Panic
Ask
London
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Shakespeare's Sister
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Shoplifters Of The World Unite
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single version)
Money Changes Everything */**
Asleep
Unloveable
Half A Person
Stretch Out And Wait (alternate version)
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore (edited)
Oscillate Wildly
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby
Rubber Ring
Golden Lights **

UK CD [Rough Trade ROUGHCD101]
UK CS [Rough Trade ROUGHC101] *
UK LP [Rough Trade ROUGH101]
UK/Europe CD [2012 reissue on Warner/Rhino 2564660484]
UK/Europe 2-LP [2012 reissue on Rhino Records 2564665881]
Argentina LP [Erahora 10008]
Argentina CS [Erahora 10008]
Australia CD [CBS 450467-2 / DIDP11073]
Australia CD [1993 reissue on Warner Australia 450991898-2] **
Australia CS [CBS 450467-4]
Australia 2-CS [augmented issue on CBS 450978-4] ***
Australia LP [CBS 450467-1]
Australia 2-LP [CBS 450978-1] ***
Brazil CS [WEA ??]
Brazil LP [WEA 670.0007]
Europe CD [WEA 450991898-2] **
Europe CS [WEA 450991898-4] **
Europe 10 [WEA 450991897-1]
France CD [Virgin 30260]
France CS [Virgin 50494]
France LP [Virgin 70494]
Germany LP [RT Deutschland RTD45]
Greece CS [Virgin ??]
Greece LP [Virgin VG C 101]
Holland LP [Megadisc MD 7940]
Indonesia CS [King's K1166AED]
Indonesia CS [Team ???]
Israel LP [CBS ROUGH101-1]
Israel CS [CBS ROUG 101-4]
Israel CD [1993 reissue on WEA/Hed Arzi 450991898-2] **
Italy LP [CGD RGH20614]
Italy LP [Rough Trade ROULP101 (??)]
Italy CS [CGD 30RGH20614]
Italy CD [Rough Trade CDROUG101]
Japan CD [Victor VDP-1199] **
Japan CD [1990 reissue on Victor VICP-2005] **
Japan CD [1993 reissue on WEA WMC5-546] **
Japan CD [1995 reissue on WEA WPCR-305] **
Japan CD [2006 reissue on WEA WPCR-12442] **
Japan CS [Victor VCL-10030]
Japan LP [Victor VIL-28074]
Portugal LP [Rough Trade 12ROUGH101]
Saudi Arabia CS [Thomsun Original EN-1439]
Singapore CS [Billboard 1242]
Spain CS [Nuevos Medios 44 246C] *
Spain LP [Nuevos Medios 43 245L]
Sweden LP [MNW ROUGH101]
Taiwan CS [Crystal ROUGHC101] *
Taiwan CD [Warner Music Hong Kong/Taiwan HDCD-H345] **
Thailand CS [Musicals MSC.455]
Uruguay CS [Linea Platino/Renew Variety 465.923]
Yugoslavia CS [RTV Ljubljana KL-1626]
Yugoslavia LP [RTV Ljubljana LL1626]

Additional information:
* "Money Changes Everything" is included as bonus track on the UK-Rough Trade, Italy, Spain and Taiwan cassettes.

** "Money Changes Everything" and "Golden Lights" are included as bonus tracks on both Japan-Victor cd editions and on all WEA/Warner cd and cassette reissues from 1993-2006. They are also included on the LP and compact disc editions of the album included in the "Complete" box set.

*** The second Australian LP and cassette (450978-1/4) come as a double set and include all songs (28 tracks) from "The World Won't Listen" and "Louder Than Bombs", bar "These Things Take Time". Also, "Money Changes Everything" is replaced by a different instrumental, "The Draize Train". The first LP and cassette have the regular track listing while the bonus LP and cassette contain all the added material. Here's a rundown of the songs in the order they appear: "Panic" / "Ask" / "London" / "Bigmouth Strikes Again" / "Shakespeare's Sister" / "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" / "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" / "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (single version) // Asleep" / "Unloveable" / "Half A Person" / "Stretch Out And Wait" (alternate version) / "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (edited) / "Oscillate Wildly" / "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" / "Rubber Ring // "Is It Really So Strange?" / "Sheila Take A Bow" / "Sweet And Tender Hooligan" / "Girl Afraid" / "William, It Was Really Nothing" / "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" // "Golden Lights" / "The Draize Train" / "Back To The Old House" / "Hand In Glove" / "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" / "This Night Has Opened My Eyes".

The 2006 Japanese cd reissue is slipped inside a mini-replica of the original Victor Japan LP sleeve. Even the inner sleeve, obi and label are replicas of the ones with the original LP pressing. For this reason, bonus tracks "Money Changes Everything" and "Golden Lights" are not mentioned on the sleeve or within the lyrics even though they are featured on this edition.

The track listing on the unlicensed Indonesia cassette is scrambled and includes bonus tracks "Pretty Girls Make Graves" and "Reel Around The Fountain" from the debut LP.

The unlicensed Singapore cassette includes bonus tracks "Girl Afraid" and "Suffer Little Children".

The 2012 UK/Europe Rhino reissues on compact disc and LP are identical to the editions found inside the 2011 "Complete" box set.

Artwork information:
Cover photo of anonymous young men photographed by Jurgen Vollmer taken from the 1983 book "Rock'n'Roll Times". A cropped variation of this image was used for the compact disc and cassette formats (except on early Australian cds and the Japanese 2006 LP-replica reissue where the LP artwork was used). View original.

Another photo from the same book, this time of 4 girls, was used for the back of the album. It was chosen by Morrissey because the 4 girls look strangely like the Smiths. An untinted version is also found inside the cd booklet. View original.

The 'inside photo' (same source; view left) appears raw in the cd booklet and faded on each side of the LP's inner sleeve. View original.

Etchings on vinyl:
None.

Additional release date information:
UK: 23/27 February 1987
UK/Europe WEA re-release: 15 November 1993
Australia WEA 1993 re-release: 12 December 1993
Japan WEA 1993 re-release: 10 December 1993
Japan WEA 2006 re-release: 13 September 2006
UK 2012 reissues: 26 March 2012

Chart peak information:
UK: 2
Norway: 17

Certifications:
UK: Gold on 3 March 1987

Promotion:
UK: White label copies of the LP format were sent to radio and record shops for promotion. This sometimes came with a 12" by 24" promo poster.

Argentina: White label copies of the album very likely served promotional purposes.

Australia: The single edition of the LP was promoted with copies with a "sample record not for sale" sticker on the back. The double edition was stamped on the back of the sleeve with a promo warning.

Brazil: Brazil promo LPs were possibly stamped in ink on the labels and stamped in gold on the back on the sleeve. A 4-track promo EP in a pink and red sleeve (WEA #18, 1.118) as well as a 5-track promo EP (200.4001) both featured "Ask" from the album.

France: Copies of the original LP edition were stamped with the promo warning "Disque gratuit interdit à la vente", the words forming an embossed circle in the top right corner of the sleeve.

Germany: A very limited number of white label copies of this LP paired with a press release were used for promotion.

Israel: Promo LPs have a record company sticker affixed on the back.

Italy: Stock copies of the original LP edition were made into promos by being pin-stamped with the words "Campione gratuito" in one corner of the sleeve. "Ask" was included on a 4-track various artists sampler 12" titled "Discoinverno '86/'87 For Dee Jays Only" (CGD INT15276). "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" was included on a 3-track various artists sampler 12" titled "Disco mix 12" Only For Dee Jays" (CGD INT15290).

Japan: Promotion of the original release was done via promo LPs and promo CDS. The former have a red promo sticker on the sleeve and the usual extra 3-character promo text printed on the label while the latter, just like the 1990, 1993 and 1995 reissues, have a promo sticker on the case or obi, and promo text on the cds' inner ring. The promo cds for the 2006 reissue in LP-replica sleeve have a white and red promo sticker on the back of the obi and 'sample loaned' etched on the cd's inner ring.

Quotes

About the album's artwork, to website True To You in early 2006: "The design that I thought best exemplified The Smiths was the LP version of The World Won't Listen, and I was horrified when it was mauled and chopped for the cassette and CD versions which cropped the image to only show the boy with the puffy cheeks. I couldn't understand why the full image wasn't reproduced, and since then it's always been reprinted as the boy with the puffy cheeks."