How is it that a band that so many people give semi-critical acclaim too escape me for so long? Its not that I didn't like the smiths, its just that I never listened to them, and now, wow! I love them. However, its strange I feel that I really enjoy the album "louder than bombs" but when I actually listen to the whole thing, there are several filler tracks that I occasionally desire to FF over. There are also a couple songs that I love. The through aways are more than balanced for me by the few songs I have fallen for. Thus an album which while listening earns a few ughhs, finds itself still somehow diefied in my memory. Half a Person and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now are my two stand-out favorites on the album. There is something still current about the song-writing, and I am a sucker for simple and poppy, yet still "smart".
This collection of Solo Material from morissey does not dissapoint either. Bona Drag is a collection of all Morrissey's solo-act Singles and B-sides previously released by 1988. The songs and production show maturity and individual vision that I do not think the Smith's material did previously. Despite not being particularly hot in sales, this compilation shows to me that Morrissey really was a pop-music visionary who had some great skill at melding melody, picking the right producers for his sound, and creating intricate, smart lyrics that do not stand out against the simple music they ride over.
sidenote: Strangely, while writing this I was reading yet another Chuck Klosterman book in which he describes a smith and morrissey convention in Los Angeles. Apparently, modern, urban latino youth are huge fans of the smiths. Who knew?