I'm impressed. I shudder and I shake when I look upon his comment.

"GRANT" is a five-letter word. And rhymes with "ANT".

Oh what the heck. He's as charming as a warm and worn-out toilet-seat.
BTW, does this chap have anything else in life than a name?

This idoit might actually make sense if he listened to a Smiths album.

What about "Hatful of Hollow" and "The Queen Is Dead", those are the best albums of all time.

being that he's from australia's greatest ever band - their answer to the smiths.

the ignorance of some of you knee-jerk, yes-men southpaw-loving fans disgusts me. I bet some of you probably haven't even heard of the fucking go betweens let alone heard any of their songs. (rolls eyes)

But then you open your mouth and let your belly rumble, thinking without speaking. Which makes you look like the idiots - who know or like no music past 1987 - you are. No wonder Moz and his fans are such a target with idiots like you around!

Anyway, a little education - Go Betweens had 6 albums in the 80s - all of which were acclaimed, but ignored by the public. One of which was released in 1986 - Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express, which is probably the 2nd best album of that year (after you know what) and a masterpiece that influenced Belle & Sebastian.

He is wrong, but at least he liked their singles, and he would know more what he's talking about than other Smiths "fans" like say Noel Gallagher.

Suggestion for the future - next time an artist you probably haven't heard vaguely disses Moz or The Smiths, think before you speak. One word: research. Two words: musical knowledge.

Thank you! (prepares for new album release next week, it's called Music.. which doesn't descrobe your faded icons last two beyond pitiful releases!)

I bet some of you hate me too cos I'm pop/disco - burn down the disco! - and a slut and aren't still make sub-standard, dated records like your star and aren't a laughing stock whose career is over. Morrissey is more of a joke than that uber-freak Michael Jackson! hahahahahaha

Well, I'm sort of stuck here. I don't want to sound disrespectful to Gran McLennan because the 2nd through 5th Go-Betweens albums are among my favorites ever and I think he and Robert Forster were truly brilliant songwriters. (I would go further and say that I am really fond of some of Grant's solo work).

BUT, it was well known that the Go-Betweens were always resentful of their own lack of commercial success, and to see The Smiths achieve that (at least in England) obviously ruffled their feathers. (Incidentally, the reasons to me are obvious: most people don't listen with their heads or hearts, only with their ears and feet! But that's another matter and only leads to the further question: then why did the Smiths achieve success? Briefly: because Morrissey gave GREAT press and was eccentric enough to attract attention.)

I guess what I'm saying is that while The Go-Betweens were brilliant, McLennan is DEAD WRONG about the Smiths not releasing a good album. I don't think I need to defend that point except by pointing to wonderful tracks that were never singles or b-sides (Well I Wonder; I Know It's Over; etc) and to say "Queen Is Dead" and "The Smiths".

That's my two pennies worth.

If you've heard "Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express" or the classic single "Cattle and Cane", you'd probably respect Grant's comments. The Go-Betweens may have been a little envious of the Smiths' success, but they always thought they were a little too "Australian" for a large English audience.

As for the greatest Australian band ever, I'd have to crown the Triffids with that honour.

One whip through "Bellavista Terrace" and it's quite apparent that Glen & Co are not quite producing tunes of Smiths standards (though "Streets of Your Town" comes close)--a pleasant pop footnote and not a whole lot more. He may be high on the fumes of having a new record in the pipeline...but don't confuse it with a personality that comes along once in a decade.

jesus christ belle & sebastian are so absolutely fucking stupid compared to the smiths. i haven't heard the go-betweens but belle & sebastian .. grow up.

Well no, not really. I LOVE the Go-Betweens almost as much as The Smiths (and I'll see them live in London in a few weeks!!!) but I wouldn't take McLennan's word to the heart, simply because as others have commented before me, he's very bitter about his (amazing) band's lack of success in the '80s. To all of you who have never heard of the Go-Betweens and are not put off by McLennan's "attack" I suggest that you buy that excellent Best Of... called "Bellavista Terrace" . I think any real music lover will appreciate the genius of those people from Brisbane.

Who the hell are the Go-Betweens, anyway ? Maybe they can make their fan believe , too.

first off, though i know a lot of people like them...belle & sebasation are crap. from their name to their obnoxious calculated breathy tunes, they are catchy but seem entirely insincere to me...
the go-betweens were catcht, yes...and competent enough, but grant what's-his-ass is deluding himself if he thinks they came close to the smiths. i've SEEN the go-betweens, and it was a real yawn, i can assure you.

and one little aside to my fellow anonymous above, "hatful of hollow" is NOT an album proper...i get so sick of people saying "my fave album is HOH, or TWWL." those aren't really albums; they're compilations.

anyway...ok.

At last, a slightly balanced reaction to someone who dares criticise the god-like Smiths/Moz. That's a bit more grown-up. Well done people, moz fans seem considerably less childish now.

I always felt that the Smiths were more of an album band than a singles band.

It's a bit unfair of mr anonymous to slag off fans that like Hatful Of Hollow, after all didn't Morrissey say that it was fans that requested it to be released?

The Go-Betweens were the only band of the Eighties
with a genius that comes close to the Smiths. And I dare to say that the differences were that they were much more "authentic" and had two brilliant songwriters in one band: Foster writing beautiful popfolk songs and McLennan more catchy pop tunes. Both of them released a bunch of solo albums in the Ninenties perfectioning their own different styles of songwriting. And if you have ever listened to "Watershed", the first Mc Lennan solo-album, you would recognize him as the person who is allowed to judge... BUT: though this is one of the best pure guitar-based pop album of the nineties (coming close to Vauxhall), itīs exactly waht McLennan critices about Smiths-Albums: Itīs a collection of beautiful (potential) singles. But the overall question should be: What the hell is so bad about this??????

p.s.: after 12 years the go-bewteens are now re-united and are about to release an album this week. watch out for this!!!

This comment of Grant McLennan must be put in a context. The thing is that the interviewer and Grant himself were almost drunk! I read the interview in that fabulous magazine (Rock De Lux is the best spanish music magazine by far, and Iīm grateful to them becuase they showed me The Smiths and Morrissey) and I thought that Grant was terribly wrong, but that those words were only what we call a "machada". Iīm sure that he didnīt mean that at all. And we must think that Grant can be jealous because The Smiths were the group that stopped the success of The Go-Betweens from being bigger, and that the Go-Betweens left Rough Trade because the company couldnīt pay so much attention to the aussies as they did with The Smiths