So, imagine you open your fridge. Okay. You see
nothing but random leftover ingredients. You've
got like half an onion, some rice from two days
ago, a weird sauce you forgot you bought. Sounds
like my kitchen right now, honestly. Right. And
you throw it all together in a complete panic
because guests just walk through the door. And
somehow, completely by accident, you cook a meal
that wins you a Michelin star. Oh, wow. Okay.
Today we are looking at the music industry equivalent
of that exact happy accident. That is a remarkably
accurate analogy because what we're unpacking
today really challenges how we typically think
about an artist's legacy, you know? Yeah, we
usually assume that a band's definitive statement
is their meticulously planned studio album. Exactly.
The big, heavily promoted releases where every
single track is agonized over. But our sources
today focus on Louder Than Bombs. The 1987 double
album. Yes, by the pioneering English indie rock
band, The Smiths. And its creation story. proves
that sometimes the discarded tracks, the rude
little experiments, the leftovers. Fridge leftovers.
They actually offer a truer, more vibrant reflection
of a band's creative peak. And if you're listening
to this, whether you've been actively searching
for The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs Explained,
or you're just a massive fan of indie rock history,
this deep dive is going to be wild. It really
is. Because the band didn't even set out to make
this 24 -track masterpiece as some grand artistic
statement for their home country. It was entirely
born out of a, well, a corporate logistical problem
across the Atlantic. Right. To understand this,
we have to travel back to March of 1987. And
we really have to look at the music industry
before the Internet existed. Which is hard to
imagine sometimes. It is. The Smiths American
Record Company, Sire Records, had a very specific
problem. In the UK, the band had just released
a compilation called The World Won't Listen.
Right. And before that, they had a 1984 compilation
called Hat. full of hollow, but neither of these
had been released in the United States. So the
American market was just significantly behind.
You really have to put yourself in the shoes
of a music fan in 1987. Today, you know, if a
band drops a bonus track in Japan, you can stream
it globally five seconds later. Yeah, it's instant.
But back then, if a song didn't get pressed onto
an American piece of vinyl or a cassette, it
essentially didn't exist for you. Unless you
were lucky enough to have a specialty record
store that imported physical UK singles. Which
most people didn't. Right. And for anyone listening
who might only know the streaming era, we should
probably clarify what we mean by these singles
and B -sides. Good point. When a band released
a song on a physical 7 -inch vinyl record, the
hit song, the one they wanted on the radio, went
on the A -side. But the physical record has two
sides. Exactly. So they had to put something
on the back. That's the B -side. For most bands,
the B -side was just a throwaway track, a filler
song. But the Smiths treated their B -sides with
the exact same reverence as their A -sides. They
were churning out these brilliant, fully realized
songs and just hiding them on the back of records.
So Sire Records looks at this situation and realizes
they need an American counterpart to catch the
fans up. They need a substitute for those missing
UK compilations. Yes. Their strategy was purely
functional. Let's just compile all the singles
and nearly all the B -sides that haven't been
released in the U .S., sprinkle in a few extra
tracks, and package it together. Which is why
the track list has some really interesting omissions,
like massive Smiths hits, like This Charning
Man and How Soon Is Now aren't on this album.
Why? Because they had already been tacked on
to the American versions of their previous studio
albums. Sire Records didn't need to include them
again. But then you have a track like This Night
Has Opened My Eyes. That was originally a non
-single track from the Hatful of Hollow compilation,
which never came out in America. Right. So they
toss it on to Louder Than Bombs so the U .S.
fans can finally hear it. It was, by all accounts,
a stopgap product. But this is where the strategy
backfires in the most fascinating way. Oh, I
love this part. What happens when you take all
of a brilliant band's scattered B -sides, along
with their absolute latest hit single, which
was Sheila Take a Bow, and put them onto one
convenient double album? You accidentally create
the ultimate collector's item. Exactly. And this
leads to the greatest irony of the whole story.
The album is released in America, but it becomes
a massive hit as an import back in the UK. British
fans are reading the track list in magazines
and they are just drooling. They desperately
want this American record because it collects
all these exclusive B -sides and the brand new
track in one place. Which created a genuine crisis
for the British fans. Buying an American import
record in the UK in 1987 was incredibly expensive.
Yeah, you had loyal fans paying high import tariffs
just to get their hands on a collection of fundamentally
British music. It must have felt like a total
slap in the face. I mean, you're a British fan.
of the most fiercely British band of the decade,
and you're paying a premium to ship their music
back across the ocean. The UK record label, Rough
Trade, realized they had a PR disaster on their
hands. To save the fans from paying exorbitant
import prices, they decided to issue the album
domestically in the UK as well. Just two months
later, right, in May of 1987. Yes. But they knew
they were walking on thin ice. Because those
same loyal UK fans had just purchased the other
compilation? The world won't listen barely three
months earlier. Right. Imagine shelling out your
hard -earned cash for an album, and then 90 days
later, the band releases a much better, more
comprehensive version that actually includes
the new single you want. It's a tough sell. So
Rough Trade implemented a brilliant piece of
damage control. They priced this massive 24 -track
double album at the cost of a single album. It
was a direct thank you and an apology rolled
into one designed to soften the completely justified
criticism from their fan base. And it worked.
It completely cemented the album's accessibility.
And actually, that accessibility only grew over
time. A few years later, in 1992, WEA acquired
the Smiths' back catalog and re -released all
their albums at a mid -priced tier. Right, so
Louder Than Bombs continued to sit in record
stores as this incredibly affordable, comprehensive
treasure trove for new fans to discover the band.
But if this compilation was going to serve as
the gateway for so many fans, the presentation
had to be flawless. It couldn't look like a corporate
cash grab. Exactly. It needed to feel like a
cohesive piece of art. which is such a great
transition into the packaging. Oh, the packaging
is iconic. They completely disguised this corporate
product with high art, starting with the title
Louder Than Bombs. It sounds so aggressive, like
a punk manifesto. But it actually has deeply
poetic origins. Yeah. The title is borrowed directly
from a line in an extended prose poem by the
Canadian author Elizabeth Smart called By Grand
Central Station, I Sat Down and Wept. That literary
connection is quintessential to the band's identity.
Morrissey, the lead singer and lyricist, was
obsessed with bridging the gap between pop music
and classic literature. And that obsession extends
right to the cover art, which Morrissey designed
himself. Yes, it features a striking, moody photograph
of a young woman staring intensely at the camera.
That woman is Shala Delaney, a British playwright
from Salford. She was only 19 years old when
she made her literary debut with the play A Taste
of Honey. The photograph they used was actually
taken right around that time, originally published
in the Saturday Evening Post. Which begs the
question, why put a 19 -year -old playwright
from the 1950s on the cover of an American targeted
rock compilation in 1987? Because Shala Delaney
was arguably the foundational muse for Morrissey's
entire writing style. Her play, A Taste of Honey,
shocked audiences in the late 50s because it
dealt with gritty, working -class realism in
northern England. Right. It tackled teenage pregnancy,
class struggle, and survival. Morrissey adopted
that exact tone, that northern realism mixed
with deep, poetic melancholy, and injected it
into indie pop. And if you listen to the album,
that connection bleeds right into the music.
Remember that track? mentioned earlier this night
has opened my eyes our sources note that the
lyrics to this song are directly based on the
protagonist of delaney's play it's about joe
the unwed teenage mother and the heavy melancholic
reality of her situation it creates this beautiful
full circle artistic statement you have an album
created purely to fix a distribution error but
it's wrapped in a title from a prose poem covered
with the face of a literary hero, and contains
a song summarizing that hero's masterwork. They
elevated a pile of leftovers into a curated exhibition.
That's exactly what they did. So what does this
actually sound like? Let's talk about the music,
because if you're a fan of track quirks, alternate
mixes, and the raw energy of a band hitting their
stride, this track list is fascinating. It really
is. Because they were pulling from so many different
sources, they ended up including some incredibly
specific, rare versions of songs. The sourcing
is meticulous. For instance, they included tracks
from their John Peel sessions. For those who
might not know, John Peel was a legendary BBC
radio DJ. If you recorded a live in studio session
for his show, it was a massive badge of honor
in the UK. These sessions often had a raw punk
adjacent energy that you just couldn't capture
in a polished studio album recording. It captures
the band playing live in a room, just bleeding
energy. And the quirks don't stop there. Take
the song. You just haven't earned it yet, baby.
Oh, yes. On the original 1987 pressing of Louder
Than Bombs, it's included as the U .S. mix of
an aborted single. Right, it was originally supposed
to be an A -side, but the band shelved it in
favor of releasing Shoplifters of the World Unite.
Which tells you everything you need to know about
their creative overflow. They were writing songs
so good that they could afford to just toss a
brilliant track like You Just Haven't Earned
It Yet Baby back into the vault. And as a quick
note for the collectors out there, the version
on the original 1987 vinyl was actually a shorter
mix it wasn't until a reissue decades later in
2011 that this shorter version was swapped out
for a longer mix so if you have that original
record you have a very specific snapshot in time
we see a similar thing with track 20 stretch
out and wait The version on this album isn't
the standard one. It's the specific version taken
from the B -side of the Shakespeare's sister
single, which actually features slightly different
lyrics. I love finding those little differences.
And then you have Ask, which kicks off side three.
The version here is a remix. It's slightly longer
and different from the standard single version
that was released to radio. These little Easter
eggs are exactly what makes Sands obsess over
physical media. But beyond the mixing, there
are also some major songwriting outliers on this
album. Definitely. The Smith sound is famously
defined by the partnership of Morrissey's lyrics
and Johnny Marr's music. Yeah. They wrote 22
of the 24 tracks here. But the two exceptions
are so revealing. Let's look at track 14, Golden
Lights. This is actually a cover song originally
written and performed by a 1960s artist named
Twinkle. The Smiths originally used it as the
B -side to ask. It shows their eclectic taste,
pulling from 60s pop and twisting it into their
own style. But the real showstopper, for me at
least, is track 15, Oscillate Wildly. Originally
the B -side to How Soon Is Now. What makes this
track completely unique is that it's an instrumental.
There are no Morrissey vocals at all. It was
written entirely by Johnny Marr. And even the
title is brilliant. It's a pun on the playwright,
Oscar Wilde, showing that the literary wit extended
even to the instrumental tracks. Oscillate Wilde
is a crucial track because it highlights Marr's
genius breaking out of the traditional pop song
structure. Putting a complex instrumental on
a B -side shows how fearless they were. It really
does. And it perfectly transitions us into discussing
the actual soundscape of this album. When you
listen to these 24 tracks, it does not sound
like four guys just bashing away on standard
rock instruments. The textures are incredibly
rich. The layers are astounding. You have the
core four, of course, Morrissey crooning with
that unmistakable theatrical baritone, Johnny
Marr doing the heavy lifting, layering these
jangly, intricate guitar parts. But Marr is also
playing piano, harmonica, and even pulling out
a sly guitar on the track, Panic. Plus a mandolin
on Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
in Golden Lights. And then the rhythm section
completely elevates the mood. You have Andy Rourke
on bass guitar, providing these incredibly melodic,
driving bass lines. But he also plays the cello
on Shakespeare's Sister, and that instrumental
oscillate wildly. When you add a cello to an
indie rock track, it immediately introduces this
mournful classical depth that completely changes
the atmosphere. Add in Mike Joyce on drums, who
keeps the energy frantic but tight, throwing
in tambourine work on hand and glove and stretch
out and wait to give that 60s pop shimmer. But
they didn't stop with the core four. They brought
in collaborators to beef up the sound. Craig
Gannon is a great example. He played rhythm guitar
on a significant chunk of the album, including
Half a Person, London, Panic and Ask. He even
played lead guitar on the outro of London. Having
that second guitar thickens the sound considerably,
making it punchier and more aggressive. And the
vocal collaborations. The late, great Kirstie
McCall provided backing vocals on Ask and Golden
Lights. Having her bright pop voice harmonize
with Morrissey's melancholic delivery creates
this gorgeous, bittersweet tension. We also have
to highlight the producers who helped shape this
sonic landscape, specifically John Porter and
Stephen Street. They pushed the band to experiment
far beyond standard rock recording. How so? Well,
John Porter, for instance, didn't just produce.
He played slide guitar on Sheila Take a Bow,
provided sound effects on Ask, and even programmed
a drum machine and played bass on Golden Lights.
Stephen Street was equally experimental. The
sources note he added drum machine programming.
to London. On the track Rubber Ring, he actually
utilized sampling. Yes, incorporating a spoken
word recording about astral projection to give
the track this eerie, otherworldly feel. And
on the closing track, Asleep, he created these
evocative wind sound effects that make you feel
completely isolated. It's a testament to their
work ethic. Remember, these were intended to
be B -sides. Right. These were tracks destined
to be ignored on the flip side of a 7 -inch record.
Yet they are layering cellos, mandolins, drum
machines, and obscure samples. The level of craftsmanship
was astonishing. And it paid off immensely when
all these neglected tracks were finally collected
and evaluated as a whole. Which brings us to
the legacy. Let's talk numbers. To put this into
perspective, let's look at the charts. In 1987,
this Stopgap album peaked at number 62 on the
US Billboard 200. For an alternative British
indie band in the 80s, breaking into the Billboard
charts with a compilation was a huge deal. It
also hit number 38 in the UK and number 30 in
Canada. But the long -term sales figures are
where you see the real impact. It was certified
gold by the BPI in the United Kingdom, which
means it shipped 100 ,000 units. And in the United
States, it achieved gold status from the RIA
in 1990. Half a million copies. Over 500 ,000
Americans went to a record store and bought a
double album of British leftovers. That is staggering.
And the critics agreed with the fans. Decades
after its release, it is revered. It earned a
perfect 10 out of 10 from the notoriously tough
critics at the NME in the UK. Pitchfork gave
it a glowing 9 .4 out of 10. The Village Voice
gave it a solid B+. But the ultimate crown jewel
of its legacy is its placement on Rolling Stone
magazine's definitive list of the 500 greatest
albums of all time. In 2003, it ranked at number
365. When they revised the list nearly a decade
later in 2012, it held strong at number 369.
It is universally acknowledged not just as a
great compilation, but as a great album, full
stop. Which brings us back to why this all matters.
We've talked about the logistics, the packaging,
the literary connections, and the production.
But at its core, this is a profound lesson in
the value of the cutting room floor. Absolutely.
I think if there's one thing you take away from
this deep dive, it's that you don't always need
a master plan to create something brilliant.
We put so much pressure on ourselves and our
own lives to execute the perfect unified project.
The definitive studio album of our careers or
our hobbies. But Louder Than Bombs proves that
sometimes if you just gather your scattered notes,
your discarded ideas, your weird experiments,
and your B -sides, you might accidentally compile
the most honest, compelling picture of who you
are. It definitely reframes how we judge art,
and it leaves us with a provocative question
to ponder. Lay it on us. If a compilation album,
a record built purely out of corporate necessity
to play catch -up for a foreign market, can be
critically ranked among the greatest albums in
music history, what does that say about the traditional
concept? of the studio album, can a curated playlist
of odds, ends, and mistakes actually capture
an artist's true essence better than a meticulously
planned concept album? That is a fascinating
question to chew on. I hope the next time you
look at your own scraps and discarded ideas,
you see the potential for a masterpiece in there.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey
through the history, the poetry, and the hidden
gems of the Smith's Louder Than Bombs. Keep exploring
those deep cuts, and we will catch you next time.