The Queen Is Dead - Reception

Reception

Rolling Stone gave the album a five star rating. Reviewer Mark Coleman remarked on Morrissey's sense of humour and singled out the singer's performance on "Cemetry Gates" as a highlight. Coleman concluded, "Like it or not, this guy's going to be around for a while." Pitchfork Media listed The Queen Is Dead as 6th best album of the 1980s. In 2000, Mojo magazine placed "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" at number 25 on its list of the 100 greatest songs of all time, while VH2 placed it top of its Top 500 Indie Songs chart. In 2003, The Queen Is Dead was ranked number 216 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2006 it was named the second greatest British album of all time by NME. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #3 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". UK-based magazine Clash added The Queen Is Dead to its "Classic Album Hall of Fame" in its June 2011 issue, saying it "is an album to lose yourself in; it has depth, focus and some great tunes. It's easy to see why the album is held in such high esteem by Smiths fanatics and why, a decade later, it became a key influence for all things Britpop." In 2012, Slant magazine listed the album at #16 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980's" saying "There may never again be an indie-rock album as good as The Queen Is Dead".