For their second studio album, The Smiths took the production reigns themselves (with Stephen Street handling engineering duties) and came up with a collection that's even more musically diverse than the Manchester quartet's striking debut. As its title suggests, Meat Is Murder doesn't mince words when it comes to Morrissey's beliefs, though songs like “That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore” show his lyrics could be as keenly personal as political. And Johnny Marr's status as England's most revolutionary new guitarist was clear on the iconic “How Soon Is Now,” a single appended to the U.S. version of the album. Meat Is Murder became the only Smiths collection to top the U.K. chart during the band's lifetime, going Gold in the process. It has since been cited by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
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