The Smiths

Okay. Disclaimer time. I only recently "discovered" The Smiths, but I am nothing if not a huge fan (like, within months found myself getting my first tattoo of lyrics from "I Know It's Over")... so it seems like a good place to start, right?!

So, The Smiths. Although there are other members of the band, it's most famously comprised of (Stephen) Morrissey and Johnny Marr. And it's bloody brilliant. The Smiths is one of those bands that when you hear about them, the fans are all moody and dark, and you're like "man, that must be one really hardcore band. yikes..." But it's not. Don't let them kid you. Although don't get me wrong, it's dark subject matter at times, but it's usually paired with a beautiful sound, and that is most of why I love them. It's like rock poetry. Morrissey's voice is hypnotic and rich, and Marr's guitar work is so innovative and insane...gah, LOVE it.



(photo source)

Best Song:
HA. Like I'm going to be able to answer that... okay, I'm going to try... kind of. The best album is absolutely "The Queen is Dead," hands down. On that album, "Frankly Mr. Shankly" was probably most charming and catchy and got me to listen to it on repeat. (If you've heard it before, don't judge.)... But now, I would say I love "I Know It's Over" the best personally; but musically I think "Some Girls are Biggers than Others" is most interesting. (In fact, my music player just shuffled to it, and I'm very excited about that. So good! I stand by my claim...) And that's just for that album...

And we can't ignore the elephant in the US room -- "How Soon is Now." This is the one that when you start listening to The Smiths, you're like "OOOOH, that's these guys!" I had always loved that song (mostly from The Wedding Singer, ha!), but  I've always (sadly, and unfortunately semi-accurately) considered it their one-hit-wonder...which it kind of was on this side of the pond... anyway. It's a wonderful intro, but as other Smiths fans will tell you, it's not really like anything else they created. The guitar is freakin' amazing, and incredibly noticeable, but really once you dig deeper into their discography, it's okay that they didn't recreate that sound again. The rest of it is all solid on it's own. In fact, I am willing to admit - to make a point - that I just had to google the song's name, because I couldn't remember it. It's just not their best. It's wonderful, don't get me wrong, and I own it a couple times over from their collections, but it's just not their best...trust me.

Listen Now:

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"

"Ask"

Enjoy!