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The Best of the Smiths, Vol. 2

The Smiths
1 disc

1. Boy With the Thorn in His Side, The
2. Headmaster Ritual, The
3. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
4. Ask
5. Oscillate Wildly
6. Nowhere Fast
7. Still Ill
8. Bigmouth Strikes Again
9. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
10. Shakespeare's Sister
11. Girl Afraid
12. Reel Around the Fountain
13. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
14. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 45097
Credits

Producer
Engineer
The Smiths: Morrissey (vocals); Johnny Marr (guitar); Andy Rourke (bass); Mike Joyce (drums).
Producers: John Porter, The Smiths, Johnny Marr, Morrissey, Stephen Street.
Released concurrently with the BEST OF...I, this set contains 14 songs spanning the career of this influential British band. Beginning with a later single, "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side," the collection see-saws back and forth in non-chronological order. Fortunately the Smiths' songs are strong enough to be able to withstand the proximity of old material to new.
Album highlights include the pop gem "Ask," which features Kirsty MacColl, the humorous "Bigmouth Strikes Again," the rollicking "Shakespeare's Sister," and album closer "There's a Light that Never Goes Out." Two of the most perfectly formed and affecting songs the Smiths ever wrote are contained on this disc: the pain-filled, stunned "That Joke isn't Funny Anymore," and one of their first compositions, the intense, beautiful "Reel Around the Fountain." These two tracks alone make this compilation worth the price of admission.
Critic Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (1/22/93, p.57) - "...The Smiths' sparkling songs about the profound misery of life are an essential pop soundtrack to the '80s..." - Rating: B-
Q (12/92, p.153) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...many of the songs still resonate with a melancholic extravagance...never less than entertaining....The Smiths were more fully in tune with the hopes and fears of a generation than anyone until Nirvana..."