Review Summary: A nice introduction to a nice band
The Smiths are a very british band from the 80s. They were the dancey voiced camp singer and lyricist Morrissey, the very unique guitarist Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke on bass and Mike Joyce on drums. Their efforts combined helped establish a very british, funny and creative look into the downtrodden student with songs littered with irony and depressing lyrics. If you didn't know much of this, this compilation might be for you but if you're a Smiths fan you probably will really like it as it is a nice compilation of this band.
The songs Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, Nowhere Fast, Ask and to a degree Hand In Glove are all quite humourous songs. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now is a nice tune to sing to after a bad day at work, Ask discusses asking out buck toothed girls from Luxemburg and Nowhere Fast has Morrissey making a statement about dropping his pants to the queen. Hand in Glove is perhaps the least funniest out of the tracks here but the lyrics on it are excellent saying things like "if the people stare than the people stare oh I really don't know and I really don't care". The strange thing is there is also a live version of Hand In Glove at the end of the compilation. While it is good it's could've been replaced with something else as it would've been nice to have a great song not on the compilation, not a great song that's already on the compilation live.
There are a few Smiths hits on there as well. How Soon Is Now with its unique guitar drone noise can give you chills if you've never heard it before yet if you have heard it a few times it won't hold much interest. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out is the darkest song there as the dark lyrics of intense love and dying besides the one you love croon over the strangely happy guitar noises that make this song an absolute gem. Panic is short and sweet talking about DJs and how they play nothing relevant to "me and my life". The Boy With A Thorn in his side is quite a nice tune as well.
The Headmaster Ritual is another great song with some nice guitar work about having a bad day. Only this time at school not work and This Joke Isn't Funny Anymore has some incredible lyrics about mockery. William It Was Really Nothing has great lyrics and Barbarism Begins At Home has quite a catchy bassline though it does seem quite short. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me has quite a "I wish I was loved" feel about it. Still Ill has Morrissey asking himself 'Am I still ill?" in a wail while Girlfriend In A Coma uses these types of lyrics in a more humourous fashion having Morrissey say things such a "there are times where I could have murdered her".
The rest of the songs are really catchy yet if I were to write about all of them we'll be here all day as there is just so much to look through and look into even though the style of music is very much the same throughout. In conclusion it's a nice compilation that you would probably really like if you find camp British humour really funny, if you need some music to mope to, if you're a fan of the 80s and/or you're looking for something unique musically and lyrically check this out...
