The Smiths - Meat Is Murder

Singer Morrissey's brittle wit and guitarist Johnny Marr's incisive guitar helped make the Smiths create both an entranced cult following and pop music of the highest order. The U.S. edition of the band's second album includes the bonus single "How Soon Is Now?" and while it's a welcome addition, the rest of the tracks stand ably on their own. The militant vegetarianism is heavy-handed, but the sly humor of "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" and "I Want the One I Can't Have" present proof of the band's scope, as do the anthemic "The Headmaster Ritual" and "Rusholme Ruffians." --Rob O'Connor Amazon.com

Brilliance begins with The Smiths....

The Smiths only released a handful of albums, but most of them are masterpieces or near masterpieces. This is their 2nd best behind The Queen is Dead. It has arguably their most famous single, How Soon Is Now?. Many have made fun of St. Morrissey because of his "tawdry whining", but who would disagree with the chorus here that "I am human and I need to be loved!"? Only an arrogant, nihilistic punk who prides himself on feeling nothing. Many are just afraid of someone like Morrissey, who really lays it all out and dares you to touch his soul. I've stated in other Smiths reviews that his lyrics are much wittier than most people give him credit for.

There are other brilliant gems here. I love the song What She Said with its brilliant, incisive lyrics. While I do adore How Soon Is Now, my favorite track here has to be Barbarism Begins at Home. There's only a small lyric by Morrissey, but it's one of Marr's most memorable melodies. And despite my propensity for devouring meat, I do like the song Meat is Murder. It's actually quite haunting despite its preachy lyrics, one of the few Morrissey lyrics that I can honestly call preachy. But this is a minor point with a band that I like more as I grow older. Teen angst? No! Human angst, yes. May 4, 2008

Not quite up to par with some of their other albums, but still quite good

It may be something of a middle child in the Smiths' discography (coming, as it did, between their brilliant self-titled debut and the monumental classic that is The Queen Is Dead), but the group's sophomore release is still an excellent album. Stylistically, it shows the group branching out slightly from the moody jangling indie-pop of their debut, beefing up their sound with light experimental elements, as well as the occasional touch of funk. The core sound is still the same, though- the songs are built around Johnny Marr's intricate, understated, and hypnotic guitar constructions, as well as the tongue-in-cheek depression, sarcastic poetry, and haunting vocals of lead singer Steven Patrick Morrissey.

The best songs here easily rival their other classics. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" is one of the Smiths' most haunting songs, with a spine-tingling vocal creating slowly mounting tension while guitars and drums churn apocalyptically in the background. "Rusholme Ruffians" is a prosaic gem, with gorgeous slice-of-life lyrics that are by turns hilarious and heartbreaking twisting their way over a rumbling rockabilly backing. There's also the wailing guitar feedback and bizarrely grim character study of "What She Said," and the nerve-shaking punk funk of "Barbarism Begins At Home." "The Headmaster Ritual" has lyrics that are only so-so (a half-hearted attempt at social commentary that, frankly, falls flat on its face), but it compensates with a great guitar line. "I Want the One I Can't Have" is a wistful pop gem, albeit a minor one. "Nowhere Fast" gets by on a shuffling rhythm and great lines like "When I'm lying in my bed/ I Think about life and I think about death/ And neither one particularly appeals to me."

There is a noticeable drop in quality toward the end of the album- the last four tracks just don't pack the punch that the first six (or five, if you have the British LP) do. The title track is particularly disappointing. Morrissey's lyrics, while undoubtedly graphic, come off as preachy more than anything else, while Marr's melody is only so-so. "Well I Wonder" isn't quite as desolately beautiful as the band wanted, although Morrissey's falsetto sounds nice.

So, a very good album from a band that has done much better. Smiths fans should get this. November 30, 2007

The Blueprint For A Successful Follow-Up Album

In today's day & age of artists releasing albums with the frequency of presidential elections, it seems almost inconceivable that a smash-hit debut could be followed one-year later by another equally-impressive album. But that's exactly what The Smiths did in early 1985 with Meat Is Murder. "How Soon Is Now?" and "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" are the two main standouts, however "Rusholme Ruffians", "Nowhere Fast", and "I Want The One I Can't Have" rival anything off the band's self-titled release. Morrissey continues his heady and socially-conscious songwriting, while Johnny Marr takes his guitar-playing up a few notches - which is ultimately showcased on "How Soon..." (the rhythm guitar-track was conveniently sampled on Soho's 1990 hit "Hippie Chick", and one could make a case that Marr stole the main bent-chord from Jimmy Page's riff on Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song"). Even Andy Rourke gets into the act with his funky bass line contribution on "Barbarism Begins At Home". No weak spots on this gem, which will surely spark your interest from start to finish. If not, you don't know what's good for you. April 11, 2007

"Gasping - but somehow still alive"

The Smiths' second album of new material is essential listening for an unlikely reason: it contains some the band's most mediocre songs. Now, "mediocre" is a relative term of course, considering that we are talking about the greatest band to emerge in the last quarter-century, i.e., since The Jam broke up in '82. It isn't that Morrissey's voice sounds bad (how could it?), or that Johnny Marr's guitar playing is less than tasteful. It's just that somehow the words and the music just aren't as great as one would expect.

Most of the tracks on this album are not particularly well-known ones. However, "How Soon Is Now?" pops up in the middle of the American issue. This is one of the band's best-known and best-loved songs. It is not, however, one my personal favorites, if for no other reason than it is over six-and-a-half minutes long. For a group whose music is informed by classic pop ideals, The Smiths sure have a tendency to let their songs run a bit too long. This is especially to the detriment of the closing tracks. The nearly 7-minute "Barbarism Begins at Home" is quite good, as is the title track (even if it is a bit, dare I say, ham-fisted), but they just go on forever, and therefore lose some of their impact in the process.

Other than "How Soon Is Now?", the only song that will be familiar to neophyte Smiths fans is the excellent single "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", which includes the fathomlessly clever line "It was dark as I drove the point home". Not surprisingly, The Smiths are more successful with shorter songs. "What She Said", "Nowhere Fast", and "Well I Wonder" are the album's best songs. "I Want the One I Can't Have", on the other hand, expresses what was even by this point in his career a pretty trite Morrissey sentiment. And I still haven't mentioned the opening tracks, "The Headmaster Ritual" and "Rusholme Ruffians". Sadly, there isn't really much to say about them, apart from that they sound a bit juvenile and uninspired. (Although the "Marie's the Name of His Latest Flame" riff on the latter is a nice touch).

Given the excitement that had built up around The Smiths by 1985, it is not surprising that Meat Is Murder entered the UK album chart at #1. Fans were certainly justified in their expectations for the album, and were right to rush out and by it. Unfortunately, the material on the album proved to be disappointing by any standards. Fortunately, it was not enough to bring down the band's hopes, as they re-emerged in the finest form of their career with their next release. While Meat is Murder is not essential in the all-embracing sense of the term, it is worth hearing for that very reason. After all, every great band has at least one album that demonstrates what they sound like at their not-so-great. In the case of The Smiths, that album is Meat Is Murder. March 12, 2007

Militant Smiths

I gave two other Smiths CD 5 stars, the great 'The Queen Is Dead' and a Singles collection. This album just doesn't reach the level of TQID and therefore I have to give it just 3 stars. January 8, 2007

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