All other caveats aside, Smiths fans NEED this for its sound

Complain all you like about the cover art, the random track order, and the fact that it's the umpteenth Smiths comp (and the high price, if you're buying it as an import) ... but anyone who's actually listened to this disc must admit that the sound quality on this disc trumps all other CD issues of the same songs. So, until the entire Smiths catalog is remastered to the same standards (and how I wish that it would be), this CD is a necessary purchase for Smiths fans who care about sound quality. If you fall into that group, you won't be sorry you purchased this disc.



The music, of course, is excellent, but anyone looking at this item on Amazon probably knows that already. My personal track-listing grumble: "The Queen is Dead," a true contender for the most powerful and impressive Smiths song of all, is missing, while "I Know It's Over," seemingly chosen at random from the same album, is included. For this (and for the cover art, which is indeed unattractive), I deduct one star.

Horrible addition to The Smiths catalogue.

A band as great as The Smiths deserves better than this. When I first saw this listed for release I couldn't believe what I was seeing. That cover shot is so wrong on so many levels. It tells me that the compilation compilers really don't understand The Smiths. 3 stars is warranted strictly due to the fact that this release is digitally remastered - but truth be told, most people wouldn't notice the difference. So, do yourself a favour - DO NOT buy this Best Of (or Best Of Vol. 1 & 2 for that matter) and find a copy of Singles. Then buy the individual albums - hell, Amazon is practially giving them away - at least in Canada!

One star lost to the vampires

There are a lot of fans doing a lot of bellyaching over this comp and I don't get it. There are 3 post band break-up "hits" comps out there, none of them have been "OK'd" by Morrissey or Marr, this one has better sound and more songs. Every A side is here, as are 5 extra "shoulda been A-sides". Comparing the sound on this with the sound on "Singles" is like night and day. You can program this to play in the order the songs were released if you're really that cranky over the random order of the tunes. Until RHINO does a proper anthology this is the best single disc comp. out there. I knocked off one star because this is an unauthorized overview, but I have a pretty good hunch that this is pretty much the same CD that Marr n' Mozz would have thrown together themselves. Keep in mind that there are no "official" Smiths T-shirts out there either but everyone seems to have one. Fans, product, supply, demand, oldest story in the book.