Customer Reviews
Good, but not THAT good. - By: lazysunbathers, 05 Sep 2008 
I simply don't understand why this over-rated album is always held up as the benchmark of Morrissey/The Smiths' greatness. There are only two standout classic tracks on The Queen Is Dead - I Know It's Over & There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.
Frankly Mr Shankly is a dire novelty song that sounds like it was written by Gilbert O' Sullivan, Vicar In A Tutu is unlistenably dreadful, Never Had No One Ever & Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others are totally forgettable fillers.
Strangeways Here We Come is The Smiths album that stands up best to repeated listening - musically it's more innovative, lyrically it's less contrived. It's an altogether more emotionally & intellectually engaging experience.
But for a Morrissey album without one dud track, I'd wholeheartedly recommend Vauxhall & I.
Like being hit by a ten truck truck......full of Morrissey,s flowers - By: russell clarke, 14 May 2008 
Memory is a curious thing. For instance supposedly important personal eventsin my life , anniversaries, birthdays & the like pass me by . Yet i can remember with high resolution detail buying the Queen Is Dead. Entering the shop ( A little independent no longer around alas) buying it, getting it home & playing it for the first time. An experience akin to an epiphany...(the playing that is) but then most new releases by The Smiths were.....but this album if anything, went beyond epiphany into whatever it is that describes an experience beyond epiphany.
Releasedin June 1986 The Queen Is Dead is The Smiths third album & the one considered by just about everyone as their finest moment, though it,s interesting to note that Morrissey & Marr believe that their final album "Strangeways Here We Come" eclipsed it. Many of the songs for The Queen Is Dead were written while The Smiths were touringin 1985 but the album benefited hugely from the conducive collaborationin the studio between Marr & Morrissey who co-produced & engineer Stephen Street.
There are numerous elements that make The Queen Is Dead such a special album. The song-writing is of course exemplary , but there is a mixture of styles, moods, textures & nuances that take this album somewhere out of the context of a traditional pop/rock album. Add to this the peerless lyrics , full of verbose wit & spry humour & you have an album that fully deserves the moniker classic .
Opening up with the iconoclastic blast of the title track , one of Morrissey's greatest triumphs lyrically it segues into the knee popping bounce of "Frankly Mr Shankly" before the head spinning thematic swivel into the forlorn "I Know It,s Over". The plummeting almost dirge like "Never Had No One Ever" will be not to everyone's taste but I feel it has a real hypnotic power & acts as a counterweight to the sprightly "Cemetery Gates" which has a terrific Andy Rourke bass line & trademark cascading Marr chords & the memorable lyrics about plagiarism: "There's,s always someone somewhere with a big nose who knows" which was Morrissey's riposte to critics who had cried foul over his use of quotes from some of his favourite authors.
The opener on the vinyl side two is "Bigmouth Strikes Again " , the lead single off the album , chosen because the band wanted to make an emphatic affirmative statement on their return. The high pitched backing vocals are great & Morrissey employs his own distinctive high range yodel. "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" has a gorgeous Marr arrangement with lilting synthesized strings while "Vicar In A Tutu" is a giddy rush of quintessentially English silliness segueing into the song most consider the albums highpoint "There Is Light That Never Goes Out" . Unusually optimistic for Morrissey , the song about two people whose love would overcome death by double decker buses & ten ton trucks is a rare song, even for The Smiths, that merges genuine humorous pathos with a cracking tune. Final track "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" has a mantra like quality & ends the album on a considerably more lugubrious note than it came in.
The Queen Is Dead is one of the landmark albums of the 1980,s . An erudite multi-faceted work of tumescent genius that feels like a truly complete work. Everytime i hear the album the memories come rushing back in. If only i had bought on a significant birthday then it would be one less thing to worry about remembering. Other than that The Queen Is Dead is perfect.
Thank you Morrissey/Marr - By: Morrissey, 15 Jan 2008 Quite simply,in my opinion this is the greatest album of all time. Morrissey's lyrics are truly sublime. Marr's playing is fantastic. No other album i have ever heard manages to integrate such brilliant pop songs (Bigmouth Strikes Again) with complete & utter despair (I Know It's Over) so well. In a time when pop music wasin such a dire state it is amazing that something so brilliant was ever able to get released.
Some albums are better than others - By: Mr. B. Mcmillan, 15 Nov 2007 Magnum opus of the most influential band of the 80s or more whining from that guy with the big quiff? Anyone who thinks the latter need read no further. In fact, anyone who feels that way should probably give up completely as there is no hope for you. From the thunderous opening drumbeat & wah-wah guitar sequence of the title track to the intricate picking of closer `Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others', the listener isin the realm of true genius. The talents of Morrissey & Marr are very different. Both demonstrate genius on this record butin very distinct ways. Morrissey's lyrics are, yes, at times, downbeat but there is also wit & humour to be found herein equal measure. The title track, `Frankly Mr Shankly' & `Vicar In a Tutu' could provoke a giggle from even the most miserable human being. Complementing this is Marr's incredible guitar work. At times direct & bold, at others beautifully layered to create a stunning backdrop to Morrissey's observations. The songs take us on a journey through the vast landscape that is Morrissey's mind and, just when you think the journey can go no further, the band hits you with their knockout blow, namely `There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'. The chord sequence is perfect, the orchestration is beautiful & not overstated, the rhythm section isin the background when it needs to be, but the drums play an important part at the outset of the song, &in the build up to each majestic chorus. And, above all of this, Morrissey's greatest ever lyric tells a story of the boy who doesn't belong, the boy who is too afraid to make a move on the one person he desires to be with, and, above all, the boy who can think of nothing greater than to die by the side of the one he loves. This is an album on which everything works. There is nothing here to put the listener off the idea of going right back to the start the second the album ends. The perfect album is yet to be made, but `The Queen Is Dead' comes closer than most. The phrase `classic album' is used very lightly these days, but it is impossible to argue that this record doesn't deserve such a lofty status.
Joyful odes to misery. - By: Bruno, 30 Aug 2007 Truth be told, great as they all are, the Smith's albums don't really each have an individual 'sound' that differentiates one cd from another. The reason 'The Queen is Dead' stands out even from the sublime standards of the rest, is that nearly every song is a classic. The songs here,in particular 'There is a light', perfectly showcase the band's unique genius for expressing sexual & emotional yearning, frustration & despairin a way that is both poetically devastating & yet oddly disarming & uplifting. These songs are, on paper, enough to have anyone slitting their wrists, yetin the charming humor that Morrissey inevitably throws in, orin a jangly riff from Marr, there is somehow an innocent working-class hope & dignity retainedin it all to actually make you feel better listening to these tracks. Someone, somewhere will always know what you're going through, & that person will forever be Morrissey. Songs, indeed, that will save your life.
