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The Very Best of the Smiths | 
| Artist: Smiths
Label: Warner
Category: Music
New (22) Used (7) from £6.95
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 1266
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.4
MPN: 388948
UPC: 766487299527
EAN: 0685738894826
ASIN: B00005KB47
Release Date: June 4, 2001
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| Tracks:
| • | Panic | | • | Boy With The Thorn In His Side | | • | Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now | | • | Ask | | • | Bigmouth Strikes Again | | • | How Soon Is Now | | • | This Charming Man | | • | What Difference Does It Make | | • | William It Was Really Nothing | | • | Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others | | • | Girlfriend In A Coma | | • | Hand In Glove | | • | There Is A Light That Never Goes Out | | • | Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want | | • | That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore | | • | I Know It's Over | | • | Sheila Take A Bow | | • | I Started Something I Couldn't Finish | | • | Still Ill | | • | Shakespeare's Sister | | • | Shoplifters Of The World Unite | | • | Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me | | • | Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
It's a shame that the people responsible for The Very Best of The Smiths were neither shameless nor honest enough to include "Paint a Vulgar Picture" on this compilation. Morrissey's awesomely prescient analysis of record company rapacity ("Re-package! Re-package! Re-evaluate the songs/ Double-pack with a photograph/Extra track and a tacky badge") would have been a suitable introduction: The Smiths are already one of the most collected, compiled and anthologised bands in rock history (we've been here already with Best. . . 1, Best. . . 2, The World Won't Listen, Louder Than Bombs and Singles, and there's nothing new on The Very Best Of bar a claim that it is "Digitally Remastered", as if anyone can tell). However, it could reasonably be argued that The Very Best Of is not entirely redundant: it appears at a time when the British indie tradition that The Smiths raised to heights still unequalled is now in the hands of people who never knew these songs, who were still in short pants when The Smiths split in 1988. It might be hoped, therefore, that this collection will serve two purposes: one, to inspire today's crop in pursuit of the heights scaled here; two, to remind an increasingly unfussy audience of just how dull, timid and witless the likes of Travis, Coldplay and Stereophonics sound alongside "This Charming Man", "The Boy With The Thorn in His Side" and "How Soon Is Now?". --Andrew Mueller
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Oh dear..... September 15, 2008
Don't get me wrong, these are great songs, but this time around they've been ruined by dreadful remastering. We didn't need another Smiths compilation anyway....of the existing ones, Louder Than Than Bombs has the most enduring track selection.
 Great songs but only good for casual fans April 16, 2008
This album has a special place in my heart as it was the first Smiths album I brought when I was 14 years old. It has some of the best Smiths songs and is a good introduction to my favourite band.
That said since I brought this album and was totally blown away by it I have brought all the other Smiths albums. I now barley listen to this one, it's handy to leave in the car or lend to friends. If you are an established fan I would not recommend this album as you can cheaply buy the other albums and get much better value for money and more songs.
I would recommend new fans to try the world won't listen or louder than bombs which are both also compilations. I would still recommend this for new/casual fans as an introduction to the Smiths. The only trouble will be you will enjoy this album so much you will have to buy everything they have ever released.
Great band, excellent songs, but...... January 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you don't own a Smiths album then you could do worse than buy this. They're my favourite band and this album isn't enough for a fan, indeed there's very little point owning it if you're a fan as all the songs are available on other compilations.
But the casual listener will get all their UK and US released singles plus a few other gems so in that sense it beats The Singles or any other single-volume compilation out there.
Any fan could list at least another 20 or 30 "essential" songs missing from this album but you could never get them all on.
Except for the omission of the album version's intro on Stop Me If You Think... (which would have spoiled the flow of the album had it been included) these are the full 12" versions; thankfully they've not used the shortened 7" single versions of That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore or How Soon Is Now.
Now the big moans on here seem to be that:
1) there are already lots of compilations; fair enough if you own them don't buy this.
2) the packaging is bad. Well i've seen better but Charles Hawtrey is in keeping with the general theme of Smiths cover designs.
3) the songs have been spoiled by remastering. Now i have several of their albums on vinyl as well as CD and trust me that the original albums don't sound as good on CD as they did on vinyl as they weren't digitally recorded.
The remastering is barely noticeable on most tracks BUT i don't like the way This Charming Man sounds on this album. As one of their greatest songs that's quite a big thing but the casual listener probably won't notice the difference.
 Something truely Amazing!!! November 15, 2007
It took me one listen of 'There is a light that never goes out' and I went and bought this album. Essential a crash course guide to what the Smiths were about. I can safely now call myself a Smiths Fanatic listening and buying there backlists of previous albums. This 'greatest hits' will be of annoyance to anyone who been listening to the Smiths from the beginning but certainly a great tool to bring a new generation on board to listen to Morrissey soleful words and Marrs electric riffs. Only hope they can reform for this individual to see them live. Well one can dream.
Don't you wish there were more bands like this? August 24, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Purists never like Best Of compilations, and yes, there are undoubtedly some great Smiths songs that aren't on this cd, but that doesn't change the fact that this is essentially a tremendous record. I've owned it for so long I can't remember buying it, but I keep coming back to it again and again. I listen to it at least once a month.
It's just the great melodies, the intelligent lyrics, the great sense of romanticism and wistfulness set against a crumbling Northern landscape. If there's any better set of ingredients for great music I've not found them yet.
Where to start with stand-out tracks? With the exception of 'Shakespeare's Sister' which I've never really liked, I love them all. 'How Soon is Now' with its industrial, chugging guitars; the sense of naivete in 'This Charming Man'; the acerbic wit of 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'. For me though, it has to be 'There is a Light that Never Goes Out' - I want them to play that song at my funeral.
Seriously, you can forget your Coldplay and your Killers and all those other bands that seem so desperate to sound like a third rate U2 (who are themselves, these days, a second rate U2 it seems), this band is the real deal. Intelligent, inventive, bordering on genius. They do cast a shadow over a lot of the rubbish that masquerades as indie music these days.
If only there was another band like The Smiths. For a brief moment in the early 90s it looked like Suede might pull it off - until that all went horribly wrong. But I digress. This album is an essential addition to your collection. If you don't have it already, why don't you? You must be mad...
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