Fans, critics and musicians tag acts of yesteryear with the "genius," "spokesman" and "game changer" titles far too often. One heralded release can garner so much revisionist attention that an outsider would think the creator assisted in the engineering plans for the Saturn V rocket but never received due credit. We end up devaluing our most precious artists by keeping them in the same company as their lesser but still enjoyable peers. Consider UK indie pioneers The Smiths among those deeply effected. Before them, charismatic frontmen were frowned upon by the scene as overindulgent. They belonged in bands that made music for blockheads (Quiet Riot, Motley Crue). Enter Steven Patrick Morrissey as the one to embrace lead singer flamboyance. By bombastically emphasizing contrarian ideals of intellectualism, philosophy and black humor, he made it ok to admire straightforward passion. In that context The Smiths represents the reformation of the underground, the modern indie rock equivalent to the 95 theses. And just like that historical event, The Smiths earns its importance equally as much for what it launched as what it contained.
The album opens with "Reel Around the Fountain," a warm welcome in kindred spirits with Motown balladry epitomized by Smokey Robinson. The lyric "you can pin and mount me like a butterfly" embodies the unique ability of Morrissey to juxtapose aggression against chastity. His relaxed crooning delivers what otherwise could have been a literary catastrophe. Even the song names themselves ("Pretty Girls Make Graves," "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle," "Suffer Little Children") introduced a level of morbidity never seen before. Credit Morrissey's wit for not allowing them to come across as campy or disgusting. His attraction to vanity materializes with "I don't want a lover, I just want to be seen in the back your car" from "You've Got Everything Now." Although they would cultivate this murky subject matter for the next half decade, it never felt as exposed as it does here.
The one-two punch of "This Charming Man" and "Still Ill," found in the middle of the record, hints at the huge hit-making (at least in the UK) sensibility they would ace a few years later with songs like "Panic" and "Cemetery Gates." "Ask me why and I'll spit in your eye" from "Still Ill" remains one of the most quotable lines Moz ever muttered. The harmonica in "Hand In Glove" feels so oddly out of place that it actually ends up working in their favor by offsetting the piercing guitars with some twangy blues. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the complete inversion of the formula their stateside colleagues R.E.M. refined so well. Instead of deriving a large amount of somberness from gloomy instrumentation, The Smiths provided most of it through their vocalist. Not to say Morrissey brings drab to every song or that Michael Stipe shined up all of R.E.M.'s early work, but Johnny Marr lays the groundwork for most of the brightness found on The Smiths.
The group also scores others winners here by speeding up the pace. "What Difference Does It Make" sounds like the perfect soundtrack for somebody strolling the streets of Manchester. The rushing "You've Got Everything Now" has all the hallmarks of an album starter, but placing it after the light opener "Reel Around The Fountain" builds a great momentum in the first ten minutes. The only blatant misstep comes during the second half of "Miserable Lie." Johnny Marr builds a barrage of guitar that Morrissey howls over for two ear splitting minutes. His voice simply does not suit him for such an endeavor. He rarely deserves criticism for his performances, but unfortunately he cannot escape it here.
They chose to close the album with the murder ballad "Suffer Little Children," one of their more contentious songs. Despite its unnerving lyrics, the song functions as a gentle coda to one of the most bizarre pop albums of all time. Artists did not broach the subject matter found on The Smiths, and certainly not in such a candid manner. The minor pitfalls are mostly the product of that overzealous attitude. They may reach at times, but their ambivalence to reservation is what made them so legendary. Though the group would hone their style and sound in subsequent releases, The Smiths marks the beginning of not a just band, but a completely new set of musical ethos.
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