The Smiths: Classic or Dud?

Check out Bryan Ferry's "The Right Stuff"

There's an old bootleg live encore of Barbarism Begins at Home with Pete Burns, where M & PB give up (and I presume leave the stage) halfway through and the other three proceed to reveal themselves as a superior jazz funk band, which I guess they felt they couldn't do with Moz around. They could've been a great second division Factory band.

if Marr wanted to to do jackshit that anyone remembers after the Smiths besides Getting Away With It and whatever Modest Mouse minor hit he played on he sure has had the opportunities

Morrissey has a ton of iconic solo songs

i mean I'm all for reevaluating his career, the recent mark s post someone linked was great and thought provoking about how the press and audience willfully ignored his racism

but to compare their post Smiths careers is so silly

I am a huuuuuuge fan of Marr the session man, love his playing so much, but yeah, no way, Morrissey has a ton of iconic solo songs and Marr remained best at being one of the best support players (for The The, Electronic, Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry, you name it).

Morrissey's vocal melodies run all over Marr's songs in really strange and unique ways

Did someone post that "Sing the Fifth" video here? That was illuminating.

Electronic's first album is better than the sum total of Morrissey's solo career, don't @ me

sing the third! xp

ha, yeah, the third?

Sorry, bad punctuation, on phone.

I agree the first Electronic album is better than any Morrissey album, and you can make a case that is better than the sum total of his career, but given it's the product of Johnny Marr of The Smiths, the singer and guitarist from one of the few other British bands that really gave the Smiths a run for their money, and the Pet Shop Boys thrown in as guest ringers, it better be!

Electronic's first album is better than the sum total of Morrissey's solo career, don't @ me

― Neil S,

I don't disagree!

fuck me, I'd rate a Chas + Dave b-side kazoo version of Flight of the Valkries as better than the sum total of Morrissey's solo career + The Smiths!

This is blown way out of proportion!

Is it me or is Morrissey's odious late output/persona seriously distorting some people's judgement? IMO, some of his solo stuff is on par with the Smiths at their best.

That been said, The Smiths would've still been pretty good without Morrissey, sure. I imagine with a good singer they would've been the Oasis of the 80s.

They would probably have been about as successful as the Chameleons

Or the Woodentops

Is it me or is Morrissey's odious late output/persona seriously distorting some people's judgement?

Otfm. Seriously angry I’m actually being forced to defend him!

Also, Electronic were overwhelmingly full given the members.

electronic were great but only on the first album.

Electronic's first album is better than the sum total of Morrissey's solo career, don't @ me

― Neil S, Wednesday, May 23, 2018 8:12 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

@ u bro

xxp DULL, jfc @myself

Morrissey's 'iconic' solo songs after the 80s, please do list them for me here.

Horst Wessel Song
Tomorrow Belongs to Me
Rule Brittania
There'll Always Be an England

We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
First of the Gang to Die
November Spawned A Monster
The More You Ignore Me the Closer I Get

that's all I got

also Seriously angry I’m actually being forced to defend him! otm

Suedehead

lol fuck that came out in 1988 nvm

Morrissey's 'iconic' solo songs after the 80s, please do list them for me here.

I mentioned Vauxhall & I already - I skip fewer tracks on that than The Smiths, so.

"Now My Heart Is Full" is my favourite Morrissey song.

It’s a beaut :)

Good chance that's my most-played Morrissey song. As far as later-era stuff goes, I love "Life is a Pigsty."

Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself, Speedway and Spring Heel Jim are great, plus loads of good stuff on Your Arsenal.

i used to like more morrissey songs

but i guess i've just narrowed it down to vauxhall and i, which is a pretty standard choice for a best morrissey album

, and the Pet Shop Boys thrown in as guest ringers, it better be

the PSB are only on one track on Electronic

also Mind Bomb & Dusk are better than all of Morrissey's solo career. Dusk is a better-recorded band than anything else in Marr's career.

Morrissey has always been so over-rated. Morrissey's lyric-writing/band-leading peers in the 80s were like Robyn Hitchcock, Shane McGowan, Kirsty MacColl, Nick Cave, Mark E. Smith, Paul Heaton, Michael Stipe, Paddy McAloon etc. It's a matter of taste but imo they're all better lyricists than Morrissey.

the PSB are only on one track on Electronic

well, two if you count Tennant on "Getting Away With It."

Shane McGowan

lol def a good substitute of yr wanting to get away from problematic Moz

well, two if you count Tennant on "Getting Away With It."

non-album singles added to CD re-releases as bonus tracks don't count

(or in foreign territories)

Kirsty MacColl fronting The Smiths is like dream level perfection. Wish it could've happened.

As close as you're gonna get: https://www.discogs.com/Kirsty-MacColl-The-Real-MacColl/release/2324631

This is a great EP.

Johnny Marr played on half a dozen tracks on Kirsty MacColl's album Kite. Brilliant stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfvVslecjwI

And he's playing on her version of You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby.

Forget how good Kite is. Need to get a copy as I think I only ever listened to my Dad's

non-album singles added to CD re-releases as bonus tracks don't count

― we used to get our kicks reading surfing MAGAzines (sic), Wednesday, May 23, 2018 12:59 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sure, dude

Marr is on Walking Down Madison and Children Of The Revolution on Electric Landlady too (with The The's David Palmer on drums).

Morrissey is an utter thundercunt, but it's difficult for me to imagine The Smiths without him. It would depend on the vocalist and what they could come up with over the backing tracks.

Doesn't Marr still call "Dusk" the best album he's ever played on? Definitely the best sounding!

a good bit of Kite is the core of The The's band. James Eller, David Palmer, and Johnny Marr.

Didn't The The have ABC's rhythm section for a while? That's Palmer, right, and ... ?

Also:

"Get the Message" is consistently cited as a defining track by Electronic. Allmusic picks it as a highlight of the Electronic album in a 4/5 review,[14] while bbc.co.uk states that "the excellent 'Get the Message' still holds its own alongside the best of early '90s Mancunian tunes".[15] In 2007 Johnny Marr said it was "...maybe the track I'm most proud of out of my whole career",[16] and in June 2009 reiterated that it is "the best song I've written".[17]

This is my favorite version of "Walking Down Madison," the one I heard on college radio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irgsx58SkJI

The demo is better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9JHeKyCoTw

a good bit of Kite is the core of The The's band. James Eller, David Palmer, and Johnny Marr.

Eller and Palmer are on four tracks together, Marr is on eight* overall (writing on two), they're all together on three: Free World, Mother's Ruin and Don't Come The Cowboy.

*nine for Alfred: three of the four Free World b-sides are bonus tracks on the 1989 CD

(the fourth, a Kirsty original, isn't even on the 2005 CD, which had NINE bonus tracks including remixes and demos, but is on the 2012 one, which has 17 on a second disc)