The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead [180g, Gatefold] (LP) Vinyl

The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English rock band the Smiths, released on 16 June 1986 by Rough Trade Records. Written largely at Johnny Marr's home in Bowdon after the band retreated from London back to Greater Manchester, it followed Meat Is Murder and is widely regarded as the group's finest record. Morrissey and Marr produced it themselves with Stephen Street engineering, and the music draws together indie rock, jangle pop and post-punk.

The Album

Recording ran from July to December 1985 across three studios: Drone in Manchester, RAK in London and Jacobs in Farnham, Surrey, where the bulk of the album was made under the working title "Margaret on the Guillotine". "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" was the first song completed, cut at Drone in July 1985, while "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" were recorded at RAK the following month. Kirsty MacColl sang a backing vocal for "Bigmouth Strikes Again", but her take was replaced by a sped-up Morrissey vocal put through a harmoniser by Street and credited on the sleeve to the fictitious "Ann Coates". A legal dispute with Rough Trade then held the record back from its planned February 1986 release until the following June.

Artwork

The title is taken from Hubert Selby Jr.'s 1964 novel Last Exit to Brooklyn. The sleeve, credited to Morrissey with layout by Caryn Gough, prints a still of the French actor Alain Delon from the 1964 film The Unvanquished across a green wash; Delon granted permission for the image to be used. Inside the gatefold the lyrics face Stephen Wright's group photograph of the band outside the Salford Lads Club in Salford, one of the most recognisable images in British pop.

Reception

The album spent 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number two, reached number 70 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the RIAA in late 1990. Its standing has only risen since. NME placed it first in its 2013 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, Rolling Stone ranked it 113th in the 2020 revision of its own 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and Q put it third in its 2006 rundown of the 40 best albums of the 1980s. Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it the band's "great leap forward".

This Pressing

This is the European reissue on a single 180g black vinyl LP playing at 33 1/3 RPM, issued by WEA under catalogue number 2564665887. It comes in a single pocket, unlaminated gatefold sleeve with a replica of the original inner sleeve, printed on matte paper rather than the gloss card used in 1986. The lacquers were cut by Frank Arkwright, the record was pressed by Optimal Media and it is made in the EU.

Tracklist

Side One

1. The Queen Is Dead / Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty (medley) (6:23)
2. Frankly, Mr. Shankly (2:17)
3. I Know It's Over (5:48)
4. Never Had No One Ever (3:36)
5. Cemetry Gates (2:39)

Side Two

1. Bigmouth Strikes Again (3:12)
2. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (3:15)
3. Vicar In A Tutu (2:21)
4. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (4:02)
5. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others (3:14)