Gafieira Moderna - Joyce

Advantages: Genius
Disadvantages: None

...reflective at the same time. They alone defined the 80s as far as I am concerned and their music has continued to influence numerous bands until this day and, although they were above all the attitude and drugs of Madchester it was them who made the whole seen. It just faded away without them. I believe that the smiths were the greatest band that ever existed and I shall state my case by discussing each of their recordings, evaluating them and saying why they mattered. I could go on for ages about how the band grew up and how they formed but that is not very important. What are important are the personalities of the Lead singer, Stephen Morrisey and the lead guitarist, Johnny Marr. There were 2 other members of the band, Mike Joyce (Drums) and Andy Rourke (bass) who contributed some good rhythms but the band evolved around the unbounded... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A magnificent second album
Disadvantages: Some may find the righteousness on title track a little hard to stomach (no pun intended!)

...potential. We open on the legendary tremulous guitar rhythm. I always assumed that Marr simply had a fancy tremolo pedal for this effect, but according to Marr, his guitar was fed through an effects synthesiser numerous times in order to create the perfect hum, which explains why the Smiths were never quite able to recreate the sound on stage. As well as that rhythm, Marr goes ape on wonderful guitar licks and dramatic slides throughout, with more than able rhythmical backing from Rourke and Joyce. All instruments are fantastic: Joyce's drums reverberate magnificently, whilst Rourke's electric bass sends a shiver down your spine. As for Morrissey, what finer and more simplistic summation of the fragility of human existence exists than this song's lyrics expose? Its also wonderfully crafty that Morrissey's opening lines are open... Read review

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Advantages: The greatest band to ever stroll the planet
Disadvantages: None (well, they're not to everyone's taste)

...WHO'S THIS THEN? ---------------------------- It's The Smiths. For those under 25, they were a band from Manchester whose day in the sun existed between 1983 and 1987. Morrissey, their singer, went solo in 1988 and disappeared from the music industry in 1997 only to re-emerge this year with a new solo album entitled You Are The Quarry. Guitarist Johnny Marr has done various session work and played with a few mid-90s indie also-rans but is probably best known for forming Electronic with Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and Bernard "Barney" Sumner of New Order. They scored success in 1990 with "Getting Away With It" and then a few years later with the excruciatingly catchy "Get The Message". Bassist Andy Joyce and drummer Mike Joyce have also done various session work but have chosen to stay out of the limelight. They won... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful