In 2003, all four of their albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". But the world is too large for anyone to allow themselves to be laced into the sad life of a lonely man, who seems to grow ever lonelier. Now when I hear a song from The Smiths, it’s good for about ten seconds, then I begin to get angry, angry that I allowed myself to be taken down into the bogs by so many sudo-intellectual friends who though we were sharing a bit of a joke on the world, that the answers to all our issues could be solved if only we could touch the lyrics of The Smiths in mid air, where Morrissey would tell us how to live, where to live, who to love, what to eat, whom to hate … when in fact it was merely Morrissey singing these songs to himself, obsessed with everything around him, and the fact that he could not, dared not fit in.

Today I’m saddened that I forced myself to listen to this music because it was supposed to be cool, topping the college radio charts, because in fact, what I wanted to hear, and denied myself, was music that sounded as if it were fun to make and fun to sing about. Sleeve, labels and illustrated inner sleeve with lyrics and credits printed in maroon on grey-blue background.I’ve actually begun to believe that people only pretend to love The Smiths, just as anyone who tells you they love Sonic Youth or Radiohead is partly lying, because just because these bands got you though a rough time in your late teens or early twenty’s, doesn’t mean that you’re always going to feel that way.

It also has a wider outside pressing ring, the Sire name at the upper R of the logo instead of underneath, and ring text at the bottom of the label. Smith fans are fanatics, almost boarding on the religious, right down to their hipster skinny jeans, even making excuses fro Morrissey’s inherent racism [or has he turned a corner since those bygone days?So perhaps once Morrissey didn’t fit in, but now, now I just see an older man who’s got to keep the depression thing going, it’s all he’s got, it’s all he’s selling, and I [? Yes, I’ll freely admit that I’m a huge Galaxie 500 fan, and there is some darkness there, though mostly from inner band struggles, and not from a genuine or imposed sense of gloom and doom depression. Recorded at Pluto (Manchester), Eden (London), Matrix (London) and Strawberry (Manchester), winter 1983.