The Smiths
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Album Summary
Cut from the same raw, grey cloth as the Manchester streets that birthed them, The Smiths laid down their self-titled debut in late 1983 and early 1984 at Elephant Studios and Eden Studios, with the legendary John Porter producing alongside the band's own Morrissey and Johnny Marr. Released on Rough Trade Records in February of 1984, this record arrived like a cold wind cutting through the synthetic, over-produced pop landscape of the era — no drum machines, no synthesizers, just Marr's chiming, intricately layered guitar work, Andy Rourke's melodic bass, Mike Joyce's steady drumming, and Morrissey's voice, that one-of-a-kind instrument dripping with wit, anguish, and a kind of literary romanticism that nobody had heard coming out of a rock band before.
Reception
- The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, a remarkable showing for an independent release on Rough Trade, signaling that something genuinely new and important had arrived.
- Critical reception was largely rapturous in the UK music press, with publications like NME embracing the band as standard-bearers for a new kind of guitar-driven alternative music that felt emotionally honest and intellectually alive.
- Some early reviews noted a rawness and unevenness to the production, but even the skeptics could not deny the singular chemistry between Morrissey's lyrics and Marr's guitar arrangements.
Significance
- This debut stands as a foundational document of British indie and alternative rock, essentially drawing the blueprint for a whole generation of guitar bands who would follow in The Smiths' wake throughout the 1980s and beyond.
- Morrissey's lyrical voice on this record — sardonic, tender, bookish, and deeply rooted in a certain kind of working-class English alienation — redefined what a rock vocalist could say and how they could say it, influencing countless songwriters who came after.
- Tracks like 'Suffer Little Children,' which addressed the Moors murders, demonstrated that this band was willing to go to dark, uncomfortable places that mainstream pop wouldn't touch, cementing their reputation as artists of serious moral and cultural weight from day one.
Tracklist
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A1 Reel Around The Fountain 109
5:55
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A2 You've Got Everything Now 149
3:58
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A3 Miserable Lie 148
4:27
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A4 Pretty Girls Make Graves 116
3:41
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A5 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle 115
3:45
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B1 Still Ill 89
3:19
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B2 Hand In Glove 141
3:23
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B3 What Difference Does It Make? 163
3:49
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B4 I Don't Owe You Anything 113
4:04
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B5 Suffer Little Children 99
5:29
Artist Details
The Smiths were a groundbreaking alternative rock band that came together in Manchester, England in 1982, led by the iconic pairing of vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, whose jangly, melodic guitar work wrapped around Morrissey's darkly witty, deeply introspective lyrics to create a sound that was unlike anything else happening in the music world at the time. They became the architects of indie rock and post-punk revival, their records like *The Queen Is Dead* and *Meat Is Murder* hitting the souls of an entire generation of young misfits and dreamers who finally heard their own loneliness and longing reflected back at them. Though they disbanded in 1987 after just five years together, their influence stretched far and wide across decades of music, touching everyone from Radiohead to Arcade Fire, cementing them as one of the most important and emotionally resonant bands to ever grace a turntable.
