By time this album was released The Smiths had already broken up – surprisingly it seems to be because Johnny Marr was getting a bit bored with the direction of the band rather than any great personality clash.
Musically, this is their most varied so far (again, partly because Marr didn't want to just do jangly guitar all the time). There’s a bit of jazzy piano on Death Of A Disco Dancer (but certainly nothing disco), some xylophone on A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours (with nice grunting from Morrissey to emphasize the “rrrrrush”). Girlfriend In A Coma is a much lighter piece of music than I remember, with a bouncy acoustic guitar motif. Even for The Smiths’ usual mix of lighter music and darker lyrics, it’s a big contrast and a lot better than I remember it being. Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before compares well to the Mark Ronson cover, and I’d say feels a bit more emotive thanks to Morrissey’s voice. Love him or hate him, he’s good at emoting. Unhappy Birthday is a great track if you don’t like somebody, while Paint A Vulgar Picture is a surprisingly heartfelt track about record executives exploiting a dead star -
“At the record company meeting
On their hands, a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed”
Morrissey sings the part of a besotted fan who will “dance [their] legs down to the knees” to the music.
For me, this is probably the best Smiths album, at least on this list.
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