Rank (album)

Rank is a live album by English band The Smiths. It was released in September 1988 by their British record company, Rough Trade and reached No. 2 in the British charts. In the United States, the album made No. 77.

About the album

Rank was released as a contractual obligation, a year after the band had split. It was recorded on October 23, 1986 at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, and is a fourteen-track distillation (of 21 songs) by singer Morrissey from the complete concert recording that had earlier been transmitted by BBC Radio 1. The album rode high on Smiths nostalgia and the success of Morrissey's debut solo album, Viva Hate, earlier the same year.

The record finds the group in top form and strengthened by the presence of rhythm guitarist Craig Gannon. The focus naturally lies on songs off the then-current album, The Queen Is Dead, but new songs are played as well ("Ask", "Is It Really So Strange?", "London"). The addition of "The Draize Train" is seen by some as peace offering from Morrissey to guitarist Johnny Marr; as Marr has the sole writing credit for the song, he receives all royalties from its addition. This is speculation. What is known is that the inclusion of "The Draize Train" as the twelfth track gives the listener a sense of the rhythm and pacing of a Smiths show, as the band typically played an instrumental while Morrissey took a quick break backstage before returning to belt out the electrifying set-closers.

The songs omitted from the recording of the Kilburn show are: "I Want The One I Can't Have", "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out", "Frankly, Mr. Shankly", "Never Had No One Ever", "Meat Is Murder", and "How Soon Is Now?"

According to Smiths biographers Johnny Rogan and David Bret, Morrissey originally titled the album The Smiths in Heat. Rough Trade objected and Morrissey proposed Rank, "as in 'J. Arthur'" (J. Arthur Rank is Cockney slang for "wank"; see also Cockney rhyming slang).

Cover

The sleeve for Rank, once again designed by Morrissey, stars actress Alexandra Bastedo. The album's sleeve, a gatefold, featured dozens of Smiths fans ripping apart Morrissey's shirt, just tossed from the stage.

Track listing

All tracks written by Morrissey/Marr except "His Latest Flame" (Pomus/Shuman) and "The Draize Train" (Marr).

LP

Side A

"The Queen Is Dead"
"Panic"
"Vicar in a Tutu"
"Ask"
"His Latest Flame/Rusholme Ruffians" medley
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"
"Rubber Ring/What She Said" medley

Side B

"Is It Really So Strange?"
"Cemetry Gates"
"London"
"I Know It's Over"
"The Draize Train"
"Still Ill"
"Bigmouth Strikes Again"

Compact disc

Same as LP. The two original LP halves can still be discerned on CD as tracks 7 and 8 have not been mixed together but fade down and up, respectively.