Tim's Twitter Listening Party - "Strangeways, Here We Come" with Stephen Street (Sep. 28, 2020)

Reckon Tim, give it up dude. Get over it! You couldn't afford to live in Moz Angeles and the California Son wouldn't give you the time of day. Stop posting man crush shitty smiths listening parties m8 tit inn nnnn nn nnnn n it.
Most the posters on this hellsite are cranks and jokers but you, YOU, I reckon you're genuinely mentally unwell.
 
It’s not terrible, I feel exactly the same about this LP. Sometimes when I listen I recognise a band at the summit, at others I detect a descent well underway.


Well, at least we know Morrissey wasn’t the weak link in that chain, just listen to what came quickly after... Viva Hate. :rock:


Maybe Marr would have written better music if he wasn’t so stressed out by managerial duties. Though, listening to Marr’s offerings after Strangeways, it seems his creative juices may have run dry.



:cool:
 
This feels like a terrible thing to say, but I've always felt this record has a handful of the very best (like, absolute gobsmacking genius) Smiths songs and also a few of the worst...
Spot on! The second half starts with possibly the greatest Smiths song of all and then plods to an underwhelming end. Some of the production is very dull. Still, an incredible album and represents my introduction to The Smiths...thanks to Charlotte Parkin...oh my, my first crush.
 
Well, at least we know Morrissey wasn’t the weak link in that chain, just listen to what came quickly after... Viva Hate. :rock:


Maybe Marr would have written better music if he wasn’t so stressed out by managerial duties. Though, listening to Marr’s offerings after Strangeways, it seems his creative juices may have run dry.



:cool:
“Because there's somebody here
Who'll take a hatchet to your ear”
 
I just had a quick look at the comments on Twitter and I'm already tired of people telling Joyce and Street how they prefer The Queen Is Dead over Strangeways. (Or how they haven't listened to it for ages "for M*rrissey reasons".)

But kudos to Joyce for praising it so much. For me there's absolutely no debate, it's their finest hour. A perfect record.

They're missing the point though, tonight isn't about whether it's as good as TQID.
 
Morrissey sang Death of A Disco Dancer at The Barrowlands the last time he was there with a sly nod to the Bible John killings.

I always thought it had spooky serial killer atmosphere - like he was disappearing into fog. I wonder if it was the precursor of Jack the Ripper?
 
This feels like a terrible thing to say, but I've always felt this record has a handful of the very best (like, absolute gobsmacking genius) Smiths songs and also a few of the worst...
I felt the same for years, I always adored side A but was never struck on side B , anyhow I’ve come to appreciate the entire album now .... I won’t share you is the last track, I wonder what it real meaning is about?? Anyway is back in the car tomorrow morning , full blast whilst on the way to the gym ...
 
I think it’s a very good album. Granted, it’s not without some weak points, Death At Ones Elbow musically and Unhappy Birthday lyrically.
It shows off Marr’s musical versatility whilst Morrissey treads well worn lyrical themes and sings beautifully.
Some of the tunes point to a different, future path, both in terms of instrumentation ( A Rush and A Push...) and sonically (Death of a Disco Dancer)
The high points are very high indeed, whereas the low points are similar to Never Had No One Ever, the one true turkey on TQID.
I often think it’s hard to be fully objective about the album because it was released posthumously, amidst all kinds of conjecture and alleged Machiavellian plotting, whereas the atmosphere in which it was made, as acknowledged by all four members, was very harmonious. I do feel, Marr is trying to spread his wings, and Morrissey is trying to fold his.
Ultimately, when the wheels came off, they came off very quickly.
For me it’s an 8/10 album which I play often. The only sadness for me is we never heard the songs played live by the people that played on the record. And for that reason there’s always an underlying bitter sweetness about it.
33 years....ok Steven let’s do that again
 
Maybe comparing it song for song it loses out to 'The Queen is Dead', but what 'Strangeways' has in buckets is atmosphere, and for me that pushes the whole thing to another level. The looming, impending finality of it all gives it a haunting quality (even if they had a good time recording it, it's clear from Morrissey's lyrics that he knows the ship is about to go down) - but alongside that there's the feel of the band moving into uncharted territory (there's really no way to tell where they might have gone next) with a batch of songs that we never got to hear them perform live - for each song this really is 'it', the one and only version, so there's a kind of freshness and fragility there too. From the ghostly opening, to Morrissey blatant farewell note to Johnny, it just hangs together as a more intriguing album than 'The Queen is Dead, to me.

Plus 'The Queen is Dead' is just such an obvious housewives choice for 'best Smiths record' - like all those people who say 'Sgt Peppers' is the best thing the Beatles ever did. Sometimes it's nice to go for something a bit more leftfield. ;)
 
I think it’s a very good album. Granted, it’s not without some weak points, Death At Ones Elbow musically and Unhappy Birthday lyrically.
It shows off Marr’s musical versatility whilst Morrissey treads well worn lyrical themes and sings beautifully.
Some of the tunes point to a different, future path, both in terms of instrumentation ( A Rush and A Push...) and sonically (Death of a Disco Dancer)
The high points are very high indeed, whereas the low points are similar to Never Had No One Ever, the one true turkey on TQID.
I often think it’s hard to be fully objective about the album because it was released posthumously, amidst all kinds of conjecture and alleged Machiavellian plotting, whereas the atmosphere in which it was made, as acknowledged by all four members, was very harmonious. I do feel, Marr is trying to spread his wings, and Morrissey is trying to fold his.
Ultimately, when the wheels came off, they came off very quickly.
For me it’s an 8/10 album which I play often. The only sadness for me is we never heard the songs played live by the people that played on the record. And for that reason there’s always an underlying bitter sweetness about it.
33 years....ok Steven let’s do that again
Elbow and Birthday are the clunkers on the album for me too. And I’ve never much cared for Never Had No One either.

Meat Is Murder is the flawless masterpiece, I feel. And only the production lets the debut down—otherwise that’s perfect too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Street's tweets are on page 1.
Joyce:







 
Heavy track:







 







 







 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom