I'll admit to not being hugely familiar with the Smiths' music. They were solely active in the 80s which was not a time that I was actively seeking out music. Once I was more into music I was more interested in 60s pop or loud distorted guitars; the Smiths don't fit the bill in either case. A teacher of mine who also helped out one of the high school bands I was in recommended the Smiths to me and I listened to one or two tracks, but it didn't really peak my interest.
So essentially I came to this fairly 'blank slate', the only song I was familiar with on this album was "How soon is now?" (only featured on certain versions of the album) as the theme tune to the tv show 'Charmed'.
I'd say there are more than a few connections that could be made between the Smiths and U2; both bands with solid rhythm sections, sonically explorative guitarists, and cause-heavy lyricists.
Guitarist Johnny Marr is the real star on this album, his guitar sounds ranging from jangly rockabilly, wicky funk, extreme tremolo guitar overlaid with slide lead parts, delicate acoustic guitar, clean new-wave-style guitar.
Morrisey's vocals seem to largely follow the pattern of being emotive and drenched in reverb. While he is all about his causes here (pacifism, anti-monarchy, and the obvious vegetarian message of the title track) he does occasionally show a bit of a sense of humour, which I'm not sure is still present in his more recent work.
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