Skip to content
It's pretty safe to say that most view The Queen Is Dead as the best full-length studio effort ever offered by the Smiths. It arrived in June of 1986 to a rapturous critical reception and its reputation has remained consistent ever since, with "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" in particular having gone on to be seen as a stone-cold classic even by those who aren't full-fledged Smiths fans. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a publication on either side of the pond that doesn't acknowledge it as one of the greatest albums of the whole decade, thanks to songs like the dance-hall fun of "Frankly, Mr. Shankly," the impeccably depressing two-fer of "I Know It's Over" and "Never Had No One Ever," the jangly fun of "Cemetry Gates," and even the silliness of "Vicar in a Tutu."