IF IT'S NOT LOVE THEN IT'S THE POLL THAT WILL BRING US TOGETHER - ILM Artist Poll #72 - THE SMITHS - RESULTS THREAD

there's more to life than books you know
but not much more!

― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson)

otm

I've never owned Hatful of Hollow what can I say-a-ayyyay

and not particularly obscure track

it's a b-side that only appears on one compilation afaict

er wait was it even a b-side? Hatful wiki says it's just a peel session

i suppose im being solipsistic because hatful of hollow is the compilation for me, and probably my most played smiths release

"et cetera et cetera" bit probably bitten from the fade of this?

thank you everything for the jackie lee link. that song deserves a thread of its own.

One thing I've always wondered: are the various other 'sessions' made for other slots over the years (Jensen, Long, etc) generally made with much the same expectations and resources, etc?

Yes.

The placing of this one feels about right.

Catching up on this thing...randomly.

1. Early Smiths >>>>>>>> later Smiths (86-87).

2. I'm not sure why anyone would think the child's spite in "Suffer Little Children" is aimed at the parents. It always seemed obvious that it was aimed at Hindley/Brady, and possibly society at large for seeming to "forget" these children - leaving them on the moor.

3. I was the other #1 vote for "These Things Take Time." "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" is better than this song?!?! I fucking think not.

4. Funk may often be repetitive, but it usually interestingly. After about 3 minutes, "Barbarism" is not.

5. Not liking "Shakespeare's Sister" is bordering on disease.

6. So tired of people blathering on about so-called superior HOH versions. (All Morrissey's fault, TBF, because he was jealous of Marr's relationship with John Porter - see also the Steve Lillywhite remix of "Ask.")

7. "Reel Around the Fountain" is a perfect way to open the debut album.

8. It's "In the midst of life we are in DEBT." Lesser Smiths.

9. "Handsome Devil!!!" Yay!

There are two released versions of "Handsome Devil"--the Peel version on Hatful, and a concert version (the actual b-side recording) which finally landed on the deluxe The Sound of...

er wait was it even a b-side? Hatful wiki says it's just a peel session

it was a live recording of handsome devil on that b-side.

xp

8. It's "In the midst of life we are in DEBT." Lesser Smiths.

Both versions are printed in the liner notes.

1. Early Smiths >>>>>>>> later Smiths (86-87).

ugh no

(xxxp) Thanks Tom D!

Both versions are printed in the liner notes.

media vita in morte sumus

Yeah later Smiths >>>>>>>> early.

Bit harsh on a couple of points, Kent Burt, but otm

Debating early vs. late re:a band that was only together for like 4 years.

Both versions are printed in the liner notes.

Not on the LP of LTB.

there are some interesting contemporary articles here dealing with the fallout after the Sun claimed that 'Handsome Devil' was about paedophilia

http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=thesmithsfile&page=4

Debating early vs. late re:a band that was only together for like 4 years.

Clear dip in quality starting with "Ask."

'Ask' rules.

KB really throwin down some gauntlets here

idk how anyone could really say the first album is their best, that's just nuts. peak period is the middle imo!

Actually, the dip started with TQID, but markedly so with "Ask" & its wretched b-side.

.... what

Frankly Mr. Shankly, NHNE, VIAT...subpar Smiths.

"ask" of course just precedes "shoplifters of the world unite"/"half a person" which i could build an argument for as the greatest smiths single

Calling It: Kent Burt is a sock for a bucktoothed girl from Luxembourg.

"Half a Person" to me is where Moz dips into self-parody - the type of stuff people expect mopey old Moz to write. Same with "Unloveable." I do like SOTWU a lot.

lol Grisso

"Half a Person" was my no. 2

When it comes to sub-par Smiths, my vote goes to 'Happy Hour'

xp. my no. 3

I had no idea such a degree of antipathy towards early Smiths was even possible before recent days. Take your pick of whichever recordings you prefer from the first two years or so. That's a secondary issue for me. But it has always seemed self-evident that's where the best stuff lies!

Half a person my #1, xpost.

The Smiths best stuff was in 1985-1986, IMO. Or the "middle years" as Shakey pointed out.

the smiths best period was definitely on the edge between their early and middle years, though there's a case for their mid-late material as well, and i wouldn't second guess anyone who vouched for just their early stuff or late stuff on its own

That opening-of-the floodgates first batch of Morrissey songs are so incredible, though. So felt. Much better than the '80s music hall stuff of tQiD, imo

DavidM, you're my kind of people.

no later period Smiths album features anything as awful as that off-pitch keening "I NEED ADVICE I NEED ADVICE I NEED ADVIIIIICE" blech

But one them does feature "Girlfriend in a Coma".

in general, i cannot stand his falsetto. some songs are so good that they manage to distract from it, though

"Girlfriend in a Coma"

a fantastic single that would improve any album by its inclusion

Which, tellingly, has yet to place and still possibly may.

that off-pitch keening "I NEED ADVICE I NEED ADVICE I NEED ADVIIIIICE" blech

that is one of my favorite Smiths attributes

Yeah, I have a soft spot for Moz's falsetto shrieking and his yodeling. He kind of dropped them from his repertoire as time went on, and I missed them in a way.

after 7 years on ilx, i'm rarely surprised how much other posters' tastes differ from mine

I don't listen to the Smiths to hear someone sing on pitch. It was always fun playing the first album at my old record store - people always looked horrified when it got to that part of "Miserable Lie."

The nicest thing I can say about "Girlfriend in a Coma" is it makes "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" sound genius in comparison.

Thing is, I can't even pretend to be as dismissive of the late stuff as a whole bunch of you are about selected earlier songs. The magnitude of the disdain is truly unexpected.

what, did you not see the noms thread