Louder Than Bombs

Compilation album by The Smiths

Released

30 March 1987

Recorded

1983–1986

Genre

Alternative rock, indie pop

Length

72:44

Label

Sire – 9 25569-2 (US)
Rough Trade – ROUGH 255 (UK)

Producer

Various (see main text)

The Smiths chronology

The World Won't Listen
(1987)

Louder Than Bombs
(1987)

Strangeways, Here We Come
(1987)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Pitchfork Media	9.4/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Sputnikmusic	3.5/5
Uncut
The Village Voice	B+

Louder Than Bombs is a compilation album by the English rock band The Smiths. It was released as a double album in March 1987 by their American record company, Sire Records. It peaked at number 62 on the US Billboard 200 Albums chart. Popular demand prompted their British record company, Rough Trade, to issue the album domestically as well. Upon its release in the UK in May 1987, it reached number 38 on the British charts. In 2003, the album was ranked number 365 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1990.

The album was released as the American counterpart to their recent British compilation The World Won't Listen and consisted of all singles and nearly all B-sides that had not at that point been available in the States, either on single or album, with a few other tracks added. The title is borrowed from a line in Elizabeth Smart's extended prose poem By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.

The album was intended to be a substitute for both The World Won't Listen and their 1984 compilation Hatful of Hollow, as these had not been released in the United States. This is why the non-single track "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" from Hatful of Hollow was included. (Single A-sides "This Charming Man" and "How Soon Is Now?" had already been released in the US as bonus cuts on the LPs The Smiths and Meat Is Murder, respectively.)

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Wikipedia