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The Sound of the Smiths
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The Sound of the Smiths in Franklin, TN
Current price: $15.99
Barnes and Noble
The Sound of the Smiths in Franklin, TN
Current price: $15.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: OS
Depending on your count,
The Sound of the Smiths
is the third or fourth posthumous
Smiths
compilation -- a number that may be a bit excessive considering the group's rather concise catalog, containing just four studio albums and singles rounded up on three singles compilations (and two of those covered the same essential territory, too). That's a lot of repetition but whether it's taken in either its single-disc or double-disc deluxe editions,
is the best of these posthumous overviews. The single-disc -- which is the first disc of the deluxe set -- is the hits disc, containing every cut from the 18-track 1995 compilation
Singles
and expanding it with five cuts all dating from the mid-'80s:
"Still Ill,"
"Nowhere Fast,"
"Barbarism Begins at Home,"
"The Headmaster Ritual,"
and
"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby."
As a
-basics goes, it's first-rate, an introduction and summary that's compulsively listenable. The second disc on the deluxe
splits the difference between a rarities compilation and a "more of the best" collection of album tracks, rounding up non-LP singles and B-sides like
"Jeane,"
"Wonderful Woman,"
"Money Changes Everything,"
and the New York Vocal version of
"This Charming Man,"
live versions of
"Handsome Devil,"
"Meat Is Murder,"
"What's the World?"
"London,"
the
Troy Tate
demo of
"Pretty Girls Make Graves,"
and a bunch of great
songs including a hefty chunk of
The Queen Is Dead
. It falls short of being the long-awaited collection of
rarities, the absence of which remains a mystery, but it's the best stab at one to date and a pretty entertaining listen in its own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Sound of the Smiths
is the third or fourth posthumous
Smiths
compilation -- a number that may be a bit excessive considering the group's rather concise catalog, containing just four studio albums and singles rounded up on three singles compilations (and two of those covered the same essential territory, too). That's a lot of repetition but whether it's taken in either its single-disc or double-disc deluxe editions,
is the best of these posthumous overviews. The single-disc -- which is the first disc of the deluxe set -- is the hits disc, containing every cut from the 18-track 1995 compilation
Singles
and expanding it with five cuts all dating from the mid-'80s:
"Still Ill,"
"Nowhere Fast,"
"Barbarism Begins at Home,"
"The Headmaster Ritual,"
and
"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby."
As a
-basics goes, it's first-rate, an introduction and summary that's compulsively listenable. The second disc on the deluxe
splits the difference between a rarities compilation and a "more of the best" collection of album tracks, rounding up non-LP singles and B-sides like
"Jeane,"
"Wonderful Woman,"
"Money Changes Everything,"
and the New York Vocal version of
"This Charming Man,"
live versions of
"Handsome Devil,"
"Meat Is Murder,"
"What's the World?"
"London,"
the
Troy Tate
demo of
"Pretty Girls Make Graves,"
and a bunch of great
songs including a hefty chunk of
The Queen Is Dead
. It falls short of being the long-awaited collection of
rarities, the absence of which remains a mystery, but it's the best stab at one to date and a pretty entertaining listen in its own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Depending on your count,
The Sound of the Smiths
is the third or fourth posthumous
Smiths
compilation -- a number that may be a bit excessive considering the group's rather concise catalog, containing just four studio albums and singles rounded up on three singles compilations (and two of those covered the same essential territory, too). That's a lot of repetition but whether it's taken in either its single-disc or double-disc deluxe editions,
is the best of these posthumous overviews. The single-disc -- which is the first disc of the deluxe set -- is the hits disc, containing every cut from the 18-track 1995 compilation
Singles
and expanding it with five cuts all dating from the mid-'80s:
"Still Ill,"
"Nowhere Fast,"
"Barbarism Begins at Home,"
"The Headmaster Ritual,"
and
"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby."
As a
-basics goes, it's first-rate, an introduction and summary that's compulsively listenable. The second disc on the deluxe
splits the difference between a rarities compilation and a "more of the best" collection of album tracks, rounding up non-LP singles and B-sides like
"Jeane,"
"Wonderful Woman,"
"Money Changes Everything,"
and the New York Vocal version of
"This Charming Man,"
live versions of
"Handsome Devil,"
"Meat Is Murder,"
"What's the World?"
"London,"
the
Troy Tate
demo of
"Pretty Girls Make Graves,"
and a bunch of great
songs including a hefty chunk of
The Queen Is Dead
. It falls short of being the long-awaited collection of
rarities, the absence of which remains a mystery, but it's the best stab at one to date and a pretty entertaining listen in its own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Sound of the Smiths
is the third or fourth posthumous
Smiths
compilation -- a number that may be a bit excessive considering the group's rather concise catalog, containing just four studio albums and singles rounded up on three singles compilations (and two of those covered the same essential territory, too). That's a lot of repetition but whether it's taken in either its single-disc or double-disc deluxe editions,
is the best of these posthumous overviews. The single-disc -- which is the first disc of the deluxe set -- is the hits disc, containing every cut from the 18-track 1995 compilation
Singles
and expanding it with five cuts all dating from the mid-'80s:
"Still Ill,"
"Nowhere Fast,"
"Barbarism Begins at Home,"
"The Headmaster Ritual,"
and
"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby."
As a
-basics goes, it's first-rate, an introduction and summary that's compulsively listenable. The second disc on the deluxe
splits the difference between a rarities compilation and a "more of the best" collection of album tracks, rounding up non-LP singles and B-sides like
"Jeane,"
"Wonderful Woman,"
"Money Changes Everything,"
and the New York Vocal version of
"This Charming Man,"
live versions of
"Handsome Devil,"
"Meat Is Murder,"
"What's the World?"
"London,"
the
Troy Tate
demo of
"Pretty Girls Make Graves,"
and a bunch of great
songs including a hefty chunk of
The Queen Is Dead
. It falls short of being the long-awaited collection of
rarities, the absence of which remains a mystery, but it's the best stab at one to date and a pretty entertaining listen in its own right. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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