Much of what the Smiths represent has already been addressed in these reviews, so I will share only a few other things in addition to personal recollections of the band.

The Smiths were all too brief a force in music, but what they lacked in time, they made up for in fecundous output. Few groups recorded as much or as brilliantly as the Smiths did in their four year tenure as kings of british pop. Musically, no one even came close to the sheer beauty of what Johnny Marr created. Any guitarist worth his salt will admit as much, but music was only half of the equation. Morrissey is, like Robert Smith and Ian McCullough, a wordsmith of the highest order, creating rarely seen literary parallels between himself and the writers he so often championed.

As for the man's sexuality.... well, for all of the press it has received over the years, it was simply irrelevant to his craft, and he only underscored that notion by remaining aloof and deliberately ambiguous on the subject. For those who actually remember the Smiths while they were together, Morrissey was a declared celibate throughout his partnership with Marr, Joyce and Rourke, having given himself over to his art to such a degree that, when Johnny split, the man was literally bedridden.

The Smiths. Where would I have been without them? Some like to talk of this group as depressing but they got me through some very bad times indeed. Rarely had I heard anyone speak so honestly about his feelings... and those lyrics often reminded me that I was not the only one out there suffering. As unbelievable as it may sound, I think this band may have actually saved my life, and it's hard to speak objectively of such an influence... but anyone who has been desperate and heard the optimism in 'please, please, please...' will understand.

One of the greatest albums of all-time...extra appealing because most of it is lo-fi, but beautifully lo-fi. Every song is a masterpiece of intelligent vulnerable British pop music. The music, written by Johnny Marr, is brilliantly melodic. The words are worthy of Oscar Wilde, one of lyricist Morrissey's major influences, along with early 60's black and white British working class films like Taste of Honey (snatches of dialogue from this film can be found in the lyrics to This Night Has Opened My Eyes, an extremely powerful song). This album is the greatest Smiths album, and that's saying a LOT, since every Smiths album was BRILLIANT. The Smiths recording career lasted from 1984-1987, but they were extremely prolific. This was their second release, technically a collection of radio recordings and singles, but it works perfectly as an album with its own theme.

It's obvious that people who will say The Smiths as a band for gay people just goes to show how ignorant these new emo kids are to yesterday's music.These emo kids were prolly in their primary school when The Smiths came out of the British scene in the 80s. I should know because I was in High School back in the 80s when The Smiths first hit the NME charts with their first album. I'm a straight guy, along with five of my buddies who are into The Smiths long before these EMO kids learned to pop a CD in a sound system. Anyways...I just get a bit upset when people begin judging a band simply because the singer represented a specific community. Hey I like This Charming Man because it does have some of the best lyrics. This Night Has Opened My Eyes is another.

This is a good album. It's probably the best album they ever made. They have a Peel Session version of "Still Ill", has an interesting harmonica intro. Other songs are "How Soon is Now" and "Girl Afraid." This is an album that you should definitely buy if you want to listen The Smith's best years. Take note of Johnny Marr's guitar-playing here and Rourke's bass playing. Fantastic. Spend your money on this. By the way, I still have my vinyl version of this album. Mint condition. To new listeners who are just discovering the music of MY generation, get this album. You will cherish it.

In 1984, I went Licorce Pizza Record Store. There were two tapes for sale that were guaranteed to by amazing. First, was REM's Reckoning (and it was amazing). The other was the The Smith's first record. I'd never heard of them, but since it was guaranteed, I spent the $4.99 and got.

I was blow away. I listened to it non-stop. I could hardly wait for more Smiths. During Christmas Vacation 1984, I went to a music store and saw this for sale. It was an import, so it was $9.99, quite a bit of money. But I bought it.

The music was simply amazing. I could care less if the obviously gay songs (or maybe not obvious - maybe I'm wrong) were about gay love. This is a record about the human experience, about love and lonliness. This is record with amazing guitarwork. This is a record that when you get done listening to it you want to give each member a hug and say "It will be alright."

The feeling is of honesty. Nothing fancy...just perfect songs recorded in less then perfect conditions.

Of course the Queen is Dead is amazing, as is Meat is Murder, but this will always be my favorite. It is perfect.

I was a little disappointed when I bought this, because it contained a lot of the Peel Session recordings I had recently bought. These are much better quality though, since the recordings I had were of the whole show with the interview parts over-running the songs. Peel tracks- "What Difference Does It Make", "Handsome Devil", "Reel Around the Fountain", "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", "Still Ill", "This Charming Man", and "Back to the Old House". There are also three tracks from the David Jensen show (which I've seen passed off as Peel Sessions, but arent!). "These Things Take Time", "You've Got Everything Now", and "Accept Yourself".

Some performers do these in studio songs as throwaway tracks, but if you've heard the Peel interviews, you know that John Peel was one of the first people to play the Smiths on his show, and hence they're not only different, but sometimes even better versions than what you get on the regular editions. If you're a completionist, you must own this CD. If you're a casual fan, and may have some of these tracks already on various other CDs (the regular album release), don't worry about owning a second version of these songs. They're unique enough to stand on their own in most cases. Skip "best of" collections altogether. There are only four or five albums that consist of the bulk of the Smiths cannon, you're much better off with them all, than with the poor compilations that have been released to date. I own thousands of CDs, and nothing really stands out like the Smiths did during the 80s. Nobody sounds like them before or since.