The Smiths discography
Discography of English rock band the Smiths
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The English alternative rock band the Smiths released four studio albums, one live album, 11 compilation albums, two extended plays (EPs), 25 singles and one video album on the Rough Trade, Sire and WEA record labels. The band was formed in 1982 in Manchester by vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.[1]
| The Smiths discography | |
|---|---|
Logo of the Smiths | |
| Studio albums | 4 |
| EPs | 2 |
| Live albums | 1 |
| Compilation albums | 11 |
| Singles | 25 |
| Video albums | 1 |
The Smiths' debut single was "Hand in Glove" (May 1983); it failed to chart. Its follow-up, "This Charming Man" (October 1983), met with critical approval and reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] In 1984 the band reached number 12 in the UK with the single "What Difference Does It Make?" and went to number two on the UK Albums Chart with their debut album, The Smiths. Their next three singles all went into the top 20 of the charts in the UK, helping to consolidate their previous chart success. The next studio album, Meat Is Murder (1985), reached the top of the British charts; the only single to be released from the album, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (1985), failed to break into the UK Top 40. The Smiths' next six singles all made the top 30 in the UK, and their third album, The Queen Is Dead (1986), climbed to number two in the UK.[3]
Despite the Smiths' chart success, Marr left the group in August 1987 because of a strained relationship with Morrissey.[4] Failing to find a replacement, the Smiths disbanded by the time of the release of their final studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come, in September that year. Strangeways, Here We Come climbed to number two in the UK and became the band's highest-charting release in the United States when it reached number 55 on the Billboard 200. During their time together, as well as four studio albums, the Smiths also released three compilation albums (Hatful of Hollow, The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs), while the live album Rank, recorded in 1986, was released in 1988 a year after the band split. In early 1992 WEA acquired the entire back catalogue of the Smiths and produced two compilations – Best I and Best II – the first of which went to the top of the UK Albums Chart. The following year, 1993, WEA re-released the four studio albums, Rank and the three earlier compilation albums. WEA released two further singles compilations in 1995 and 2001, with a further compilation, The Sound of The Smiths, released in November 2008.[3]
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
UK Indie [6] |
AUS [7] |
CAN [8] |
GER [9] |
NL [10] |
NZ [11] |
SWE [12] |
US [13] |
US Cash Box [14] | |||
| The Smiths |
|
2 | 1 | 77 | 65 | — | 28 | 9 | 44 | 150 | 129 |
|
| Meat Is Murder |
|
1 | 1 | 58 | 40 | 45 | 39 | 13 | 27 | 110 | 73 |
|
| The Queen Is Dead |
|
2 | 1 | 30 | 29 | 33 | 11 | 17 | 39 | 70 | 59 | |
| Strangeways, Here We Come |
|
2 | 1 | 28 | 27 | 33 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 55 | 29 | |
Live albums
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [3] |
AUS [7] |
CAN [18] |
GER [9] |
IRE [19] |
NL [10] |
NZ [11] |
NOR [20] |
SWE [12] |
US [13] | |||||||
| Hatful of Hollow |
|
7 | — | 91 | — | — | — | 21 | — | 28 | — |
| ||||
| The World Won't Listen |
|
2 | 25 | — | 41 | — | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | — |
| ||||
| Louder Than Bombs |
|
38 | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 62 | |||||
| Stop Me |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| Best I |
|
1 | 64 | 36 | — | 56 | 74 | 15 | 35 | 45 | 139 |
| ||||
| Best II |
|
29 | 190 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||||
| Singles |
|
5 | 134 | — | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||||
| The Very Best of The Smiths |
|
30 | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||||
| The Sound of The Smiths |
|
21 [21] |
114 | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | 98 |
| ||||
| The Smiths Singles Box |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| Complete | 63 | — | — | — | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||||
Extended plays
| Title | EP details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK Indie [6] | ||
| The 12" Mixes |
|
— |
| The Peel Sessions |
|
9 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [22] |
UK Indie [6] |
AUS [7] |
IRE [23] |
NZ [24] |
US Dance [25] | ||||
| "Hand in Glove" | 1983 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single, this version later included on Hatful of Hollow, alternate version on The Smiths | |
| "This Charming Man" | 8[A] | 1 | 52 | 9[B] | 15 | — | Non-album single | ||
| "What Difference Does It Make?" | 1984 | 12 | 1 | — | 12 | — | — |
|
The Smiths |
| "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" | 10 | 1 | — | 11 | — | — | Hatful of Hollow | ||
| "William, It Was Really Nothing" | 17 | 1 | — | 8 | — | — | |||
| "How Soon Is Now?" | 1985 | 16[C] | 1 | 190 | 5 | 39 | 36 | ||
| "Shakespeare's Sister" | 26 | 1 | — | 11 | — | — | Non-album single later included on The World Won't Listen | ||
| "Barbarism Begins at Home" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Meat Is Murder | ||
| "The Headmaster Ritual" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" | 49 | 1 | — | 20 | — | — | |||
| "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" | 23 | 1 | — | 15 | 46 | 49 |
|
The Queen Is Dead | |
| "Bigmouth Strikes Again" | 1986 | 26 | 1 | — | — | 40 | — | ||
| "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Panic" | 11 | 1 | — | 7 | — | — |
|
The World Won't Listen | |
| "Ask" | 14 | 1 | — | 9 | — | — |
| ||
| "Shoplifters of the World Unite" | 1987 | 12 | 1 | — | 7 | — | — | ||
| "Sheila Take a Bow" | 10 | 1 | — | 3 | — | — | Louder Than Bombs | ||
| "Girlfriend in a Coma" | 13 | 1 | — | 12 | 29 | — | Strangeways, Here We Come | ||
| "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" | 23 | 2 | — | 13 | — | — | |||
| "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" | 30 | 2 | — | 17 | — | — | |||
| "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" | — | — | 91 | — | 31 | — | |||
| "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" | 1992 | 25 | — | 176 | 22 | — | — | The Queen Is Dead | |
| "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" | 1995 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Louder Than Bombs | |
| "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (demo mix) | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
The Queen Is Dead (2017 collector's edition) |
| "The Queen Is Dead" | 85 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes that the recording did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Notes
- "This Charming Man" peaked at No. 25 in 1983, but reached a new UK chart peak of No. 8 when reissued in 1992.
- "This Charming Man" did not chart in Ireland when first released in 1983, but peaked at No. 9 when reissued in 1992.
- "How Soon Is Now?" peaked at No. 24 in 1985, but reached a new UK chart peak of No. 16 when reissued in 1992.
Other certified songs
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" | 2024 | Hatful of Hollow / Louder Than Bombs | |
| "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" | 2025 | ||
| "Back to the Old House" | |||
| "I Know It's Over" |
|
The Queen Is Dead | |
| "Asleep" |
|
The World Won’t Listen / Louder Than Bombs |
Other appearances
Video albums
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "This Charming Man" | 1983 | |||
| "What Difference Does It Make?" | 1984 | |||
| "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" | ||||
| "How Soon Is Now?" | 1985 | Paula Grief and Richard Levine | [30] | |
| "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" | Ken O'Neill | [31] | ||
| "The Queen Is Dead"/"Panic"/"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" | 1986 | Derek Jarman | A short film made for the 1986 Edinburgh Festival. | [32] |
| "Panic" | A promo video for the "Panic" single was made using a mixture of concert footage and footage from Jarman's film. | [32] | ||
| "Ask" | [32] | |||
| "Shoplifters of the World Unite" | 1987 | Tamra Davis | Combines footage of The Smiths on The Tube in April 1987 with footage from the film A Place in the Sun. | [31] |
| "Sheila Take a Bow" | [33] | |||
| "Girlfriend in a Coma" | Tim Broad | [34] | ||
| "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" | Video produced for a single whose release was cancelled. | [35] | ||
| "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" | Promo video released after The Smiths had split, which recycles footage from the "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" video. | [36] | ||
| "This Charming Man" | 1992 | Unknown | Uses footage originally shot for the Tyne Tees Television show The Tube in 1983. | [31] |
| "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" | Tim Broad | Recycles footage from the "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" promo video. | [37] |