Tag Archives: How Soon is Now

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Song of the Day #6,266: ‘How Soon is Now?’ – The Smiths

Earlier this summer, I posted a list of the “most forgotten” musical artists of the 60s and 70s, based on an analysis by Chris Dalla Riva on his Can’t Get Much Higher substack. Well, Dalla Riva has proved to be a gift that keeps on giving, because another of his recent analyses has inspired my posts for the next two weeks.

This time he set out to compile a list of the most underrated songs of the 80s, defining “underrated” as high quality mixed with relatively low popularity. To gauge quality, he aggregated critics lists of the best 80s songs to come up with a master list. To gauge present-day popularity, he used Spotify streams.

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Song of the Day #362: ‘How Soon is Now?’ – The Smiths

meatmurderThe band’s second studio album, 1985’s Meat is Murder, was their most commercially successful and received widespread critical acclaim. It’s also my least favorite of their albums.

That’s not to say it isn’t a strong collection — it is — but it’s one for which you have to be in the mood. Marr really went to town on this album, stylistically jumping all over the map. The Elvis Presley rockabilly of ‘Rusholme Ruffians’ runs into the jangly alternative sound of ‘I Want the One I Can’t Have’ then crashes headlong into the rock shredding of ‘What She Said.’ The album’s title (and weakest) track is a dissonant, sound effect-fueled screed about vegetarianism.

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