The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder was a giant leap forward when compared to their debut from just a year earlier. The sound, the compositions, the lyrical content, the band had progressed considerably in just 12 months, during which the band proved they were able to write an enormous amount of material, that was all equally brilliant. The sophomore album of the band’s legendary discography, released in 1985, sees The Smiths at its most aggressive and musically sound, delivering a hostile record in which there is no single track that could easily be written off as album filler. Meat Is Murder also delivers the most versatility out of any of The Smiths’ other releases. The production is very hollow, raw, and consistent, but the stylistic implementation of each song is different.

The albums features the singles “That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore”, “Barbarism Begins at Home” and the hidden track, “How Soon Is Now”.