Bluemoon's Official Top 100 Albums

BlueHammer85 said:
5. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 10/138

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The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by English rock band the Smiths. Released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records, and on 23 June 1986 in the US by Sire Records, it spent 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number two. It also reached No. 70 on the US Billboard 200, and was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1990. In 2009, Rolling Stone ranked The Queen Is Dead 218th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2013, British Magazine NME labelled The Queen Is Dead the greatest album of all time.

Guitarist Johnny Marr wrote several songs that would later appear on The Queen Is Dead while the Smiths toured Britain in early 1985, working out song arrangements with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce during soundchecks. The title of the album is from Hubert Selby Jr.'s 1964 novel Last Exit to Brooklyn. The album's cover art features French actor Alain Delon in the 1964 film L’Insoumis. The album was produced by Morrissey and Marr, working predominantly with engineer Stephen Street, who had engineered the band's 1985 album Meat Is Murder.

1. The Queen Is Dead (Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty (Medley)
2. Frankly, Mr. Shankly
3. I Know It's Over
4. Never Had No One Ever
5. Cemetry Gates
6. Bigmouth Strikes Again
7. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
8. Vicar In A Tutu
9. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
10. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others


Bluehammer Fact: Kirsty MacColl originally sang the backing vocals for Bigmouth Strikes Again, but it was considered "really weird" by Johnny Marr, and left off the final mix, to be replaced by Morrissey's pitch-shifted efforts.



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Whatever floats your boat.
 
Onholiday(somemightsay) said:
It's a sad day for Bluemooners everywhere - half think it's a travesty it only made it to 5, and half think it's a travesty it made its way into the Top 5............. :-)
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I'm in the former camp, as some regulars on this thread may know. I'm not going to slate an album that I haven't even listened to. I do have three tracks off the album on a compilation and I would say that Mozza's horrid vocals (especially those backing vocals BH's fun fact refers to) and odd lyrics aside, there's nothing very remarkable about those tracks. The music is quite pretty and inoffensive and there's one or two nice little embellishments but I would expect a lot more from the rest of the record to justify it's exulted status. Mind I never did trust the NME much even way back when I bought it every week (along with Sounds and Melody Maker).
 
BlueHammer85 said:
I'm not the biggest Smiths fan, but this is a great album - Cemetery Gates, Bigmouth and The Boy with a thorn, just superb.
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It is indeed a great album I had in my top twenty. Morrissey is a lyrical genius. It's just that I find listening to him(on some songs) whine on in a morose manner is tantamount to eating dry crackers in a prison cell on death row, I should imagine.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
I'm not the biggest Smiths fan, but this is a great album - Cemetery Gates, Bigmouth and The Boy with a thorn, just superb.
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Not my cup of tea, not at all, but expected it to be there. Surprised it’s higher than Ziggy Stardust, but there you go.
 
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