release date: Sep. 22, 1987
format: vinyl (ROUGH 106) / cd / cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,45]
producer: Johnny Marr, Morrissey, Stephen Street
label: Rough Trade Records - nationality: England, UK
Tracklist: A) 1. "A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" (4 / 5) - 3. "Death of a Disco Dancer" (4 / 5) - 4. "Girlfriend in a Coma" (5 / 5) - 5. "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (5 / 5) - 2. "Unhappy Birthday" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Paint a Vulgar Picture" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Death at One's Elbow" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "I Won't Share You" (5 / 5)
4th and final studio album by The Smiths now with producer Stephen Street, and as with previous albums, once again, the musical universe has changed compared to the predecessor. Apparently, the recording time of the album was delayed and extended due to personal / private disagreements between the two leaders, Morrissey and Marr. In fact, the album was recorded in the spring of '87 - Johnny Marr left the Smiths in July, and the album was released another two months later when attempts to continue the band with a new guitarist had been exhausted, and therefore the album was released post-posthumously at a time when it had become evident that the band would not continue.
The music is not as polished and coherent as the previous album but it still seems rather homogeneous in a way. The jangle pop element is more subdued on behalf of a more orchestrated sound with piano, strings and synthesized sounds, making it a more complex whole. However, on the lyrical side, Morrissey makes sure it's The Smiths at their best with strong lyrics on the same issues as on "The Queen Is Dead" but with even more criticism revealing a strong dissatisfaction with their record company, most explicitly in "Paint a Vulgar Picture". Once again, after a short while the new Smiths album was my favourite The Smiths' record. It sort of contains all the characteristic elements of their vast repertoire. "A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours" is a continued style of Meat is Murder (title track) "Girlfriend in a Coma" is like their best single hits with focus on jangle pop as "The Boy With the Thorn...". "Paint a Vulgar Picture" is a more sarcastic version of "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" from The Queen..., whereas "Unhappy Birthday" and "I Won't Share You" resembles the tone and melancholic style they have carried with them on all of their albums - there's always a 'tear-your-heart-out song' of impossible love for the heartbroken on any of their releases.
The album cover is as always Morrissey's mission and this time it features an image of actor Richard Davalos from the movie "East of Eden" (1955), apparently from a scene starring James Dean who was a beloved icon of Morrissey's.
No new material was released after this but the great live album Rank followed in 1988, the same year Morrissey released his first solo album Viva Hate.
Strangeways, Here We Come is quite naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
I have a 1987 cd version as well as the 2011 remaster issued by WEA.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]
1987 Favourite releases: 1. The Smiths Strangeways, Here We Come - 2. U2 The Joshua Tree - 3. Hüsker Dü Warehouse: Songs and Stories
