The Smiths 'The Sound of The Smiths'

6am on a cold, wet, grey Monday morning. Walking to the swimming pool and contemplating, afterwards, a day at work. What else could I listen to but 'The Sound of The Smiths'?

If you perused the racks at a record shop (wikipedia it, kids) you would never guess that The Smiths are one of the greatest and most influential bands...ever. Their back catalogue has been left in such a shabby state that all we have are 1993 reissues of their studio albums and a couple of 'best ofs' put together without much thought or care. It was great news then, a couple of years ago, when it was announced that Morrissey and Marr would work together on a series of deluxe editions of Smiths albums and, at last, a proper boxset.

This collection is not actually a legacy of that announcement, although it is endorsed by Morrissey (who came up with the title) and Marr (who supervised the remastering) and it is the most comprehensive and best collection of The Smiths' music yet released.

Everyone should know these songs and to know them is to love them. I remember being introduced to the wonderful world of Morrissey and Marr by my best friend Lee, who made me a compilation tape which I still have. I remember playing the tape and being amazed by how joyous the music was, so far from the popular perception of what The Smiths are actually like. Morrissey's words and singing struck me first, how could they not, somehow it seemed I knew what he was going to sing next before I'd even heard it. Then I listened again and I could hear the most fantastic, innovative guitar playing. What a combination, what a band!

The start of this compilation is spookily similar to the start of the tape Lee made me. Only 'Still Ill' in the place of 'William It Was Really Nothing' changes in the sequence of the first six songs. The running order is roughly chronological, meaning that there is an absolutely stunning run of songs about two thirds of the way through...'the boy with the thorn in his side', 'bigmouth strikes again', 'there is a light...', 'panic', 'ask'. Seriously, how many bands can do better than that?

We can all quibble about some songs that are left out. What would a Smiths 'best of' be without 'I Know Its Over' and 'The Queen Is Dead'? But this is not a 'Best Of', it is the sound of the Smiths, and it is an extremely good representation of that. Listening to the bonus cd is for another day, for now I want the joy of listening to these wonderful songs again to last.

The World has moved on of course. Teenagers used to play Smiths songs on their walkmans while sitting on buses, now they play tinny, barely recognisable music out loud through their mobile phones. To paraphrase both Kevin Rowland and Thom Yorke...take me back to those old days, I wish it was the 80s.

Pop music gets no better than this.

9.8

['Sound of The Smiths' is out now on cd and 2cd]