Excellent piece, Matt. I do question, however, whether Oasis broke up with their audience wanting more, à la The Smiths. I love early Oasis but feel they may have overstayed their welcome. I feel the same way about REM, my favorite band of all time. But The Smiths, yes, way too early an exit.
I suppose the answer to that question will be in the eye of the beholder most of the time. Every artist has their expiration date, whether they control it or not. Just how and when that materializes differs depending on who you ask, I think.
Hi Matt, refreshing to read this. How old were you in 1986 - or perhaps more relevant, how old and in what context did you first hear (and dislike) the album? Glad to hear/read that you have come around; it is one of the great British albums of all time. I appreciate much of your writing here and congratulate on a term I've never come across before: "depressive excavation."
A few observations from my perspective as Smiths biographer: The Queen Is Dead is most certainly NOT "the record the Smiths made while falling apart." As you note later, quoting Johnny, they were at their creative peak at the time. All The Smiths maintain(ed) they were not falling apart right up until they fell apart, doing B-sides for Strangeways, though in hindsight it's much easier to see the warning signs and the inevitability. Nonetheless, in most fans' opinions, this one included, TQID is the one album they made whereby everything was clicking perfectly, problems with Rough Trade notwithstanding.
The chart placement in the US was not (necessarily) an underachievement. Until the current century, US charts worked differently from UK ones, with albums often spending many months growing their way up the Top 200, selling modestly week after week after week. The Smiths played arenas on TQID tour and it was hysteria at every venue. Under all circumstances, including the unapologetic Britishness of the album, it's remarkable it did so well. I would love to know its worldwide sales figures, have never seen them accurately reported.
Finally, and this is more opinion than hard fact, I am with Art below that Oasis, who were hardly prolific, outstayed their welcome. The Smiths, whose songwriting partnership were so prolific I found out it was on a par with Lennon & McCartney in the 60s (there were so many B-sides and singles-only singles) did not, especially with Americans and the rest of the world. The only band I can compare in that sense is The Jam, who broke up at the top of their gain. Though The CLash are greatly missed, and broke up after their biggest album, the timing of their break-up is somewhat more open to opinion.
Thanks for such a great piece and keep revisiting those records you may have "missed" first time out.
Thanks for reading and adding the comment, Tony :) Always appreciate insight from those who have more expertise on certain subject matter than I. The commercial data is, as always, directional at best when assessing a group’s legacy. Cheers!
Excellent work, as expected. I mostly don't listen to anything that Morrissey has touched given who he's become in his later years, but "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" were staples of my teenage years, and "Bigmouth" in particular still works for me because of that gosh dang Marr guitar line. But I'll always to go "How Soon Is Now" over anything from this album despite it obviously being their best LP song for song 🤷🏻
Excellent piece, Matt. I do question, however, whether Oasis broke up with their audience wanting more, à la The Smiths. I love early Oasis but feel they may have overstayed their welcome. I feel the same way about REM, my favorite band of all time. But The Smiths, yes, way too early an exit.
I suppose the answer to that question will be in the eye of the beholder most of the time. Every artist has their expiration date, whether they control it or not. Just how and when that materializes differs depending on who you ask, I think.
Hi Matt, refreshing to read this. How old were you in 1986 - or perhaps more relevant, how old and in what context did you first hear (and dislike) the album? Glad to hear/read that you have come around; it is one of the great British albums of all time. I appreciate much of your writing here and congratulate on a term I've never come across before: "depressive excavation."
A few observations from my perspective as Smiths biographer: The Queen Is Dead is most certainly NOT "the record the Smiths made while falling apart." As you note later, quoting Johnny, they were at their creative peak at the time. All The Smiths maintain(ed) they were not falling apart right up until they fell apart, doing B-sides for Strangeways, though in hindsight it's much easier to see the warning signs and the inevitability. Nonetheless, in most fans' opinions, this one included, TQID is the one album they made whereby everything was clicking perfectly, problems with Rough Trade notwithstanding.
The chart placement in the US was not (necessarily) an underachievement. Until the current century, US charts worked differently from UK ones, with albums often spending many months growing their way up the Top 200, selling modestly week after week after week. The Smiths played arenas on TQID tour and it was hysteria at every venue. Under all circumstances, including the unapologetic Britishness of the album, it's remarkable it did so well. I would love to know its worldwide sales figures, have never seen them accurately reported.
Finally, and this is more opinion than hard fact, I am with Art below that Oasis, who were hardly prolific, outstayed their welcome. The Smiths, whose songwriting partnership were so prolific I found out it was on a par with Lennon & McCartney in the 60s (there were so many B-sides and singles-only singles) did not, especially with Americans and the rest of the world. The only band I can compare in that sense is The Jam, who broke up at the top of their gain. Though The CLash are greatly missed, and broke up after their biggest album, the timing of their break-up is somewhat more open to opinion.
Thanks for such a great piece and keep revisiting those records you may have "missed" first time out.
Thanks for reading and adding the comment, Tony :) Always appreciate insight from those who have more expertise on certain subject matter than I. The commercial data is, as always, directional at best when assessing a group’s legacy. Cheers!
Excellent work, as expected. I mostly don't listen to anything that Morrissey has touched given who he's become in his later years, but "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" were staples of my teenage years, and "Bigmouth" in particular still works for me because of that gosh dang Marr guitar line. But I'll always to go "How Soon Is Now" over anything from this album despite it obviously being their best LP song for song 🤷🏻