The Sound Of The Smiths ??

Compilations always a sticking point - they want to make as many listeners an artist satisfied, an undertaking which, of course, can never succeed entirely. What one is too much, the other too little. Personally I incomprehensible that here, like on the "Best ...", once again the beautiful and important "Suffer Little Children" (with the essential line of text "Manchester, so much to answer for") passed over, but the completely superfluous New York vocal version of "This Charming Man" was draufgepackt.

What most critics seem to have no problem here (on the contrary, it was even explicitly praised), is the type of remastering, which was carried out here. Allegedly Marr was involved (I have his name not found in the remaster credits) if the should be, the worse, because then also Marr appears in "Loudness War" mingle. The bass was so extremely enhanced that some pieces I had the feeling, not Andy Rourke but Jah Wobble of Public Image Limited (which I appreciate very much else) would have resorted here incognito in the bass strings. For comparison, one hears only two examples: "What Difference Does It Make (Peel Session)" and "How Soon Is Now". What is added to the previous LP and CD versions to create a harmonious overall picture, here sounds pushy and aggressive. These are not the Smiths as they once sounded and should sound!