LOUDER THAN BOMBS 4/5 Great compilation, no question. For me it has my favouritre version of Back To The Old House which is a plus, conversely Golden Lights appears on this. Replace that with The Draize Train, no wait - How Soon Is Now and I'd consider another .5 - for me to give anything 5/5 takes a lot of consideration; can't just dish these out like sweets!
It's pretty extraordinary that near the end of a career that only spanned about four years, the Smiths were able to put together a double album of mostly excellent material without using any songs from their albums. And they still had a few songs left over.
As I said before, LTB wasn't on my radar at the time and has thus never really reached it as a programme - I was genuinely surprised when it was part of the 2011 reissue box set and discovered it was regarded as canonical. Such was the 1980's.
Missed a bunch with a long weekend away... "Sheila Take a Bow" -- good song but not quite a great one. 3/5 "Is It Really So Strange?" -- same feel as "Sheila" but somehow I find it just a tad better. Marr's lines and the lyrics give it the edge. 4/5 "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" -- love it. The jangly guitar is spectacular and Morrissey's lyrics here are fun and different from his usual. "In the midst of life we are in debt etcetera!" 4/5 Louder Than Bombs -- as an American kid without the cash for spendy exports, Louder Than Bombs filled in most of the gaps in my collection. It runs a little long which kept it from feeling like an album, but I still expect its sequence when a song pops up on shuffle ("Half a Person" will always follow "Sweet and Tender" in my head). 5/5
Sweet and Tender Holligan Rourke is playing the lead guitar from Devo - Uncontrollable Urge which is kind of cool. The problem here is this feels like an instrumental that Morrissey shouted over at the last minute. 3/5, at least it's got some good energy and near the end the vocal is kind of cool. Louder Than Bombs My first Smiths record. Well, it was the first I listened to once I got the discography once I heard that about half of the good songs weren't on the albums... Yeah, while I do like the proper records, the moment I put on this one I knew it was my sort of thing, though it kind of blew over me. Once I started picking out tracks, I went and listened to Hatful a lot more instead, eventually coming back to this once I played that and S/T a bunch. Ditch... Golden Lights for Money Changes Everything or The Draize Train, and if I dare say... London if they could manage to fit both in place of those two. I know I'm in the minority there but, hey. Still an easy 5/5.
As I live in the UK, Louder Than Bombs was the last The Smiths album I bought, and only in the late 1990s when I was upgrading much of my early record collection from vinyl or cassette to CD. So being from "dear old Blighty" I prefer The World Won't Listen even though it is better value for money.
Louder Than Bombs an easy 5/5, together with Singles, those 2 cd's were enough Smiths for me for at least ten years. Only after that I started to listen to the albums. Plus, it contains the LOVELY "Golden Lights" so what's not to like? , I will keep defending this as long as people keep slaughtering it
It's on the double World Won't Listen! I think the only Louder Than Bombs track that isn't is 'These Things Take Time', though the Australian double album favours the UK versions of certain tracks ('Stretch Out and Wait', ''You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby'), as I recall.
Strangeways, Here We Come A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours I Started Something I Couldn't Finish Death of a Disco Dancer Girlfriend in a Coma Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me Unhappy Birthday Paint a Vulgar Picture Death at One's Elbow I Won't Share You Non-album tracks Work Is a Four-Letter Word I Keep Mine Hidden Rank
Today's song is A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours: While I appreciate the boldness of Johnny's decision to begin the album with a song featuring no guitars, this is probably the least essential of the group's opening tracks. That said, there's plenty to enjoy such as Morrissey's idiosyncratic delivery and Johnny's perky tune. I think that, broadly speaking, any Smiths/Morrissey album needs the right mix of personal songs, political songs and other songs, and by this era slightly too many fall into the latter category. They feel to me like good examples in songwriting craft, rather than cries from the heart. A harsh 3/5.
Strangeways is an album that I have and yet I really haven't played that much. This came out the same month as Actually by Pet Shop Boys, and I was listening to the PSB album for months, the Smiths album just took a back seat, and I never really came back to it. I shall use this thread to finally give it a thorough listen. One thing though, doesn't the sleeve seem weak compared to the "majesty" of The Queen is Dead?
"A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours" is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful songs I've ever heard. The Smiths wrote a lot of songs like that, but this one for me is particularly special - and it easily makes my top 5. I have loved this sophisticated and deeply moving song from the very first time I heard it. This is possibly their very best and most essential opening album track, in my opinion. I love the ghostly vibe of the intro, with Morrissey's voice distant and shrouded in echo, and the military drum roll on the snare, with everything gradually coming into focus. Very dramatic. The song evokes a hazy, somber atmosphere, but there's a little tension or unease there as well. Those rich chords Johnny Marr plays on the keyboard are absolutely gorgeous. By ditching all guitars on this track, Johnny easily proves he's not just a brilliant guitarist - he is a brilliant composer. Rourke's rolling bass part is exquisite and super catchy. It plays off of Marr's keyboard part nicely and locks in with Joyce in a way that really adds to the song's great sense of rhythmic momentum. It's not a fast song, but there's a sense of wound-up tension because of the way the band plays it. That bridge or refrain ("Don't mention love...") is perfect. Those touches of marimba in the arrangement are brilliant. The pulsating chords the song fades out on are positively haunting. The whole thing is weak-in-the-knees gorgeous. I still get goosebumps when I hear this track. There are no adjectives that can truly convey how stunningly powerful and jaw-droppingly beautiful this song really is. The lyrics are spot on - Morrissey is in top form. For some reason I have always loved his delivery of that first verse, "They said: 'There's too much caffeine in your bloodstream, and a lack of real spice in your life'...". Even the song title is brilliant and evocative. Everything about this song is 100% perfection, it's intensely creative, and it's certainly an important part of why Strangeways is my second favorite Smiths studio album. A very strong 5/5.
4 of 5. I like it quite a bit though the 80s piano has dated it a little. I like the way Morrissey does those ‘a rrrrrrrrrUSH and pusshhhhh’
Yes, Morrissey wanted to use a Harvey Keitel image, but couldn't get permission. He later used it for the 1991 tours.
Work is a Four letter word wins best song title of all time. But also this album is magnificent. Death of a disco dancer... girlfriend in a come. Unhappy Birthday, Paint a vulgar picture. I'm not sure this is the best Smiths album of all time... But that's because it's like picking a best Beatles album. this album is magnificent and I love it.
“Hello, I am the ghost of troubled Joe....” Has there ever been a more perfect opening lyric for the final album by your favourite band ..already deceased on release, this is THE opener for me ..utterly poignant and irreverent at the same time...up there with the Beatles two of us on let it be. I still haven’t quite got over this band dropping out but what a way to go.. so a rush and a push is 5/5 every time ..and as good as any opener they did. “And people who are uglier than you and I They take what they need, and just leave...”
Not at all - I think it fits the music perfectly. The haziness, the tint, etc., it really evokes a certain kind of atmosphere for me. I think all their cover art is great, though.
I actually didn't mean the picture itself, just the way it's presented, kinda flimsy and not as "grandiose" as Queen
