3. Strangeways, Here We Come
Up next is the band's swansong "Strangeways, Here We Come", recorded in 1987, the same year as the breakup of The Smiths with Marr leaving before the album's release in September. Musically it was perhaps the most ambitious record the band made, moving away on certain tracks from the standard guitar based pop that had dominated earlier efforts and allowed the band to attempt to be seen as more than just a basic pop band, much in the same vein as The Beatles' ventures in psychedelia, only on a much more toned down level. Whilst this certainly provides the listener with a more varied experience, it can't help be felt that perhaps some more time could have been used to develop this new sound. Songs such as opening track "Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours" illustrate these feelings especially, with Marr's outstanding guitar work replaced by Morrissey on piano and a chorus of synthesised sounds which serve to make the song sound more surreal rather than memorable. That's not to say all of the more adventurous tracks were complete misfires though, in fact "Death Of A Disco Dancer" would have been a promising sign of things to come, had the band stuck together, with it's gradual evolution of the regular Smiths sound to a gothic explosion of piano and strings which wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of the better albums by The Cure. Success such as this shows the band's capability as well as ambition to change and stay relevant. But even at their best, these never quite stand up to the more classic styled Smiths songs present such as "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" and "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" which with three albums of practice making, prove to be some of their best yet and stand as highlights of not just the album but of their career.