CD: 91899-2
RELEASED: 1987
LABEL: WEA

01. Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours
02. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish
03. Death Of A Disco Dancer
04. Girlfriend In A Coma
05. Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
06. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
07. Unhappy Birthday
08. Paint a Vulgar Picture
09. Death At One's Elbow
10. I Won't Share You

"Strangeways, Here We Come" was the unexpected swan song of The Smiths, who disbanded in the months following the completion of this album. It showed the group in transition but we will never know where it was leading to, as it was their last album. The album still contained some of Morriseys witty and often painful lyrics. "Girlfriend In A Coma" and "Last Night I Dreamt Someone Loved Me" still show him at his aching best while "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before" is clever if slightly disillusioned look at relationships and another classic. While it doesn't reach the heights of "The Queen is Dead" or their debut, there's enough to remind us why we fell in love with this Manchester group in the first place. Singer Morrissey gives us his twisted sense of humor in the single "Girlfriend In A Coma, " makes a nail-on-the-head commentary on the recording industry's greed in "Paint A Vulgar Picture, " and delivers a fine closer, the haunting "I Won't Share You." But "Strangeways, Here We Come" peak is the potent "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me." After a piano solo that seems to go on forever, the song blasts into a dramatic rocker in which Morrissey moans: "Last night I felt real arms around me / No hope, no harm just another false alarm." With four studio albums within 4 years, The Smiths have secured a place in pop as one of the most beloved and influential groups of all time. "Strangeways, Here We Come" only confirms that belief.