THE SMITHS Vinilo y CD

Review: While Morrissey's outlandish opinions these days might have done plenty to denigrate his own personal legend status amongst fans, what he did with The Smiths will live in musical history forever. A Charming Man In Amsterdam is a concert that was arranged in order to mark the 50th anniversary of a Dutch magazine, Vinyl (imagine that happening today!). It was the iconinc Manchester band's first ever show in the Netherlands and they serve up a set revolving around their eponymous debut album and early singles, with 'Miserable Lie', 'I Don't Owe You Anything' and 'These Things Take Time' sounding particularly grand.

Review: Recorded live in Laguna Hills, California whilst touring The Queen Is Dead; Absolute Panic! is a fairly appropriate title for this now iconic performance. Noted for its intense audience reception and the extensive efforts made to get to the stage which led to a more than overzealous reaction from security, both Morrissey and Johnny Marr can be heard lambasting the staff in between songs, with even a lyric of their touring title-track switched out to - "Life is very long, when you're a bouncer." Complete with minimal yet sardonic stage banter and a career-defining plethora of one essential cut after another, it's no shock that this live set has become a much sought after collector's piece for diehard devotees, who no doubt would have been there giving the security a run for their wages if given half a chance.