Doing a 180: The Smiths, The World Won’t Listen / Louder Than Bombs / Rank
Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. These are the latest to get that treatment. You're welcome.
The World Won’t Listen: During the course of their career, The Smiths released a trifecta of compilation albums which every fan worth their salt felt obliged to own, even though two of them were originally only available in the UK and one was only available in the US. The first of the UK-only releases was the immortal Hatful of Hollow, and the other was this one, which came out on February 23, 1987, and was intended as a collection of the band’s singles and B-sides released between 1985 and 1987. In the end, it actually ended up featuring a couple of other tracks, too: “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby,” which was intended as a single but ended up being passed over in favor of “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” which was talked up as a single from The Queen Is Dead but never materialized as such.
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore: Listen Here
Louder Than Bombs: One can only imagine how infuriated Smiths fans in the States were when they bought their expensive import copy of The World Won’t Listen at the end of February, only for an approximate American equivalent to emerge only just over a month later. (It hit record store shelves on March 30.) Mind you, the track listing wasn’t exactly identical, but there was certainly plenty of duplication to be had, which would rankle any fan. That said, it’s pretty easy to argue that Louder Than Bombs is the superior compilation, given that it features such classic tracks as “Sheila Take a Bow,” “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” “Panic,” “Ask,” and many, many more. Heaven knows you won’t be miserable about the contents if you’re a Smiths fan.
Stretch Out and Wait: Listen Here
Rank: The only official live album of The Smiths’ career, it emerged in the wake of Morrissey’s debut solo album, Viva Hate, and it features a portion of the band’s October 23, 1986 performance at London’s National Ballroom. Its contents were distilled from the full show by Morrissey himself, leaving a surprising number of the band’s signature tracks on the cutting room floor, including “There Is a Light that Never Goes Out” and “How Soon Is Now?” Still, there’s plenty here to show that the band could really tear it up live. It’s just a shame more Americans didn’t get the opportunity to see them do so before they called it a day.
The Draize Train: Listen Here
