CD Odyssey Disc 524: The Smiths

My last blog entry was right after a Bruins game and this one is right before one.  I went to buy another jersey today with some birthday money, but I couldn’t choose the player. 

I’ve narrowed it down to #37 Patrice Bergeron (my favourite player, but I have a Team Canada jersey with him already), #20 Dan Paille (love the idea of having a 4^th line player, and I love the way Paille plays) and #55 Johnny Boychuk (is there a better hockey name than Johnny Boychuk?).  All of them also meet my criteria for being Canadian boys (most of the Bruins are Canadians, in fact – so put that it in your pipe and smoke it, you people who say you shouldn’t support “American” teams).

On to the next album which is not exactly stadium rock.

Disc 524 is…. Louder Than Bombs

"I fall on the thorns of life!  I bleed!"

Artist: The Smiths

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover?  The second cover in a row featuring someone smoking.  In this case we have some anonymous woman who looks like she has a bit of a headache.  This cover is alright, and I like the orange tones.

How I Came To Know It:  Sheila introduced me to the Smiths.  When I was in high school I had heard of them, but it was mostly in the context of mocking their “O Woe Is Me!” attitude.

How It Stacks Up:  We have two Smiths albums; this one and “The Queen is Dead.”  Technically this is a compilation album (of various singles) but it isn’t really a best of, since only one of these tracks (“Hand in Glove”) is on a previous studio album, so I think it can be ‘stacked up.’  I like it about equally with “The Queen Is Dead” but I’ll put it second just because it is a little too long.

Rating:  Again, even though this is a compilation, since it is really a collection of singles, it is its own entity, so I’m going to rate it.  I give “Louder Than Bombs” a solid three stars, really close to four, but not quite there.

“Louder Than Bombs” is music for when you want to wallow in a little detached sorrow, but you still want the option to do a little eighties dancing if you feel so inclined.  It isn’t an album about being actually sad so much as being interested in exploring the idea of being sad.

In this way it represents the origins of the annoying ironic detachment so prevalent in modern indie music.  I suspect those bands have a deep affection for the Smiths.  They mastered this emotional doublethink.  It is a difficult thing to pull off, as is evidenced by the glut of terribly indie music dominating the airwaves these days, but the Smiths manage to make it work.

The maudlin lyrics range from ridiculous to over-the-top to actually poignant and then back to ridiculous again.  The excessiveness moroseness has a surprising charm to it.  The two best songs for this are “Half a Person” and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.”  With titles like these you would expect some serious self-pity, and that’s exactly what you get.  “Half A Person” has perhaps the most pitiable lyric in music:

“And if you have five seconds to spare

Then I’ll tell you the story of my life:

Sixteen, clumsy and shy”

Running a close second to this “I’m insignificant and awkward” moment is this little gem from “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”:

“I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour

But heaven knows I’m miserable now

I was looking for a job and then I found a job

And heaven knows I’m miserable now.”

Is it wrong that I actually find these lines humorous?  Probably a little given they likely had a deep psychological impact on teenage Goth girls in their day.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Goth girls, and find them generally pretty, but maybe part of it is just a desire to comfort them.  You know, put my arm around their shoulders and let them know that things aren’t so bad, and that they should stop taking Morrissey too seriously.  He does that enough himself.

A big part of the genius of “Louder Than Bombs” is Morrissey’s voice, which is able to deliver just the right amount of pathos so that the edges of the overblown lyrics have a hint of humour.

Some songs actually managed to worm their way into my emotional core despite my best efforts to prevent it (not those two above, mind you – those are good songs, but they’re still patently ridiculous).

Most obviously is “Sheila Take A Bow” which always makes me think of my favourite person – my wife Sheila!  Sheila take a bow, indeed!  In fact, take two.  I wish there was an equivalent ‘Logan’ anthem, but no such luck.

The other is “Panic” which sums up how I feel about the many terrifically bad amateur and semi-professional DJs I’ve encountered in my life:

“Burn down the Disco

Hang the blessed D.J.

Because the music that they constantly play

It says nothing to me about my life.”

The song ends with an enthusiastic repeat of “Hang the D.J.!  Hang the D.J.!” which is immensely satisfying to sing along to.  For all the pointless dub-step and techno these purveyors of boredom have ever assaulted my ears with; for all the times they refused to take a request for a good song, just so they could play a bad one two or three times and for all the times they took a perfectly good tune and wrecked it through a series of ill-considered edits – this song is for them.

Musically, Morrissey’s vocals are only one part of the reason the Smiths have aged with such grace.  The other is guitarist Johnny Marr.  Marr, who co-writes the songs, has a style that gives the Smiths their sound.  It is a little bit punk, and a little bit pop, but it also has a surprising amount of country music influence in it.  This is really noticeable on “Is It Really So Strange” which almost sounds like a Johnny Cash song blended with the Beatles.  I think it really helps ground the music and keeps it from being too sing-songy.   

My main beef with “Louder Than Bombs” is its length.  Even though the individual songs are all very short (most are under three minutes) there are 24 of them.  The front half of the record is a lot stronger than the back half as well, which makes it feel like it is petering out at the end.  I wouldn’t necessarily go all the way down to 14 tracks (my usual maximum) but 16-18 would be a lot more reasonable, and would have probably pulled it up to four stars.

That, and the fact that some of these superfluous tracks lack the injection of charm to inoculate their overly mopey natures, takes a great record and make it simply good.  Note to the musicians of the world – edit yourselves!

Best tracks:  Is It Really So Strange?, Sheila Take a Bow, Shoplifters of the World Unite, Half a Person, Panic, You Just Haven’t Earned it Yet Baby, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, Ask, Oscillate Wildly, Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.