The Smiths - Best... II (Vinyl LP)
The Smiths - Best... II (Vinyl LP)

The Smiths - Best... II (Vinyl LP)

$53.00 AUD
Alternative · Indie

Black Vinyl • Single LP • 2026 Reissue

'The Boy with the Thorn in His Side' opens on chiming, interlocking guitars, with a bassline skipping underneath. This is the longer, darker volume. 'The Headmaster Ritual' locks into an off-kilter jangling riff and refuses to leave it. 'Oscillate Wildly' drops the vocal entirely, letting piano and cello circle each other. 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' bolts forward on a hammering acoustic strum. 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' spends nearly two minutes on crashing piano and crowd noise before a word is sung. Then 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out' closes it, strings and flute swelling over that slow, rolling progression.

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The details.

Format, pressing and tracklist.

About the album.

Best... II is the second of two indie rock compilations Warner assembled after acquiring The Smiths' back catalogue in early 1992. Released on 2 November that year, it completed a two-volume collection that was the first regular best of ever drawn from the band's material.

The fourteen tracks mix singles and album cuts recorded between 1983 and 1987. 'Still Ill' and 'Reel Around the Fountain' come from the debut The Smiths, 'The Headmaster Ritual' and 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' from Meat Is Murder, and 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' and 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out' from The Queen Is Dead. 'Oscillate Wildly', an instrumental B-side, sits alongside the stand-alone single 'Shakespeare's Sister'.

'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out' was issued as a single ahead of the album and reached number 25 in the UK. It had first been earmarked as a single back in 1986, before 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' took its place. The compilation itself reached number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.

The UK sleeve carries the right half of Dennis Hopper's biker couple photograph, completing the image begun on Best... I. This Warner reissue returns the collection to black vinyl as a single LP.

Pair it with Best... I, home to 'This Charming Man', 'How Soon Is Now?' and 'Panic', for the full 1992 collection.

Tracklist.

Side A

  1. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
  2. The Headmaster Ritual
  3. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
  4. Ask
  5. Oscillate Wildly
  6. Nowhere Fast
  7. Still Ill

Side B

  1. Bigmouth Strikes Again
  2. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
  3. Shakespeare's Sister
  4. Girl Afraid
  5. Reel Around The Fountain
  6. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me
  7. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Pressing details.
Format
1LP
Vinyl colour

Black

Label
Rhino / Warner Records
Barcode

5026854705491

Catalogue number
2685470549
Condition
Brand new (factory sealed)
Original release
2 November 1992
Care and packaging.

All records are handled minimally and shipped factory sealed to preserve condition. Orders are packed in purpose-built LP mailers and dispatched within one to two business days.
Preview album.

Listen before it lands on your shelf.