The Smiths - The Smiths

Arriving in an era dominated by synth pop and gloomy post-punk, The Smiths' eponymous debut was the bracing beginning of a new era. On the surface, The Smiths' sound wasn't radically different from traditional British guitar pop -- Johnny Marr's ringing, layered guitars were catchy and melodic -- but it was actually an astonishing subversion of the form, turning the structure inside out. Very few of the songs followed conventional verse-chorus structure, yet they were quite melodic within their own right. Read More