The Smiths Wea releases oddities

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ghost of Ziggy, Sep 14, 2019.

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  1. Ghost of Ziggy

    Ghost of Ziggy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hell
    Do you think it’s odd how they later inserted “This Charming Man” in the middle of The Smiths LP, and “How Soon Is Now?” Into the middle of Meat Is Murder LP?
     
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  2. hi_watt

    hi_watt The Road Warrior

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Does this pertain to the CDs, or the LPs? I'm just asking because I only believed "How Soon Is Now?" was only exclusive to the U.S. pressing.
     
  3. Ghost of Ziggy

    Ghost of Ziggy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hell
    I’m thinking of the 90’s WEA re-releases which added both the mentioned songs, presumably as bonus tracks, on both releases worldwide.
     
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  4. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    They were on the original US pressings of the respective albums
     
  5. LloydTheVoid

    LloydTheVoid /ˈrez(ə)dənt/ Denizen

    Location:
    Texas
    I can't speak to the vinyl, but my Sire/Rough Trade US CD of The Smiths S/T has This Charming Man, but isn't Hand in Glove the oddity there? My copy of Meat is Murder has How Soon Is Now?.

    They're both WEA reissues from the 80s with the S/T copy being 9 25065-2 and Meat is Murder being 9 25269-2.
     
  6. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    This Charming Man doesn't fit in with the first album, but it's such a famous track and there wasn't anywhere else to put it. My Rough Trade CD doesn't include it.

    It would have made more sense to leave the album as it's intended UK tracklist and then add This Charming Man and it's other non album B-sides as extras.
     
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  7. tug_of_war

    tug_of_war Unable to tolerate bass solos

    The funniest thing is that How Soon Is Now ended up belonging to two albums - which leads us to the question:
    what is "Hatful Of Hollow"?

    A compilation of new songs with live performaces?
    A live album with new songs?
    A studio album with live cuts?
    All of the above?
    Some of them?
    None?
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2019
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  8. LloydTheVoid

    LloydTheVoid /ˈrez(ə)dənt/ Denizen

    Location:
    Texas
    I don't know but it has Handsome Devil from the Peel Sessions and that guitar riff kicks ass!
     
  9. Ghost of Ziggy

    Ghost of Ziggy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hell
    That’s interesting, I’d say How Soon Is Now? Surely belongs to Hatful. That said, for a track many may consider The Smiths best song, it performed poorly in the charts.
     
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  10. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    It was originally the B side to “Willam It Was Really Nothing” which charted in the UK, so when it was subsequently issued as a single in its own right many people already had it, that’s why it wasn’t a big seller.
     
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  11. bobbydriver

    bobbydriver Forum Resident

    For a band that had so many stand-alone singles, it's a small mercy that WEA only saw fit to shoehorn tracks into two studio albums

    In the UK ,Hatful of Hollow and The World Won't Listen solved the problem of compiling the singles. Of course Louder Than Bombs was then the US doing a routine mangling of the two
     
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  12. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    For some years I thought This Charming man was part of the first LP.
    Because the CD
     
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  13. Derek Acorah

    Derek Acorah Active Member

    Location:
    Padstow
    One of the greatest "compilation" albums ever.
     
  14. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    It’s not on the original Rough Trade cd.
     
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  15. markreed

    markreed Forum Resident

    Location:
    Imber
    the band were not satisfied with the original studio sessions that made up the first LP. Hatful Of Hollow is a compilation of the band preferred radio session versions of the album tracks, some b-sides, and some "new " songs.
     
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  16. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    I think they were right with this. The Smith's debut album has always been the album I play least by them. I'd like to see the Troy Tate version of it get released. Hatful of Hollow is my favourite Smiths album. Even though it clearly is, I often forget it's a compilation because it so strong, most of the tracks aren't on another album and it flows so well. The gatefold sleeve is well designed too.
     
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  17. AlienRendel

    AlienRendel Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, il
    Hatful is far superior to the 1st LP.
     
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  18. georgespigott

    georgespigott You fill me with inertia.

    Location:
    United States
    It sure does! Do you know I heard an interview with Johnny Marr and he said Handsome Devil and some of the faster songs on the first album had riffs in them that he wrote in his first band, Paris Valentinos - the band he was in when he was 14 years old!
     
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  19. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    Too many tracks crammed on 1 LP.

    Maybe this is the reason "Still Ill" sounds so awful on HOH.
     
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  20. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The UK pressing sounds surprisingly good for an album that long. It can be done. The currently available pressing is cut far quieter and doesn't sound better for it. It's not awful but it's weedy in comparison. Considering it's length I can imagine there's a lot of bad sounding vinyl pressings of Hatful of Hollow. Still I'll from it isn't the best recording or production anyway. Great performance though.
     
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  21. AlienRendel

    AlienRendel Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, il
    My OG UK pressing sounds really good.
     
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  22. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Some long albums pressed in the UK manage to get a very good sound in spite of the length. Queen's Greatest Hits is a 58 minute long single LP and sounds excellent, without being a particularly quiet cut. Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Live After Death sound fantastic on vinyl at around 25 minutes a side. There's even a sleeve note in Live After Death about it. The big problem isn't sound quality on these LPs, more that the grooves are closer together making light scratches more noticeable for longer. They really need taking care of!
     
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  23. Sear

    Sear Dad rocker

    Location:
    Tarragona (Spain)
    My copy is a Portuguese one
     
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  24. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    A UK Rough Trade one will be a vast improvement. It's a quite loud and very clear sounding pressing. I don't know how the managed it! The World Won't Listen UK is also a great sounding long LP. If you like the albums a lot it's worth buying the vinyl from the UK. I don't think the postage is incredibly expensive to Spain. Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with the sound of the 90s CDs and they're extremely cheap.
     
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  25. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    Rough Trade UK pressings are the way to go for all The Smith's UK albums.
     
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