An unexpectedly long list...
Good thread this.
Must say that hate is too strong a word, but, being brutally honest...
Hand In Glove
- Not the indie classic many hold it up to be. For me it's one of the weakest of their early tracks.
Reel Around The Fountain
- Version on The Smiths only: it's a song I absolutely adore, but I just can't bear how boring the John Porter studio version is.
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
- The track which most non-fans heard and assumed everything The Smiths did sounded like. And they didn't.
The Headmaster Ritual
- Not great on record, but outstanding in a couple of live versions I have of it.
Barbarism Begins At Home
- Musically one of the best things The Smiths ever did, but far from Moz's finest hour.
Frankly Mr Shankly
Vicar In A Tutu
- 2 songs which go desperately close to nobbling my favourite ever album. Very, very lightweight.
Half A Person
- At a time when they were recording some of their best stuff, this pales quite badly.
I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
- Very, very, very average.
Death Of A Disco Dancer
- The sound of Moz being overindulged.
Solo:
Little Man, What Now
- Really quite bad. Was staggered when this started finding a place in recent setlists.
Lucky Lisp
- This one's so weak that I don't even think it's beloved by fans.
Sing Your Life
- A song I've seen and heard people rave about so many times, but one that has never done anything at all for me. Apart from Found, Found, Found, I think it's the worst thing on Kill Uncle.
I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday
- Similarly, the worst thing on Your Arsenal. Yes, worse even than ...Fatty.
The Loop
- The point where I wondered why people thought a rockabilly direction was a good idea.
I Am Hated For Loving
The Lazy Sunbathers
- Filler. I've listened to Vauxhall without them a couple of times, and it's so much better.
Roy's Keen
- I've seen countless people rave about this song. It just makes me want to rattle them until they see sense. Probably in the worst 3 songs he's ever done.
I Have Forgiven Jesus
World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
First Of The Gang To Die
- Really, really average. Stuff which would have been utterly savaged by many on here if they hadn't been on the first album he'd put out in god-knows how long. FOTGTD in particular was incredibly overrated. First time I saw him play it live I thought "B-side", and yet all I read a couple of years ago was how it was the best single he'd put out since the late 80s. The other two are just crap, I'm afraid.
Have to say though, it's only because I know how good Moz can be that I've been so harsh on some of these. A victim of his own talent, I suppose. Treading water just doesn't cut it.
