I actually love the guitar work. Marr is one of my favorite guitarists along with Peter Buck who had a similiar style in his early days (arpeggio picking). There's no accounting for taste I guess. :P

I take it, you`re not from the UK with that ridiculous opinion.

He likes Linkin Park though. So that makes up for it :p:

I dunno, if you don't get The Smiths then you just don't get them and you probably never will. They're a very British band, their British identity is really strong. I think if you don't like Marr's melodic guitar playing paired with Moz's cynicism then you're just plain hopeless.

Jim McGuinn-Peter Buck-Johnny Marr.

The above is a good family tree of this guitar style.

They just don't do it for me. Neither does Joy Division or Pavement. /sigh

They`re very much part of the British identity as you say, so anybody into Linkin Park is doubtful to like them.

Given the depressive feel of Joy Division I can certainly see that. As for Pavement I love "Slanted and Enchanted" but not mad on anything else by them.

I think he intentionally sang flat in the early days. I love his voice though and as for the music being coma inducing well I guess you mean the slower songs like This night has opened my eyes, Reel around the fountatin and Last night i dreamt somebody loved me which are some of the most profoundly moving pieces of music I've ever heard.

Whoa, whoa, clearly I lack the appreciation for some types of guitar work, because I found absolutely nothing special in any of The Smiths' songs. I'll keep them in the library, maybe they'll grow on me

Agreed, Johnny Marr is an excellent guitarist. I'm not a massive Smiths fan by any means but I do really love his style of playing.