The Smiths - The Smiths

With their debut album, the Smiths launched an all-too-brief, but profound career that, largely owing to their outspoken lead singer, would be enshrouded in controversy and cultlike devotion. Lyrically, Steven Patrick Morrissey waxed haute poetic about homosexuality ("Hand in Glove") and child murders ("Suffer Little Children"). Musically, this album kicked a hole through the lip-glossed synth-pop that dominated the early-'80s music scene. Still cloaked in the lingering influences of New Romantic new wave and Clash-like punk, this album, like most great rock debuts, represents the group at its most raw and stark. But the core elements of the Smiths' sound, rooted in Morrissey's subtly off-key, morose crooning and nearly freeform lyrical arrangements floating over guitarist Johnny Marr's plucky, concise guitar riffs, are well-established here. The rhythm section displayed a similar relationship: Andy Rourke's mobile bass lines seemed almost to disregard any supportive undertones they could have lent to Mike Joyce's straight-ahead, no nonsense drum patterns. All the tugging and pulling worked brilliantly, cementing the sound that made the Smiths a landmark band of the 1980s. --Beth Bessmer Amazon.com essential recording

"I'm not the man you think I am"

Anyone who still doubts the raw, cathartic power of the Smiths should listen to this album. Specifically, they should listen to "Pretty Girls Make Graves." They should listen to Johnny Marr's rattled, lopsided guitar chords, to the menacing squirm of the bass line, to that Merseybeat-via-Ramones drum performance. But most of all, they should listen to Morrissey. They should take in every dip and curve of his voice, to the spooked sophistication of his falsetto, the ghostly rumble of the opening verse. His performance is a masterpiece of emotional release, a steady rush of wit and desperation. Like Frank Sinatra and Johnny Rotten before him, Morrissey knows how to extract real meaning from his lyrics, how to stretch and tease and twist language, how to express emotion through sheer sound. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the words are great, too. The lyrics are pure shattered poetry, full of perfectly placed images and rhymes and cadences. In a few tortured verses, Morrissey presents a harrowing portrait of adolescent sexual frustration, evoking the associated self-doubt and passive aggression with gut wrenching poignancy. The last few lines ("I could've been wild and I could've been free/ But nature played this trick on me/ She wants it now/ And she will not wait/ But she's too rough and I'm too delicate/ Then on the sand/ Another man/ He takes her hand/ A smile/ Lights up her stupid face, and well it would/ I've lost my faith in womanhood") are among the most painfully honest and brutally cathartic lyrics ever composed. The song is an absolute masterpiece, and it isn't even the best track on this album.

That honor belongs to "This Charming Man." There's not much I can say about it (unless you want me to reallllly start rambling, and nobody wants that) except that it's one of the most perfect pop songs in the history of mankind. If it doesn't make your spine tingle, you don't have a spine.

And then there are the other nine. "Reel Around The Fountain" is one of the few Morrissey songs to deal explicitly with sex, and it tackles the subject beautifully: It's a languid, ambiguous musical haze, with lyrics that betray a mind both innocent and poetically filthy ("I dreamt about you last night/ And I fell out of bed twice/ You can pin and mount me/ Like a butterfly"). "Miserable Lie" and "Still Ill" are scorching portraits of youthful disaffection, and "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" is both gorgeous and creepy. "Hand In Glove" and "What Difference Does It Make" are (along with "This Charming Man") the album's resident singles, and they're among the best of the 1980s. "Suffer Little Children" closes the album on a beautiful, apocalyptic note. Beautiful and apocalyptic. That's a good summary of the whole record, actually. Get it. July 5, 2008

IMHO, This is one of the best records of the 80's

I had the pleasure of seeing the Smith's in 1984, shortly after their self titled debut. Still being a teen, I didn't fully appreciate this record. At the time, my favorite bands tended to be from more popular sounds - primarily the last throngs of new wave such as the Missing Persons, X, Police, Oingo Boing, etc. While I enjoyed the record, I didn't grasp its brillance & simplicity. This record was so different in its day, there was really nothing like it.

Furthermore, I didn't fathom their show as being the pinnacle, despite attending many concerts & festivals on two continents during that period, searching for the latest and greatest alternative music. I challenge you to name more than a handful of bands who was making better altnerative music than the Smiths during the 80's.

This record is a must for serious alternative music fans. In my opinion, its the best Smith's record by a long shot. It is also one of the cornerstones for the foundation of the modern alternative movement. As I listen to this record now, it sounds even more honest and genuine than it did 20 years ago. It took a lot of guts to release this album, as it was so different for its time, so intraspective. I've owned other Smith albums, but the others come across as so much more commercial. I suppose the uncompromising nature of this record is what amazes me.

July 3, 2008

THE album that changed my life!

1984. The year I was supposed to graduate from high school but I did not. I had to make up a phys-ed class worth 1/16th of a credit. All because I got an "F" because I told the drunk and vile phys-ed teacher to F***off. I was in-the-closet in high-school, suicidal, lonely, and this phys-ed teacher made it clear that he hated fags. Back then teachers - any teacher - could get away with anti-gay remarks.

This album, with its unabashedly homo-erotic cover art and covertly gay references - was what saved me not only that year but became the essential soundtrack for the rest of my life. It has become the album I come back to always -- more than any other Smiths or Morrissey work. I use to think the other later works from the Smiths and Morrissey were my "favorite" but over time it is this album that I find is the most sharply-focused and has the most "soul".

The Village People, David Bowie, Boy George, and others toyed with and were coy about sexuality, androgyny, and homosexuality - but to me The Smiths and this album in particular was the first real honest, and unabashedly direct about being homosexual. Gay life whether it was laid out in romantic longings and sentiments, or pure outright lust, were given equal (i.e., to "straight" love) and forthright treatment for the first time in my musical experience. The directness of the music, the way the instruments were played, and the production were a perfect match.
If you can distill Morrissey's and the Smiths sound, this work would be 95% proof. Others may say the production is so-so but I disagree. The sound is crisp, the drums and cymbals are tight, the entire album appears to have been played with such an alacrity - no other Smiths or Morrisey work seems to have such a directness about it.

Put on a really good set of headphones and listen to this album, there is no muddiness at all on this work. You hear the guitars, bass, drums, and voice - all distinct yet oh-so-drop-dead-gorgeously intertwined. The music is played so head-on that you get a sense that there is no sense or room for pretense. There is something almost classically baroque about the over-all structure of the songs and melodies that I find gives this album a "classical" and enduring feel to it. The later Smiths/Morrissey works tend to have a more theatrical or orchestral feel to them that while beautiful and grand seems to somehow rely too much on electronic drapery ("How Soon Is Now" being a lead example) you go back and listen those songs and then go back this album, their most seminal work in my humble opinion.

Now I LOVE all of The Smiths/Morrisey's work but their debut album to me is lyrically, musically, rhythmically, vocally, politically, socially, romantically, sexually, and spiritually, their most honest, direct, and purest to who they are/were. I'm not a rock critic but to me this album never ceases to amaze me that every time I listen to it, I always think what a little miracle this album really is - dare I say it is one of the most brilliant and miraculous musical points in rock history. October 14, 2007

Meet me at the fountain

I'm not a kid, and I'm not a music reviewer. But the soundtrack of my collegiate life -- and even on into my middle-aged life now -- was dominated by The Smiths and Morrissey. (And just to gloat, I got to see Morrissey in concert Friday at a tiny venue, and it was awesome.)

I can't recall the first Smiths song I ever heard, but I know who played it for me. My best friend had musical tastes far more wide-ranging than me, and he convinced me to give them a listen. I won't go so far as to say it changed my life, as another reviewer did, but The Smiths' music stunned me with its depth and raw emotion. I acquired one CD of theirs after another, then got Morrissey's solo work, adding each new recording as it came and loading up on imports, bootlegs and singles.

When I went to England, "Everyday Is Like Sunday" was the song I listened to repeatedly on the flight. And when a break-up with a girlfriend devastated me, I turned to the live version of "I Know It's Over" from "Rank" -- and to The Smiths' stark debut album. "It's time the tale were told of how you took a child and you made him old." My youthful, angst-ridden, college boy self found no better words to express how I felt.

Now I'm older, happier, married and largely angst-free. But I still love The Smiths and Morrissey's entire canon of work. It is inextricably bound to my memories, and with Morrissey still recording, it promises to go on with me as the future turns into the past.

One reviewer here said there's a dud on every Smiths album. I disagree. Every Smiths song, from the most tortured to the most frivolous, works on an emotional level; you just have to hear it at the right time. May 30, 2007

"I dreamt about you last night, and I fell out of bed twice"

A debut album like the one by The Smiths makes one wonder: what was life like before it was released? To whom could disaffected teens and twenty-somethings turn before Morrissey made things clear for all who heard him? Interestingly, my life was more or less Smiths-less until I was in my late-20s. The only exposure to them came from my high school best friend, who did everything in his power to get me to like the band. Alas, I was hopelessly devoted to classic and progressive rock at the time, and wasn't about to admit that contemporary popular music that didn't have it's origins in the 1970s could be worthwhile or (heaven forbid) better. Thankfully, I became a convert in time for Morrissey's solo comeback, and I feel that I have more than made up for lost time.

The Smiths were never known for rocking hard, but they were always able to put their own twist on basic rock 'n roll. Throughout their career, this would often take the form of rockabilly. On their debut, it is demonstrated by the spot-on single "Hand In Glove", which marries old-fashioned harmonica with Johnny Marr's R.E.M.-like, trance-inducing arpeggios. Morrissey also presents himself right off the bat as someone who wouldn't pull any punches in terms of subject matter. In this song, he sings of homosexual love as something as sincere and deep or as delicate and fleeting as any other form of love. The band rocks the hardest on "Miserable Lie", which drummer Mike Joyce speeds along in an agile fashion. Morrissey starts to sound like a rooster at the end, but he regains his composure nicely for "Pretty Girls Make Graves".

The latter two tracks began the Morrissey tradition of revealing the disposition of the singer and the song in the title itself. Obviously most of these were not ready-made for widespread appeal. However, Morrissey and Marr knew just as well how to craft a single with hit potential, as indicated not only by "Hand In Glove", but also "This Charming Man" - which is propelled by excellent groovy bass work by Andy Rourke and trademark jangle by Marr - and "What Difference Does It Make?". Perhaps the best way to illustrate the difference between the singles and the rest of the album's songs is to consider the contrast between the first song listeners heard on the radio ("Hand In Glove") and the first one they heard on record, "Reel Around the Fountain". The latter trades all of the radio-ready punch for a more intimate feel. That difference between their singles and non-singles noted, "Still Ill" -also featuring a harmonica - may have proven to be hit-worthy in its own right.

As great as The Smiths' best albums are, they each have one dud on them. On The Queen is Dead, it is "Never Had No One Ever", and on Strangeways, Here We Come it is "Death of a Disco Dancer". On the debut album, it is "I Don't Owe You Anything", which is borderline musak. But like the songs on the other records, it is not enough to make it a lesser album, but simply to slow its momentum a bit. "Suffer Little Children" doesn't pick up the pace or lift one's spirits, but it closes the album by affecting the listener in the way that a Smiths song is meant to.

The Smiths' 1984 debut was one of the best and most important debuts of the 1980s, and in the history of indie/alternative rock. Amazingly, although the released only 4 albums of new material in their time together, it was one of 3 of those albums to be worthy of 5 stars. It was also the start of a career that, in terms of the ratio of length and quality, can only be compared to The Beatles. In his own review of The Smiths' Singles, an Amazon friend of mine referred to Smiths completists as a "vanishing tribe". In my opinion, a completist is the only kind of Smiths fan to be.
March 22, 2007

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