Best II

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...Best II
...Best II cover
Compilation album by The Smiths
Released November 2, 1992
Recorded 1983–1987, England
Genre Alternative rock
Length  ??:??
Label WEA
Producer(s) Various (see main text)
Professional reviews

 
The Smiths chronology
Best...I
(1992)		 ...Best II
(1992)		 Singles
(1995)


…Best II is a compilation album by The Smiths. It was released in November, 1992 by the new owner of their back catalogue, WEA (Sire Records in the United States). Its highest British chart position was #29; it did not chart in the U.S.

Contents

[edit] About the album

The US sleeve for ...Best II.
Enlarge
The US sleeve for ...Best II.

WEA (now the Warner Music Group) had acquired the entire Smiths back catalogue in early 1992. Along with the re-release of all original albums and compilations, they immediately set to work compiling a Best Of in two volumes. It was the first time a regular best-of compilation had ever been made of The Smiths material and the first volume effortlessly reached the top of the British charts. This, the second volume, fared considerably worse. The British press continued to groan about sell-out and low track selection coherence.

The material is more or less picked and sequenced at random, and consists of both singles and album cuts. As with the first volume, in the UK a spin-off single was released: "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (which had originally been earmarked as a single back in 1986 but was ultimately passed over in favour of "Bigmouth Strikes Again"). The single was released ahead of the compilation album and reached #25.

[edit] Cover

The UK and European release of the record featured the right half of a Sixties biker couple photograph by Dennis Hopper on its sleeve, with Best...I completing the picture; the U.S. sleeve was designed by singer Morrissey and once again features Richard Davalos, co-star of East of Eden (other shots of Davalos grace the covers of Strangeways, Here We Come and the U.S. edition of Best...I).

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Morrissey/Marr (including "Oscillate Wildly").

[edit] LP

[edit] Side A

  1. "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (album version)
  2. "The Headmaster Ritual"
  3. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
  4. "Ask" (album version)
  5. "Oscillate Wildly"
  6. "Nowhere Fast"
  7. "Still Ill"

[edit] Side B

  1. "Bigmouth Strikes Again"
  2. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (album version)
  3. "Shakespeare's Sister"
  4. "Girl Afraid"
  5. "Reel Around the Fountain"
  6. "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (album version)
  7. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"

[edit] Compact disc

Same as LP.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The band

[edit] Additional musicians

[edit] Technical staff

  • John Porter – producer (A2, A5-A6, B2-B3)
  • The Smiths – producers (A3-A4, A7, B4-B5)
  • Morrissey and Marr – producers (A1, B1, B7)
  • Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street – producers (B6)
The Smiths
Morrissey - Johnny Marr - Andy Rourke - Mike Joyce
Craig Gannon - Dale Hibbert
Discography
Albums: The Smiths | Meat Is Murder | The Queen Is Dead | Strangeways, Here We Come | Rank (live)
Singles: Hand in Glove | This Charming Man | What Difference Does It Make? | Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now | William, It Was Really Nothing | How Soon Is Now? | Shakespeare's Sister | That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore | The Boy with the Thorn in His Side | Bigmouth Strikes Again | Panic | Ask | Shoplifters of the World Unite | Sheila Take a Bow | Girlfriend in a Coma | I Started Something I Couldn't Finish | Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me | There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Band-assembled compilations: Hatful of Hollow | The World Won't Listen | Louder Than Bombs
Other compilations: Stop Me |Best...I | ...Best II | Singles | The Very Best of The Smiths
Related
Rough Trade Records
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