WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.700 So, imagine you open your fridge. Okay. You see 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:06.740 nothing but random leftover ingredients. You've 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:09.400 got like half an onion, some rice from two days 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.660 ago, a weird sauce you forgot you bought. Sounds 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.039 like my kitchen right now, honestly. Right. And 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:16.760 you throw it all together in a complete panic 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:19.980 because guests just walk through the door. And 00:00:19.980 --> 00:00:23.219 somehow, completely by accident, you cook a meal 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:26.100 that wins you a Michelin star. Oh, wow. Okay. 00:00:26.429 --> 00:00:29.010 Today we are looking at the music industry equivalent 00:00:29.010 --> 00:00:33.270 of that exact happy accident. That is a remarkably 00:00:33.270 --> 00:00:35.950 accurate analogy because what we're unpacking 00:00:35.950 --> 00:00:38.030 today really challenges how we typically think 00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:40.130 about an artist's legacy, you know? Yeah, we 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:42.090 usually assume that a band's definitive statement 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:45.549 is their meticulously planned studio album. Exactly. 00:00:45.670 --> 00:00:48.549 The big, heavily promoted releases where every 00:00:48.549 --> 00:00:51.509 single track is agonized over. But our sources 00:00:51.509 --> 00:00:55.270 today focus on Louder Than Bombs. The 1987 double 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:58.390 album. Yes, by the pioneering English indie rock 00:00:58.390 --> 00:01:01.009 band, The Smiths. And its creation story. proves 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:02.950 that sometimes the discarded tracks, the rude 00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:05.450 little experiments, the leftovers. Fridge leftovers. 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:09.189 They actually offer a truer, more vibrant reflection 00:01:09.189 --> 00:01:12.489 of a band's creative peak. And if you're listening 00:01:12.489 --> 00:01:14.590 to this, whether you've been actively searching 00:01:14.590 --> 00:01:16.950 for The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs Explained, 00:01:16.969 --> 00:01:19.650 or you're just a massive fan of indie rock history, 00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:23.030 this deep dive is going to be wild. It really 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:25.549 is. Because the band didn't even set out to make 00:01:25.549 --> 00:01:29.790 this 24 -track masterpiece as some grand artistic 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:32.870 statement for their home country. It was entirely 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:36.010 born out of a, well, a corporate logistical problem 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:38.730 across the Atlantic. Right. To understand this, 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:41.849 we have to travel back to March of 1987. And 00:01:41.849 --> 00:01:43.209 we really have to look at the music industry 00:01:43.209 --> 00:01:45.829 before the Internet existed. Which is hard to 00:01:45.829 --> 00:01:48.370 imagine sometimes. It is. The Smiths American 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:51.269 Record Company, Sire Records, had a very specific 00:01:51.269 --> 00:01:54.810 problem. In the UK, the band had just released 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:57.170 a compilation called The World Won't Listen. 00:01:57.370 --> 00:02:00.230 Right. And before that, they had a 1984 compilation 00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:03.010 called Hat. full of hollow, but neither of these 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:05.049 had been released in the United States. So the 00:02:05.049 --> 00:02:06.969 American market was just significantly behind. 00:02:07.170 --> 00:02:08.969 You really have to put yourself in the shoes 00:02:08.969 --> 00:02:13.229 of a music fan in 1987. Today, you know, if a 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:15.590 band drops a bonus track in Japan, you can stream 00:02:15.590 --> 00:02:18.090 it globally five seconds later. Yeah, it's instant. 00:02:18.310 --> 00:02:20.689 But back then, if a song didn't get pressed onto 00:02:20.689 --> 00:02:23.509 an American piece of vinyl or a cassette, it 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:25.409 essentially didn't exist for you. Unless you 00:02:25.409 --> 00:02:27.349 were lucky enough to have a specialty record 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:30.909 store that imported physical UK singles. Which 00:02:30.909 --> 00:02:33.909 most people didn't. Right. And for anyone listening 00:02:33.909 --> 00:02:36.330 who might only know the streaming era, we should 00:02:36.330 --> 00:02:38.689 probably clarify what we mean by these singles 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:41.289 and B -sides. Good point. When a band released 00:02:41.289 --> 00:02:44.610 a song on a physical 7 -inch vinyl record, the 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:46.810 hit song, the one they wanted on the radio, went 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:49.669 on the A -side. But the physical record has two 00:02:49.669 --> 00:02:51.650 sides. Exactly. So they had to put something 00:02:51.650 --> 00:02:54.449 on the back. That's the B -side. For most bands, 00:02:54.669 --> 00:02:56.969 the B -side was just a throwaway track, a filler 00:02:56.969 --> 00:02:59.800 song. But the Smiths treated their B -sides with 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:02.560 the exact same reverence as their A -sides. They 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.139 were churning out these brilliant, fully realized 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.280 songs and just hiding them on the back of records. 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:10.560 So Sire Records looks at this situation and realizes 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.180 they need an American counterpart to catch the 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:15.560 fans up. They need a substitute for those missing 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.240 UK compilations. Yes. Their strategy was purely 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:21.939 functional. Let's just compile all the singles 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:23.919 and nearly all the B -sides that haven't been 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.960 released in the U .S., sprinkle in a few extra 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.099 tracks, and package it together. Which is why 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:30.460 the track list has some really interesting omissions, 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:34.580 like massive Smiths hits, like This Charning 00:03:34.580 --> 00:03:37.520 Man and How Soon Is Now aren't on this album. 00:03:37.930 --> 00:03:40.270 Why? Because they had already been tacked on 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:42.409 to the American versions of their previous studio 00:03:42.409 --> 00:03:45.030 albums. Sire Records didn't need to include them 00:03:45.030 --> 00:03:47.129 again. But then you have a track like This Night 00:03:47.129 --> 00:03:49.550 Has Opened My Eyes. That was originally a non 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:51.550 -single track from the Hatful of Hollow compilation, 00:03:51.810 --> 00:03:54.370 which never came out in America. Right. So they 00:03:54.370 --> 00:03:56.430 toss it on to Louder Than Bombs so the U .S. 00:03:56.449 --> 00:03:59.129 fans can finally hear it. It was, by all accounts, 00:03:59.270 --> 00:04:01.930 a stopgap product. But this is where the strategy 00:04:01.930 --> 00:04:04.189 backfires in the most fascinating way. Oh, I 00:04:04.189 --> 00:04:06.560 love this part. What happens when you take all 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.500 of a brilliant band's scattered B -sides, along 00:04:09.500 --> 00:04:12.319 with their absolute latest hit single, which 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.360 was Sheila Take a Bow, and put them onto one 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.279 convenient double album? You accidentally create 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.100 the ultimate collector's item. Exactly. And this 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:23.079 leads to the greatest irony of the whole story. 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.220 The album is released in America, but it becomes 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:29.370 a massive hit as an import back in the UK. British 00:04:29.370 --> 00:04:31.709 fans are reading the track list in magazines 00:04:31.709 --> 00:04:34.829 and they are just drooling. They desperately 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:37.230 want this American record because it collects 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.410 all these exclusive B -sides and the brand new 00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:42.170 track in one place. Which created a genuine crisis 00:04:42.170 --> 00:04:44.529 for the British fans. Buying an American import 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:48.069 record in the UK in 1987 was incredibly expensive. 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:51.089 Yeah, you had loyal fans paying high import tariffs 00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:53.569 just to get their hands on a collection of fundamentally 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:55.870 British music. It must have felt like a total 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:58.350 slap in the face. I mean, you're a British fan. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.699 of the most fiercely British band of the decade, 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.399 and you're paying a premium to ship their music 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.180 back across the ocean. The UK record label, Rough 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:08.839 Trade, realized they had a PR disaster on their 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:12.139 hands. To save the fans from paying exorbitant 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:14.620 import prices, they decided to issue the album 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:16.720 domestically in the UK as well. Just two months 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.620 later, right, in May of 1987. Yes. But they knew 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:22.959 they were walking on thin ice. Because those 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.540 same loyal UK fans had just purchased the other 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:27.970 compilation? The world won't listen barely three 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:30.490 months earlier. Right. Imagine shelling out your 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:32.930 hard -earned cash for an album, and then 90 days 00:05:32.930 --> 00:05:35.170 later, the band releases a much better, more 00:05:35.170 --> 00:05:37.230 comprehensive version that actually includes 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:40.050 the new single you want. It's a tough sell. So 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:42.389 Rough Trade implemented a brilliant piece of 00:05:42.389 --> 00:05:46.170 damage control. They priced this massive 24 -track 00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:49.170 double album at the cost of a single album. It 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:51.569 was a direct thank you and an apology rolled 00:05:51.569 --> 00:05:54.509 into one designed to soften the completely justified 00:05:54.509 --> 00:05:56.850 criticism from their fan base. And it worked. 00:05:56.970 --> 00:05:59.430 It completely cemented the album's accessibility. 00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:02.089 And actually, that accessibility only grew over 00:06:02.089 --> 00:06:05.930 time. A few years later, in 1992, WEA acquired 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:08.449 the Smiths' back catalog and re -released all 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:10.810 their albums at a mid -priced tier. Right, so 00:06:10.810 --> 00:06:13.089 Louder Than Bombs continued to sit in record 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:16.009 stores as this incredibly affordable, comprehensive 00:06:16.009 --> 00:06:19.410 treasure trove for new fans to discover the band. 00:06:19.829 --> 00:06:22.110 But if this compilation was going to serve as 00:06:22.110 --> 00:06:24.910 the gateway for so many fans, the presentation 00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:27.870 had to be flawless. It couldn't look like a corporate 00:06:27.870 --> 00:06:30.269 cash grab. Exactly. It needed to feel like a 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:33.060 cohesive piece of art. which is such a great 00:06:33.060 --> 00:06:35.079 transition into the packaging. Oh, the packaging 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:37.639 is iconic. They completely disguised this corporate 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:40.220 product with high art, starting with the title 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:43.540 Louder Than Bombs. It sounds so aggressive, like 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:46.019 a punk manifesto. But it actually has deeply 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:49.519 poetic origins. Yeah. The title is borrowed directly 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.420 from a line in an extended prose poem by the 00:06:52.420 --> 00:06:55.139 Canadian author Elizabeth Smart called By Grand 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:58.540 Central Station, I Sat Down and Wept. That literary 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:01.100 connection is quintessential to the band's identity. 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:03.980 Morrissey, the lead singer and lyricist, was 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:06.459 obsessed with bridging the gap between pop music 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:09.079 and classic literature. And that obsession extends 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:11.240 right to the cover art, which Morrissey designed 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:14.680 himself. Yes, it features a striking, moody photograph 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:16.939 of a young woman staring intensely at the camera. 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:20.699 That woman is Shala Delaney, a British playwright 00:07:20.699 --> 00:07:23.420 from Salford. She was only 19 years old when 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:26.600 she made her literary debut with the play A Taste 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:29.319 of Honey. The photograph they used was actually 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.100 taken right around that time, originally published 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:33.360 in the Saturday Evening Post. Which begs the 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.759 question, why put a 19 -year -old playwright 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.379 from the 1950s on the cover of an American targeted 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:42.019 rock compilation in 1987? Because Shala Delaney 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:45.259 was arguably the foundational muse for Morrissey's 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:48.839 entire writing style. Her play, A Taste of Honey, 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.660 shocked audiences in the late 50s because it 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.360 dealt with gritty, working -class realism in 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:56.899 northern England. Right. It tackled teenage pregnancy, 00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:00.139 class struggle, and survival. Morrissey adopted 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:02.959 that exact tone, that northern realism mixed 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:05.920 with deep, poetic melancholy, and injected it 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.879 into indie pop. And if you listen to the album, 00:08:07.980 --> 00:08:09.540 that connection bleeds right into the music. 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:11.759 Remember that track? mentioned earlier this night 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.420 has opened my eyes our sources note that the 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:16.680 lyrics to this song are directly based on the 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:19.560 protagonist of delaney's play it's about joe 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:23.500 the unwed teenage mother and the heavy melancholic 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:26.220 reality of her situation it creates this beautiful 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:29.860 full circle artistic statement you have an album 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:32.980 created purely to fix a distribution error but 00:08:32.980 --> 00:08:35.789 it's wrapped in a title from a prose poem covered 00:08:35.789 --> 00:08:38.649 with the face of a literary hero, and contains 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:41.789 a song summarizing that hero's masterwork. They 00:08:41.789 --> 00:08:44.830 elevated a pile of leftovers into a curated exhibition. 00:08:45.110 --> 00:08:47.129 That's exactly what they did. So what does this 00:08:47.129 --> 00:08:49.070 actually sound like? Let's talk about the music, 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:51.789 because if you're a fan of track quirks, alternate 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:54.850 mixes, and the raw energy of a band hitting their 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.970 stride, this track list is fascinating. It really 00:08:57.970 --> 00:09:00.220 is. Because they were pulling from so many different 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:03.000 sources, they ended up including some incredibly 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.879 specific, rare versions of songs. The sourcing 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:07.940 is meticulous. For instance, they included tracks 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:09.740 from their John Peel sessions. For those who 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:12.340 might not know, John Peel was a legendary BBC 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:16.279 radio DJ. If you recorded a live in studio session 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.399 for his show, it was a massive badge of honor 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.580 in the UK. These sessions often had a raw punk 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:24.139 adjacent energy that you just couldn't capture 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:26.980 in a polished studio album recording. It captures 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:29.740 the band playing live in a room, just bleeding 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.779 energy. And the quirks don't stop there. Take 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:34.379 the song. You just haven't earned it yet, baby. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.409 Oh, yes. On the original 1987 pressing of Louder 00:09:38.409 --> 00:09:41.350 Than Bombs, it's included as the U .S. mix of 00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:43.529 an aborted single. Right, it was originally supposed 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:46.669 to be an A -side, but the band shelved it in 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:49.889 favor of releasing Shoplifters of the World Unite. 00:09:50.049 --> 00:09:51.950 Which tells you everything you need to know about 00:09:51.950 --> 00:09:54.070 their creative overflow. They were writing songs 00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:56.529 so good that they could afford to just toss a 00:09:56.529 --> 00:09:58.350 brilliant track like You Just Haven't Earned 00:09:58.350 --> 00:10:00.570 It Yet Baby back into the vault. And as a quick 00:10:00.570 --> 00:10:02.950 note for the collectors out there, the version 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:05.960 on the original 1987 vinyl was actually a shorter 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.700 mix it wasn't until a reissue decades later in 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:12.559 2011 that this shorter version was swapped out 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:14.620 for a longer mix so if you have that original 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:16.919 record you have a very specific snapshot in time 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:19.460 we see a similar thing with track 20 stretch 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:22.500 out and wait The version on this album isn't 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:24.759 the standard one. It's the specific version taken 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:26.679 from the B -side of the Shakespeare's sister 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.480 single, which actually features slightly different 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.840 lyrics. I love finding those little differences. 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:34.759 And then you have Ask, which kicks off side three. 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:38.519 The version here is a remix. It's slightly longer 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.419 and different from the standard single version 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:44.100 that was released to radio. These little Easter 00:10:44.100 --> 00:10:47.179 eggs are exactly what makes Sands obsess over 00:10:47.179 --> 00:10:49.490 physical media. But beyond the mixing, there 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:52.129 are also some major songwriting outliers on this 00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:54.809 album. Definitely. The Smith sound is famously 00:10:54.809 --> 00:10:57.090 defined by the partnership of Morrissey's lyrics 00:10:57.090 --> 00:10:59.669 and Johnny Marr's music. Yeah. They wrote 22 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:02.330 of the 24 tracks here. But the two exceptions 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:05.190 are so revealing. Let's look at track 14, Golden 00:11:05.190 --> 00:11:07.669 Lights. This is actually a cover song originally 00:11:07.669 --> 00:11:10.490 written and performed by a 1960s artist named 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:13.029 Twinkle. The Smiths originally used it as the 00:11:13.029 --> 00:11:15.690 B -side to ask. It shows their eclectic taste, 00:11:15.929 --> 00:11:18.590 pulling from 60s pop and twisting it into their 00:11:18.590 --> 00:11:21.429 own style. But the real showstopper, for me at 00:11:21.429 --> 00:11:24.570 least, is track 15, Oscillate Wildly. Originally 00:11:24.570 --> 00:11:28.070 the B -side to How Soon Is Now. What makes this 00:11:28.070 --> 00:11:30.309 track completely unique is that it's an instrumental. 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.299 There are no Morrissey vocals at all. It was 00:11:33.299 --> 00:11:35.860 written entirely by Johnny Marr. And even the 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.059 title is brilliant. It's a pun on the playwright, 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:41.179 Oscar Wilde, showing that the literary wit extended 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:44.240 even to the instrumental tracks. Oscillate Wilde 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.639 is a crucial track because it highlights Marr's 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:48.980 genius breaking out of the traditional pop song 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:52.039 structure. Putting a complex instrumental on 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.820 a B -side shows how fearless they were. It really 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.860 does. And it perfectly transitions us into discussing 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:01.139 the actual soundscape of this album. When you 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:03.500 listen to these 24 tracks, it does not sound 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:05.899 like four guys just bashing away on standard 00:12:05.899 --> 00:12:08.379 rock instruments. The textures are incredibly 00:12:08.379 --> 00:12:10.519 rich. The layers are astounding. You have the 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.019 core four, of course, Morrissey crooning with 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.519 that unmistakable theatrical baritone, Johnny 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:17.659 Marr doing the heavy lifting, layering these 00:12:17.659 --> 00:12:20.399 jangly, intricate guitar parts. But Marr is also 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.779 playing piano, harmonica, and even pulling out 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:25.340 a sly guitar on the track, Panic. Plus a mandolin 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:27.299 on Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want 00:12:27.299 --> 00:12:29.639 in Golden Lights. And then the rhythm section 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:32.779 completely elevates the mood. You have Andy Rourke 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.740 on bass guitar, providing these incredibly melodic, 00:12:35.740 --> 00:12:38.659 driving bass lines. But he also plays the cello 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:40.759 on Shakespeare's Sister, and that instrumental 00:12:40.759 --> 00:12:44.039 oscillate wildly. When you add a cello to an 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.019 indie rock track, it immediately introduces this 00:12:47.019 --> 00:12:50.299 mournful classical depth that completely changes 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:52.980 the atmosphere. Add in Mike Joyce on drums, who 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.120 keeps the energy frantic but tight, throwing 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.480 in tambourine work on hand and glove and stretch 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.600 out and wait to give that 60s pop shimmer. But 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:03.080 they didn't stop with the core four. They brought 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:05.360 in collaborators to beef up the sound. Craig 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:07.519 Gannon is a great example. He played rhythm guitar 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.720 on a significant chunk of the album, including 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:13.210 Half a Person, London, Panic and Ask. He even 00:13:13.210 --> 00:13:16.230 played lead guitar on the outro of London. Having 00:13:16.230 --> 00:13:18.690 that second guitar thickens the sound considerably, 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:21.269 making it punchier and more aggressive. And the 00:13:21.269 --> 00:13:23.710 vocal collaborations. The late, great Kirstie 00:13:23.710 --> 00:13:26.009 McCall provided backing vocals on Ask and Golden 00:13:26.009 --> 00:13:29.210 Lights. Having her bright pop voice harmonize 00:13:29.210 --> 00:13:31.450 with Morrissey's melancholic delivery creates 00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:34.419 this gorgeous, bittersweet tension. We also have 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:36.500 to highlight the producers who helped shape this 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:39.320 sonic landscape, specifically John Porter and 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:42.100 Stephen Street. They pushed the band to experiment 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:46.039 far beyond standard rock recording. How so? Well, 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.360 John Porter, for instance, didn't just produce. 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:51.379 He played slide guitar on Sheila Take a Bow, 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:54.639 provided sound effects on Ask, and even programmed 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:57.940 a drum machine and played bass on Golden Lights. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.820 Stephen Street was equally experimental. The 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:02.960 sources note he added drum machine programming. 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:06.250 to London. On the track Rubber Ring, he actually 00:14:06.250 --> 00:14:09.149 utilized sampling. Yes, incorporating a spoken 00:14:09.149 --> 00:14:11.809 word recording about astral projection to give 00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:14.669 the track this eerie, otherworldly feel. And 00:14:14.669 --> 00:14:17.370 on the closing track, Asleep, he created these 00:14:17.370 --> 00:14:19.649 evocative wind sound effects that make you feel 00:14:19.649 --> 00:14:21.889 completely isolated. It's a testament to their 00:14:21.889 --> 00:14:23.509 work ethic. Remember, these were intended to 00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:25.889 be B -sides. Right. These were tracks destined 00:14:25.889 --> 00:14:28.389 to be ignored on the flip side of a 7 -inch record. 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.149 Yet they are layering cellos, mandolins, drum 00:14:31.149 --> 00:14:34.230 machines, and obscure samples. The level of craftsmanship 00:14:34.230 --> 00:14:36.799 was astonishing. And it paid off immensely when 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:38.940 all these neglected tracks were finally collected 00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:41.720 and evaluated as a whole. Which brings us to 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:44.460 the legacy. Let's talk numbers. To put this into 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:47.320 perspective, let's look at the charts. In 1987, 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.860 this Stopgap album peaked at number 62 on the 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:54.019 US Billboard 200. For an alternative British 00:14:54.019 --> 00:14:56.580 indie band in the 80s, breaking into the Billboard 00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.299 charts with a compilation was a huge deal. It 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:02.059 also hit number 38 in the UK and number 30 in 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.710 Canada. But the long -term sales figures are 00:15:04.710 --> 00:15:07.250 where you see the real impact. It was certified 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:10.230 gold by the BPI in the United Kingdom, which 00:15:10.230 --> 00:15:12.990 means it shipped 100 ,000 units. And in the United 00:15:12.990 --> 00:15:15.549 States, it achieved gold status from the RIA 00:15:15.549 --> 00:15:20.139 in 1990. Half a million copies. Over 500 ,000 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:21.899 Americans went to a record store and bought a 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:24.799 double album of British leftovers. That is staggering. 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:27.179 And the critics agreed with the fans. Decades 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.399 after its release, it is revered. It earned a 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.600 perfect 10 out of 10 from the notoriously tough 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.039 critics at the NME in the UK. Pitchfork gave 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:37.179 it a glowing 9 .4 out of 10. The Village Voice 00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:40.600 gave it a solid B+. But the ultimate crown jewel 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:43.539 of its legacy is its placement on Rolling Stone 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:46.220 magazine's definitive list of the 500 greatest 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:49.759 albums of all time. In 2003, it ranked at number 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.419 365. When they revised the list nearly a decade 00:15:53.419 --> 00:15:57.399 later in 2012, it held strong at number 369. 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.500 It is universally acknowledged not just as a 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:03.039 great compilation, but as a great album, full 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.039 stop. Which brings us back to why this all matters. 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:08.639 We've talked about the logistics, the packaging, 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:10.980 the literary connections, and the production. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.600 But at its core, this is a profound lesson in 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.700 the value of the cutting room floor. Absolutely. 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:18.340 I think if there's one thing you take away from 00:16:18.340 --> 00:16:20.440 this deep dive, it's that you don't always need 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.179 a master plan to create something brilliant. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.519 We put so much pressure on ourselves and our 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.820 own lives to execute the perfect unified project. 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:30.299 The definitive studio album of our careers or 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.899 our hobbies. But Louder Than Bombs proves that 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:34.860 sometimes if you just gather your scattered notes, 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.019 your discarded ideas, your weird experiments, 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.399 and your B -sides, you might accidentally compile 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:41.759 the most honest, compelling picture of who you 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.019 are. It definitely reframes how we judge art, 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.039 and it leaves us with a provocative question 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.179 to ponder. Lay it on us. If a compilation album, 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:52.779 a record built purely out of corporate necessity 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.299 to play catch -up for a foreign market, can be 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:57.500 critically ranked among the greatest albums in 00:16:57.500 --> 00:17:00.059 music history, what does that say about the traditional 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:03.669 concept? of the studio album, can a curated playlist 00:17:03.669 --> 00:17:06.650 of odds, ends, and mistakes actually capture 00:17:06.650 --> 00:17:09.950 an artist's true essence better than a meticulously 00:17:09.950 --> 00:17:13.089 planned concept album? That is a fascinating 00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:15.609 question to chew on. I hope the next time you 00:17:15.609 --> 00:17:17.569 look at your own scraps and discarded ideas, 00:17:17.650 --> 00:17:19.690 you see the potential for a masterpiece in there. 00:17:20.109 --> 00:17:22.029 Thank you so much for joining us on this journey 00:17:22.029 --> 00:17:24.329 through the history, the poetry, and the hidden 00:17:24.329 --> 00:17:27.849 gems of the Smith's Louder Than Bombs. Keep exploring 00:17:27.849 --> 00:17:30.049 those deep cuts, and we will catch you next time.