The Smiths’ fourth and final album ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’ is the sound of Morrissey and Marr trying very hard not to repeat themselves, and succeeding handsomely.
One of the most significant building blocks in what we now know as ‘indie’, The Smiths’ 1984 debut album was the start of a short but dazzling career.
by Ed Biggs By 1986, nearly three years of quality singles and equally great albums and compilations had established The Smiths as one of the most consistently brilliant and distinctive guitar bands of the eighties, but they had yet to make an undisputed masterpiece – one of those instant, all-time classics that cement an artist’s place in pop history. 1984’s sepia-tinged, self-titled debut had established their trademark sound – jangly guitar
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by Ed Biggs If Rough Trade had got their act together sooner, The Smiths’ chart positions might have reflected the true extent of their popularity. If you didn’t know anything about them and looked at the commercial performances of their singles and albums, you’d never guess that it was the body of work by the most significant British guitar act arguably since The Beatles. Just two of their 18 singles