The Smiths Mixtape

As promised a little earlier, it's a Smiths playlist! Perfect for spending those warm, summer days indoors, and sinking into a solemn teenage slump with your jangle-pop loving Irish-Mancunian mates.

Being a child of the 90s rather than of the 80s, I was a little late in getting my hands on my first Smiths records; and when they did finally begin to find their way into my possession, they didn't arrive with the sensible, chronological order you'd tend to want when newly discovering a band's back-catalogue, but dropped in according to whatever my older sister casually remarked I might like next.

The one advantage to hearing The Queen is Dead first, however, particularly having had no previous exposure to the band that carves such a work of genius, is that it completely revolutionises your ideas about music almost immediately. I vividly remember thinking to myself that this 'Smiths' thing is a big deal, and that I wanted to attack it correctly from the outset. So I transferred the CD from the HMV bag to my CD player, put my big headphones over my head, and laid down on my bed staring at the ceiling (and occasionally flicking through the accompanying booklet for lyrical clarification), giving every song my total attention. As it turns out, that was a pretty significant moment of my adolescence.

As most Smiths fans would tell you, it simply doesn't get any better than The Queen is Dead (although since hearing Strangeways, Here We Come, it's very much been a two-horse race for me), and so listening to the masterwork first may have had a downside to it. Still, alongside Meat is Murder, the truly excellent compilation Louder Than Bombs, and the aforementioned Strangeways, only the rarest Smiths track lacks potency and credibility from an otherwise spotless repertoire (looking at you, 'Golden Lights'). As such, forgive the absence of representation of the band's eponymous debut (or their 'unofficial debut', Hatful of Hollow), but 45-minutes is simply not enough time for the brilliance of The Smiths.

1. I Want the One I Can't Have (Meat is Murder)
2. Still Ill [Live] (Rank)
3. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish (Strangeways, Here We Come)
4. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby (Louder Than Bombs)
5. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (The Queen is Dead)
6. Oscillate Wildly (Louder Than Bombs)
7. A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours (Strangeways, Here We Come)
8. I Know It's Over (The Queen is Dead)
9. Nowhere Fast (Meat is Murder)
10. Is It Really So Strange? (Louder Than Bombs)
11. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (Strangeways, Here We Come)
12. Ask (Louder Than Bombs)
13. Asleep (Louder Than Bombs)

Incidentally, following my memorable first exposure to The Queen is Dead, I later did the very same thing with all of my Smiths albums in order, listening silently on my bed for over six hours. I recommend it.