Ranking The Smiths Discography

 

(artwork property of Leonel Fernandez Art)

A band I knew only through peripheral vision for a long, long time. I used to jam on bass guitar in my former apartment with some older friends of my housemate (I was in my mid 20s, they were 40+) who loved The Smiths. Oftentimes these jams could drift into slow psychedelic jangle pop and I, completely oblivious of the band beyond "How Soon Is Now?" at the time, would shrug and try to play along with a Spoon bassline. It still worked (damn, I should do a Spoon look eventually). 

The Smiths were an astonishing band when you consider they were together for barely five years. That's together, not from first album to last. As the legend goes, aspiring guitarist Johnny Marr knew of Steven Morrissey through a book he wrote on the New York Dolls, so went and knocked on Morrissey's door with a mutual friend to propose they start a band together. It took them a while to find a rhythm section, rolling through various friends during early live gigs until Andy Rourke (who'd played with Marr in another band) took over bass duties and Mike Joyce settled in on the drum kit. 

They're a difficult band to judge. Their considerable output exists in such a short span of time and thus the evolution in their sound is mostly subtle,, a major creative reason why Marr left the band and effectively ended it. He wanted to stretch out musically and while you can debate the quality of his post-Smiths work, you can at least understand his desire to not be stuck in a creative direction he felt had been exhausted. We also have to briefly talk about Morrissey, who is a self-important arse with seriously awful opinions... but also a seriously skilled lyricist. Some debate his singing ability but I do like his affected croon very much... kind of like a wordy and vulnerable version of Bryan Ferry from Roxy Music (who I believe Morrissey himself considers an influence). I'd be negligent also if I didn't shout out Mike Nelson's hilarious and brilliant Morrissey impression. MST3K forever baby. True legends a generation ahead of the YouTube review commentary era. 

Marr and Morrissey were the primary songwriters of the band without exception (Marr composing the music and Morrissey handling the lyrics). Rourke and Joyce just played along, and did so quite damn admirably (the most underrated aspect of The Smiths). Hey though, let's get into their actual output and judge for ourselves. Because they only have four actual studio albums, I'm going to include two compilation albums within the ranking because, while there will be some overlap, these specific two compilations cover a lot of essential stuff and so many of The Smiths singles are truly necessary when discussing them. Exploring a lot of these more obscure tunes for this article, I am truly impressed how few bad songs they really have. Some leave little impression, but almost none make me want to cringe, mute or curse. 

My good friend Mitchell Janiak also has some thoughts on The Smiths:

The Smiths are a strange product of the post-punk 80s scene marrying infectious pop melodies, a balancing act of heart-on-sleeve introspective musings penned and sung by Morrissey coupled with the instant ear-worms played by the incomparable Johnny Marr. They blasted through a 5 year stint together with 4 albums that each have several strengths and weaknesses. 

Perhaps due to the very nature of the construction of the band being an outpouring of angst, wit, dark humour and rhythmic hooks, the Smiths played fast and loose with their tunes and albums, and arguably apart from "The Queen is Dead", their albums are a disjointed mess of ideas, feelings, and catchy sections and snippets that sometimes collide and clash, much like the scribbles in a brooding teenager's journal. 

This bleeding heart approach helped prove The Smiths as an exceptional singles band. Some of their most well-known songs never made it onto an official album release, save for one of their compilation albums. Songs like "How Soon is Now?", with its tremolo effects and its almost siren-like guitar along with Morrissey's indignant and open assertions that he's "human and need(s) to be loved, just like everybody else does", to the happy-sounding but painfully honest  "Ask" or "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", these songs never found a proper home on a studio album. 

Due to this shotgun blast of emotionally lyrical and melodic music, I wouldn't say there's any particular benefit to experiencing the Smiths in order or by going through each album in its completion. Morrissey can start to feel a bit repetitive at times, often elevated by the musicianship that surrounds him, but when he hits the nail he hits it square on the head and cuts deep into an emotional core that most people can relate to on some level. Everyone has felt isolated, alone, like they are swimming upstream in a current of downstream fish, and the painful frustrations of living in a society and feeling things, as simple as that sounds. When he sings "Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said that you should be bludgeoned in your bed", on Bigmouth Strikes Again, it's easy to picture a lover trying to apologize for the raging threats and insults levied during a bad spat some time before, a feeling (if not the exact situation) many people will be familiar with and able to latch unto. And it's that ability to connect with people that The Smiths nailed so well. 

 

They tapped into the mundane situations of daily life that are sources of anxiety, awkwardness, and dark humour for many people. The ability to tap into the uncomfortable is evident in songs like "A Rush and A Push and the Land is Ours". The chorus exposes the indignant entitlement he feels saying "A rush and a push and the land that we stand on is ours, it has been before, and so it shall be again, and people who are uglier than you and I, they take what they need and just leave". This entitlement stems from the song originating as a poem by Oscar Wilde's mother regarding the English takeover of Ireland, and Morrissey being the son of Irish immigrants felt a connection to that land. He takes it beyond that patriotism to a sense of possession over everything around him, most lamenting the inability to harness and possess love in the same way. Musically, this tune was the first [of the Smiths] to feature no guitars at all, something Johnny Marr specifically set out to accomplish in order to avoid being stuck in the "pop jangle".

 

"Stop me if you think you've heard this one before" proves their prowess at creating a hook out of anything, even something as verbose as that song title (hell of a mouthful!). What a horribly honest feeling to sing about -  "I still love you, only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love". It's a song of excuses as to where the protagonist has been, coming up with all sorts of things to get out of the confrontation with his partner, all stemming from this love that's devolved into diminishing returns.

 

Now, to take a line from the Smiths themselves, "typical me, I started something and now I'm not too sure". Because I've wound my way around a few tracks and carved a path where none lay. I can tell you to listen to the entirety of 'The Queen is Dead' and I know you'll have a dark and baroque time, or to listen to the first side of 'Strangeways Here We Come' and know that you'll find some joy in the morbid and tumultuously catchy few tracks there, but I could equally steer you towards 'Hatful of Hollow' or 'Louder Than Bombs', two fantastic Smiths compilation albums and know you'll enjoy jumping through cherry-picked tracks like flipping through the pages of your diary to your best worst high school days and drowning in the lingering angst. There's no right way to enjoy The Smiths. Maybe your experience lies in 80s nostalgia parties or movie marathons, or random vinyl listening sessions with a good friend. Whatever the case may be, just know that "These things take time", and your time will come.

 

Stellar stuff my friend. Can't remotely envision a better introduction than that. All right giddy up, lets see what this particular charming blogger has to say.

 

#6. Louder Than Bombs (1987)

***

  

A compilation album just loaded with stuff. Some of it might be the worst stuff they ever recorded, like the bizarre cover of "Golden Lights". Chunks of it underwhelm. It's an album of B-sides or alternate versions of songs from the first album (both of which overlap with other compilations) and there are 24 of them. 

Honestly it's only on this ranking because of a few songs that don't appear anywhere else (not even the tighter compilation The World Won't Listen) and so in a way this is an essential part of their discography. Overall, it's not a cohesive listen, but the standout tracks like "Shoplifters of The World", "Half a Person", "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" and "Panic" are worth seeking out, as is the album closer "Asleep"... which just so sounds like a proto-Radiohead piano ballad I'm 98 percent sure Thom Yorke knew of it and expanded upon that sound exponentially.

 

#5. Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)

***1/2

  

My first introduction to The Smiths, strangely enough (see what I did there?). A dear friend of mine (you've read him already if you've gotten this far) had me over for some beers and tunes back in 2017 before he went off to teach overseas. He talked about how he loved this band and played the first side of "Strangeways" on his vinyl record player. I was impressed enough to eventually check out some of their other albums and well... here I am writing about this freaking band so well done buddy! Conversion successful.

As an album, Strangeways doesn't blow me away (see what I did there? Okay I'll stop) but it's fairly solid. "Death of a Disco Dancer" again reminds me of mid 90s Radiohead with the moodiness but without the heavy guitar (you could plop it into OK Computer easily). "Girlfriend In A Coma" is the sweetest and catchiest 'dark-as-fuck' maybe song of the entire 80s while "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before" is delightfully poppy, sing-along-songy and lyrically amusing with the protagonist constantly inventing excuses to a jilted lover. This album has some strong moments, and of all The Smiths studio albums this sounds the most inventive or off-script. 

Unfortunately the second half is very underwhelming. None of those songs leave any impression... they're not bad just extremely forgettable, lacking engaging songcraft, which docks this album serious points and leaves it as their worst studio effort.

 

#4. The Smiths (1984)

****

  

It's considered a seminal classic by many... a stunning debut and possibly one of the best of those by any rock band ever. Cool. I think it's a very good album. Legendary? Nah. 

The problem is I don't like every song. "Reel Around The Fountain" is okay (and really a perfect introduction to anybody who has never heard Morrissey before... yeah this is what he's gonna sound like a lot). "Miserable Lie" though is so irritating when he starts doing that falsetto yelp for the entire second half of the song. It becomes unlistenable. Shut up dude. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.

That said, this record has some true gems. "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" is gorgeous twang love with ideal delicate vocals, "You've Got Everything Now" strikes a precise balance of jealousy, bitterness and self pity (Morrissey is good at that stuff), "Suffer Little Children" tackles its dark subject matter (the 60s Moors murders) with delicate care and not hooplah or sensationalism... and "Still Ill" just remains a great damn song. 

My biggest issue is just how sleek and polished it all sounds. The drums and bass are lost in the glossiness of the mix, while Marr's unique jangle guitar sound seems understated at the wrong points. There are far superior versions of many of these songs and I'll discuss that very soon. Meanwhile, The Smiths is a terrific debut but far from the level of excellence they'd eventually reach. 

 

#3. Meat Is Murder (1985)

****

  

Yeah... I agree the title track is a bit much. A shame, because the first three songs on this album are the best stretch they have on any record.

"Headmaster Ritual" is a wonderful goddamn tune and a perfect opener... throwing you off balance at every twist and corner, akin to evading bullies in school. These guys sure seem to like it a lot. "Rusholme Ruffians" brings Morrissey's love of Elvis and rockabilly into the spotlight and successfully so (unlike "Vicar In a Tutu"). "I Want The One I Can't Have" mixes romantic desperation with fast fun pop melodies, while "What She Said" captures that sensation of thoughts rushing with social anxiety and second guessing the hell out of it. 

The band is notably improving in regards to how they're recording these songs, embracing a more controlled chaotic sound over the 'polish-it-until-it-shines' sound of the debut album. This record sounds like it breathes better, it's looser, which makes it a damn shame the second half is so lacking. "Well I Wonder" is a completely soft generic Morrissey ballad with little to give it distinction, "Barbarism Begins At Home" has a damn great bassline but the song itself is three minutes too long... and the title track is apt but annoyingly preachy without anything musical to shadow that error. I go vegetarian every March, but this song makes me want to go straight to a pork roast BBQ just in sheer defiance. A terrible closer to an otherwise very good record.     

#2. Hatful of Hollow (1984)

****1/2

  

What makes Hollow so remarkable is how a lot of this material is just the debut album, but these earlier versions are just way better. The production isn't as sleek... it's just the band playing and they're so damn tight that songs like the damn awesome "Still Ill" and "Hand In Glove" hit harder than they do elsewhere. This superior version of "This Charming Man" brings Johnny Marr's genius guitar work truly into focus (the gorgeous shimmering tone just showers over ya), while other essential Smiths songs showcase Morrissey's endlessly insecure pondering lyrics like "William It Was Really Nothing" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" are found here. Less glossiness means more space for the band to truly sound damn great, and considering how tight the rhythm section of Rourke and Joyce are on these recordings... this album just pops with energy even considering the usual morbidness of Morrissey's words. 

Vocally Morrissey is also excellent here, not diving into irritating falsetto for no reason (like on "Miserable Lie"), instead sticking to his distinctively effective pseudo-croon wail over a tight, energetic jangly rock outfit. Hatful of Hollow indeed might be the perfect intro album to The Smiths: it has the hits like "How Soon Is Now?" or "Charming Man" and isn't as pretentious or desperate for your attention like Meat Is Murder is for significant stretches. 

Every album lower on the list than this one makes the critical error of hiding just how good this band was, either by studio sheen or Morrissey being... well Morrissey. Take away the sheen and you hear the rest of the mechanisms more prominently in the mix, and the gears are seamless. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" just haunts with quiet minimalism, Morrissey singing like an understated Ghost of Christmas Past about the heavy subject matter. What a song. 

Or take "Handsome Devil", bursting with nervous and frantic sensual energy... which Morrissey emotionally captures with precision. Marr's guitar meanwhile takes more of a spotlight on so many of these versions and he is just brilliant. Why wasn't he more prominent in the mix on like every song they ever did? What a player. 

Hatful loses some steam near the end (as most of their albums seem to, and this isn't a studio album don't forget) but still. What a record.   

 

#1. The Queen Is Dead (1986)

*****

 

It isn't my favourite album of the 80s. But... I seriously think you can argue it as the best album of the 80s (assuming you consider London Calling a 70s record of course). This is one of the best records ever made, full stop. 

Everything is just in top form: Morrissey's lyrics are as sharp, dry and darkly funny as ever, even while he wallows... Marr provides so many interesting musical touches and his guitar just flourishes on this record... Rourke and Joyce play tighter than ever and yeah this album has some damn wicked basslines too (like the opening of "Cemetery Gates" or "There Is A Light"). An excellent band at the height of their considerable powers. 

What separates it from other good Smiths albums is the cinematic quality of it. Their other albums feel just like a collection of mostly really good songs. Queen Is Dead takes you on a journey: the frantic groove of the opening track twists you next into a funky tale of a fella sick of working for a shady boss, then into the tragic acceptance/not acceptance realization of "I Know It's Over" (a song that helped me through a breakup or two). These songs simultaneously showcase the diverse range of the band, yet despite the differences in tone and feel they all flow together so naturally in concept and sound. 

And there are so many damn classics on this record. "Cemetery Gates" is Morrissey at his sarcastically morbid lyrical best ("let's go where we're happy and I'll meet you at the cemetery gates")... "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is an ode to loneliness and just wanting to belong somewhere.... "Bigmouth Strikes Again" with its passive aggressive meanness is just goddamn awesome... geez this album is nearly perfect. "Vicar In a Tutu" messes up the momentum, Morrissey's Elvis impression leading it to sound more like a B-side than anything... but every song surrounding it is good enough to forgive the indulgence. Just a remarkable, emotionally and musically sweeping album. "The Boy With A Thorn In His Side"... pop doesn't get much more perfect than that.

 

 

Hey, short and easy this time. Anyhow the "big" project is coming up... the lads from Oxfordshire who formed on a Friday... perhaps the greatest rock band of our generation (if you can even call them "rock" anymore). The incomparable Radiohead... coming up next. As much as I love The Smiths... if we're talking Radiohead we're talking arguably the greatest band of all time. Beatles level stuff. But why is that? Well.. stay tuned and see ya next time.