When you listen to Strangeways, you'll be hard pressed not to hear how the rhythm and groove of the album is distinct compared to their previous releases; of course, it still has that signature guitar from Marr, the beautful basslines from Rourke, as well as the morose lyricism from Morrisey. But it also has a little 'je ne sais quois' which (to me) elevates the album to greater heights.

To utilise a word that I don't use very often, Strangeways has the capacity to be jiggy as hell. I get why Morrisey used to sort of wiggle about during their live performances; it's an intuitive reaction. It's also got some of their better lyricism (but trust me, some of it is still very bleh). I love that the album will flip-flop between these spunky, upbeat melodies and more terse, downtrodden ones, sometimes in the same song.

I do find it a bit unfortunate that, as a group, this was their last release (though all things considered, I don't think they could've ended on a better note). Would I have been thrilled to to hear this sound carried foward onto other projects? Absolutely! But alas we'll never see that come to fruition. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop appreciating this album.