Louder Than Bombs

Information about Louder Than Bombs

Louder Than Bombs
Enlarge picture
Louder Than Bombs cover
Compilation album by The Smiths
Released March 30, 1987(US)
May 18, 1987(UK)
Recorded 1983–1986
Genre Alternative rock
Length 72:27
Label Sire - 9 25569-2 (US)
Rough Trade - ROUGH 255 (UK)
Producer Various (see main text)
Professional reviews
The Smiths chronology
The World Won't Listen
(1987)		Louder Than Bombs
(1987)		Strangeways, Here We Come
(1987)


Louder Than Bombs is a compilation album by The Smiths. It was released as a double album in March 1987 by their American record company, Sire Records. Its highest chart position was #63. Popular demand prompted their British record company, Rough Trade, to issue the album domestically as well. Upon its release in the UK in May 1987, it reached #38 on the British charts. In 2003, the album was ranked number 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

About the album

The album was released as the American counterpart of their recent British compilation, The World Won't Listen, and consisted of all singles and nearly all B-sides that had not at that point been available in the States, either on single or album, with a few extras thrown in. The title is borrowed from a line in Elizabeth Smart's extended prose poem "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept".

The album was intended to substitute for both The World Won't Listen and their 1984 compilation, Hatful of Hollow, which hadn't been released in the States. This is why the non-single cut "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", one of the standout tracks off Hatful of Hollow, was included. (European fans: to avoid confusion as to "This Charming Man" and "How Soon Is Now?", bear in mind that they had already been released in the U.S. as bonus cuts to The Smiths and Meat Is Murder, respectively).

As with The World Won't Listen, this compilation includes the scrapped single "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" (passed over in favour of "Shoplifters of the World Unite"), albeit in a different mix.

Because the album offered many B-sides (and the "Sheila Take a Bow" single) that had never been collected onto an album before, Louder Than Bombs became very popular on import with fans in the UK. To avoid ridiculous import prices being paid, The Smiths' domestic record company, Rough Trade, decided to release the compilation as well, provoking cries of outrage by fans who only two months previously had shelled out for the slimmer UK counterpart. The blow was somewhat softened by the fact that the double album retailed at single album price.

After WEA acquired the Smiths back catalogue in 1992, all Smiths albums were re-released at mid price, including Louder Than Bombs.

Cover

The sleeve for Louder Than Bombs, designed by Morrissey, features British playwright Shelagh Delaney of Salford, Greater Manchester. The photograph was originally published in the Saturday Evening Post after Delaney, at the age of 19, had made a striking literary debut with her play A Taste of Honey. The play inspired many early lyrics written by Morrissey, and the song "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", included here, is based on the plight of the play's heroine, Jo, an unwed mother.

Track listing

All tracks written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr (including "Oscillate Wildly"[1]) except "Golden Lights" written by Twinkle. Tracks marked "*" are exclusive to this compilation.

Side A

  1. "Is It Really So Strange?" - 2:42 (John Peel session)
  2. "Sheila Take a Bow" - 3:02
  3. "Shoplifters of the World Unite" - 2:58
  4. "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" - 3:33 (John Peel session)
  5. "Half a Person" 3:36
  6. "London" 2:08

Side B

  1. "Panic" - 2:20
  2. "Girl Afraid" - 2:49
  3. "Shakespeare's Sister" - 2:08
  4. "William, It Was Really Nothing" - 2:11
  5. "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" (alternate mix)* - 3:33
  6. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" - 3:34

Side C

  1. "Ask" - 3:12
  2. "Golden Lights" - 2:43
  3. "Oscillate Wildly" - 3:25
  4. "These Things Take Time"* - 2:23
  5. "Rubber Ring" - 3:48
  6. "Back to the Old House"* - 3:04

Side D

  1. "Hand in Glove" (single version) - 3:15
  2. "Stretch Out and Wait"* - 2:46
  3. "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" - 1:52
  4. "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" (John Peel session) 3:40
  5. "Unloveable" - 3:56
  6. "Asleep" - 4:11

Personnel

The band

Additional musicians

Technical staff

  • Johnny Marr – producer (A3)
  • Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street – producers (A5-6)
  • Morrissey and Marr – producers (A2, C5, D5-6)
  • John Porter – producer (A1, A4, B1-2, B4-6, C1-2, C4, C6, D3)
  • Roger Pusey – producer (D4)
  • The Smiths – producers (B3, C3, D1-2)

References

1. ^ BMI database[1], retrieved February 27, 2006


The Smiths
Morrissey - Johnny Marr - Andy Rourke - Mike Joyce
Craig Gannon - Dale Hibbert
Discography
Albums: The Smiths | Meat Is Murder | The Queen Is Dead | Strangeways, Here We Come | Rank (live)
Singles: Hand in Glove | This Charming Man | What Difference Does It Make? | Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now | William, It Was Really Nothing | How Soon Is Now? | Shakespeare's Sister | That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore | The Boy with the Thorn in His Side | Bigmouth Strikes Again | Panic | Ask | Shoplifters of the World Unite | Sheila Take a Bow | Girlfriend in a Coma | I Started Something I Couldn't Finish | Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me | There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Band-assembled compilations: Hatful of Hollow | The World Won't Listen | Louder Than Bombs
Other compilations: Stop Me | Best...I | ...Best II | Singles | The Very Best of The Smiths
Related
Rough Trade Records
A compilation album is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Smiths were an English rock band active from 1982 to 1987. The group was based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records.
..... Click the link for more information.
March 30 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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  • 240 BC - 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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1984 1985 1986 - 1987 - 1988 1989 1990

Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII
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May 18 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

  • 1152 - Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.

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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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1984 1985 1986 - 1987 - 1988 1989 1990

Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII
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A music genre is a term that describes the process of dividing popular music into categories. Some treat the terms genre and style as the same, and state that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language.
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Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s.
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In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. In everyday usage, a record label is also a company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution,
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Sire Records Company is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records

Label history

Beginnings

The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article.
..... Click the link for more information.
In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering
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The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. AMG was founded in 1991 by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine and mathematician Vladimir Bogdanov, Ph.D., as a guide for consumers. Its first reference book was published the next year.
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Robert Christgau (born April 18, 1942), is an American essayist, music journalist, and the self-declared "Dean of American Rock Critics".[1] In print, his name is sometimes abbreviated as Xgau.
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Type Music magazine
Format

Owner Jann Wenner
Publisher Wenner Publishing
Editor Jann Wenner
Will Dana
Founded 1967
Language English
Headquarters New York City, NY
Circulation 1.2 to 1.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Smiths were an English rock band active from 1982 to 1987. The group was based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records.
..... Click the link for more information.
The World Won't Listen
(1987) Louder Than Bombs
(1987)

The World Won't Listen is a compilation album by The Smiths. It was released in February 1987 by their record company, Rough Trade Records, and reached #2 on the British charts.
..... Click the link for more information.
Strangeways, Here We Come
(1987) Stop Me
(1988)

Strangeways, Here We Come is the final studio album by The Smiths, originally released in 1987.
..... Click the link for more information.
A compilation album is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Smiths were an English rock band active from 1982 to 1987. The group was based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr, and were signed to the independent record label Rough Trade Records.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. In everyday usage, a record label is also a company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution,
..... Click the link for more information.
Sire Records Company is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records

Label history

Beginnings

The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article.
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
..... Click the link for more information.

Type Music magazine
Format

Owner Jann Wenner
Publisher Wenner Publishing
Editor Jann Wenner
Will Dana
Founded 1967
Language English
Headquarters New York City, NY
Circulation 1.2 to 1.
..... Click the link for more information.
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums.
..... Click the link for more information.
The World Won't Listen
(1987) Louder Than Bombs
(1987)

The World Won't Listen is a compilation album by The Smiths. It was released in February 1987 by their record company, Rough Trade Records, and reached #2 on the British charts.
..... Click the link for more information.
In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.
  • Vinyl singles consist of one or more tracks on a traditional gramophone record.

..... Click the link for more information.

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