The Smiths, Complete

Of all the bands that exist, The Smiths remains my favorite of all time, with their ironic lyrics and addictive and obsessive songs. Their songs bring back the memories of anger and depression I felt during my youth, and the excess and emptiness I felt during the 80's, when Regan was the President and Thatcher was the PM, when the cold war was ending, and the world was still slower and disconnected without internet and mobile technology.

I just bought the Complete, the remastered version of The Smiths that includes all albums that have ever been recorded by The Smiths, with the re-mastering supervised by Johnny Marr. All of The Smiths that I own are still in the vinyl formats, so it was delightful to get all 106 songs (some from live recordings) in one go with close to 400 minutes of digital recording of my favorite songs.

I had a long train ride to Paris last week, so I immersed myself in their music, remembering how obsessive I felt about Morrissey and his lyrics. As my friends could attest, I was a sickeningly obsessed follower of Morrissey in my youth, idolising his pessimistic irony and dismissive attitude toward convention and conservatism. However, I started to feel disappointed in his recent remarks of the world that sounded more like a tired, disgruntled man, rather than progressive revel he was in his youth. The lyrics still resonated with me, and I could see why he so appealed to me so much in my youth as they still do, after I spent some time in the UK. However, when I listened to The Smiths this time around, I was absolutely astounded by the music, notably, Johnny Marr's guitar.

Marr's guitar is unique, and by itself a stand out. It supports Morrissey's lyrics, but it also attacks, surrounds, and challenges with constant consistency that could only be described as Marr. When the lyrics attack, the music withdraw, but they never go away, setting constant rhythm and adding complexity to the songs. Marr's sound is obsessive to say the least, and it complements Morrissey's lyrics like no other. That said, Morrissey's voice and Marr's guitar only collides and sets them apart, as if there is a battle between the voice and music that attacks and withdraws, creating a friction that results as intensity. That intensity is the essence of The Smiths, and if Morrissey and Marr collided in real life as in music, I can see why they only lasted for several years as a band.

I confirmed my love for The Smiths, but this time for a different reason from my youth. The underlining anger and obsession still resonate with me, but what I love most about the band is the music, more specifically, Johnny Marr's guitar.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/complete-remastered/id465332017