Strangeways, Here We Come
★★★☆☆
Preface
A pretty short and sweet album. Not too fancy—humble and honest. It sounds good, very much like The Smiths, but still “new” enough to not be fully predictable. A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours and Last Night I Dreamt are perfect tracks.
It’s not particularly consistent as an album. Most of the songs are love songs, but there are also hints of political and personal themes. I didn’t dislike it, but I was expecting more. Hopefully, my next Smiths album listen (The Queen Is Dead) will become my favorite.
Review
My first Smiths album! It starts with A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours, a very sweet love song. Classic Smiths: romantic, romantic, and honestly, a bit whiny. The keyboards sound like guitars. The song titles are a bit too long. I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish comes off as harsh—a sudden shift from the previous track. Morrissey’s vocals sound odd at points.
Typical me, I started something
And now, I’m not too sure
I don’t quite understand Death of a Disco Dancer in the context of the album. The lyrics are repetitive: “oh, very nice, very nice, very nice”, “in the next world, in the next world”. Still, I like his voice—easily recognizable and deeply melancholic. It’s about a bombing in London: the INLA bombing of the Droppin’ Well disco in December 1982. The club was frequented by British Army soldiers from a nearby barracks.
Girlfriend in a Coma is very upbeat! I knew they had this “happy music, sad lyrics” style, but this one’s practically a dance track. Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before starts making the album feel repetitive—I can already guess what’s coming next.
Ah, Last Night I Dreamt… I had heard this one many times before. It’s a favorite. The long intro is unique. I love the background crowd noise—it’s very alienating. Everyone is living, screaming, and fighting, while here’s this guy playing a sad piano, revisiting a dream.
Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me…
Last night I felt real arms around me
No hope, no harm, just another false alarm
The lyrics are brilliant. The reverb on the percussion, everything fits together beautifully. A masterpiece. I hate that it ended.
The story is old, I know
But it goes on, and on
Unhappy Birthday sounds funny. I like the rhythm—very proto-punk—but I’m here for the sad songs, and this one doesn’t quite fit that mold. Paint a Vulgar Picture is about the music industry—very straightforward. He was a fan, then a star, and one day he’ll be a dead star. He’s all the characters. Ironic, considering how many compilations and reissues The Smiths have.
Death at One’s Elbow feels very American and bluesy. It features a harmonica, and the guitars make Morrissey sound a bit like Elvis. I Won’t Share You is sweet and tender—it feels honest and stripped down. The album ends with the same echo effect it began with.