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Smiths, The

I'm going to have to break the tie and say CRAP.

one thing i dont understand is people comparing the smiths to belle and sebastian. the smiths were a rock band! just cause morrisey was/is a ponce, they still rocked pretty hard for soft pasty brits. i guess they're just one of those bands, if you like them, you love them - if not, well...

The funny thing about the Smiths is that, even though I don't like them, I wouldn't vote them as crap. Why is this? Am I truly brainwashed by indie dogma?

A lot of truly horrible people like the Smiths. And his voice is just fucking stupid, no matter how you slice it.

The Smiths had very unique feel to their music,[b]BUT[/b]Morrissey?!?!?, a living joke and a bad role model. There's a reason why his career is kaput.

I've decided that they're gay. Which would be fine if they didn't suck, or at least admitted to sucking something.

I thought they were okay until today. I heard them coming from a different room. All I could hear were violins, tambourines, and xylophones. And crying. I swear I heard crying.

I can't for the life of me understand why otherwise intelligent adults feel the need to listen to the smiths

crap

It's the hair, isn't it?

Would it be appropriate to compare Morrissey to Bono?

(At least you don't hear about Morrissey anymore)-

Okay, suckers....here we go:

I can't for the life of me understand why otherwise intelligent adults feel the need to listen to the smiths

I'll tell you exactly why, because the musicality is striking.
Stunning, even. Some of the best music crafted in the 1980's.
Excellent playing, excellent arrangements.
Quintessential example of how a standard trio should interact - drums full of accuracy of drive/placement, bass anchoring both the rhythms and tonality, but creating complete melodic thoughts independent of and complementary to the other instruments.
And the guitar playing is, quite simply, staggering. For a gent who played a max of 2-3 guitar solos ever, Johnny Marr's recordings document meticulous construction and effortless display of feeling.

just cause morrisey was/is a ponce, they still rocked pretty hard for soft pasty brits.

Yes indeed Morrissey is tremendously ponce-like, and I certainly don't attach significance to his lyrics the way I did 17 years ago, but how is that any different from Michael Stipe? Bob Mould? Rob Halford, even?

I still find as much excellence in his presentation as I did upon my first full-catalog listen, and he was whiney back then. So was the guy from the Cure. Or, for God's sake, that Oasis bastard. But Morrissey can sing, and he does have a reservoir of creative lyrics.

....a living joke and a bad role model.

This statement I don't know quite how to deal with because while I'm not going to a Morrissey show any time soon (nor would I faint if I did go), I have yet to find a corollary to the above quote. Sure he was a bit of a control freak, and a temperamental prima donna, but he's not Courtney Love, and that's who I would consider a bad musical role model.

Swinging in the dark here. I dunno, give specifics or something.

----

I don't like every song that they wrote, and I don't own every album anymore, but I will listen to 90% of their work over 90% of the music out there.

Not Crap.


Personally the Smiths bass player is in my top ten (alpha):

Eric Avery
Trevor Dunn
John Paul Jones
Joe Lally
Tony Levin
McCartney
Mingus
Todd Rittmann
Andy Rourke
David Wm. Sims
Watt


Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Chimp for summing up so well.

I was a huge fan of these guys in high school. Their relevance to me has been completely lost over the years though.

Their output does seem to hold up remarkably well when placed next to other British pop music of the 80's. Considering the dated sound and production value of 90% of the dreck that came from the British isles.

'Ponce' is a perfect word to describe Morrissey's image. His gigantic "fag hag" overweight, distraught, goth-girl following helped none too much. Part of the problem, I always believed, was that people took every ounce of satire and self-mockery he produced as literal and earnest. His vocal delivery certainly disguised the biting irony of the words. More relevant at 16 than 30 though.

BTW - Andy Rourke was indeed one of the best bassists in a pop group at that time IMO.