Smiths- Strangeways Here We Come LP

180gram Vinyl LP pressing.


Newly re-mastered audio by Frank Arkwright (overseen by Johnny Marr, no less) and packaged in the original sleeves with original labels and original inner bags, pressed on high-quality 180 gram vinyl! This absolutely classic album from the Manchester quartet was originally released in 1987. Though the band only lasted four years as a recording unit, their influence can still be seen, heard and felt more than two decades after they officially split up. Rhino.

• 1 A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours
• 2 I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
• 3 Death of a Disco Dancer
• 4 Girlfriend in a Coma
• 5 Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
• 6 Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
• 7 Unhappy Birthday
• 8 Paint a Vulgar Picture
• 9 Death at One's Elbow
• 10 I Won't Share You

Recorded as the relationship between Morrissey and Johnny Marr was beginning to splinter, Strangeways, Here We Come is the most carefully considered and elaborately produced album in the group's catalog. Though it aspires greatly to better The Queen Is Dead, it falls just short of its goals. With producer Stephen Street, the Smiths created a subtly shaded and skilled album, one boasting a fuller production than before. Morrissey and Marr also labored hard over the songs, working to expand the Smiths' sound within their very real boundaries. For the most part, they succeed. "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish," "Girlfriend in a Coma," "Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before," and "I Won't Share You" are classics, while "A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours," "Death of a Disco Dancer," and "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" aren't far behind. However, the songs also have a tendency to be glib and forced, particularly on "Unhappy Birthday" and the anti-record company "Paint a Vulgar Picture," which has grown increasingly ironic in the wake of the Smiths' and Morrissey's love of repackaging the same material in new compilations. Still, Strangeways is a graceful way to bow out. While it doesn't match The Queen Is Dead or The Smiths, it is far from embarrassing and offers a summation of the group's considerable strengths.

(Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com)