MB Essential Guide Poll: ***The Smiths***
 

The current list and the guides created so far can be found here http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...tml#post521880

Rules:

1) Please submit five tracks that you feel are the artists' best - they can be hits, album tracks, b-sides, rarities...anything you want, really - but please include the releases on which the songs appear. The five songs with the most votes will appear on the list.

2) Please submit one album that you feel is the artist's crowning glory, their classic album, if you like. Whichever album gets the most votes will appear on the list. Live albums are allowed but compilations are not allowed.

3) Please submit two artists which you feel have a similar sound, either from the same era or genre, that would give an indication of how the artists sounds and also would be a good suggestion for further artists to explore. The top two or three will be posted, depending on number of votes.

4) Please include a brief line or paragraph that explains exactly why the artist means so much to you. The best of these will be included as quotes beneath the artists' names, on the list
PLEASE NOTE THAT, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT COMPULSORY TO INCLUDE ONE, QUOTES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE WITHIN THE LIST. SONG AND ALBUM RECOMMENDATIONS ALONE WILL NOT GIVE USERS THE FULL PICTURE. TELL US WHAT AN ARTIST SOUNDS LIKE, WHY YOU LIKE THEM AND WHAT KIND OF INFLUENCE THEY HAVE ON TODAY'S ARTISTS.

5) Polls will be open for a week, after which I will collate the votes and transfer the results to the list. I shall also re-edit the first post of the artists thread to show the full write up.

6) Polls will be launched twice a week.

7) Every artist must receive at least five sets of votes. If, after a week of polling, a particular artist has not received five or more sets of votes, then that poll will still remain open but will not get onto the list until another chance comes around, possibly a few months later.

Each entry is set out in the same way. Here is a key to the information you can expect to find...

"Quotes will appear before and after recommendations. These quotes are by MusicBanter.com users, offering some additional information on the artist, or personal testimonies as to why a particular artist means so much to them. Each entry can feature a maximum of four quotes, but some may only feature one, depending on the quantity, quality and relevance of the quotes submitted." - name of user who submitted the quote

ALL-TIME TOP FIVE:
Song recommendations are collated from the top five songs, as voted for by MusicBanter members. In some polls, tie-breaks may occur, in which case two songs may be placed together, or ranked in relation to which order tied songs received their maximum number of votes.

RECOMMENDED ALBUM: Again, album recommendations are determined by votes and, in the event of tie-breaks, multiple titles may be recommended.

(POLL VOTERS, AS DESIGNATED BY SONG TITLES BY THE ARTIST IN QUESTION: This is a list of every user that participated in the poll.)

Tracks:
Asleep (Louder Than Bombs)
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Queen is Dead)
Nowhere Fast (Meat is Murder)
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (The Smiths)
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Louder Than Bombs)

Albums:
The Queen is Dead

Similar Artists:
Morrissey (his earlier stuff, Bona Drag, Viva Hate, etc)
The Organ

How the **** do The Smiths have only 1 reply so far?

Tracks:
William, It Was Really Nothing
How Soon is Now?
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
This Charming Man
The Headmaster Ritual

Album:
Meat is Murder

Similar Artists:
Morrissey
Echo & the Bunnymen

how do the smiths have 2 replies....

Tracks:
How Soon Is Now
Frankly, Mr Shankly
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Cemetry Gates
William, It Was Really Nothing

Album:
The Queen Is Dead

Similar Artists:
Morrissey

Tracks:

1. Paint A Vulgar Picture
2. Girlfriend In A Coma
3. A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
4. Frankly Mr. Shankley
5. Bigmouth Strikes Again

Album:

Strangeways, Here We Come

Similar Artists:

Another Sunny Day
The Cure (the voices are quite different, but similar style of guitar pop, tortured vocals and pseudo-literate lyrics)

Thoughts:

I don't have an emotional connection to The Smiths like many do. I was too young to be into them when they were actually making music. I came upon them in the '90s, around the time I was listening to the bands they influenced heavily. While it was clear how much the Britpop bands drew from the Smiths, the Smiths always struck me as having a very unique sound that was really never quite ripped off. The combination of Marr's alternatively chiming and driving guitar-work and Morrissey's drifting wails creates a pretty timeless, dreamy sort of guitar pop that I think is quite essential. Definitely a top favourite.