Album Review: The Smiths aren't exactly a happy-go-luck bunch of musicians. After all, how upbeat could you be penning songs like "What Difference Does It Make," "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable" and "Girlfriend In A Coma"? But the good news is that these boys are a talented bunch, and their minor-key, dark-brained musings make for solid 80s-style modern rock. Their best song is "How Soon Is Now?"—one of those hits that is instantly recognizable but whose title does little to remind you of the melody or lyrics. The song has a different sound than the Smiths' normal fare—a fat, entrancing production sound, akin to the feel of Violator-era Depeche Mode. (It's worth noting, though, that this song pre-dated Violator by several years and thus can be seen as setting the stage of Depeche Mode's breakout into the big-time.) Other top tracks on Singles include the riveting "Bigmouth Strikes Again"; the teen-angst-ridden "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"; and the melodic dirge, "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable." The problem with the Smiths' original studio albums was always that there is a certain sameness to many of the Smith's songs, and spread out over their entire discography, the occasional break-out tune had a hard time competing with the throngs of same-sounders. This collection—Singles—solves that problem by distilling The Smiths' body of work down to songs that were vetted by fans and turned into hits. The album includes not only the best songs from their studio albums, but also non-LP hits like "Shakespeare's Sister" and "Sheila Take a Bow." The Smiths were a dominant modern-rock band in the 1980s, and the array of hits on Singles reminds us why.

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