February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc900/c984/c984595stl9.jpg Maladjusted (Aug 12, 1997) 3 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine In theory, Maladjusted should have been a readjustment to standard indie rock territory for Morrissey after the prog rock detour of Southpaw Grammar, but Morrissey isn't that simple. From the opening title track, with its menacing, swirling paranoia, it's clear that Maladjusted isn't a simple return to form. That isn't to say that the album is devoid of the jangly, maudlin pop songs that are Morrissey's trademark — in fact, the lead single, "Alma Matters," is a quietly catchy tune that ranks as vintage Morrissey. Nevertheless, it's a little misleading, because Maladjusted isn't strictly by the book. Morrissey has incorporated his newfound fascination with prog rock into his trademark sound much better than he did on Southpaw Grammar, as the lumbering beat of "Papa Jack" and sawing strings of "Ambitious Outsiders" illustrate, but that fascination signals how insular Morrissey's world has become. Things are rarely more insular — or weirder — than "Sorrow Will Come in the End," a spoken word, neo-classical rant about his loss to Mike Joyce in a Smiths royalty suit (the song was pulled from the British version of the album, due to legal reasons), but "Roy's Keen," an ode to a keen window cleaner, isn't far behind. The remainder of the album — particularly the lovely "Wide to Receive," "He Cried," and "Trouble Loves Me" — may be similarly self-obsessed, yet the music is warm and welcoming, thanks to strong craftsmanship and fine performances. They're charming songs, but they're subtle charms, offering the kind of pleasures only longtime Morrissey followers will find irresistible.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg300/g334/g33413oyoc1.jpg You Are the Quarry (May 18, 2004) 4 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine At his core, Morrissey has always been conservative — not in his politics, of course, but in how he romanticizes the past and plays by the rules of a different time. His passions, whether it's the New York Dolls or '60s British cinema, exist out of time, and he's gone to great lengths to ensure that his music also can't be pinned to a particular era, which means all his solo albums share similar musical and theatrical traits, and they're subject to the whims of fashion. In the years following the Smiths, he could rarely set a foot wrong, but sometime after releasing his best solo album, Your Arsenal, in 1992, the British music press turned on him and he was not much better than a pariah during the mid-'90s heyday of Brit-pop, the very time that he should have been celebrated as one of the great figures of British pop music, particularly since the Smiths inspired every band of note, from Suede and Blur to Oasis and Pulp. By the time he released Maladjusted in the summer of 1997, he was a forgotten legend, not even given approval of his album art, and instead of cranking out records to the diehards, he chose to move to Los Angeles and wait out the storm. He stayed quiet for seven years. During that time, fashions changed again, as they're prone to do, as Brit-pop turned toward the sullen art rock of Radiohead and Coldplay, the mainstream filled up with teen pop, and American rock music was either stuck in the death throes of grunge and punk-pop or in emo's heart-on-sleeve caterwauling, which owed no little debt to Mozzer's grandly theatric introspection in the Smiths. Instead of being seen as a has-been, as he had been in the latter half of the '90s, Morrissey was seen as a giant, name checked by artists as diverse as Ryan Adams and OutKast, so the time was ripe for a comeback. But Morrissey had waited long enough to do it on his terms, rejecting major labels for Sanctuary (on the condition that they revive the reggae imprint Attack Records) and recording You Are the Quarry with his longtime touring band, with producer Jerry Finn, best-known for his work with neo-punk bands blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day. Finn's presence suggests that Morrissey might be changing or modernizing his sound, designing a large-scale comeback, but that runs contrary to his character. Apart from some subtleties — the glam on Your Arsenal, the gentleness on Vauxhall and I, the prog rock on Southpaw Grammar — he's worked the same territory ever since Viva Hate, and there's no reason for him to change now. And he doesn't. There are no surprises on You Are the Quarry. It delivers all the trademark wit, pathos, and surging mid-tempo guitar anthems that have been his stock-in-trade since the beginning of his solo career. It's not so much a return to form as it is a simple return, Morrissey picking up where he left off with Maladjusted, improving on that likeable album with a stronger set of songs and more muscular music (even if no single is as indelible as "Alma Matters"). If You Are the Quarry had been delivered in 1999, it would have been written off as more of the same, but since it's coming out at the end of a seven-year itch, he's back in fashion, so its reception is very warm. Frankly, it's nice to have his reputation restored, but that oversells the album, suggesting that it's either a breakthrough or a comeback when it's neither. It's merely a very good Morrissey album, living up to his legacy without expanding it greatly. But after such a long wait, that's more than enough.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g700/g70024js8yd.jpg Live at Earls Court (Mar 29, 2005) 4.5 Stars Review by Matt Collar Live at Earls Court finds British rock icon Morrissey and his band performing in London at the end of the You Are the Quarry tour. Not to be confused with the DVD Who Put the "M" in Manchester? recorded at the beginning of the tour in May, Live at Earls Court is a completely different concert from December 2004 and features a vastly different set list. While past live Morrissey albums such as Beethoven Was Deaf featured the singer's penchant for beautifully ragged ersatz rockabilly, Earls Court showcases the more polished group sound developed out of the You Are the Quarry sessions, which isn't to say that Morrissey has lost his edge. On the contrary — such songs as "I Have Forgiven Jesus" and "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" prove that his legendary wit and sardonic tongue are fully intact and as sharp as ever. Similarly, his burnished baritone vocals have arguably never sounded better and the lush, muscular band arrangements frame him with a glam regality befitting his late-career resurgence. Although newer songs off You Are the Quarry are the focus, longtime Moz fans will be delighted at the amount of Smiths songs included here. In fact, the mix of the old, the new, and the unexpected — he also performs some rare B-sides — makes Live at Earls Court one of the most successful albums of Morrissey's career.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh200/h237/h23711sehi4.jpg Ringleader of the Tormentors (Apr 4, 2006) 3 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Few comebacks are ever as expertly executed as Morrissey's 2004 return to the stage, You Are the Quarry. It may have not sold gangbusters but it was certainly a hit, proving that he still had legions of devoted fans who would follow through hell and high water (or at the very least, seven years between albums), and earned his best reviews in years, elevating him to the status of well-respected elder statesman. It also gave him the opportunity to return to regular record-making, an opportunity that he seizes with Quarry's quickly delivered sequel, 2006's Ringleader of the Tormentors. Despite its near-genius title, perfect artwork, and pedigree — instead of working with modern punk producer Jerry Finn as he did last time around, Moz has hired the legendary Tony Visconti, best known for his work with T. Rex and David Bowie, and even has the iconic Ennio Morricone provide orchestration for the epic "Dear God Please Help Me" — Ringleader of the Tormentors is about as close to standard-issue Morrissey as it gets. There's always been a certain similarity to his work, particularly on his solo recordings, but each of his records either had a distinct sonic or aesthetic point of view or, at the very least, was graced by a handful of songs distinguished by a particularly sharp turn of phrase, whether it was lyrical or musical. It would seem that Ringleader has all the elements of being a cut above an average Morrissey LP, since not only are his collaborators storied themselves, but it's supported by a press campaign where the once celibate, often miserable singer has declared that he's abandoned L.A. for Rome, where he is living happily and living in love. All of these elements seem to be the core ingredients for a classic Morrissey record, but there is little about Ringleader that's distinctive: whether it's the standard-issue single "You Have Killed Me" or the grinding seven-minute art rock centerpiece "Life Is a Pigsty," each tune has an all-too-clear antecedent elsewhere in Moz's catalog. Again, since Morrissey often works within a strict formula, this familiarity isn't necessarily bad, but the songs lack memorable moments. Not to say that there aren't highlights — the dirgeful opener, "I Will See You in Far Off Places," is dreamily evocative, "In the Future When All Is Well" and "On the Streets I Ran" are nicely propulsive — but there is nothing noteworthy or fresh here besides Morrissey's new tendency toward blunt words. He writes candidly about his personal life on this record in a way that he never has before — he implicitly outs himself on "Dear God Please Help Me" — and while this outburst of frank emotion may add some resonance to his declarations of love and rebirth, his words are clunky, lacking his trademark elegant wit ("I see the world, it makes me puke" and "there are explosive kegs between my legs" are a long way from "Why pamper life's complexity/When the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?"). That is also true of the very sound of Ringleader of the Tormentors, which is just a shade too slick and sequenced, veering too close to comfort to the overly glossy '80s productions Morrissey routinely denounced during his days with the Smiths. These are subtle flaws, something that only the Morrissey diehard can dig out, but that's pretty much the only kind of fan Morrissey has in 2006. And since these flaws are not enough to derail the record, just enough to annoy, it's easy to enjoy Ringleader of the Tormentors as merely an everyday Morrissey record, but it's hard not to shake the suspicion that this album is the closest he's ever been to forgettable.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f595/f59546lw81f.jpg Bona Drag (Oct 8, 1990) 4.5 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine As he was toiling on Kill Uncle, Morrissey released Bona Drag, a compilation of singles and B-sides, including "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and "Suedehead" from Viva Hate. While the record conveniently overlooks some rarities, the selections on Bona Drag are uniformly first-rate and many of the songs — "Picadilly Palare," "Interesting Drug," "November Spawned a Monster," "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," "Lucky Lisp," "Disappointed," "He Knows I'd Love to See Him," and "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" — are Morrissey classics, arguably making Bona Drag a more consistent and entertaining record than Viva Hate.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f646/f64652oaond.jpg World of Morrissey (Feb 21, 1995) 2.5 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Released to coincide with Morrissey's brief winter tour of England in 1995, World of Morrissey follows none of the accepted rules for compilations. It's not a hits collection, nor is it a best-of — the disc is filled with album cuts, live tracks, a couple of B-sides and a new single, all of which dedicated Morrissey fans already own. However, the choice of songs does mean something — the choice of the vaguely threatening "Spring-Heeled Jim" over "Now My Heart Is Full" and the sad "Billy Budd" over "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" makes the calm Vauxhall and I seem darker than it is. But that melancholy is cut by the sly taunt of "Have-a-Go Merchant" and the perennial "Last of the Famous International Playboys," as well as a long, bizarre crawl through "Moon River." Only hardcore fans will notice such subtle matters as running orders; for them, World of Morrissey is a mix tape.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd700/d730/d7304679jab.jpg Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey (Sep 8, 1997) 4.5 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Morrissey has always favored compilations, releasing such hodgepodges of singles, B-sides, and album tracks as Bona Drag and World of Morrissey, but the 19-track Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey is the first official "hits" collection he has released in his solo career. Spanning his years at EMI — from 1988's Viva Hate to 1994's Vauxhall and I, with the 1995 single "Sunny" added as a bonus — Suedehead is an imperfect collection, especially since it's sequenced out of chronological order, but it's pretty great all the same, featuring a basic selection of singles such as "Suedehead," "Everyday Is Like Sunday," "Tomorrow," "Interesting Drug," "Our Frank," "Piccadilly Palare," "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful," "The Last of the Famous International Playboys," "Boxers," and "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get." There's also a handful of rarities, such as the extended version of "Interlude" and his cover of the Jam's "That's Entertainment," but at its core, this disc is a solid collection that may convince skeptics that Morrissey's solo records did indeed have a lot to offer.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd600/d677/d67766ey609.jpg My Early Burglary Years (Sep 15, 1998) 3 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine Possibly left without a record contract, working without a manager, living in self-imposed exile, Morrissey returned to what he knew best in the fall of 1998 — recycling his own material. My Early Burglary Years was released under the pretense of offering American-audiences songs, such as "Sunny," previously unavailable on U.S. shores — which is kind of ridiculous, since anyone still buying Morrissey records in 1998 likely buys every single, regardless of their country of origin. That leaves My Early Burglary Years as another odd collection of rarities, singles, and album tracks. There are undoubtedly some fans who haven't bought every single, but this disc won't necessarily help them, since the rarities are mixed in with familiar material. That said, My Early Burglary Years is a better bit for lapsed collectors looking to pick up some rare songs than World of Morrissey, since it has such non-LP items as the entire "Sunny" single and "Cosmic Dancer" (which is a previously released version, contrary to the cover sticker's claims) that have never appeared on a comp or as bonus tracks. It's not quite enough to excuse the repeat appearances of the seemingly ubiquitous "Sister I'm a Poet" and "Jack the Ripper" (as well as album tracks from Southpaw Grammar), or the lack of a comprehensive B-sides and rarities collection, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
February 8, 200718 yr Author http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf000/f023/f02304k8oly.jpg The Best of Morrissey (Nov 6, 2001) 4.5 Stars Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine As any Mozzer fan knows, his catalog is cluttered with compilations — some good, some middling, many unnecessary. So, why the need for Rhino's 2001 collection The Best of Morrissey? Well, according to the press release, it's because there is no Morrissey hits collection available in the U.S., which is technically true, but compilations like Bona Drag, World of Morrissey, and My Early Burglary Years have certainly been on the American market (the catch is they're not hits compilations; actually, I have no idea what they are, since they're always album tracks, singles, and B-sides, playing like your resident Morrissey fanatic's favorite mix tape). This, however, is a genuine hits collection, attempting to gather the best of the EMI/Parlophone years and his tour of U.K. major labels (most of which were released on Sire/Warner in the U.S.). There are singles missing here, but they're by and large minor hits and personal favorites (Southpaw Grammar gets slighted, with no "Dagenham Dave" or "Boyracer"), and nearly every iconic Morrissey song is here. They might not be in chronological order, but they're present and accounted for, and it flows nicely, proving that Morrissey could always deliver gems, from "Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday," through "Tomorrow," "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday," and "The More You Ignore Me the Closer I Get," to the brilliant, underappreciated "Alma Matters." So, this very well may be the Morrissey album for those who don't need every Morrissey album — but since this is a Morrissey compilation, it does have one piece of bait for collectors, the final Island single, "Lost," from 1998, which I can't even remember coming out and I collect these things. And you know what — I really wouldn't want Morrissey any other way (which is why us Morrissey fans are considered a sado-masochistic lot, I guess).
March 28, 200718 yr Hmm... to be honest, I though 'Ringleader...' was really good, arguably as good as You Are The Quarry :huh: Oh well, each to his own :)
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