At its core, {The Smiths}' music was pure guitar-based pop/rock, recalling hooks and textures from the '60s. While their music was rooted in British pop, it also borrowed significantly from the energy and independence of punk; it never sounded dated or derivative. {Morrissey}'s yearning voice and literate lyrics complimented {Johnny Marr}'s understated, textured guitar to the point where the two were inseparable. {Marr} had a skill for writing melodic hooks that sounded simple and direct, yet were a incredibly complex web of interweaving guitar lines. But {Morrissey} was the focal point of the band. Some critics accused him of being tuneless, yet he was a great vocalist, effortlessly conveying the exaggerated angst and self-depricating humor of his words with unusual, unexpected pitches and phrasing. {Morrissey}'s introspective lyrics strongly connected with disaffected youth around the world, yet they aren't adolescent; beneath his grandly dramatic vocals, there is genuine emotion, humor, melancholy, and compassion in {Morrissey}'s writing.
The songwriting team of {Morrissey} and Marr was remarkably inventive and prolific; during their brief four-year career, {The Smiths} released four proper albums, several non-LP singles and B-sides, and two singles compilations. All of their material was remarkably consistent, proving the band's mastery of pop songwriting.
{The Smiths} broke up in early fall of 1987, just before the release of their fourth and final album, "Strangeways Here We Come." Bassist {Andy Rourke} and drummer {Mike Joyce} supported {Sinead O'Connor} for a time; {Joyce} eventually joined the reunited {Buzzcocks}. {Marr} went on to work with {The Pretenders}, The The, and Electronic. {Morrissey} began a solo career that proved just as popular as {The Smiths}'. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
-- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide