"Strangeways..." included in Guardian article with readers sharing their favourite albums turning 30

Includes Strangeways, by Andrew Hall

Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince and more: readers share their favourite albums turning 30 - The Guardian

Excerpt:

The Smiths – Strangeways Here We Come

Both Morrissey and Johnny Marr consider the Smiths’ final LP to be their finest album, which is evidence that artists are rarely the best judges of their own work. Any release that includes something as “will this do?” as the terminal Death at One’s Elbow can’t be considered the finest anything (with Morrissey’s belch at the end of the track providing a succinct review). Unhappy Birthday possesses neither the wit nor the charm of similarly lightweight moments on The Queen is Dead. However, there is no denying the ambition of Strangeways’ ideas, the sophistication of its arrangements and the confidence and style with which the group pull it off. It’s the Smiths’ most diverse record – the swaggering glam-rock of I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish; Girlfriend in a Coma’s two-minute pop soap opera; whatever the hell the brilliantly bonkers Death of Disco Dancer is. When Morrissey finally bursts in – two minutes into Last Night I Dreamt That Someone Loved Me – may well be the most magnificently melodramatic moment in a catalogue full of them. I Won’t Share You is a beautiful, heartbreaking closer, which highlights a key difference between the two creative forces (Morrissey possessive, Marr collaborative) – a big reason why the Smiths weren’t long for this world.

Andrew Hall
 
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Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince. It's still hard to believe they're gone...
 
that was a very good time for music.david sylvian was amazing back then but after brilliant trees his music became too slow and ambient for me.still a great artist though.
 
I beg the difference, Strangways was a tremendous almost perfect Lp.....it was flawless to bad there wasn't a tour to go along with it...no instead we got Morrissey solo which I can't complain about either. Everything the man does comes out right....example on WPINOYB tracks like one of our own,staircase,art hounds,etc
 
I had lost interest by the time Strangeways came out. I could predict what Morrissey was going to say - this album only cemented the "Mope, Inc." credo that Morrissey rolled out for about ten albums after. With "Girlfriend In A Coma", camp took precedence over insight or meaning, which continued with "Viva Hate"'s relatively amusing "Hairdresser". A lot of flat tracks, atonal and meandering, mixed in with about three classics. I'm just saying the truth about those times. I like it more now, but I never listen all the way through and judiciously skip the tracks that don't pass muster ("A Rush and A"..."Death At One's...").
I'm getting sick of the lionization of The Smiths!
 
I had lost interest by the time Strangeways came out. I could predict what Morrissey was going to say - this album only cemented the "Mope, Inc." credo that Morrissey rolled out for about ten albums after. With "Girlfriend In A Coma", camp took precedence over insight or meaning, which continued with "Viva Hate"'s relatively amusing "Hairdresser". A lot of flat tracks, atonal and meandering, mixed in with about three classics. I'm just saying the truth about those times. I like it more now, but I never listen all the way through and judiciously skip the tracks that don't pass muster ("A Rush and A"..."Death At One's...").
I'm getting sick of the lionization of The Smiths!

Everything about The Smiths is subjective - that's why Morrissey-Solo exists - and your opinion is as valid as any other, however, ''A Rush and a Push...' was the first Smiths song I heard, blasting out of a tiny cassette player smuggled into 3CF by one of the cooler big kids at my school. It sounded so weird, so different, that it literally stopped me in my tracks and I mustered up the nerve to ask the player who it was and what it was called. Although a bit clunky, hearing it live at Manchester in 2004 made me a very happy chap. Hey ho...
 
This album got me at the perfect age. I can remember where I was when I heard it the first time and can still smell the sleeve. It's a marvellous album and I was still at that age when I believed there would be more bands coming along who would soundtrack my life so perfectly, the good and the bad. It never really happened. Some poor things got Oasis as their band. The humanity.
 
What's interesting to me is that 99.99% of people (bands) (artists) (musicians) (entertainers) couldn't even match what Morrissey had accomplished before you even played the first track.

The title of the album. How many people (outside the UK) (Manchester?) even know that Strangeways is a prison? Even without Strangeways being a prison, it still is a catchy album title. But Morrissey combined both. The catchy album title and the layers of meaning hidden underneath.

And hence...the genius that was.
 

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