Meat Is Murder

Yet another one of those albums where the vocals ruin the music. Morrissey can barely stay in tune at times, and the vocal melodies overall are irritatingly repetitive. It is quite strange that this album is on the list, because their next album, The Queen is Dead, sounds so much better. When I listened to it again, I found the difference in quality quite remarkable.

:( Not my kind of music. Same same

18th October 2021 Listened in the morning while working, quiet day. Jen still in Spain so we watched bake off together before the Internet blew up. The Smith's feel like a band of extremely talented individuals who come together to put good stuff out in spite of each other. I didn't like the title track and think they have better material. Plus Morrissey is now a total cock.

de har med afstand lavet bedre

Not really my thing, but a couple of tracks I liked.

“Meat Is Murder” by The Smiths (1985) The irony of the cover photo is that a phrase cribbed from the graffiti on the helmet of a spindly Vietnam War grunt is appropriated and transmogrified into a vegetarian scold. Wince. Death-longing gives many of these songs a serious side, but it’s hard to sustain this seriousness in the midst of idiosyncratic moralizing. Disregard for human life is somewhat in tension with excessive regard for animal life. It fails. And the misuse of a word “prophesies” is only fitting for these decidedly un-prophetic lyrics. Morrissey clearly dislikes corporal punishment, either from teachers (“The Headmaster Ritual”) or parents (“Barbarism Begins at Home”). Perhaps his point is that “unruly boys” who undeservedly get “a crack on the head” grow up to wear helmets and inflict a little Barbarism on the Third World. I don’t know. You figure it out. And he obviously despises meat eating (“Meat Is Murder”), hoping to persuade us with a dubious syllogism begging for a minor premise. The song could well have been left off the album, but then what would you do for a title? The lines “I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen/Every sensible child will know what this means” (“Nowhere Fast”) completely elude me. Don’t they frown on this sort of thing over there in the U.K.? I must have lost my sensibility long ago. But supporting these sometimes self defeating lyrics are musical compositions that are groovy, outré, and accessible all at once (especially “The Headmaster Ritual”, “Well I Wonder”, and “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”). Morrissey’s voice has an interesting timbre, but curiously, his frequent falsetto frills continually run to the sharp side of the pitch. This happens so often, the listener simply relaxes into it. I’m not sure that is a good thing. On “Barbarism Begins at Home” (musically the best track on the record), Johnny Marr’s inventive guitar work is pleasant and precise, and the superbly melodic bass by Andy Rourke gives variety to a rhythm that might otherwise be monotonous. Very listenable, but sadly inane. I’m gonna run out for a burger. Anybody want anything? 2/5

Didn't leave much of an impression - even as an originator of the jangly but dark chorus-tinged 80s sound, the Smiths don't know when to mix it up or cut a song short. The back half here especially drags as 6-minute tracks wear out 3 minutes worth of ideas.

Have to admit, I enjoyed this more that I thought I would (my expectations were not high) but Morrissey's voice is just so fucking annoying. Most of the songs are very samey but there were a few I was talking my foot to like "well I wonder". "Barbarism..." is a great example of a decent song ruined by Morrissey's wailing.

Terrible singing

I only like some song by The Smiths, this album does not have any of those.

I like about 5 songs of theirs let’s see if some are in this album. I know that the lead singer is annoying lol. Nice start. Dont think i know any song in the track list, by name at least. Dudes sadddd but i genuinely liked 'i want the one i cant have'; actually i liked most songs in sound but i couldnt undestand that much so i put the lyrics on, cant know if what i get from it that i like is intended or just my best interpretation but isnt that always the case maybe not to this is extent though, some feelings are pretty immature even if theyre worded sophisticatedly lol i wonder how old songwriter/s were at the time. Not the cow sounds lmao. Just googled Morrissey vegan (vegan was the first suggestion) and I’m having a blast just reading headlines and previews of articles. Again music music was ok at times but I can’t connect it’s not my thing

it's a bit samey, the songs all seem to blend together into one and not really in a way I enjoy

Meh

First track was ok but after that I didn't get much out of it.

Another blast from the past! Is it possible to feel nostalgic for music you really disliked when it was new? Yes, yes it is. Brought back happy memories of complaining about this soundalike pop pablum to my friends who loved it. Deep-thinking effort to center the venn diagram between brooding and upbeat-cool. Swing and a miss. Still not for me.

Aint bad. Bit plain, Good background music

Hatte früher schon leichte Angst vor denen, habe ich immer noch. Liegt an Morrissey, der eine Upperclass-Stimmlage hat, die nicht in mein Pop-Verständnis passt.

Bis auf in den wundervollen, ruhigen Songs unterwirft sich die komplette Band sklavisch Morrisseys Stimme

Not as good as their other work, some good guitar work and Morrissey's vocals are great as usual but nothing really memorable besides the last song

80s music man

Meh

nothing stood out to me, fairly bland

I know the smiths are supposed to be depressing but sheesh. I didn’t enjoy this level of angst.

80s punk. Not good

Listened to this in the background while I played Fortnite. Nothing too memorable for me

Some potential but not something i would listen to again

2.5

4/10, decent, gloomy, preachy, but undeniably the Smiths

Overall: 2/10 This has the honour of being my favourite Smiths album. There are actually quite a few moments on that album that make me go "wait actually this is kind of good", and then Morrissey opens his mouth and makes his whale sounds for the world to cringe at. The bass work on this album is actually quite good, but it's hard to enjoy with such a godawful vocalist. This one made me realize I might actually be willing to give The Smiths a chance if it wasn't for that idiot. Fav Song: I Want the One I Can't Have

Fuck Morrissey

Noo NOO NOOO NOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Might be recency bias but don’t like the Smiths so annoying getting two of their albums so close together

I just cannot understand what people like about other than the sad lyrics if thats what youre into. Otherwise, all of it is just meandering slowish softish music with Morrisseys bad warbling voice overtop kind of singing along in time but also not. Hate it

Nelibi se mi ani ten jeho hlas, ani texty...

Unless you’re interested in a slow methodical listen of a person who needs their adenoids removed complain about his schooling, inability to find love, and loves his veggies…skip it.

Ihan sietämätöntä kuraa omille korville. Smithsillä on kourallinen hemmetin hyviä biisejä (jotka Morrissey toki onnistuu nekin melkein pilaamaan), mutta tässä levyllä niitä ei ollut kyllä yhtään.

this was so boring and hard to get through i found myself rolling my eyes at it every 20 seconds. has to be the worst smiths album i’ve heard

as i vegetarian, i had high hopes for this, but it was awful

I hate the smiths!

I will never be a Smiths fan unfortunately.

bleh

hate smiths go away

If meat is murder, my ears just got meated. Man, I really hate Morrissey

Repetitive and unentertaining album with excessive yodelling and voice modulation, and mostly dull lyrics and typical rock sound.

If it wasn't for Morrissey, I wouldn't mind it. The instrumentals are ok. But anyway, fuck Morrissey. I hate The Smiths. (I am sorry to the other members of the band, you all suffer because of your leader)

doggo/10

Ugh, another Smiths album. I just had to sit through one of these like a week ago. Bottom line: Morrisey is horrible both as a human and a singer. The Smiths play some decent music but not enough to redeem them from their horrible front man. I could not stomach this album. His voice is just nails on a chalkboard to me, kudos if you like this band but just not for me. I will give them props for the Meat is Murder song, as a vegan this brought vegetarianism into the zeitgeist. I can't help but thank them for that.

This may be my least favorite band of all time. I just hate the way they sound. I can’t pinpoint one particular thing, but I know I hate it. I’ve never met anyone who likes them, but I imagine not liking that person. They probably wear turtles necks and believe in socialism, though.

Morrisey wailing about something or other for 40 mins, didn't t get it.

Genuinely ass. Get some meat on your bones. The only redeeming song was Well I Wonder. 1

Good God no. I should have taken a cue from the lad on the cover that this was gonna be an ordeal. Holy Christ. At least it's over

🙄 I’ll have a double cheeseburger

Pretty meh. Last song really waters it down, its like if John Lennon was in PETA when he wrote Imagine. Super meh

C’était nul j’ai pas du tout aimé, toutes les chansons se ressemblaient BEURK

Ugh. I suppose the upshot of getting another Morrissey/The Smiths album to listen to is that it means there's one fewer album in the future which this site will make me listen to. I'm still listening to the first song, and I'm not sure I'll make it through to the end of this album. I will try to persevere though. I'm managing to make it through this album by giving every 1 star review on this site a thumbs up.

I can't stand **The Smiths**. They are the epitome of everything I hated and hate about mid-80s British indie and jangle-pop. Maudlin self-indulgent nonsense. They are one of the most overrated bands in music history imho. I'll never understand what people see in them. Absolute tosh.

Morrissey is just a whiny Michael Stipe.

The way he talks about meat makes me hungry for a cheeseburger. Fuck Morrissey

Same same same

terug een smiths album??? that joke isn't funny anymore... de muziek, ça va nog, maar als Morr begint te bleiten, is het rap over met de goesting om verder te luisteren...

Mist!

Hated these lyrics and forgettable production

Terrible voice.

OMFG how many fucking smiths albums are on this fucking list?! Theyre all bad, stop it! 1/5

A lot if the things I hate from the 80's in here. Overly processed snare sound and annoying vocals - I can't stand Morissey's voice! I've never understood the wide range appeal with this band

i tried. i dont like the smiths. i like the album cover though.

Ehhhhhh. Pathological dislike of Morrisey's voice stops me enjoying the Smiths. Can appreciate there's some good guitar bits, but I just don't enjoy listening to them!

Snooze

Ugh. I hate this sound. I think the Smiths might be a major reason that I stopped listening to pop music in the late 80’s and 90’s. I mean, the instruments are played well and the underlying music is fine. But that crooning, preening, emo “tra la la,” talk-singing that is the same on every song is SO grating. Plus, you can tell the lead singer doesn’t care about the rest if the music as his vocals are disconnected from the rest of the mysic in almost every imaginable way (rhythmically, at the sound mixing level, melodically). It’s a 1.

The Good: The irony that (half of) a gun manufacturer is telling us about murder The Bad: turns out The Smiths aren’t related to Wesson… The Ugly: realizing the PSA has nothing to do with veganism either… Yeah. Hurray! Finally, a The Smiths album. I have read that there are one too many The Smiths / Morrissey on this list, and I am yet another fan of music who hates listening to that whiny bastard… So there really isn’t much to tell. Johny Marr might be considered a great guitarist, I was never really familiar with his work, and this album did not blow me away. I knew plenty of people who were die-hard fans of The Smiths in the mid-80s, again, don’t count me amongst them. So, though I listened to the album, the album did not register with me at all, which means I have to give it a rating of 1* while keeping my fingers crossed that the next album will be a 5* delight!

Not for me

SHIT BAND SHIT ALBUM SHIT SINGER FUCK NAZI MORISSEY

Eventhough I liked The Queen is Dead, this album is the most boring, monotonous and depressive-sounding thing I’ve ever listened to. There’s just no reason to be so fucking saaaaad. The guitar work is okay but Morrissey’ singing makes every song sounds the same, and the random weird noises don’t help. There’s not even one track that stood out & I just wished this torture to be over. Bonus point for the guitar tho so 1.5/5

I feel like I should like The Smiths but I really REALLY don't.

I am not listening to this Nazi prick and his shite band. Never have (even changing the radio station if they come on) never will. I hate this band, especially their arsehole of a singer, and I always will. *googles* how to give a rating below zero 0 🌟

I hate the Smiths. Morrissey is a fat whiney baby, and I really wish he'd go away and take his asinine contradiction-for-the-sake-of-it with him.

Annoying and I hate the album title. Probably more of a 2 but it’s getting a 1

Boo boo whiny shit

The only voice in music that grates even more than Bono's. The only album so far where I couldn't bring myself to even listen to the first track.

If The Smiths were a color, they would be Brown. I think this is my 4th Smith/Morrissey and I really don't understand how it garnered that amount of attention considering I'm only a third of the way through the generator. The vocals are flat. Most of the songs are slow. I get that this album is a political statement but I had meat for breakfast and lunch today so I'm not exactly digging the messaging.

His voice annoys me. Don’t find it very melodic. Only listened to a few songs

Vegan

I loathe Morrissey.

Morrissey ruins everything.

Oof...what an absolute bummer of an album. Disappointed with myself this is what I ended my day with DESPITE thinking Strangeways Here We Come was also quite depressing. This at least has a little more of value musically for me I think? I still really am just not into it. I think the music on its own, is actually good, but the lyrics and vocals kind of stink imo. I can tell I am going to be in for a "treat" with how much Morrisey is on this list. To be fair, the lyrics are at least clever in spots but, I repeat, they bum me out and I think they make the album as a whole a bummer. This paired with his crooning, whiney, mopey voice? I'll pass. Would it bum Morrisey out if he knew listening to this made me want to eat a burger in revenge for how bummed it made me? I think that would be only fair right? No? Ok, well, I think I am going to do it anyway. I should probably give this a 2 star because I at least liked it a little more than Strangeways Here We Come. But my heart wants to give it a 1 star, and I am in the mood to listen to my heart.

Does not like the smiths very much.

Some nice jingly jangly guitar and some tracks with some rhythm and drive - but sounds so painfully 1980s. I could have gotten by with the music but the vocals ruin it for me - too affected, out of tune and overly reverted. Not my jam...

I'm just not getting warm to his voice. I greatly dislike it.

Bombastic side eye

Nope nope nope. Make the whining stop, please.

Not mine, not today

Really just could not get into this album, or the band for that matter.

Pussies

Aweful

This is, without doubt, the worst shit ever inflicted on my ears. Jingle jangle guitar + whiny voice = utter aural carnage. I just don't get it. Shitty jingle jangle guitar but worst of all is fucking Morrisey. It's a beautiful sunny day and I've got to listen to his whiny bullshit. Some of the stuff I've listened to has been boring but this actually makes me nauseous. Why would anyone choose to listen to this?

Ah yes...now I understand why every antiestablishment-vegan-hipster loves The Smiths. I was pretty bored with this. It did show a little life on a few songs but Morriseys vocals are too somber. Not a lot from the band players either really. I do savor the flavour but not from this album.

Would have been a lovely instrumental.

Painful! Added to my 1001 albums not to listen to again until I'm dead

Yeah, Meat Is Murder does little to convince me that The Smiths did anything more than produce miserable dirge, fronted by a dickhead, and I'd rather never listen to anything of theirs that isn't Panic, because I think every artist lucks out with at least one okay song over their careers even if they're fucking awful.

The smiths suck. Morrisey is a useless asshole.

This would be a better record if it were an instrumental.

Not my style of music, not a fan of the vocals or tunes. Reminds me of the band that does the Love Shack song, except that I like them a bit more lol

Was a pretty solid album until the last song, proof that one bad song can spoil an album, and also shows once again that vegans ruin everything.

Can’t stand Morrissey as a person and his lyrics

The instrumentals are good to almost great, but I really can’t stand Morrissey’s voice. It doesn’t help that he’s a pretentious dbag.

Morrissey drone on some more, I really hope there's not much more of him or the Smiths on this list.

"Have you heard the new Smiths album? It's fucking terriff!"- posers Seriously this album is a bag of suck. Nowhere fast wasn't a bad song, but it was the shortest on the album, too.

Oof

Morrisey 🤮

I tried. I really did. I tried so hard to give this the benefit of the doubt and listen with an open mind. But Morrissey is just SUCH an insufferable tosser. If that was all that was wrong with this album, it would be one thing. But the mixing and production are just SO BAD. Truly, legitimately, terrible. And while Marr's guitar tones are pretty good, the actual riffs are boring AF. Utterly forgettable. Combine it all and you've got an undigestible slurry of self-indulgent mediocrity. The album probably deserves a 2-star score but I'm just so damn sick of this list forcing Morrissey down my throat. Screw that guy.

Yea, I was going to try and be nice due to Luke liking this guy so much, but I have to be true to me. Don't get this guy and don't get this music, outside of a song here and there. I tried to let this in, but my inner Zach de la Rocha said, fuck this shit. Let's play a bombtrack instead. Testify, my brother. Testify. 1

This is peak Smiths, it’s bland, soulless and tuneless. Morrissey harps on about minority issues and makes music his political soapbox. Boring and inane, the best I could do is give this one star.

Ya I tried and couldn't lol

It’s a no from me dawg. Monotonous and sad. Not my scene.

I really don’t like The Smiths

Miserable manc bastards. Didn't like it when it was released and I hate it now.

Morrissey fucking blows.

Knocking out both Morrissey reviews here since I basically got a double feature: I hated these. Morrissey's like a chik fil-a kind of topic, where the main cultural impact I get exposed to is a million people very loudly flogging themselves for being such big fans of the awful person/franchise, but then you go check out the thing for yourself and it feels like you're being pranked because the idea that people are out there having such strong positive association with them in the first place is such a tough sell to me. It's a mediocre chicken sandwich, and extremely boring, grating music! Come on!

So many things about this list and exercise is great and so many things are beyond frustrating. The over represented inclusion of anything involving Morrissey is chief among the frustrating bits. I just cannot deal with this guy. I guess this is fine, but I am so not interested in listening to it.

I do not care for the Smiths. Good thing there are only 9 albums in this list of 1001 that are either the smiths or morrisey...

not a good album. bad. morrissey is shit. the end.

Un grup amb el que mai he connectat, i aquest segon disc seu no n’és una excepció

Can’t stand this dudes voice. Like a Rick roll sound

Couldn’t even make it thru

I can’t even with morrissey. He’s such a bag of hot fresh turds. That said I’ve heard enough of the Smiths to know that this album is not for me.

Having wasted my time listening to the album 'The Queen is Dead" when offered it on this list, I am not going to make the same mistake twice. This is their best known album, which is one more reason to avoid it.

I feel very judged by this album. So I'm going to judge it right back. Bleh!

Did not like it at all!

So much good music in this world, yet: How many more times is this list going to force me through the mire of enduring Morrissey's annoyingly whiny voice? Not to mention its bland and boring wrapper. I expect much better than this, 1001 Album Generator.

Morrisey is murder

The sound of the feeling of chewing a towel.

It is one thing to generate a new genre of music. It is another thing to expect that genre to last forty years and have it still be relevant or interesting. The Smiths are difficult. It's hard to not appreciate the talent behind them, and they genuinely do have some very good tracks to their name. However, precisely none of them are on this album, which makes it quite perplexing as to why it's also one of their better regarded ones. It's almost passé to dick on The Smiths now, but one cannot help but dick on them. Maybe if I were born 15 years earlier, maybe if I was miserable, maybe if some of their actually good songs were on this album, I might rate it highly. But none of these things hold to be true.

Not my style

I don't listen to The Smiths.

This album is the second from the rock band The Smiths, and is their only album to reach number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It's an alternative rock album with messages about politics and vegetarianism. I thought the songs on this album, other than the title track, were just decent and easily forgettable. The music could very well be from any alt rock group from the UK in the 80's. But instead this album became popular because of its messages during its time.

Morrissey es conocido por ser uno de los mejores letristas del panorama musical. Estupendo. ¿No podría recitar sus poemas en vez de cantarlos? Su forma de cantar siempre me ha resultado de lo más molesto. Parece un niño burlándose de otro, ridiculizándolo o ignorándolo. El típico cántico que dice «habla cucurucho que no te escucho». Se hace muy pesado escuchar un disco entero así. De hecho, en el himno vegano que es la canción que da nombre al álbum se escuchan mugidos y balidos que se agradecen. “The Headmaster Ritual” suena como una desvencijada cama de muelles. El ritmo de “Barbarism Begins at Home” me recuerda a “Suck It To Me” de Almodóvar y McNamara, pero no tiene esa frescura. La única que se puede encontrar en este disco está en “Well I Wonder”, donde el cantante se lo toma más en serio y produce melodías vocales hacia el final de la canción que sí son placenteras, lo cual da todavía más rabia; se ve que el hombre sabe hacerlo bien pero no le suele apetecer. En general, no entiendo cómo los fans de The Smiths aguantan esa voz aunque supongo que la clave está en la repetición. Seguro que si escuchas un sonido de cadena de bicicleta saliéndose de la rueda ciento cincuenta veces seguidas, le acabas pillando el gusto. O eso o te tiras de un puente.

Absolutely not.

Morissey's voice is annoying. This whole album is annoying.

Even more mehhh than the last Smiths album.

I tried to like it but there wasnt anything here for me. i can hear some similarities to new order and other bands of the time but nothing grabs me.

Shite. Shite singer, shite songs, shite production, shite lyrics. The guy sings like he has been kicked in the plums, but I don't think we are that lucky. Turns out he is a nazi too, so fuck him. Would give it zero, or even less than that if I could. Absolutely pish

Politically charged lyrics with no refrain, hence no circling back to whatever point is being made, makes this album tiresome. Sure, not every album is meant to be relatable to everyone, but this one goes out of its way to achieve that it seems. Perhaps if the listener is emotionally charged and looking for statements put to music, this album might make sense. Social commentaries and criticisms are nothing new to music, and they make for great subject matter perhaps even provoking change or awareness. This is an album that sadly is held captive by the political climate in which it was written. The relevance of that period no longer mattering in the present, it would seem that neither do The Smiths.

Please stop. Lyrically it's a little too prachy, melodically it's fine at best but mostly it's meh. I wanted it to end after 2nd or 3rd song.

I mean it's pretty bad. The singer's voice dominates every song and it's not enjoyable to listen to. He sings in this weird off tone or something that makes every song sound off. The only compliment I can give is that the instruments sound fine sometimes, but suffer the same problem as the voice in most other cases.

Yeah, babe, this music is really great. You're gonna love it. What do you mean that a whiny little bitch is singing all of these songs? You just don't understand good music, babe.

Still allergic to morrisey

Initial thoughts: it's ok, a little bland. Not sure about the yodelling either. Somehow feels pretentious too. I'm bored now, most songs on this just sound the same - glad it's only 9 songs. "Barbarism Begins at Home" has some really weird yelping/dog bark sounds?? Why??? I have reached the final song and I can't cope with the pretentiousness anymore. Overall: boring album, pretentious, adding yodelling/dog yelps/droning/construction sounds/animal noises to a bland song doesn't make it any more palatable. The album itself is directionless - listening to the songs on shuffle would be equally bland as listening in chronological order I imagine. For me, this album has been an exercise in endurance.

Don’t know why this is on the 1001 albums list, this is the Smiths’ worst album and there were no highlights for me.

Hueta dlya govnarey. Booyakasha!

Кароче не очень, че то типа соплей много, медленных мелодий, не в моем вкусе. А обложка норм.

блять я не понимаю как это можно с кайфом слушать. голос у чела максимально гнусавый и неподходящий под музыку, с чего он взял что его завывания хорошо звучат. хотя может это так и задумано и обьясняется идеей альбома, которую я чет так и не уловил, спасибо бритонскому акценту. последний кстати сразу напоминает Касабиан, скорее всего потому что я больше не знаю никого ближе, я ж репер ебаный кароче вялая какофония для бритиш ванкеров, 2 из 10

worst band ever

3 Lieder haben mich abgetörnt. Zu langsam, zu depri, zu nervig.

Disco muy plano. Canciones muy lineales, todas de aspecto similar.

Hab ich nie gehört, gefällt mir auch heute noch nicht. Vielleicht das Schlechteste Album von Morrissey.

Blir sur av å høre på Morrisey nå... Har ikke holdt seg i det hele tatt...

Morrissey can get in the sea

Human music, I like it!