The World Won't Listen

This was the second compilation of A-sides, B-sides and rarities the Mancunian outfit released in its career. As you know, the first one was “Hatful Of Hollow“. In this case, the compilation has something of a broader appeal as there is a fair slice of non-album singles featured, and these include the crucial “Panic”, “Ask” and “Shoplifters Of The World Unite”. The single version of “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” is part of the compilation, too. And there are no radio sessions this time around.

Something that you can find here that was absent from “Hatful Of Hollow” is a handful of instrumental tracks. There are two of them: “Oscillate Wildly” and “Money Changes Everything”.

The rest of the album is made up of tracks that work out mostly well like “You’ve Just Haven’t Earned It Baby”, the loud “London” and two songs that come across as an item: “Unlovable”, and “Half A Person”. And there is also a piano ballad named “Asleep” which depending on your mood will go down better some days than the others since it is one of the starker tunes within their catalog.

On the other hand, songs like “Golden Light” showcase that the communication problem Morrissey had with Marr sometimes as regards which songs to cover was getting out of hand, and that was something which exhausted Marr’s patience in due time.

“The World Won’t Listen” also includes the phenomenal album tracks “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”. I am not entirely sure what they are doing here, but they are always welcome.

Also, note that this album was released in America under the moniker “Louder Than Bombs”. The track list is quite similar, but there are some songs available only in each one. The most notable addition to “Louder Than Bombs” is the single “Sheila Take A Bow”, one of The Smiths’ most salient compositions in terms of chart performance.

Here we go again… this is something for fans and nobody else. The ones who want an overview should go for the “Best Of” and “Singles” packages. And you know which album I regard as their one pivotal contribution to the world of music.