The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
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Free Music Notes for Strangeways Here We Come
Free Music Review: *MY* vote for their masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
While the popular consensus is that The Queen Is Dead was their masterpiece, I tend to find Strangeways their finest studio achievement, which unfortunately was followed by the breakup of the band after the recording was complete (but before the album was released). How daring is it that the opening number, the great A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours, contains not one bit of guitar? Or the overlooked masterpiece Death of a Disco Dancer, where the band fires on all cylinders and Morrissey delivers some of his wryest and best lyrics to date? Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before is awesome, and if Last Night I Dreamed That Somebody Loved Me doesn't tug at your heart, from the eerie intro to the pleading performances from all 4 band members, then something is wrong with you. Bitterness and sadness drip from Unhappy Birthday, which is often overlooked in The Smiths' canon of work. Even the final track, I won't share you, which is simply Marr on autoharp and Morrissey singing with a little bass from Rourke, is pure perfection. As is the album (with the exception of one song, the lame Death At One's Elbow).Free Music Review: One of the Smiths' absolute best!
Hit: 5 Stars
"Paint a Vulgar Picture" is as powerful a piece of art about the shallowness of the recording industry as you will EVER hear. It is poignant and serious, depicting the vulgar greed of record company executives as they eagerly plot to exploit the death of one of their stars. Sick and funny at the same time, as are most of the Smiths' songs. It even makes a topical reference to "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby." A masterpiece!Then just to show how you just CAN'T take them too seriously, listen to "Girlfriend in a Coma" and just SEE if you can keep a straight face. The peppy, upbeat music belies the morbid seriousness of a girlfriend placed in a coma by an obviously violent man who is secretly hoping she will die. Black humor at its best.
And "Unhappy Birthday" is a classic! "I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday/because you're evil and you lie/and if you should die/I may feel slightly sad/but I won't cry." Beautiful!
A MUST HAVE for a Smiths Fan who GETS IT!
Sean.
Free Music Review: Do you you want the good news first - or the worst news ever
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember simultaineously receiving this album and the news that the Smiths were no more... So how do you like it now.Of course at the time I belived that without the Smiths -Morrissey would be finished (but I was wrong). Why do people say that this work was a foreshadowing of Morrissey's solo work, or the end of the Smiths - I don't get that. Despite the fact that listening to this album has always been a sad affair (because we now knew it was the last) the Smiths are a solid unit trudging forward. I don't think that they felt a break up comming and I don't think the music signals that eventuality.
Anyway, this album as a whole is more accessable than the others (not always a bad thing). Few albums feel as complete and well rounded as this one - It seems futile to discuss tracks individually when each track is necesary for the understanding and appreciation for the others. The only thing that never jelled for me w/ this album was the title - it made it seem like there would be more Smiths to come.
Free Music Review: Exceptional Album
Hit: 5 Stars
To me Strangeways is the most cohesive Smiths album. Perhaps that is because it is the shortest, clocking in at a little over 30 minutes. This my favorite group of all time and Strangeways is my favorite Smiths album. I can't say whether or not it is their best because each Smiths album showcases a different hue of Smithsdom. I don't understand why some reviewers think that "Death of a Disco Dancer" is a bad song. I think it is absolutely brilliant. Morrissey is as wry as ever, seeming somewhat weary. The music grows and grows into a frenzy thanks to some odd pianer' playing from Moz and some great drumming from Mike Joyce at the song's climax. Every other song, with the exception of the somewhat listenable "Death at One's Elbow," is terrific. If you don't know much about the Smiths, I advise you-no, I command you to check them out. They are one of the few bands in history that can be truly life-changing.Free Music Review: Don't Stop Them...
Hit: 5 Stars
This is The Smiths "best" album.
"Best" is in quotes because "Strangeways" doesn't exactly represent the classic "Smiths" sound, yet it is a masterpiece in it's own right. It would have been the beginning of the second phase of The Smiths career had they continued on.
"Strangeways" sounds like The Smiths were finally comfortable in their own skin and the songs just rolled out of their collective artistic conciousness without any hint of "trying to create something great." Their earlier efforts seemed to have an agenda in that they were very strident in their effort to make you hear their message.
"Strangeways" simply "is" The Smiths through and through, and I don't think they cared one way or another if anyone "got it" or not.
This album stands alone and I'm certainly glad that I "got it." I recommend that you "get it" too.