The Smiths “The Queen Is Dead” released 30 years ago on this date, June 16th, 1986. Sire/Rough Trade Records. One of my favorite albums ever (and Britain’s NME agrees with me, rating it the Greatest Album of All Time), The Queen Is Dead defined the summer of ‘86. It made it to #2 on the UK charts and #70 in the US.

After the intro clip of uber-British chant “Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty,” the album launches into the rollicking title track “The Queen Is Dead” and from there only grows with lyrical and musical perfection. My absolute favorite is “Frankly Mr. Shankly” – when Johnny Marr launches into his dense signature jangle at the 0:39 point I get, to this day, a musical skin orgasm (a researched phenomenon!). “Cemetry Gates” is another favorite, bouncing along to lyrics that decry plagiarism while invoking a blend of a (dreaded) sunny day and the dark sorrow of a cemetery in a way that is so only-Morrissey (who else can include lyrics like “ere long done do does did, words which could only be your own, you then produce the text from whence was ripped some dizzy whore, 1804″?). “Bigmouth Strikes Again” is utter brilliance in fractured and tortured minor key. And no one does despondency as beautifully as Morrissey: “I Know It’s Over,” “Never Had No One Ever” and the epic “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” were all part of the soundtrack to moments of teenage angst and heartbreak. Yet the overarching essence of The Queen Is Dead to my ears is not depression, but rather a glorious celebration of life, with all its ridiculousness, pettiness, beauty and diversity: much like my summer of ‘86.