This Charming Man writes:
The Smiths turned down by Linda McCartney! - NME.com

The Smiths asked Linda McCartney to guest star on their classic album 'The Queen Is Dead', guitarist Johnny Marr has revealed.

In a new interview with NME, Marr disclosed that frontman Morrissey wrote to the wife of Sir Paul McCartney requesting she play piano on the track 'Frankly, Mr Shankly', though she politely refused.

Marr said: "Morrissey wrote a postcard to Linda McCartney asking her to play piano on the track, but she said no. She just said she couldn't do it, we would have loved for her to do it because we were big fans of hers."

The revelation comes in this week's issue of NME, a special commemorative issue marking the 20th anniversary of the album's initial release.

The issue features a track-by-track guide to the recording of the album with the band and engineer Stephen Street, the initial 1986 NME review, a look at how the album influenced a new generation and much more.

'The Queen Is Dead' special issue is out this week, dated June 10, from today (June 7) in London and nationwide from tomorrow.
---
Scan of the special anniversary NME cover from IPC:

Click to enlarge

---
BlueGirl also writes:

Marc writes:

Uncleskinny sends the link:

Q & A Part One - May 24th 2006 - bozboorer.com

Belligerent Ghoul sends the link:

The Youngest Was The Most Loved review by Rob Allen - Manchester Evening News (4 of 5 stars)

Belligerent Ghoul sends the link:

"If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look at Me" track review by Marc Hogan - Pitchfork (3.5 / 5 stars)

Belligerent Ghoul sends the links:

ROTT review by Jeff Leven - Paste Magazine
ROTT review by Matt Kelly - varsity.co.nz
ROTT review by Ryan McDermott - PopMatters (rating: 3)

Fran sends the link:

ROTT review by Jamie Summers - The Wessex Scene (8 of 10)

An anonymous person sends the link:

ROTT review by Ben Granger - Spike Magazine

Sonar writes:

Belligerent Ghoul sends the link/excerpt:

Robin Guthrie, Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh - The Herald

As with the music, there's no narrative, just a sense of dreamy propulsion. For all its snugly wide-screen loveliness, however, once again, the sheer privacy of the music only fully embraces during the occasional percussive climax. The stumblebum Q and A session that follows reveals Guthrie as a shy but waggish individual, whose sense of schadenfreude at recalling a now porky Morrissey once calling him "fat boy" is delivered with a schoolboyish giggle.