'' 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.
''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 Guitar ist
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
Biographer s
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 ).
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.
All tracks written by Morrissey/Marr except "His Latest Flame" (
Pomus /
Shuman ) and "The Draize Train" (Marr).
#"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''
#"Is It Really So Strange?"
#"Cemetry Gates"
#"London"
#"I Know It's Over"
#"The Draize Train"
#"Still Ill"
#"Bigmouth Strikes Again"
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.
None.
