The “other Fab Four,” aka the Smiths, are one the most criminally underappreciated bands of the last 25 years. Their unequivocal masterpiece, “The Queen Is Dead,” is consistently voted as the greatest album in history by British music magazines such as Uncut, NME and Q.

The Smiths were together for roughly five years and in that time produced around 75 songs spread out over four critically-acclaimed studio masterpieces and several B-side collections of equal caliber.

From their sparsely produced debut, “The Smiths” through their swan song, “Strangeways Here We Come,” the Smiths proved to be one of those rare bands that never released a bad album, or really, for that matter, a bad song.

Formed in Manchester, England, in the early 1980s, the band consisted of Mike Joyce, drums; Andy Rourke, bass guitar; Johnny Marr, guitar and piano; and Morrissey, vocals. Noel Gallagher of Oasis would refer to Morrissey as, “without a doubt the most literate man to ever write music.” Morrissey was a sexually ambiguous frontman who commands what is perhaps the most cultish following of fans in rock.

While “cock rockers” in the 1980s were singing about pouring sugar on themselves and playing ridiculously cheesy guitar solos, the Smiths were singing about Oscar Wilde and girlfriends in comas and were returning to a more rhythm- and chord-oriented guitar rock. In the words of Gallagher, “you can’t be influenced by Johnny Marr because he is so unique. You can’t play what he plays. Even he can’t play what he plays.”

The songwriting partnership between Morrissey and Marr is a partnership that rivals even that of Lennon and McCartney in terms of the sheer brilliance of the music.

“You gotta admire a guy who can rhyme ‘rusty spanner’ with ‘play pianner’ and who can espouse the beauty of a double-decker bus collision,” said critic Rich Stim in Spin Magazine.

The Smiths’ final album, “Strangeways Here We Come,” was a posthumous release and is now viewed as the Smiths’ own “Let It Be” — an album plagued by infighting and creative tensions from the onset. Usually not considered their best album, “Stangeways” still contains some of their most memorable tracks, as well as what is arguably the best side A the band ever sequenced.

“I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish,” is one of the Smiths’ most rocking numbers on the album. The song caused a minor fight between “the Mozzer” (Morrissey) and Marr. When Morrissey complained to producer Stephen Street that he didn’t like the overdubs, Marr bluntly told Street, “Well fuck him! Let him think of something!” Marr had always been the musical director of the group and was tiring of his role, just another factor that would lead to the band’s breakup months later.

The first proper song taped for “Strangeways,” and considered by many the best, “Death of a Disco Dancer,” was written during a session in which Marr instructed the band to play a “Dear Prudence” sort of jam.

“Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” a song containing lyrics about a Buddhist contemplating a mass murder, would later be banned because of a real mass murder that took place in England.

Side B starts out with the last of the Smiths’ tearjerkers, “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me,” which would later be cited by both Morrissey and David Bowie as their favorite Smiths song. The acoustic-driven “Unhappy Birthday” follows, a song Marr would later cite as one of his favorites from the album.

The longest track on the album, “Paint a Vulgar Picture” is lyrically the most interesting song on the album. Morrissey speaks of the music industry and their mercenary attitude towards rock ‘n’ roll martyrs.

The album is rounded out with the two short tracks, “Death at One’s Elbow,” one of the only weak Smiths songs, and “I Won’t Share You,” a song that assumed a spooky poignancy as the final track on their final album.

Like so many other great “breakup” albums, “Strangeways” is criticized by some for being uneven, and praised by others as the band’s best work. Regardless of your feelings toward it, “Stangeways” is the essential last chapter in a career that was as musically-rich as any before or after it. Brilliant.

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