The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead

I've got multiple copies of TQID but there is something special about this first EMI UK pressing.
Highly recommended.

The b-side is the best album side ever. Isn't it?

#packwatch ripbozo 💯 💨 🤣 🤣 🤣
good album tho

play this record almost everyday. morrisey is a lyrical genius. felt like connecting with an old friend i never got to meet. every track will never not be fun to sing along to. i get lost in my own world at every play and don't regret any of it

this is mine

a1u / b1u

sounds amazing , just need a copy of strangeways and i have all the smiths albums

The original MPO uk pressing is the version to buy!

THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead (1986)

PAÍS: INGLATERRA

Un día como hoy 16 de Junio de 1986, sale a la luz el álbum que sería considerado como la obra maestra de The Smiths , llegando así a cumplir en este 2021, 35 años de este lanzamiento que en lo particular, me genera sentimientos encontrados ya que si bien no lo considero como el "mejor álbum" de la banda; el single "Bigmouth Strikes Again" fue el primer tema que oí de ellos allá por el año "1996" y además porque está edición alemana de época en "vinilo verde" fue el primer vinilo de color que tuve en mi colección.

Como dato curioso, a principios de "1986", Morrissey Official decide expulsar a Andy Rourke por sus constantes problemas con la heroína siendo "Craig Gannon" el encargado de reemplazarlo.

Sin embargo, luego de dos semanas, decidieron volver a admitir a "Andy" por lo que la banda temporalmente se volvió en un quinteto.

Con dicha formación grabaron los singles "Panic" y "Ask", además de irse de gira por el "Reino Unido" hasta que en "Octubre" del mismo año, por incompatibilidad con el resto de miembros, "Craig" es retirado.

"The Boy With The Torn In His Side"
sería el single elegido el cual fue lanzado en "1985" y ya luego vendrían los singles "Bigmouth Strikes Again" y "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" (el cual fue lanzado en "Alemania").

Tanto los singles como el álbum fueron grabados en "1985" entre las giras que tenía la banda tanto en "Inglaterra" como en "USA" pero por un problema con la disquera tuvieron que posponer el lanzamiento del mismo, por 7 meses.

En cuanto al disco, fue lanzado bajo el sello "Rough Trade" y llegó a ocupar el puesto 2 en los charts británicos y ocupó los primeros lugares en los rankings de varias revistas de música especializada como "NME".

Temas recomendados:

1) I Know It's Over
2) Bigmouth Strikes Again
3) The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
4) There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
5) Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others

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The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs (Vinilo) (1987)

https://www.facebook.com/1659973037590919/posts/2836899849898226/

The Smiths - Singles (CD) (1995)

https://www.facebook.com/1659973037590919/posts/2784749598446585/

Morrissey - Years Of Refusal (Vinilo) (2009)

https://www.facebook.com/1659973037590919/posts/2827193587535519/

Libros:

Marvin - Morrissey Y Los Atormentados (2013)

https://www.facebook.com/1659973037590919/posts/2763216190599926/

Marcos Gendre - The Smiths 15 Minutos Contigo. 1984: El Año De The Smiths y Hatful Of Hollow (2015)

https://www.facebook.com/1659973037590919/posts/2713892455532300/

Sounds great compared to a US 80’s press and a 2012 reissue, very open sound

Can anyone confirm for sure that some copies came with a poster? I’ve never seen one and various knowledgeable people I’ve asked can’t ever recall seeing this either.

Having already dipped his toe into darker and deeper waters, Morrissey opted to bath in it this time around, crafting an album of astonishingly sombre reflection and scornfully mocking glee in the process. "The Queen Is Dead" was rhythmic strafing to the same effect as "How Soon Is Now?", but the devastating melancholia shifts into the sardonic tone that led Morrissey to be labelled the Pope of Mope by the 1980s press (an unfair term considering he is whip-smart and slyly jovial on a good portion of the album). Somewhat unconventionally for the era, the album is devoid of synths, instead focusing on high quality musicianship of the rock variety, with Morrissey's lyrical genius and incredibly ancillary production ably complemented by Johnny Marr’s high-timbre guitar riffs and sonic urgency. Aided by the aforementioned friction between Morrissey’s devilishly biting wit and Marr's layered rock'n'roll, evidenced in the literary homage "Cemetery Gates", veiled vilification of "Frankly Mr. Shankly" and the hilarious "Vicar In A Tutu", even the spectacular engineering of this splendid recording is integral to its greatness. Every song is informed by the duo's extraordinary synergy, and with such varied and distinctive material to work from, Marr’s instrumental virtuosity soars to remarkable heights.

"The Queen Is Dead" was without a doubt the creative peak for Morrissey and Marr's symbiosis, generating their most tuneful, clever and outrageous moments as a musical unit. Each member delivers enlightened and cooperative performances, with the well-executed and memorable drumming and bass lines providing the infectious poly-rhythms necessary to support Marr's alternately gentle acoustic and wildly imaginative electric playing. Not only is there a richness in terms of the musical foundation of the album, but Morrissey's vocals show progression alongside a strongly marked backbeat, lending the compositions a distinctly harder rock sound and frenetic pace. The band are much improved in all areas; working from the formula of "Meat Is Murder" with its singular sonic moods, the album is a web of different styles, from the acoustic pop of "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" as well as the articulated gloom of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", no avenue of music goes unexplored. British social mores and class division constitute the majority of Morrissey's lyrical caricatures, and he is at his most intellectually diverse on "The Queen Is Dead", delivering cynical and passionate narratives as wistful as they are disdainful, as well as delving into romantic and affecting poetry as intensely as he does parody, ridicule and criticism.

Indie rock would never be the same after "The Queen Is Dead" and there has never been an album like it since. It is quite simply the most aurally pleasurable, intellectually rewarding and generally satisfying thirty-six minutes of music you will ever hear. A masterpiece if ever there was one, this is the finest assemblage of original British rock music to be released during the 1980s.

Rating: 5/5