If you were a moody, lovelorn teenager in the 1980s, chances are that you owned at least one Smiths album and knew "How Soon is Now?" by heart. And if you're a moody, lovelorn teenager right now, chances are still good that you have at least one Smiths album on your iPod and have swayed to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" at your local goth club. Formed in 1982 by Morrissey (born Stephen Patrick Morrissey) and Johnny Marr, The Smiths were one of the most important alternative bands to emerge from Britain in the latter half of the 1980s. With an intentionally stripped down sound and casual fashion sense that served to rebuke the grandiose synth-pop styles of their peers, The Smiths pioneered a unique sound of sweetly melodic pop songs with bittersweet lyrics that touched on everything from politics and vegetarianism to unrequited love.
The Smiths had little commercial success during their six year career, and eventually broke up in 1987 due to tension between Morrissey and Johnny Marr. It was only after their breakup that their music was embraced by both audiences and critics, who found Morrissey's bitter lyrics and Marr's jangly guitar work to be the perfect expression of elegant despair.
Albums
As strange as it may seem, given their now-legendary status, The Smiths released just four studio albums.
* '''The Smiths''' (1984). An explosive debut album, "Miserable Lie" and "Hand in Glove" are two standout tracks that signal this is no ordinary band.
* '''Meat Is Murder''' (1985). Morrissey is famous for injecting his personal politics into his lyrics, and this overtly critical album contains songs against corporeal punishment ("Barbarism Begins at Home") and meat consumption ("Meat is Murder").
* '''The Queen is Dead''' (1986). Their most commercially successful album, songs like "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side" and "Cemetery Gates" drew praise for Morrissey's clever lyrics and Marr's experimentation with punk rock and rockabilly sounds.
* '''Strangeways, Here We Come''' (1987). Though Marr and Morrissey disagree on quite a lot, one of the few things they do agree on is that this album stands as their favorite Smiths work.
