Complete (The Smiths album)

Complete is a box set compilation by British band The Smiths, released by Rhino Records in the UK on 26 September 2011. Standard versions contain the band's four studio albums (The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead and Strangeways, Here We Come), a live album (Rank) and three compilations (Hatful of Hollow, The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs), on 8 CDs or 8 LPs. A deluxe version contains the albums on both CD and LP formats, as well as 25 7-inch vinyl singles and a DVD.

Complete
Box set by
The Smiths
Released26 September 2011
Recorded1983–1987
GenreAlternative rock, indie pop
Length404:38
LabelRhino Entertainment
ProducerVarious
The Smiths chronology
The Smiths Singles Box
(2008)		 Complete
(2011)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic89/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Filter96%[3]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[4]
The Independent[5]
Mojo80/100[6]
PopMatters8/10[7]

Content

The box's liner notes state that "each album has been taken back to original tape sources and remastered by master-engineer Frank Arkwright, assisted by Johnny Marr at the Metropolis Studios in London". The discs in the CD version are presented in miniature vinyl replica sleeves, including the restored The World Won't Listen artwork. The project was managed by Gary Lancaster, who also worked on Total: From Joy Division to New Order and several other Warner Music Group releases.

Of the reissued albums, which were also released separately on both CD and vinyl, Marr said, "I'm very happy that the remastered versions of The Smiths albums are finally coming out. I wanted to get them sounding right and remove any processing so that they now sound as they did when they were originally made. I'm pleased with the results."[8]

Cover art

The cover art features four unknown women at a fairground taken by German photographer Jurgen Vollmer in the early 1960s. Morrisey chose this picture because he felt the girls looked like the band members themselves.[9]

Song omissions

Despite its name, this remastered compilation is not truly a complete source of Smiths recordings, as several officially released songs are missing on both the standard CDs and LPs. This includes:

The "deluxe version" of the box set contains several of these tracks as part of the 7-inch vinyl set, but is still missing several studio and live tracks.

Track listing

All songs written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, except:

  • "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" from The Queen Is Dead (Intro) (A.J. Mills, Fred Godfrey, Bennett Scott)
  • "Money Changes Everything" from The World Won't Listen and "The Draize Train" from Rank (Johnny Marr)
  • "Golden Lights" from Louder Than Bombs (Twinkle)
  • "His Latest Flame" from Rank (Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman)
  • "Work Is a Four-Letter Word" from Girlfriend in a Coma (Guy Woolfenden, Don Black, Cilla Black)
CD1/LP1 – The Smiths track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Reel Around the Fountain"5:58
2."You've Got Everything Now"3:59
3."Miserable Lie"4:29
4."Pretty Girls Make Graves"3:24
5."The Hand That Rocks the Cradle"4:38
6."This Charming Man"2:52
7."Still Ill"3:23
8."Hand in Glove"3:25
9."What Difference Does It Make?"3:51
10."I Don't Owe You Anything"4:05
11."Suffer Little Children"5:28
CD2/LP2 – Meat Is Murder track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Headmaster Ritual"4:52
2."Rusholme Ruffians"4:20
3."I Want the One I Can't Have"3:14
4."What She Said"2:42
5."That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"4:59
6."Nowhere Fast"2:37
7."Well I Wonder"4:00
8."Barbarism Begins at Home"6:57
9."Meat Is Murder"6:06
CD3/LP3 – The Queen Is Dead track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Queen Is Dead"6:24
2."Frankly, Mr. Shankly"2:17
3."I Know It's Over"5:48
4."Never Had No One Ever"3:36
5."Cemetry Gates"2:39
6."Bigmouth Strikes Again"3:12
7."The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"3:15
8."Vicar in a Tutu"2:21
9."There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"4:02
10."Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others"3:14
CD4/LP4 – Strangeways, Here We Come track listing
No.TitleLength
1."A Rush and a Push and the Land Is Ours"3:00
2."I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"3:47
3."Death of a Disco Dancer"5:26
4."Girlfriend in a Coma"2:03
5."Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"3:32
6."Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"5:03
7."Unhappy Birthday"2:46
8."Paint a Vulgar Picture"5:35
9."Death at One's Elbow"2:01
10."I Won't Share You"2:48
CD5/LP5 – Rank track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Queen Is Dead"4:11
2."Panic"3:07
3."Vicar in a Tutu"2:40
4."Ask"3:12
5."His Latest Flame / Rusholme Ruffians" (Medley)"3:55
6."The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"3:47
7."Rubber Ring / What She Said (Medley)"3:41
8."Is It Really So Strange?"3:45
9."Cemetry Gates"2:50
10."London"2:38
11."I Know It's Over"7:49
12."The Draize Train"4:23
13."Still Ill"4:09
14."Bigmouth Strikes Again"5:51
CD6/LP6 – Hatful of Hollow track listing
No.TitleLength
1."William, It Was Really Nothing"2:09
2."What Difference Does It Make?"3:11
3."These Things Take Time"2:32
4."This Charming Man"2:42
5."How Soon Is Now?"6:44
6."Handsome Devil"2:47
7."Hand in Glove (single version)"3:13
8."Still Ill"3:32
9."Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"3:33
10."This Night Has Opened My Eyes"3:39
11."You've Got Everything Now"4:18
12."Accept Yourself"4:01
13."Girl Afraid"2:48
14."Back to the Old House"3:02
15."Reel Around the Fountain"5:51
16."Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"1:50
CD7/LP7 – The World Won't Listen track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Panic"2:21
2."Ask"3:15
3."London"2:07
4."Bigmouth Strikes Again"3:13
5."Shakespeare's Sister"2:08
6."There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"4:05
7."Shoplifters of the World Unite"2:58
8."The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (Album version; original release included the single version)3:16
9."Money Changes Everything"4:43
10."Asleep"4:10
11."Unloveable"3:56
12."Half a Person"3:36
13."Stretch Out and Wait (alternate vocal)"2:45
14."That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (single version)"3:49
15."Oscillate Wildly"3:26
16."You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby (UK mix)"3:32
17."Rubber Ring"3:48
CD8/LP8 – Louder Than Bombs track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Is It Really So Strange? (John Peel session, 12/2/86)"3:04
2."Sheila Take a Bow"2:41
3."Shoplifters of the World Unite"2:57
4."Sweet and Tender Hooligan (John Peel session, 12/2/86)"3:35
5."Half a Person"3:36
6."London"2:07
7."Panic"2:20
8."Girl Afraid"2:48
9."Shakespeare's Sister"2:09
10."William, It Was Really Nothing"2:11
11."You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" (Original UK Mix; original release included an alternate US mix)3:34
12."Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"3:34
13."Ask"3:18
14."Golden Lights"2:39
15."Oscillate Wildly"3:27
16."These Things Take Time"2:23
17."Rubber Ring"3:48
18."Back to the Old House"3:05
19."Hand in Glove (Single Version)"3:13
20."Stretch Out and Wait (Original Version)"2:38
21."Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"1:52
22."This Night Has Opened My Eyes (John Peel Session 9/14/83)"3:40
23."Unlovable"3:55
24."Asleep"4:11
Deluxe Edition 7" Singles track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Hand in Glove / Handsome Devil (Live at the Hacienda, Manchester 1983)" 
2."Reel Around the Fountain (Troy Tate Reel) / Jeane" 
3."This Charming Man / Jeane" 
4."What Difference Does It Make? / Back to the Old House" 
5."Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now / Suffer Little Children" 
6."William, It Was Really Nothing / Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" 
7."How Soon Is Now? / Well I Wonder" 
8."Shakespeare's Sister / What She Said" 
9."Barbarism Begins at Home / Shakespeare's Sister" 
10."The Headmaster Ritual / Oscillate Wildly" 
11."That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore / Meat Is Murder (Live)" 
12."The Boy with the Thorn in His Side / Asleep" 
13."Bigmouth Strikes Again / Money Changes Everything" 
14."Panic / Vicar in a Tutu" 
15."Ask / Cemetry Gates" 
16."Shoplifters of the World Unite / Half a Person" 
17."Sheila Take a Bow / Is It Really So Strange?" 
18."Girlfriend in a Coma / Work Is a Four-Letter Word" 
19."I Started Something I Couldn't Finish / Pretty Girls Make Graves (Troy Tate Version)" 
20."Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me / Rusholme Ruffians (John Peel Version)" 
21."Sweet and Tender Hooligan / I Keep Mine Hidden" (Previously unreleased version[10]) 
22."There Is a Light That Never Goes Out / Half a Person" 
23."Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others / The Draize Train" 
24."Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before / Girlfriend in a Coma" 
25."William, It Was Really Nothing / How Soon Is Now?" 
Deluxe Edition DVD track listing
No.TitleLength
1."This Charming Man" 
2."What Difference Does It Make?" 
3."Panic" 
4."Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" 
5."Ask" 
6."The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" 
7."How Soon Is Now?" 
8."Shoplifters of the World Unite" 
9."Girlfriend in a Coma" 
10."Sheila Take a Bow" 
11."Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" 

[11]

References
  1. Complete at Metacritic. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Filter review
  4. Pitchfork review
  5. The Independent review
  6. Mojo review
  7. Sawdey, Evan. "The Smiths: Complete < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  8. https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-smiths-53-1278608
  9. RadioX. "Who were The Smiths' album cover stars?". RadioX. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  10. Morrissey fan forum article
  11. discogs article
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