The Smiths album that Morrissey and Johnny Marr agree is their best
Despite their brief five-year existence, The Smiths were the ultimate proof that, to leave a lasting impact, you have to prioritise quality over quantity.
After all, it takes a hefty amount of talent to create a legacy based on just four albums, especially when you look at the fact that they were also essentially going against everything that defined the entire Mancunian scene at the time and capturing the melancholic spirit of the entire generation in a completely different way.
Morrissey, of course, was well aware of their speciality. After all, he once tore Joy Division down for being the antithesis of The Smiths, saying that the late, great Ian Curtis was not a singer nor a lyricist but a “symbolist”. In Morrissey’s view, such bands hopped on top of trends without having anything meaningful to say.
“They had the spirit of the times, but it was totally false,” he said.
Now, being Morrissey, this type of opinion isn’t exactly a surprise, but side-stepping his blatant disregard for one of the greatest bands for one moment, his gripe with the so-called “Manchester sound” wasn’t that musicians like Curtis were doing it all wrong, it had more to do with the fact that he felt that it wasn’t something that actually existed or mattered.
And unlike many of their peers, The Smiths tackled working-class struggle in a more direct way, blending comedic musings with remarks on socioeconomic decline and disillusionment. Their worlds might not have been as atmospheric as those built by the likes of Joy Division, but they were just as poetic, often stemming from Morrissey’s own personal experiences and inability to understand those around him.
All these quintessential facets of The Smiths are precisely why they still endure – we love to find humour in our own issues and make light of depressing times, as too often it’s the only way to actually navigate and overcome them. More than that, there’s an awkwardness and pretentious charm to the music that you can’t find anywhere else, which makes listening to them feel unique and refreshing every single time.
Because of this, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact song or album that captures their appeal the best – most people argue that it’s The Queen Is Dead, citing its lyrics, style and structure as major turning points in the modern indie-rock genre. It also contains some of their best songs, like ‘I Know It’s Over’, ‘Cemetry Gates’, ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’.
However, when it comes to the greatest record they made, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr agree it wasn’t their third record but actually their last, Strangeways, Here We Come, the reason being that it more accurately captures everything that they were ever about. As Morrissey explained to Melody Maker in 1987, the record “perfects every lyrical and musical notion” they had.
Although it isn’t “dramatically different” to their other material, that’s why it’s so great: because it perfects those structures that Morrissey loved from day one. “It’s far and away the best record we’ve ever made,” he said.
Johnny Marr echoed his sentiment, saying that it’s “possibly our best album” and pointing out the masterpiece that is ‘Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me’ as one of the standout tracks. He also alluded to the fact that the record is overlooked somewhat because it was their last, but that when it comes to their lasting appeal, it has everything you could ever want.
