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Album dossier / 1986

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths · Indie Rock/Jangle Pop

The Smiths' third album was recorded and mixed largely at Jacobs Studio (a residential studio in a converted mill, Surrey) with engineer Stephen Street, whom Johnny Marr credited with helping give the record 'how The Beatles must have felt' -- a full, self-assured production reached by a band confident in what it was about on its third record. Morrissey and Marr produced alongside Street, and the album balances the gothic wit of the title track and 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' against the aching sincerity of 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.' It peaked at #2 on the UK Albums Chart, later earned a US Gold certification, and is still routinely voted the greatest British album ever made (NME named it Album of the Year).