The Smiths - The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead – A Classic Album Under Review

As-good-as-it-gets dissection of Salford boys’ finest album

While unofficial DVDs can often be half-baked affairs, that’s fortunately not the case with this release. It features rare footage, photos and interviews with Morrissey and Marr, as well as a slew of critics/authors, lecturers, producers and musicians discussing the group’s third album, which many saw (or thought should have been) the crowning moment in their career.

The interviews are the strongest point. QID producer Stephen Street provides some incisive glimpses into the group’s otherwise hermetically sealed world, while Johnny Rogan, premier critic of the band, provides context surrounding the album’s development. The socalled “fifth Smith” Craig Gannon explains (and performs on guitar) his contribution, while others such as Suede’s Brett Anderson and former Factory founder Tony Wilson pour forth their thoughts, though bringing academics in sometimes feels superfluous.

All interviews are juxtaposed between the albums’ tracks and are coupled with clips of 50s and 60s British socio-realist films, but this only serves to gild the lily even more. Extras, such as the full interview with Street, an interactive challenge and contributor biographies, are fairly lightweight, but overall this is an entertaining and acerbic watch, which could have fared much worse in less capable hands.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Chrome Dreams/Sexy Intellectual | SIDVD 538

Reviewed by Ali MacQueen
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