The Sound of The Smiths

The Sound of The Smiths is a Smiths compilation released on 10 November 2008. It is available as both single and double disc editions. Morrissey is credited with having coined the compilation's title, while Johnny Marr was involved in the project's mastering.^[7] Early promotional material for the album originally saw it titled Hang the DJ: The Very Best of the Smiths, but this was changed for the final release.^[8][9]

The Sound of The Smiths
Compilation album by the Smiths
Released	10 November 2008
Genre	Indie pop
Length	74:04
Label	Rhino Records UK
Producer	John Porter The Smiths Roger Pusey Dale "Buffin" Griffin Stephen Street
Compiler	Rick Conrad
The Smiths chronology
The Very Best of The Smiths (2001) The Sound of The Smiths (2008) The Smiths Singles Box (2008)
Alternative cover
Deluxe edition cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
The Guardian	[3]
Hot Press	[4]
Pitchfork	7.5/10[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]

The album charted No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 98 on the Billboard 200. The pictures on the covers of the original and deluxe editions were taken by Tom Sheehan. It is their only album featuring the band members on the artwork.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Morrissey/Marr.

CD 1

No.	Title	Source	Length
1.	"Hand in Glove" (Single version)	Single A-side	3:17
2.	"This Charming Man"	Single A-side	2:44
3.	"What Difference Does It Make?" (Peel Session 18/5/83)	Hatful of Hollow	3:14
4.	"Still Ill"	The Smiths	3:22
5.	"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"	Single A-side	3:35
6.	"William, It Was Really Nothing"	Single A-side	2:13
7.	"How Soon Is Now?" (12" Version)	B-side of "William, It Was Really Nothing" 12"	6:47
8.	"Nowhere Fast"	Meat Is Murder	2:38
9.	"Shakespeare's Sister"	Single A-side	2:09
10.	"Barbarism Begins at Home" (7" edit Version)	Meat Is Murder/Single A-side	3:51
11.	"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (Single Edit)	Meat Is Murder/Single A-side	3:53
12.	"The Headmaster Ritual"	Meat Is Murder	4:56
13.	"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"	The Queen Is Dead	3:18
14.	"Bigmouth Strikes Again"	Single A-side/The Queen Is Dead	3:15
15.	"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"	The Queen Is Dead	4:05
16.	"Panic"	Single A-side	2:20
17.	"Ask" (Album Version)	Louder Than Bombs	3:17
18.	"You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" (U.S. Mix)	Louder Than Bombs	3:35
19.	"Shoplifters of the World Unite"	Single A-side	2:58
20.	"Sheila Take a Bow"	Single A-side/ Louder Than Bombs	2:42
21.	"Girlfriend in a Coma"	Single A-side/Strangeways, Here We Come	2:03
22.	"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"	Single A-side/ Strangeways, Here We Come	3:49
23.	"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (Single Edit)	Strangeways, Here We Come/Single A-side	3:11

• The iTunes release of the deluxe edition includes the bonus tracks "Rubber Ring" (as track 14) and "The Draize Train" (as track 18) on CD 1.
• Additionally, the iTunes edition of the single-disc version includes "What She Said" (as track 10) as a bonus track plus "Hand in Glove" (Live at Brixton Ace 29/6/83) (as track 25).
• "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" is a slightly slower version than previously issued. According to an interview posted on Johnny Marr's homepage with mastering engineer Frank Arkwright, "[W]e removed the varispeed from the original release which I thought was too fast ..."^[10]

All tracks are written by Morrissey/Marr, except "What's the World?," by James, and "Oscillate Wildly", by Johnny Marr.

CD 2: deluxe edition

No.	Title	Source	Length
1.	"Jeane"	B-side of "This Charming Man"	3:03
2.	"Handsome Devil" (Live at The Haçienda, Manchester, 4/2/83)	B-side of "Hand in Glove"	2:55
3.	"This Charming Man" (New York Vocal)	B-side of "This Charming Man" 12"	5:35
4.	"Wonderful Woman"	B-side of "This Charming Man"	3:11
5.	"Back to the Old House"	B-side of "What Difference Does it Make?"	3:04
6.	"These Things Take Time"	B-side of "What Difference Does It Make?"	2:22
7.	"Girl Afraid"	B-side of "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"	2:47
8.	"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"	B-side of "William, It Was Really Nothing"	1:50
9.	"Stretch Out and Wait" (Alternate Vocal Version)	The World Won't Listen	2:44
10.	"Oscillate Wildly"	B-side of "How Soon Is Now?" 12"	3:29
11.	"Meat Is Murder" (Live at Oxford Apollo 18/3/85)	B-side of "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore"	5:37
12.	"Asleep"	B-side of "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side"	4:10
13.	"Money Changes Everything"	B-side of "Bigmouth Strikes Again"	4:39
14.	"The Queen Is Dead"	The Queen Is Dead	6:23
15.	"Vicar in a Tutu"	B-side of "Panic" /The Queen Is Dead	2:22
16.	"Cemetry Gates"	B-side of "Ask" / The Queen Is Dead	2:41
17.	"Half a Person"	B-side of "Shoplifters of the World Unite"	3:38
18.	"Sweet and Tender Hooligan" (Peel Session 2/12/86)	Louder Than Bombs	3:34
19.	"Pretty Girls Make Graves" (Troy Tate Demo)	B-side of "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"	3:32
20.	"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"	Strangeways, Here We Come	3:31
21.	"What's the World?" (Live at the Barrowlands, Glasgow 25/9/85)	B-side of "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"	2:06
22.	"London" (Live at National Ballroom, Kilburn)	Rank	2:40

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Sound of The Smiths Chart (2008–2010) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 114 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 68 Italian Albums (FIMI)[13] 18 Irish Albums (IRMA)[14] 28 Scottish Albums (OCC)[15] 23 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[16] 50 UK Albums (OCC)[17] 21 US Billboard 200[18] 98

Year-end charts 2023 year-end chart performance for The Sound of The Smiths Chart (2023) Position UK Albums (OCC)[19] 71 2024 year-end chart performance for The Sound of The Smiths Chart (2024) Position UK Albums (OCC)[20] 52

Certifications

Certifications for The Sound of The Smiths

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[21]	Gold	35,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	3× Platinum	900,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.