Louder Than Bombs
by The Smiths

Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths
(Compilation album)
Year: 1987
Release date: 1987-03-30
Overall rank: 728th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 667 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1987 (14th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (109th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (728th)

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The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs [New CD]
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DOUBLE LP THE SMITHS ALBUM LOUDER THAN BOMBS SIRE 1-25569 US 1ST PRESS
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The Smiths bestography

Louder Than Bombs is ranked 6th best out of 15 albums by The Smiths on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by The Smiths is The Queen Is Dead which is ranked number 16 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 32,935.

The Smiths album bestography « Higher ranked (287th)
Strangeways, Here We Come
This album (728th)
Louder Than Bombs
Lower ranked (5,006th) »
The World Won't Listen

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Louder Than Bombs track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
7.
Track pick (890 - 217 votes)
Average Rating: 89 (217 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Louder Than Bombs rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 728th | 1980s rank: 109th | 1987 rank: 14th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 PurplepashTop 50 Music Albums of 19878/504
2026edguyerrisonTop 40 Greatest Music Albums37/4010
2026Exist-en-cielTop 50 Music Albums of 19872/505
2026saltysurpriseTop 70 Music Albums of 198721/704
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 198765/1002
2026HyggevinylTop 52 Music Albums of 198728/522
2026leniadTop 401-500 Greatest Albums Of All Time19/100 -
2026 videoheadcleanerTop 100 Music Albums of 198780/1001
2026 Patman360Top 72 Music Albums of 198710/724
2026 NowhereManTop 15 Music Albums of 19872/155
2026 slatsheitTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s23/10016
2026 RockdrigoTop 100 Greatest Music Albums71/10030
2026 RasmVMy 100 most listened albums in 202528/100 -
2026 neilgeeTop 84 Music Albums of 19875/845
2026 MadhattanJackTop 69 Music Albums of 198739/692
2026Rivera901-10004/100 -
2026 slatsheitMy top 101-201 (not a misprint)20/100 -
2026 PurplepashTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s34/10013
2026leniadTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s57/1009
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s28/10015
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 311
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 2,378
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Louder Than Bombs collection

Louder Than Bombs ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 667 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 667 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 
03/15/2026 16:08 CellarDoor  Ratings distribution  8,34579/100
 
95/100
 
03/08/2026 03:21 davidleewrong  Ratings distribution  2,33781/100
 
90/100
 
03/01/2026 22:52 snailmail500  Ratings distribution  23382/100
 
75/100
 
01/15/2026 00:15 This_is_handsome  Ratings distribution  76979/100
 
85/100
 
12/30/2025 21:16 Milhaud  Ratings distribution  1,88870/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.9/100, a mean average of 81.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.

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Louder Than Bombs comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 25 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
90/100
From 01/31/2023 11:27 | #293432
Great compilation, but I prefer Hatful Of Hollow, mostly because of raw, post-punk sound that they had, but it's the matter of personal taste. On this album Sheila Take A Bow, Sweet And Tender Hooligan, Panic and London are probably the biggest bangers, but we have some sad lyrical masterpieces here like Ask, Asleep, Unloveable and Half A Person all of them accompanied with Johnny Marr's excellent guitar work. Of course we have soke great tracks that we had already on on Hatful Of Hollow so I will not write about them here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/03/2021 22:08 | #269330
Essa banda não tem nem dsicarte de b-side! Tudo de primeira qualidade!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 05/27/2020 06:19 | #252203
Their 5th best lp. Meh.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/31/2018 07:21 | #228366
What made The Smiths so great was even their B-Sides were good , not all but most . Case in point this compilation and the following killer B-Sides:

-Is It Really So Strange ?
-Sweet and Tender Hooligan
-Half a Person
-London
-Oscillate Wildly
-Rubber Ring
-Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
-Unlovable
-Asleep

Think about it ? That bunch of tracks were B-Sides ! . Ridiculous


'Louder Than Bombs' was released in America as a cousin to their British compilation 'The World Won't Listen' and consists of all singles and nearly all B-sides that had not at that point been available in the United States, either on single or album, with a few other tracks added.

Brilliant , minus the simply awful "Golden Lights" which is hands down the worst Smiths track ... period
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/29/2018 22:02 | #225884
I don't know, this doesn't feel like an album as much as "The Hatful of Hollow" but oh. my. god, there are so many good songs here.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/06/2018 21:32 | #204746
Too good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/21/2017 22:20 | #187842
I typically don't like to consider compilations as proper albums and avoid putting them in my charts, but for this and Hatful of Hollow, I make an exception. Most of these tracks don't show up on any of the Smiths' studio releases, so might as well rate it as any other album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/11/2016 17:06 | #168459
Yet another Smith's compilation(paint a vulgar picture, anyone?), but you can't argue with the quality of music on offer. Panic, hand in glove, half a person, are off course all great on an album that flows nicely for a comp. Extremely enjoyable.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 03/31/2016 22:30 | #163068
I agree that a lot of the songs on here flow very well. It's up to opinion what songs people like. The second half isn't as "put together" as the first, but I'm sure some people can find enjoyment in some of the songs there as well. Great for a compilation album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 02/27/2016 17:34 | #160888
A collection of killer tracks: These Things Take Time, Panic, Sweet and Tender Hooligan, Back to the Old House are among their finest songs. Great !
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1987
1. The Joshua Tree by U2
2. Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses
3. Sign "O" The Times by Prince
4. Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths
5. You're Living All Over Me by Dinosaur
6. Document by R.E.M.
7. Bad by Michael Jackson
8. Music For The Masses by Depeche Mode
9. Sister by Sonic Youth
10. Substance by New Order
11. Hysteria by Def Leppard
12. Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me by The Cure
13. Kick by INXS
14. Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths
15. Darklands by The Jesus And Mary Chain
16. Come On Pilgrim by Pixies
17. Diesel And Dust by Midnight Oil
18. Paid In Full by Eric B. & Rakim
19. Tango In The Night by Fleetwood Mac
20. Tunnel Of Love by Bruce Springsteen