The Queen Is Dead
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| The Queen is Dead | ||
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| Missing image TheSmithsTheQueenIsDead.jpg Album sleeve | ||
| Album by The Smiths | ||
| Released | June 16, 1986 | |
| Recorded | England, late 1985 | |
| Genre | indie | |
| Length | 37 min 07 sec | |
| Record label | Rough Trade | |
| Producer | Morrissey and Marr | |
| Professional reviews | ||
| The Smiths Chronology | ||
| Meat Is Murder (1985) | The Queen Is Dead (1986) | The World Won't Listen (1987) |
The Queen Is Dead is an album by The Smiths. It was released on June 16, 1986 by their U.K. record company, Rough Trade, and reached No. 2 in the British charts. Their U.S. record company released the album on June 23, 1986. The album reached No. 71 on the Billboard 200.
In 1997 The Queen Is Dead was named the 15th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 21 and in 2005 Channel 4 viewers placed it at number 20.
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About the album
After releasing their September 1985 single, "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (which is included on The Queen Is Dead in an updated, partly re-recorded version), The Smiths turned to recording their third album. Pressure was high on the band to produce an album that met the high expectations within the press and the fan base, and especially Johnny Marr worked day and night in the studio recording and producing the music. The band wanted to release the album as soon as possible, but relations with their record company, Rough Trade, were not at their best at the time. In early 1986, all communications broke down and the album's release was indefinitely postponed.
The Queen Is Dead, produced by Morrissey and Marr with Stephen Street engineering, finally emerged half a year late, in June 1986, and was previewed by the May single release of "Bigmouth Strikes Again", strictly speaking the only single taken from the album. It did not fare as well as expected, stalling at No. 26 on the British charts.
The song "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out", widely seen as the epitome of The Smiths, was a contender for lead single off the album, but was passed over in favour of "Bigmouth Strikes Again". It received a belated release of its own in 1992, when it became one of WEA's singles in its programme to promote its Smiths re-releases (see the entry on ...Best II).
The Queen Is Dead is popularly regarded as their best. With its unique blend of musical styles from the past fifteen years, including jangle pop, British Invasion, mod, rockabilly and punk rock, it quickly became a British sensation and established The Smiths as one of the biggest bands of its era. Both Morrissey and Marr disagree, however, citing its 1987 successor (and unexpectedly final Smiths LP), Strangeways, Here We Come, as their peak.
Cover
The album cover of The Queen Is Dead, designed by Morrissey, features Alain Delon from the 1964 film L'insoumis.
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Morrissey/Marr except "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty" written by Mills/Godfrey-Scott.
LP
Side A
- Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty/The Queen Is Dead (medley) - 6:53
- Frankly Mr. Shankly - 2:17
- I Know It's Over - 5:48
- Never Had No One Ever - 3:36
- Cemetry Gates - 2:39
Side B
- Bigmouth Strikes Again - 3:12
- The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (album version) - 3:15
- Vicar in a Tutu - 2:21
- There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - 4:02
- Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others - 3:14
Compact disc
Same as LP.
People involved
The band
- Morrissey – voice
- Johnny Marr – guitars, harmonium, synthesized strings and flute arrangements
- Andy Rourke – bass guitar
- Mike Joyce – drums
Additional musicians
The sleeve notes list "Ann Coates" as backing vocalist and "The Hated Salford Ensemble" as being responsible for orchestration; in reality, it's a speeded-up vocal part by Morrissey and the synthesized strings and flute arrangements by Johnny Marr, respectively.
Ancoats is a district of Manchester
Technical staff
- Morrissey and Marr – producers
- Stephen Street – engineer (except A2)
- John Porter – engineer (A2)