''The Queen Is Dead'' is the third studio album by English
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
. Released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...
, and on 23 June 1986 in the US by
Sire Records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
History Beginnings
The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...
, it spent 22 weeks on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, peaking at number two.
It also peaked at number 70 on the US
''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in late 1990.
The album was produced by frontman
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
and guitarist
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
, working predominantly with engineer
Stephen Street, who had engineered the band's previous album ''
Meat Is Murder
''Meat Is Murder'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for ...
'' (1985).
Marr wrote the music for several songs that appeared on ''The Queen Is Dead'' while the Smiths toured Britain in early 1985, working out arrangements with bassist
Andy Rourke
Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing.
Career
Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...
and drummer
Mike Joyce during soundchecks.
[Kent, Nick. "Isolation". ''Mojo Classic: Morrissey and the Story of Manchester''. 2006] The title of the album is from
Hubert Selby Jr.
Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was an American writer. Two of his novels, ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1964) and ''Requiem for a Dream'' (1978) explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of whi ...
's 1964 novel ''
Last Exit to Brooklyn
''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. The novel takes a harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s written in a brusque, everyman style of prose.
Critics and fellow writers praised ...
''.
The cover art features French actor
Alain Delon in the 1964 film ''
L'Insoumis''.
In 2020, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' ranked ''The Queen Is Dead'' 113th on its updated
list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
In
its 2013 list, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' named ''The Queen Is Dead'' the greatest album of all time.
Songwriting
Marr was heavily influenced by
the Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...
,
the Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...
, and the
Detroit garage rock scene while crafting the album.
The album’s title track was based on a song Marr began writing as a teenager.
"
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. It was released as a single in September 1985, reaching No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. A remixed version appeared on their third album ''The Queen Is Dead'' in ...
" was, according to Marr, "an effortless piece of music", and was written on tour in the spring of 1985. The song's lyrics refer allegorically to the band's experience of the music industry that failed to appreciate it.
In 2003,
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
named it his favourite Smiths song.
A demo of the music for "
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths. Recorded in autumn 1985, it was first released on their third studio album ''The Queen Is Dead'' in June 1986. It was also released as a single in Germany.
Backg ...
" was posted by Marr through Morrissey's letterbox in the summer of 1985. Morrissey then completed the song by adding lyrics. Marr has stated that he "preferred the music to the lyrics".
[
"Frankly, Mr. Shankly", "I Know It's Over" and "]There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by guitarist Johnny Marr and singer Morrissey. Featured on the band's third studio album ''The Queen Is Dead'', it was not released as a single in t ...
" were written by Morrissey and Marr in a "marathon" writing session in the late summer of 1985 at Marr's home in Bowdon, Greater Manchester
Bowdon is a suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England.
History
Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, both Bowdon and Dunham Massey are mentioned in the Domesday Book, cit ...
.[ The first of these is reputed to have been addressed to ]Geoff Travis
Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978.
Biography
Travis was ...
, head of the Smiths' record label Rough Trade, however Morrissey denies this. Travis has since described it as "a funny lyric" about "Morrissey's desire to be somewhere else", acknowledging that a line in the song about "bloody awful poetry" was a reference to a poem he had written for Morrissey.
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" features lyrics drawn from "Lonely Planet Boy" by the New York Dolls
New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...
. According to Marr: "When we first played it, I thought it was the best song I'd ever heard".[ The song's guitar part drew on ]the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
' cover of Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
's "Hitch Hike
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free.
Nomads hav ...
", whose original version by Gaye himself had acted as an inspiration for the Velvet Underground's " There She Goes Again".
The music for "Never Had No One Ever", completed in August 1985, was based on a demo which Marr had recorded in December 1984, itself based on "I Need Somebody" by the Stooges.[ According to Marr: "The atmosphere of that track pretty much sums up the whole album and what it was like recording it."][ The lyric to the song reflects Morrissey's feeling unsafe and, being from an immigrant family, not at home on the streets of Manchester.
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side", "]Bigmouth Strikes Again
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a 1986 song by the English rock band the Smiths from their third album ''The Queen Is Dead''. Written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey, the song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frustrations wit ...
" and "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" were debuted live during a tour of Scotland in September and October,[ during which "The Queen Is Dead" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" were sound-checked.]
The song "Vicar in a Tutu" was considered "throwaway" by Marr, who stated "It made a change from trying to change the fucking world." "Cemetry Gates
"Cemetry Gates" is a 1986 song by English alternative rock band the Smiths, for their third album, ''The Queen Is Dead''. Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the song centres around a guitar riff that Marr had initially thought was too uninte ...
" was a late addition to the album. Marr had not believed that the guitar part was interesting enough to be developed into a song, but Morrissey disagreed when he heard Marr play it.[ The "All those people .... I want to cry" section is largely taken from the film '']The Man Who Came To Dinner
''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of N ...
'', which also inspired one of Morrissey's aliases, Sheridan Whitehead. The words the song's narrator has heard "said a hundred times (maybe less, maybe more)" are based on lines from Shakespeare's ''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
''. The song evokes Morrissey's memories of visiting Southern Cemetery in Manchester with artist Linder Sterling
Linder Sterling (born 1954, Liverpool), commonly known as Linder, is a British artist known for her photography, radical feminist photomontage and confrontational performance art. She was also the former front-woman of Manchester based post-punk ...
.
Recording
The album was produced by Morrissey and Marr, working predominantly with engineer Stephen Street, who had engineered the band's 1985 album ''Meat Is Murder
''Meat Is Murder'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for ...
''. Street recalled: "Morrissey, Johnny and I had a really good working relationship – we were all roughly the same age and into the same kind of things, so everyone felt quite relaxed in the studio".[Buskin, Richard.]
Classic Tracks: The Smiths 'The Queen Is Dead'
. SoundOnSound.com. January 2005. Retrieved on 13 April 2008.
At the time the group was having difficulty with its record label Rough Trade. However, according to Street, "this didn't get in the way of recording because the atmosphere in the studio was very, very constructive."
The first song from the album to be recorded, in July 1985, was "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side". The recording, made with engineer Stephen Street at a small studio in Manchester and initially intended as a demo, was considered by the band to be good enough for release as a single. It went on sale on 16 September 1985 and made number 23 in the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
In August 1985, "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" were recorded at RAK Studios in London, along with the B-sides to "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"; "Asleep" and " Rubber Ring". Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including " There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears ...
sang a backing vocal for "Bigmouth Strikes Again" but it was considered "really weird" by Marr, and was replaced with a sped-up vocal by Morrissey in the final mix, for which he is credited as Ann Coates
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a 1986 song by the English Rock music, rock band the Smiths from their third album ''The Queen Is Dead''. Written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey, the song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frust ...
on the sleeve of ''The Queen Is Dead''.[ "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" includes a false ]fade
Fade or Fading may refer to:
Science and technology
* Fading, a loss of signal strength at a radio receiver
* Color fade, the alteration of color by light
* Fade (audio engineering), a gradual change in sound volume
* Brake fade, in vehicle brakin ...
near the start, intended by Street to give the impression of a door closing and opening again.[ During the same session, a first version of "Never Had No One Ever" was recorded.][
The bulk of the album was recorded in the winter of 1985 at Jacob Studios in Farnham, under the working title " Margaret on the Guillotine".][
"Frankly, Mr. Shankly" was an attempt to recreate the "vibe" of ]Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist
* Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player
* Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer
* Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (187 ...
's "Puppet on a String", although "it didn't quite work out that way", according to Marr. Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...
was asked to play piano on the track, but declined, and a first take featuring a trumpeter was scrapped. The version originally intended for inclusion on ''The Queen Is Dead'' was ruined by a technical glitch on the tape, and so the song was re-recorded with John Porter John Porter may refer to:
Politicians
* John Porter (portreeve), 1390–94, Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton
* John Porter (Illinois politician) (1935–2022), Illinois politician, U.S. Representative
* John Porter (MP for Bramber) (died 1599 ...
at Wessex Studios
Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Tal ...
in London.[
"The Queen Is Dead" was among the last songs to be recorded. Its distinctive ]tom-tom
A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...
loop was created by Mike Joyce and Stephen Street using a sampler. A line of guitar feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
was played by Marr through a wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The ped ...
throughout the song.
Composition
The song "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" was a contender for lead single from the album, but was passed over in favour of "Bigmouth Strikes Again". (Later in 1986 it was released as a 7"-only single in France). The song received a belated release as a single in 1992 when it became one of WEA
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
used it to promote Smiths re-releases and best-of compilations released in the years following the band’s breakup. In 1990 the song was voted no. 1 on a list of the greatest songs of all time by the readers of '' SPIN'' magazine in the US.
"Cemetry Gates" was Morrissey's direct response to critics who had cried foul over his use of texts written by some of his favorite authors, notably Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney, FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, '' A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war ...
and Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...
. Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
, who was also accused of plagiarism, figures as a patron saint of Morrissey's in the song's lyrics. A Wilde quote, "Talent borrows, genius steals", was etched in the vinyl run-out grooves of the single single off the album, "Bigmouth Strikes Again". These etchings appear almost exclusively on the UK releases (denoted by the RT and RTT prefixes on the catalogue number).
"The Queen Is Dead", which leads off the album and notably became an expressionistic music video directed by Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist.
Biography
Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...
, starts with a sampled excerpt from Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 an ...
' 1962 British film ''The L-Shaped Room
''The L-Shaped Room'' is a 1962 British film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. It tells the story of Jane Fosset ( Leslie Caron), a young French woman, unmarried and pregnant, who moves in ...
''. Another instance of Morrissey's fascination with 1960s British cinema, the film featured performances by Pat Phoenix
Patricia Phoenix Booth (born Patricia Frederica Manfield; 26 November 1923 – 17 September 1986) was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member ...
(who had already appeared as a cover star on the 1985 single " Shakespeare's Sister") and Cicely Courtneidge
Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge, (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West En ...
as an elderly lesbian veteran of the music halls. The soundbite is Courtneidge's character nostalgically singing the First World War song "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty
"Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" is a music hall song written by Arthur J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott in 1916. It was popular during the First World War, and tells a story of three fictional soldiers on the Western Front (World War I), ...
". The actress had also appeared in a gala performance for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. It was celebrated with large-scale parties and parades throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth throughout 1977, ...
, entitled ''God Save the Queen''; she died in 1980.
A few songs, including "The Queen Is Dead" and "Bigmouth Strikes Again", feature pitch-shifted backing vocals by Morrissey. Morrissey liked to experiment with effects on his voice, so Street ran his voice through a harmoniser for the backing tracks. Street recalled, "At that time, apart from the harmoniser, he didn't go for much backing vocal or harmony work – he's done that more on recent albums – but he did like to experiment". The backing vocals are attributed to "Ann Coates" on the record sleeve ( Ancoats is a district in Manchester, just north-east of the city centre).
Release
''The Queen Is Dead'' finally emerged in June 1986, and was previewed by the release of "Bigmouth Strikes Again" as a single in May. Many encouraged the band to release "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" as a single, but Johnny Marr is said to have wanted an explosive, searing single, along the lines of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as ...
", to announce that the Smiths had returned from hiatus. It did not fare as well as expected, stalling at number 26 on the British charts. However, the album became an international success upon release, staying in the European Albums Chart
The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...
for twenty one weeks, peaking at number 19 in that chart based on the sales from 18 major European countries. It also reached No. 70 on the US ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart, and was certified Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in late 1990.
In June 2017, one year after the album's 30th anniversary, the Smiths re-released a previously edited, longer version of "The Queen Is Dead" on vinyl with other Smiths songs: “Oscillate Wildly,” “Money Changes Everything,” and “The Draize Train” serving as B-sides. The band also released a 7" single containing "The Queen is Dead" and "I Keep Mine Hidden." Later that month, Morrissey accused HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
of trying to "freeze sales" on the new re-issues after the store limited the number of records sold to one per person. Later in 2017, the album was re-released on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
including new studio takes of "There's a Light That Never Goes Out" and " Rubber Ring" as well as a previously unheard live album recorded in 1986. In a press release for the re-issue Morrissey said of the album "You progress only when you wonder if an abnormally scientific genius would approve – and this is the leap The Smiths took with ''The Queen Is Dead''."
Critical reception
From contemporary reviews, Mark Coleman of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' remarked on Morrissey's sense of humour and singled out the singer's performance on "Cemetry Gates" as a highlight, concluding that "like it or not, this guy's going to be around for a while." Writing in pop magazine ''Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...
'', Tom Hibbert
Tom Hibbert (28 May 1952 – 28 August 2011) was an English music journalist and film critic. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a regular writer for music magazines such as ''Smash Hits'', '' Q'' and ''Mojo'', and reviewed films for ''Empire'' magaz ...
gave a favourable review, stating that "the guitars are great, some of the words are marvellous, others like scratchings on a Fifth Form desk", as well as describing Morrissey as "half genius half buffoon". Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
of ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' wrote that despite his dislike of the Smiths' previous albums, he held an "instant attraction" to ''The Queen Is Dead'', where he found that "Morrissey wears his wit on his sleeve, dishing the queen like Johnny Rotten
John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...
never did and kissing off a day-job boss who's no Mr. Sellack", which "makes it easier to go along on his moodier escapades". J. D. Considine found that the group "epitomize all that is admirable and annoying about British new music" finding the groups material "is terrifically tuneful" due to Marr's "incisive, visceral guitar work", but that Morrissey "had a tendency to wander away from conventional notions of pitch often mangling the band's melodies in the process". Considine concluded that Morrissey was "mostly in control of his voice" praising "Cemetery Gates", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and declaring that "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" as "the most affecting performance".
''Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' listed ''The Queen Is Dead'' as the sixth-best album of the 1980s. In 2000 it was voted number 10 in Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Along wit ...
's ''All Time Top 1000 Albums
''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''. In 2003, ''The Queen Is Dead'' was ranked number 216 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
, and 218 in a 2012 revised list. In 2006, it was named the second-greatest British album of all time by the ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''. In 2006, ''Q'' magazine placed the album at number three in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". UK-based magazine '' Clash'' added ''The Queen Is Dead'' to its "Classic Album Hall of Fame" in its June 2011 issue, saying it "is an album to lose yourself in; it has depth, focus and some great tunes. It's easy to see why the album is held in such high esteem by Smiths fanatics and why, a decade later, it became a key influence for all things Britpop." In 2012, ''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' listed the album at number 16 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" and said: "There may never again be an indie-rock album as good as ''The Queen Is Dead''". In 2013, ''The Queen Is Dead'' was ranked the greatest record of all time on the ''NME''s Greatest Albums of All Time list. At ''Rolling Stone'', Gavin Edwards retrospectively viewed the album as "one of the funniest rock albums ever", noting that Morrissey had "learned to express his self-loathing through mockery" while Johnny Marr "matched his verbal excess with witty, supple music", and concluded, "If the queen's reaction to Morrissey was 'We are not amused,' then she was the only one."
Track listing
;2017 collector's edition
Disc one features the 2017 master of the album. Disc four DVD features the 2017 master in 96 kHz / 24-bit PCM stereo.
Personnel
The Smiths
* Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
– lead vocals, backing vocals
* Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
– guitars, orchestration , string synthesizer, harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
, marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
[Fletcher, T, 2012. A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths. 1st ed. U.K: Random House.P. 453.]
* Andy Rourke
Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing.
Career
Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...
– bass guitar
* Mike Joyce – drums
Production
* Morrissey – production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
* Johnny Marr – production
* Stephen Street – engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* John Porter John Porter may refer to:
Politicians
* John Porter (portreeve), 1390–94, Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton
* John Porter (Illinois politician) (1935–2022), Illinois politician, U.S. Representative
* John Porter (MP for Bramber) (died 1599 ...
– engineering
Design
* Steve Wright – group photography
* Morrissey – sleeve
* Caryn Gough – layout
Charts
Certifications
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Is Dead
The Smiths albums
1986 albums
Rough Trade Records albums
Sire Records albums