The Smiths (album)
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| The Smiths | ||
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| Missing image The_Smiths_-_The_Smiths.jpg Album sleeve | ||
| Album by The Smiths | ||
| Released | February 20, 1984 | |
| Recorded | Manchester and London, Winter 1983 | |
| Genre | Indie | |
| Length | 45 min 36 sec | |
| Record label | Rough Trade | |
| Producer | John Porter, The Smiths | |
| Professional reviews | ||
| AMG | 5 stars out of 5 | link (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47D1ED847A47E20E0B11A40DEB561F61A8F1AACD83E284541D1B43844C30E79EC40A6D8B1E8B800E203E3FE2FBB5C10D1CAEE52B0D86C3D3987EEA6705843&sql=10:sekzikm6bb79) |
| Q | 4 stars out of 5 | October 1993 (http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=123129&resource=123129&fixture_artist=145936) |
| Rolling Stone | 4 stars out of 5 | link (http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/cd/review.asp?aid=40778&cf=387) |
| The Smiths Chronology | ||
(none) | The Smiths (1984) | Hatful of Hollow (1984) |
The Smiths is the eponymous debut album of the band The Smiths, released on February 20, 1984. The album was well received by the critics as well as the public, and it established the Smiths as a prominent band in the 1980s music scene in the United Kingdom.
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About the album
The album was particularly important and influential because it went against the grain of the popular music of the time. Its sound stood in stark opposition to the synthpop or post-punk genres, coming off as 60s melodic guitar rock made unique by Johnny Marr's layered, note-intensive playing and Morrissey's superficially despondent but wit-filled lyrics, unique voice, and contrary song structure.
Cover
The sleeve for The Smiths was designed by Morrissey. It features American actor Joe Dallesandro in a cropped still from Andy Warhol's 1968 film Flesh.
Song-by-song description
The songs themselves are equally compelling. "Reel Around the Fountain", a track about lust and deflowering, opens the album, Morrissey's subdued vocal being backed by equally subdued drum, guitar, piano, and organ tracks. "You've Got Everything Now" and "Miserable Lie" combine catchy, powerful choruses with more serious and simpler verses to good effect.
"Pretty Girls Make Graves" is a song about the inability of an adolescent man to fulfill his culture's stereotyped sexual/relational expectations: I could have been wild and I could have 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, sings Morrissey. The stunning falsetto of the chorus is complemented by a powerful and effective barrage of tom drums, while the verses see a prominent bassline being supported by excellent guitar work. The strong musical and lyrical components of the song make it one of The Smiths' best remembered.
"The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" a song that some believed was about child molestation (an accusation vehemently denied), follows. Although it features a looping guitar part, the song adds or amplifies instruments, keeping it interesting throughout. Morrissey's lyrics contain no verse-chorus structure, giving the song the feel of a poem set to music, which somehow makes it strangely beautiful. At one point, it was considered to name the album after this track but in the end they went with the simpler The Smiths instead.
"Still Ill" and "Hand in Glove", a remix of the band's debut single follow. They are more traditional pop tunes made interesting by Marr and Morrissey's unique style. The former sees the singer ruing the attraction of a person with whom he desires no relationship, while "Hand in Glove" is, in Morrissey's words, "the most important song ever written". It appears to be a us-versus-the-world love song, until the song's last lines reverse the feeling into doomed romanticism.
"What Difference Does It Make" is a punk-influenced rock track that became the album's best selling single. "I Don't Owe You Anything" is a swaying track about a particularly forceful relationship.
"Suffer Little Children", a song about the Moors Murders, closes the album. With a similar structure and subject matter to "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", the song is sung from the perspective of the children who had been murdered. Its poetic nature and subtle musical backing make it a memorable closer. "Suffer Little Children" was the first song that Morrissey and Marr wrote together on that memorable day in 1982 when they first met.
The American edition of the record, released in April, 1984, by their American record company, Sire Records, included the 1983 single "This Charming Man". When in 1992 WEA bought the entire Smiths back catalogue, the album was re-released in its American configuration.
Track listing
LP
Side A
- Reel Around the Fountain
- You've Got Everything Now
- Miserable Lie
- Pretty Girls Make Graves
- The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Side B
- This Charming Man (some editions only)
- Still Ill
- Hand in Glove
- What Difference Does It Make?
- I Don't Owe You Anything
- Suffer Little Children
Compact disc
Same as LP.
"This Charming Man" did not appear on the UK and European releases of The Smiths. It was, however, included on the American release because it hadn't been released as a single in the States. When WEA re-issued all Smiths albums in 1992, the American format was used.
People involved
The band
Additional musicians
- Annalisa Jablonska - voice on "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and "Suffer Little Children"
- Paul Carrack - keyboard instruments