Louder Than Bombs

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This 1987 collection of Smiths album tracks, B-sides, and singles (and roughly half of Hatful of Hollow) is a worthy essential Smiths due to its scope and size. Twenty-four tracks in all, it includes hits such as the irresistible and bouncy "Ask," the Smiths prototype "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," "William, It Was Really Nothing," "Panic," and "Hand in Glove." Lesser-known tracks like the lovely, piano-driven instrumental "Oscillate Wildly," the dark "Rubber Ring," and the weary "Half a Person" are strong enough to stand without the benefit of support from the hits. There are a few misses here, but they're hardly noticeable when surrounded by all the great tracks. Plus, a number of must-haves ("You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby," "Stretch Out and Wait," "Half a Person") are virtually unavailable elsewhere. --Lorry Fleming --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Average customer rating:

overwhelmed

Is It Really So Strange?

You just can't go wrong with bombs.

How do you describe the perfect album.

Lyrics Speak Louder Than Bombs

Louder Than Bombs
The Smiths
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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Britain | British Isles | Europe | International | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:

The Queen is Dead

Meat Is Murder

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

Hatful of Hollow

ASIN: B000002LBH
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Is It Really So Strange?
Sheila Take A Bow
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
Sweet & Tender Hooligan
Half A Person
London
Panic
Girl Afraid
Shakespeare's Sister
William, It Was Really Nothing
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Ask
Golden Lights
Oscillate Wildly
These Things Take Time
Rubber Ring
Back To The Old House
Hand In Glove
Stretch Out & Wait
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Unloveable
Asleep

Amazon.com essential recording

This 1987 collection of Smiths album tracks, B-sides, and singles (and roughly half of Hatful of Hollow) is a worthy essential Smiths due to its scope and size. Twenty-four tracks in all, it includes hits such as the irresistible and bouncy "Ask," the Smiths prototype "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now," "William, It Was Really Nothing," "Panic," and "Hand in Glove." Lesser-known tracks like the lovely, piano-driven instrumental "Oscillate Wildly," the dark "Rubber Ring," and the weary "Half a Person" are strong enough to stand without the benefit of support from the hits. There are a few misses here, but they're hardly noticeable when surrounded by all the great tracks. Plus, a number of must-haves ("You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby," "Stretch Out and Wait," "Half a Person") are virtually unavailable elsewhere. --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews:

overwhelmed.......2007-07-04

Looking at the list of songs on this album, I am overwhelmed at their brilliance. I don't know how they did it, but Morrissey and Marr had some connection that allowed them to create some of the most magnificent songs ever written. The Smiths are comparable to U2 in talent and song-writing ability, they just were never quite as popular because they never sold out to the mainstream. Although Morrissey can be a bit pompous at times, he has always stayed true to his art. I dont need to tell you that this album is worth buying because every review gives it 5 stars.

Is It Really So Strange?.......2007-01-20

~~~~
No ones 80's record collection is really complete unless it contains a Smiths album,and if you are still a little unsure then this compilation is a really great place to start,before trying their proper albums
(in particular "The Queen is Dead" & "Strangeways Here We Come".)
With Morrissey's poetic lyrics and Johnney Marr's great guitar playing,
your in for a treat whenever you listen to a Smiths song.
And if your still hungry for more after those albums check out Morrissey's solo stuff like "Bona Drag" and "Your Arsenal".
All those people who dismiss the lyrics as "Whiny" really haven't LISTENED to them nor understood the amusing and witty remarks that lie within them.
"I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour but heaven knows I'm miserable now"
Most of us have been there, thanks Morrissey.
~~~~

You just can't go wrong with bombs........2007-01-20

This is by far the best Smiths collection you can get. Not only is it the biggest(24 tracks) but it's also a great glimpse into The Smiths back catalog of b-sides. Some of the tracks I could of done without (Unloveable, Golden lights) and had them replaced with some classic tracks (That Joke isn't funny anymore, barbarism begins at home)but it's a great collection none the less. One of the jems on Bombs is the collection exculsive "Asleep" which is one of the most beautiful and tear jerking songs The Smiths ever wrote, and as we all know they wrote alot of them. So yes. Pick this up if you're tired of your Best of Vol 1 and 2 and want to listen to the real meat of The Smiths. you won't be disapointed

How do you describe the perfect album........2006-10-16

It sounds cheesy, doesn't it, stating LTB is the quintescential Smiths album. I remember listening to the Beatles over and OVER and OVER again and my mother telling me that they were the perfect band, that no one else would be able to take their place. I hated her for that. It felt like she had stolen something necessary for growing up. Can't describe the feeling, kind of a jealousy that festered.

So, in rebellion, I listened to Debbie Gibson and other pop sycophants and symbols of the time, finally deciding that George Micheal was as fine a point of where music of the 80s would have to leave its mark. My on-again, off-again girlfriend at the moment convinced me one fine, fall day to take a listen to the LTB tape she constantly carried in her back pocket. Three days later, she was shacking up with a greaser to whom I loathed, but who had a car, leaving me with my moody depression, piles of crisp golden and orange leaves and two more years of high school, and a well used Smiths Louder Than Bombs long playing tape.

Morrisey's amazing voice and lyrical talent, coupled with Johnny Marr's amazing guitar feeds, Andy Rourke's back beat and Mike Joyce keeping the rhthym really fit the mood I was in. Each song reminded me of different things; mostly Shakespearean, long train rides, James Dean, and cool, windy, rainy days in which one tends to curl up with a small book of Keats or Yeats and enjoys being alone. Each song seemed crafted, not produced. Very real and raw. Immensely wonderful.

Yeah, I know, three letters. G - A - Y. Still, I loved the Smiths then, and every band I listen to and love now, such as Deathcab for Cutie, Dandy Worhols, the Doves, Jets Overhead, Coldplay, all seem molded by this little band as well. The Smiths were never huge by the Beatle's standards, although Morrissey continues to have a cult following as does Johnny Marr. It's fall again, the cool air has the aroma of rain, and Dead Poets Society becomes my favorite movie again. The tape has long ago fallen to the ravages of play and time, but I have a well worn CD that I still cherish.

Lyrics Speak Louder Than Bombs.......2006-10-10

"Louder Than Bombs" is a Smiths compilation of sorts, a collection of non-album singles, B-sides and several tracks from the Smiths' first compilation "Hatful of Hollow". Many of these tracks you can't get anywhere else. Well, you can get them on "The World Won't Listen", but that's a very similar compilation to this one.

It's a good value collection, and a fine introduction to the band, I think. There are 24 tracks, recorded between 1984-1987, of all different styles and moods. All have fantastic guitar playing by Johnny Marr, while Andy Rourke's bass and Mike Joyce's guitar keep things catchy too. Morrissey's lyrics though, are what makes this record, and the Smiths, really special, I think. He can be witty at times, he can be warm, he can be sympathetic and he can be despairing, often all in the same song. He comes up with some great little phrases in his songs. As for subject matters, he covers all sorts of things, just as Johnny Marr covers all sorts of moods. "Shoplifters of the World Unite" lends an ear to the commercially compulsive, "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" sees a mother abandon a child, "Girl Afraid" touches on the pushy girl/passive guy relationship, and "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" (which I reckon really should have gone on to be a hit single) sums up the pain of struggling and striving, whether in attempts to find love or attempts to be famous. It's one of my favourites of the album and the band, as is "Rubber Ring", where Morrissey urges the listener not to "forget the songs that made you cry, and the ones that saved your life" and to spare a happy thought for him after such songs have helped you through tough times. If anyone else had been singing it, it might have come across as a bit arrogant, but the Smiths wrote some powerful songs, and Morrissey knew it! There's also an instrumental by Johnny Marr ("Oscillate Wildly") and a very strange, but typically Morrissey, cover song (Twinkle's "Golden Lights").

The booklet is fairly simple, but it comes with the lyrics to all the songs, which is very nice to have for a band like the Smiths.

Overall, a great introduction to the band, a great addition to Smiths/Morrissey collection, and a great bunch of songs. Recommended.

Average customer rating:

Louder Than Bombs
The Smiths
Manufacturer: Wea Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Jangle Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Queen Is Dead
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
Meat Is Murder
Rank

ASIN: B000GW88U6
Release Date: 2006-09-25

Tracks:

Is It Really So Strange?
Sheila Take a Bow
Shoplifters of the World Unite
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
Half a Person
London
Panic
Girl Afraid
Shakespeare's Sister
William, It Was Really Nothing
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Ask
Golden Lights
Oscillate Wildly [Instrumental]
These Things Take Time
Rubber Ring
Back to the Old House
Hand in Glove
Stretch Out and Wait
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Unloveable
Asleep

Album Description

Exclusive Japanese limited edition reissue of their 1987 compilation album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Originally a U.S.-only release, this album features tracks from the UK compilations Hatful Of Hollow and World Won't Listen that were not available on the band's regular albums. Features 'Is It Really So Strange?', 'Sheila Take A Bow', 'Sweet And Tender Hooligan', 'London' and more. Warner. 2006.

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

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