Anger Through Grace: Nicky Wire's Favourite Albums | Page 7 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

6. The SmithsHatful Of Hollow

Hatful of Hollow by the Great Ones. It’s funny really, because it’s not a proper Smiths album in many ways, it’s all the sessions and everything, but I think a lot of people realise it’s the best version of ‘Reel Around The Fountain’, the best version of ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’, there’s so many variations and I think every best version is on that album. ‘William It Was Really Nothing’ is two minutes long, but it packs such a punch. ‘Still Ill’, ‘You’ve Got Everything Now’, the bleakness of the cover, the grey and blue, it sums up the time. I can remember every lyric off it. The level of artistry on that record is staggering. To think that half the time they were in a shitty studio in the BBC with an engineer who didn’t know what they’re fucking doing. Johnny Marr must have been so on it. Right from the start. I know it’s predictable to pick a Smiths album but they’re just such a massive part of my youth. That’s what I’ve realised – there’s records you always go back to. It bothers me a bit, because I should be picking different records, but there you go.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Andy Burnham, Rick Astley, The Wedding Present, Alex Kapranos
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