The Smiths - The Smiths (1984/2013) (Hi-Res)

01. Reel Around The Fountain
02. You've Got Everything Now
03. Miserable Lie
04. Pretty Girls Make Graves
05. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
06. This Charming Man
07. Still Ill
08. Hand In Glove
09. What Difference Does It Make?
10. I Don't Owe You Anything
11. Suffer Little Children

Personnel:

Morrissey - vocals
Johnny Marr - guitars, harmonica
Andy Rourke - bass guitar
Mike Joyce - drums
Paul Carrack - piano, organ (on tracks 1, 2, 9)
Annalisa Jablonska - vocals ('Pretty Girls Make Graves', 'Suffer Little Children')

The Smiths is the debut album by English alternative rock band The Smiths, released on 20 February 1984. The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, staying on the chart for 33 weeks. After the original production by Troy Tate was felt to be inadequate, John Porter rerecorded the album in both London and Manchester during breaks in the band's UK tour during September 1983. The album was well received by the critics as well as the public, and it established The Smiths as a prominent band in the 1980s music scene in the United Kingdom.

'It is difficult to describe just how different The Smiths sounded when it was released in early 1984. In an era of overproduced crash, bang and very often, wallop, this album defined northern British pop in a manner not unlike the Beatles had two decades earlier. Vocalist and lyricist Steven Patrick Morrissey cut a very singular swathe with lyrics that quoted freely from kitchen sink dramas, great literary heritage, and, in doing so, gave awkward youth its new (and enduring) hero.

After the group crashed on to the scene with their debut single, “This Charming Man”, in summer 1983, The Smiths was initially recorded with ex-Teardrop Explodes guitarist Troy Tate as producer, before abandoning it and getting ex-Roxy Music producer and bassist, John Porter, in to re-record. The sound – playing to Johnny Marr’s obsession with 60s guitar supported by Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke’s economical rhythm section – created a music, that like its accompanying lyrics, was completely out of step with the times, yet has come to define them as much as any Frankie Goes To Hollywood track.

Morrissey's utter disdain for playing pop's game, combined with the group's control over their artwork and being part of Rough Trade mapped out a new stage of indie music; blending classic, focussed melodies with this witty intensity, tackling taboo subjects such as child abuse (“Reel Around The Fountain”), the Moors Murders (“Suffer Little Children” with its infamous “Manchester, so much to answer for” line) and sexual politics, dressed in pretty, northern music. Although it’s not their greatest work, The Smiths remains an incredible statement of intent.'