The Sound of The Smiths by The Smiths
The Sound of The Smiths is a Smiths compilation released on 10 November 2008. It is available as both single and double disc editions. Morrissey is credited with having coined the compilation's title, while Johnny Marr was involved in the project's mastering. Early promotional material for the album originally saw it entitled Hang the DJ: The Very Best of the Smiths, but this was changed for the final release. The album charted No. 21 in the UK Album Charts and No. 98 on the Billboard Album Charts. The pictures on the covers of the original and deluxe editions were taken by Tom Sheehan. It’s the only album featuring the band members on the artwork.
Over four years, from 1983 to 1987, the Smiths produced an enduring catalogue that included four studio albums and a slew of singles and b-sides often collected on a variety of compilation albums. This 2008 collection, overseen by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, collects 23 tracks in its “single-disc” edition and an additional 22 tracks, including B-sides, exclusive 12-inch releases and live recordings, for the “two-disc” expanded version. Taken either way, it’s an embarrassment of riches, as Johnny Marr’s lyrical guitar riffs supply the empathetic poetry necessary to support Morrissey’s emotionally charged lyrical concerns. From shameless self-pity to rampant narcissism, unrelieved sorrow to bursts of temporary joy, the Smiths took adolescence and channelled its hormonal wildness into gorgeous pop songs. The two-minute nightclub apocalypse of “Panic,” the wallflower ennui of “Ask,” and the sublime damp futures of “William, It Was Really Nothing” and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” highlight the flow of The Smiths’ unrelenting single releases, while the majesty of such b-sides as “Half A Person,” “Girl Afraid,” and the live versions of “Meat is Murder” and “London,” attest to the group’s fully formed strengths.
