Rourke settled with Marr and Morrissey for some money that he was given. While best-of compilations released in 1992, 1995, 2000, and a recent 2008 one supervised by Marr and Morrissey helped their profile. Plans for a Smiths reunion seems impossible with Morrissey's solo career still thriving and Johnny Marr's music projects still doing well while Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce also embarked on different projects.

Strangeways, Here We Come is a superb, rich, and haunting album from the Smiths. While it doesn't reach the heights of The Queen Is Dead in terms of its production and songwriting stature, it's still an album that features some amazing work from the band. It's an album that truly has a feeling of an end while proving that the Smiths are going to go out with their head high. Thanks in large part to a few singles and album cuts that makes this record essential. In the end, Strangeways, Here We Come is a magnificent album from the Smiths.

The Smiths Albums: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow - Meat is Murder - The Queen is Dead - Louder than Bombs

(C) thevoid99 2011

The Smiths-Louder Than Bombs

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/27/09.

By late 1986 after the release of the band's third studio album The Queen Is Dead, the Smiths were truly the band young audiences counted as an alternative to the mainstream pop music scene in Britain. Despite some chart success with singles and albums, the Smiths were still considered underground heroes as their lack of commercial profile frustrated singer/lyricist Morrissey. In early 1987, Rough Trade and EMI released the compilation album The World Won't Listen that consisted of more rarities, B-sides, and non-LP singles. While the album was a hit with fans, the record was not released in the U.S. as they were a cult band in that country. The album would be released as an import prompting Rough Trade and EMI to compile an expanded version of The World Won't Listen with some changes for its U.S. audience through the band's U.S. label Sire Records. The album would be released in March of 1987 as Louder Than Bombs.

Louder Than Bombs is an album consisting of twenty-four tracks filled with non-LP singles, B-sides, radio session tracks, and other rarities. Expanding The World Won't Listen with a few alterations in terms of different versions of a couple of tracks. The album is meant to give fans the chance to hear rarities and B-sides they didn't have at the time. Especially U.S. fans as the record includes tracks from the Hatful of Hollow compilation that still wasn't out in the U.S. Filled with many highlights from the band including BBC radio sessions with John Peel from December of 1986 plus another Peel session that was heard previously from the Hatful of Hollow compilation. Louder Than Bombs is a superb, exciting compilation record from the Smiths.

The album opens with Is It Really So Strange?, a B-side track from the Sheila Takes A Bow single and from John Peel's December ‘86 session. The mid-tempo, bouncy track led by Johnny Marr's washy guitar track and thumping rhythms by drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke. With Morrissey's witty, sardonic lyrics and calm, wailing vocals, it's a great opener to reveal the gems the band has. The non-LP single Sheila Takes A Bow is another upbeat song with a blaring horn intro and thrashing guitar track that becomes this smooth yet powerful song with Joyce's hard-pounding drums and Rourke's growling guitar accompaniment. With Morrissey's melancholic yet direct lyrics and engaging vocals, it's one of the band's great singles proving the band's sense of prowess while remaining simple which includes a guitar slide in the background by John Porter. Another great non-LP single Shoplifters Of The World Unite features a smooth, chug-like rhythm from Marr's guitar and the rhythm section of Joyce and Rourke. With Morrissey's calm vocals and very political-driven lyrics that are very poignant. Featuring a wailing solo from Marr near the coda, it's one of the band's best cuts.

Sweet And Tender Hooligan, a B-side from Sheila Takes A Bow and from the Peel December ‘86 session, opens with Marr's shimmering guitar note before going into this fast, pounding track with rumbling, rapid drums by Joyce and Marr's jangly, washy guitar track. With Morrissey singing fast, sardonic lyrics filled with angst along with direct vocals, it's the band being a bit primal in their sound while keeping true to their sound. Half A Person, a B-side for Shoplifters Of The World Unite, is a ballad with smooth, thumping rhythms and Craig Gannon's washy acoustic guitar accompaniment along with Marr's electric guitar arpeggio flourishes. Morrissey's soft, elegant vocals filled with melancholia is a poignant song filled with very personal lyrics that prove his brilliance as a lyricist. London, another B-side from Shoplifters Of The World Unite, is a rollicking, punk-inspired track with hard-pounding beats and crunching guitar riffs from Marr and Gannon along with Rourke's wobbly bass fuzz. With Morrissey getting a bit confrontational in his vocals with descriptive lyrics about the city, it's a great B-side showing the band delving into their punk influences with help from Stephen Street's mix on the drums.

The non-LP single Panic with Craig Gannon on rhythm guitar, is a rich, upbeat song filled with Marr's intricate, arpeggio flourishes that opens the song with Joyce's pounding drums and Morrissey's angry, dramatic vocals. With his wailing, near-operatic vocals, Morrissey sings a verse about the music that is being played that says nothing to him while wanting to burn down the disco and hang the DJ. Girl Afraid, a B-side for Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now that also appeared in Hatful of Hollow, is a rich, upbeat track with bouncy rhythms and Marr's jangly, intricate arpeggio melodies that complements Morrissey's calm, melancholic vocals filled with morose lyrics. The non-LP single Shakespeare's Sister is a fast, rollicking track led by Joyce's rapid drumming and Marr's washy, slithering guitar tracks. With Morrissey singing through a hollow mix, it's one of the band's key singles filled with a blues-bar based rollicking rhythm and Morrissey's dramatic lyrics. The single William, It Was Really Nothing from Hatful of Hollow appears with its swift rhythm, Marr's rich, arpeggio guitar flourishes, and Morrissey's morose lyrics.

Next is a remix of an aborted single entitled You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby, a mid-tempo song that features bouncy rhythms from Joyce and Rourke's low bass line along with Marr's rich, arpeggio guitar melodies. With Morrissey's calm, glorious vocals that sings along to the song's somber lyrics, it's a great song that shows a gem unearthed by the band. The non-LP single Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now from Hatful of Hollow, is one of the band's rich singles with Marr's flourishing guitar chimes, Morrissey's melacholic lyrics and dramatic vocals, and a smooth, thumping rhythm from Joyce and Rourke. The non-LP single Ask appears in a remixed form than in its original single features Craig Gannon on rhythm guitar and backing vocals from Kirsty MacColl. With its upbeat rhythms, washy acoustic guitar riffs, and Morrissey's somber vocals filled with morose, lonely lyrics that includes MacColl singing along in the latter-half of the chorus. With Marr's rich arpeggio guitars in the background, it's one of the band's key singles.

The B-side for Ask is a cover of Twinkle's Golden Lights that also features Gannon and MacColl with John Porter providing drum machine tracks in the background. With a haunting, shimmering intro that accompanies MacColl's vocals with soft, sputtering drum machines and Marr's intricate guitar. With Morrissey and MacColl singing along with a warbled vocal mix and Marr's rich guitar along with Rourke's wobbly bass and Joyce's tapping drums. Oscillate Wildly is a B-side for How Soon Is Now? that is essentially an instrumental track with a piano melody that opens the track with Joyce's tapping drums, Rourke's warbling bass, and Marr's washy guitar track. Then it becomes this thumping track with Joyce's snare beats and Marr's washy guitar chimes that is followed by spurting keyboard melodies. These Things Take Time is an upbeat track that is a B-side for What Difference Does It Make? and appeared from Hatful of Hollow. With its rich, intricate guitar work from Johnny Marr, thumping rhythms, and Morrissey's low-wailing vocals and direct lyrics, it's another of the band's great B-sides.

Rubber Ring, a B-side for The Boy With A Thorn In His Side, features swanky guitar riffs from Marr and Rourke's wobbly bass line. With Joyce's smooth, thumping drums joining in, Morrissey sings witty, sardonic lyrics filled with melancholic references to great songs of the past. With Marr's flourishing chimes in the background, it's another fantastic song from the band featuring voices talking in the coda. Back To The Old House, a B-side for What Difference Does It Make? that also appeared from Hatful of Hollow, is a rich ballad led by Marr's rich guitar melodies and Morrissey's somber vocals filled with melancholic lyrics. Another track that appeared from Hatful of Hollow is the single version of Hand In Glove, the band's first single that defined the Smiths' sound. An alternate version of Stretch Out And Wait, a B-side for Shakespeare's Sister, is an acoustic ballad featuring Marr's rich, washy guitar, soft tapping rhythms, and Morrissey's somber vocals filled with melancholic-laden lyrics. The song's presentation reveals the band's brilliance in its simplicity and approach to ballads that often revels in Morrissey's amazing vocals.

Two tracks from Hatful of Hollow appear next, first is the acoustic ballad Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want that is a B-side for William, It Was Really Nothing. The second is This Night Has Opened My Eyes from the September ‘83 John Peel session, the haunting song featuring Marr's spurting guitars, smooth, thumping rhythms, and Morrissey's hollow vocals filled with eerie lyrics. Unloveable, a B-side for Bigmouth Strikes Again, is a ballad led by Marr's washy, jangly guitar, thumping rhythms, and Morrissey's soothing vocals. Filled with morose, somber lyrics, it's another fascinating B-side that features Morrissey's superb vocals and Marr's rich guitar work along with a soft cowbell in the background. The album closer is Asleep, a B-side for The Boy With A Thorn In His Side, is another ballad led by Marr's somber piano playing to Morrissey's brilliant vocals filled with soothing, sad lyrics about death. A simple piano ballad with just Marr and Morrissey, it's a fitting closer to the album.

Five tracks that appear in the U.K. compilation record The World Won't Listen are two single versions for That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore and The Boy With The Thorn On His Side plus an alternate mix of You Just Haven't Earned It, Baby and an alternate version of Stretch Out And Wait with different opening lyrics and an alternate vocal mix. Another exclusive track that appeared in cassette versions of that album is a song called Money Changes Everything. An instrumental track with thumping, twangy rhythms led by Rourke's bass and Marr's swanky guitar, and synthesized strings to explore the band's versatile music styles. When Louder Than Bombs was released on March 1987 in the U.S., the record came out two months later in the U.K. to great success. For the Smiths, it helped raise their profile to the mainstream as they were set to make their fourth album. Yet, rising tension between Morrissey and Johnny Marr along with pressures from EMI to make another hit album that would get the band bigger would only mark the beginning of the end for the Smiths.

Louder Than Bombs is a brilliant, sprawling compilation album from the Smiths. While the album contains many B-sides, non-LP singles, and rarities that fans would love, it's incomplete due to the material that didn't make it from The World Won't Listen plus tracks that already appeared from Hatful of Hollow. While the record is essential for fans of the Smiths, it's an album that shows the band's brilliance with their B-sides and singles proving that there's a lot of gems that don't appear in their studio albums. In the end, Louder Than Bombs is a superb album that fills all of the need for great music from the Smiths.

The Smiths Albums: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow - Meat is Murder - The Queen is Dead - Strangeways, Here We Come

(C) thevoid99 2011

The Smiths-The Queen is Dead

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/25/09.

Following the release of Meat Is Murder, the Smiths were clearly one of Britain's rising bands with two studio albums and a compilation of rarities to help them. Along with non-LP singles, the Smiths were becoming a big touring band playing to sellout clubs where fans often would join them on stage. After a tour that had the band play to U.S. audiences, the band returned to the studio in the late summer of 1985 to record their third album with their longtime engineer Stephen Street. While guitarist Johnny Marr was dealing with exhaustion over the recording and touring schedule, the band was having some problems with their label Rough Trade. Despite the creative freedom the label gave the band, business issues hampered the relationship that would lead the band to eventually sign with EMI much to the dismay of some fans. Around the same time, Rough Trade delayed the new album for months after it was finished in the fall of 1985.

In September 1985, the band released a rough mix of their new single entitled The Boy With The Thorn His Side that would garner the band another hit. In early 1986, bassist Andy Rourke was briefly fired from the band due to his heroin use as he was replaced by former Aztec Camera guitarist Craig Gannon. When Rourke was decided to be brought back with Gannon as a rhythm guitarist, the band briefly became a five-piece where in May 1986, the band released the single Bigmouth Strikes Again that would cause anticipation for the release of the Smiths' third album entitled The Queen Is Dead.

Written and produced by Morrissey and Johnny Marr with engineering work from Stephen Street with the exception of one song engineered by John Porter. The Queen Is Dead is an album that expands the Smiths sound with broader arrangements, acoustic flourishes, varied styles like punk, rockabilly, British Invasion, and the band's rich jangle-pop sound. Along with the use of synthesized string arrangements by Johnny Marr, vocalist Morrissey takes on new lyrical territory ranging from the interpersonal to more angrier lyrics directed at critics, bosses, and other figures. The result isn't just the band's best album but also one of the best albums of the 1980s.

The album opens with the title track that features an intro of Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty from Bryan Forbes' 1962 film The L-Shaped Room where people are singing the song. The track fades into a rapid, rumbling drum performance from Mike Joyce that is intense and pummeling as it goes into a full track of Andy Rourke's driving bass line, Johnny Marr's chugging guitar riffs, and Morrissey's calm, engaging vocals. Filled with angst-ridden lyrics, the song is a powerful song that expands the Smiths sound with Marr's warbling guitar washes with a production that is more crisp and layered than in previous albums. Frankly Mr. Shankly is a smooth, bouncy track with Rourke's wobbly bass line and Marr's spurting semi-acoustic guitar washes. With Morrissey's quirky, witty lyrics, the song goes into a bouncy mid-tempo track thanks in part to Mike Joyce's pounding drums. With Morrissey's wailing vocals and Marr's driving guitar.

I Know It's Over is a ballad led by Morrissey's haunting yet dramatic vocals filled with melancholic lyrics and a slow accompanying rhythm from Joyce and Rourke with Marr's smooth acoustic guitar washes. With Joyce playing tapping beats for the verse and a more traditional drum accompaniment on the chorus along with Marr's rich, arpeggio-laden guitar melodies, it reveals the unique approach the band takes towards song structure. Never Had No One Ever is a slow yet mid-tempo track with Joyce's pulsating drums, Rourke's low bass rumbles, and Marr's washy guitar riffs with chiming melodies. Morrissey's vocals are dramatic in its melancholia as he sings lyrics filled with despair and angst. With Morrissey's wailing, operatic-style vocals and Marr's haunting keyboard accompaniment, it's a track that displays the band's unique sound taken into new heights.

Cemetery Gates is a smooth, upbeat track with Joyce's swift, pulsating track and hi-hat cymbal taps along with Rourke's rockabilly-style bass lines. With Marr's washy, arpeggio-laden guitar tracks accompanying Morrissey's calm, engaging vocals. The song's lyrics filled with subtle attacks on critics revealed his wit and humor as Marr's guitar and the band's rhythm provide a soothing accompaniment. Bigmouth Strikes Again is an upbeat track with swift, rapid rhythms and Marr's opening acoustic guitar washes. With Morrissey's calm, superb vocals leading the track, the song's lyrics are filled with wit and direct references over a character's comments. With Marr's intricate, apreggio-chime driven flourishes, the song features Morrissey singing in a high-pitch backing vocal as it's one of the band's best singles.

Another single, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side is a mid-tempo track led by Marr's washy acoustic guitar track filled with his electric, chime-laden flourishes and a thumping rhythm from Joyce and Rourke. With Morrissey's calm, wailing vocals, the song is filled with melancholic lyrics that are filled with despair and angst making it one of the band's most poignant singles. Most notably, Johnny Marr's rich guitar solo filled with intricate, melodic arpeggio riffs as the album version contains a background of synthesized string arrangements. Vicar In A Tutu is a rollicking, thumping track with bouncy rhythms, Marr's arpeggio-laden guitar melodies meshed with rockabilly riffs, and Morrissey's witty, humorous lyrics. With Joyce and Rourke providing a thumping, rockabilly style rhythm to the track, it's a song that works to maintain the Smith's sound in a different style while emphasizing on Morrissey's sense of humor.

The ballad There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is one of the band's most majestic songs with its soothing, mid-tempo rhythm, Marr's somber guitar washes, and Morrissey's calm yet enchanting vocals. Filled with lyrics about longing and loneliness, it's one of Morrissey's poignant moments due to its lyrics and an amazing arrangement of synthesized string by Marr to accompany the song in its chorus and coda. The album closer Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others fades in and out with Marr's intricate, melodic guitar flourishes and thumping rhythms from Joyce's drums and Rourke's wobbly bass track. With Morrissey's soothing, wailing vocals and melancholic lyrics filled with imagery-laden description, it's a fitting closer to the album that ends with a flourishing yet somber instrumental coda.

Released in June 1986, the album would become the Smiths most acclaimed album to date while reaching number 2 in the U.K. charts. In the U.S., the album peaked at 70 while being a hit record in the underground and college rock music scenes. Despite its success and acclaim, the Smiths forged on with non-LP hit singles as they were briefly a five-piece until October 1986 when Craig Gannon left the band. While the band would sign with EMI, the new deal would give the band the chance to be exposed to wider audiences in the months to come.

The Queen Is Dead is an elegant, superb, and brilliant masterpiece from the Smiths. Thanks to a layered and crisp production by Morrissey and Johnny Marr with help from Stephen Street and John Porter. It's album that is filled amazing songs carried by three classic singles and album cuts that are truly brilliant. Of the band's studio albums, this is the band's best album as it's an album that has a great flow of songs from start to finish. A sound that is broad yet simple and featuring some of Morrissey's best lyrics. In the end, The Queen Is Dead is truly the Smiths' greatest achievement.

The Smiths Albums: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow - Meat is Murder - Louder than Bombs - Strangeways, Here We Come

(C) thevoid99 2011

The Smiths-Meat is Murder

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/23/09.

Following the release of their debut album and the compilation album Hatful of Hollow, the Smiths were clearly becoming the new leaders of the British indie music scene. Bringing back guitar-driven pop in the age of synth-pop has made the Smiths heroes as fans found relevance with Morrissey's witty, dramatic lyrics while aspiring musicians found a new guitar hero in Johnny Marr. With hit singles reaching the British singles charts and becoming underground hits as well as college radio hits in the U.S., the Smiths were on the verge of becoming big in their native country. In early 1985, the Smiths would release their sophomore album entitled Meat Is Murder.

Produced and performed by the Smiths with engineering work from Stephen Street, Meat Is Murder is an album that allowed the band to diversify in various genres while sticking to their jangly, simplistic sound. The album's title refers to Morrissey and Johnny Marr's vegetarianism that is part of the album's lyrical themes along with more political content concerning the Margaret Thatcher era of Britain. While the record doesn't have the simplistic, introspective tone of the band's first album, it's still a fascinating record from the band featuring some great songs written by Morrissey and Marr.

The album opener The Headmaster Ritual is an upbeat, bouncy track with Marr's jangly riffs, Mike Joyce's hard hitting drums, and Andy Rourke's wobbly bass. Morrissey sings in his calm, tenor vocal with dramatic flair as he sings with his desperate, political lyrics. With Joyce's thumping back beats and Marr's intricate, melodic playing, it's a fitting opener to the album along with Morrissey's wailing vocal yelps in parts of the song. Rusholme Ruffians is another upbeat track with Joyce's thumping tracks, Marr's swift acoustic washes, and Rourke's rockabilly-style bass lines as Morrissey sings calmly. With lyrics filled with witty yet melancholic lyrics, it's a real standout due to its washy presentation mixed in with rockabilly-style riffs. I Want The One I Can't Have is thumping, swift track with upbeat, vibrant beats from Joyce and Rourke along with Marr's jangly, washy guitar riffs with arpeggio flourishes. With Morrissey's calm, operatic-like vocal style, he sings lyrics with despairing imagery and angst, it's another standout cut from the band.

What She Said is another upbeat track with shimmering rhythms and riffs with Marr playing more furiously as Morrissey sings in his high, calm vocal style. Featuring angst-laden lyrics and post-punk style rhythms, it's another cut that shows the band diversifying in their musical style with Morrissey providing stellar, unique vocals. The single That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore is a ballad-style track with Marr's washy acoustic introduction and Morrissey's melancholic lyrics with his calm, smooth vocals. With a slow, thumping rhythm to accompany Marr and Morrissey, it's one of the band's key singles that displays the band's versatile style with swooning guitars from Marr and Rourke's soft, wobbly bass lines.

A bonus track on American versions of the album is the classic single How Soon Is Now? that opens with Marr's vibrato guitar shimmers that features haunting swirls to Joyce's thundering, intense beats and Rourke's wobbly bass. With Morrissey's haunting vocals and eerie lyrics of alienation and sadness, it's the band's most defining hit as it features Marr's flourishing guitar arpeggio melodies. Morrissey's haunting lyrics including the famed chorus of "You shut your mouth, how can you say/I go about things the wrong way/I am Human and I need to be loved/Just like everybody else does". At six-minutes and forty-six seconds, it's truly one of the most defining songs of the 1980s and rock n' roll history. Nowhere Fast is a thumping, upbeat track with rollicking snare beats, warbling bass lines, and Marr's swift, washy guitar riffs featuring arpeggio melodies. With Morrissey's calm vocals and humorous lyrics with direct lyrics towards the Queen revealing the humor in Morrissey's political commentary.

Well I Wonder is a smooth, mid-tempo track with washy acoustic guitar riffs and a slow, thumping track as Morrissey sings in a calm, operatic-like vocal style. With Morrissey's dramatic lyrics of despair, the song is an excellent though not a real standout due to its rhythms and presentation despite Marr's rich acoustic guitar flourishes and Morrissey's vocals. Barbarism Begins At Home is a funk-inspired track with Rourke's funky bass wobbles, sputtering beats by Joyce, and Marr's swanky, spurting guitar riffs. While the sound towards funk shows a new side to the Smiths, the song isn't that great due to Morrissey's anti-corporal punishment lyrics that are a bit too obtuse to gather despite Morrissey's vocals. The album closer is the title track that is a pro-vegetarian track that opens with swirls of distorted guitar noises and eerie, low piano notes as it becomes this smooth, ballad-like track with thumping rhythms and Marr's washy acoustic guitar and piano accompaniment. With Morrissey's soft, haunting vocals, the song tells dark lyrics suggesting Morrissey's vegetarianism stance as it's a fitting closer to the album featuring sounds of animal noises.

Released in early 1985 to excellent reviews, the album reached the number one U.K. album charts for one week which proved to be a surprise. Outside of compilation albums, it would be the band's only number one album during their brief time together. While the album proved to be popular with fans, Morrissey courted controversy over his politics with critiques over Margaret Thatcher and the Band Aid charity. Around the same time, the band were playing to sell-out clubs as audiences often joined them on stage. While the non-LP single Shakespeare's Sister and That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore would continue the band's streak of hit singles, they were still being a cult sensation during that year as they toured the U.K. and U.S. It was also around the same time Marr and Morrissey were writing new music for their third album as trouble was brewing both personally and professionally during that year.

While it's often regarded as the band's weakest studio release, Meat Is Murder is still a fine, well-crafted album from the Smiths. Thanks to two classic singles and several top-notch album cuts, it's an album that's still worth hearing for audiences new to the Smiths. Fans of the band often view it as some of their best work proving the band's sense of versatility. While it's not the band's best album, Meat Is Murder is still a fine album from the Smiths.

The Smiths Albums: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow - The Queen is Dead - Louder Than Bombs - Strangeways, Here We Come

(C) thevoid99 2011