What album are you listening to?

I'd like to see Moz collaborate again with Steve Lillywhite.

Yep, I'm one of those whose favourite solo Morrissey album is Southpaw Grammar.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I think it might grow on you, Loomster. I'm the opposite about Electronic. Considering the legends involved, I've always felt it was less than the some of its parts. Very underwhelming - especially Getting Away With It.

Admittedly, there are a couple of throwaway tracks, such as the Pet Shop Boys collaboration "The Patience of a Saint", which is pleasant and quite amusing but hardly essential. On the whole, though, the album is excellent ("Get the Message" is stunning, especially in its full-length version). Mind you, there's a case to be made that Electronic's second album, Raise the Pressure, is even better (I'm not at all keen on their third and final LP, Twisted Tenderness, though).

I hope that The Messenger does grow on me. As I say, I want to like it. There's undeniably some great guitar work on here (e.g. "The Messenger" and "European Me", which reminds me very much of The Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train" - what's with the late 1970s/early 1980s throwback feel of this album?), but, for the moment, that's about all that's jumping out at me. The bass and drums have made no impression on me, and as for the lyrics and vocals.... I need more than some excellent guitar playing. But who knows? Perhaps I'll find it. I'll give this album a bit more time.

Lazenby. wrote:

As a lifelong fan, I can honestly say I'd never want Moz and Marr to reunite... it just wouldn't be the same.

True, but it could still be good. And even if they didn't write any new material I'd still love them to perform live together (with or without the other Smiths). Both of them can still cut it onstage, and both play Smiths songs in their solo set, so it's no absurd leap of the imagination to suppose that they might still excel at doing at the same time what they continue to do extremely well separately. And if Led Zeppelin and The Stone Roses can still put on a great show, I have every faith that Moz and Marr could do likewise.

As for Morrissey's solo albums, I'd nominate Viva Hate as his best, although the compilation Bona Drag is probably the finest CD he ever put out - you've pretty much got all the solo Moz you really need right there.

I love Bona Drag, but the best of solo Mox doesn't end in 1990.

Exemplary taste sir Brown! The Stones answer the punk threat, with this stripped down masterpiece. The badboys of rock are both loud and lewd here. Love the sass lyrics, especially Respectable, Some Girls, Shattered and Miss You. Whip Comes Down was written to schock. Not for the pc. So was Some Girls for that matter.
Thats the banned cover. The celebrity "some girls" protested their likenesses being used in such a way.
Lucille Ball should be thrilled the Stones would even acknowledge her. After all, the album is called Some Girls because the band "couldn't remember any of their names"
I have this original album cover btw. One of my prized collectables.

Control wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

I'd like to see Moz collaborate again with Steve Lillywhite.

Yep, I'm one of those whose favourite solo Morrissey album is Southpaw Grammar.

Seriously? Even as a diehard who'll defend the majority of his work to a large extent, 95-97 is by far his low point, IMO. Made all the worse by the fact that the Britpop era was when he should have really flourished, given the amount of acts around at the time (Suede, Pulp, Blur etc) who owed Moz and The Smiths a huge debt. Bizarrely, Paul Weller was the one the Britpop crowd looked up to, while Moz put out two albums which by and large nobody was interested in. At least a third of Southpaw and at least half of Maladjusted consists of material way, way beneath his best.

In response to Loomis, IMO Bona Drag was a great missed opportunity, because if he'd saved that great material instead of putting it all out previously as b-sides, then there's a fantastic Viva Hate follow-up there once you obviously remove Suedehead and Sunday (which are of course tracks from Viva). I consider Viva and Bona to be Moz's "Smiths extension" albums, in that this is clearly still the same Moz who put out Strangeways with The Smiths, and of course Strangeways producer Stephen Street was on board for quite a bit of this material. But, with the very poor Kill Uncle album which followed, that era's well ran dry, though thankfully his part-rockabilly switch re-energised his next effort, Your Arsenal to a decent extent, followed by the very consistent and disciplined Vauxhall And I. I still think he followed up Vauxhall too quickly, to be honest. It was released to massive acclaim, but Moz was surely pissed off that the sales didn't reflect that acclaim. There was a wagon of acclaim and a burgeoning Britpop wagon to be jumped on (which explained the utterly pointless World Of Morrissey compilation being released in early 95), and that's why I think Moz put out a clearly unfinished record with Southpaw. Southpaw starts great, with the epic opener and the "come and have a go" tone continuing through the next few tracks, but it loses it's way with that stupid, pointless, tiresome neverending drum solo halfway through the album, followed by a few really average tracks and then an uninspired and pointlessly overlong closing track which, like the aforementioned drum solo, just feels like padding to try and draw out what is ultimately an unfinished and insufficient eight-track album.

Agreed with most of that. Of course, You Are the Quarry was quite a return to form, critically and commercially. And I like that album quite a bit. I'm not especially keen on Ringleader of the Tormentors or Years of Refusal, though.

Well, I changed my mind about buying The Messenger and picked up a copy from my local HMV - thanks to the price-slashing I only paid £7.99.

Surprise surprise, having now invested money in it this album is growing on me. I particularly like "Say Demesne", which - bizarrely - sounds like Morrissey fronting New Order during their early gothic period after a day spent listening to "Kashmir". Odd how Marr's voice sometimes sounds a lot like Moz's (if only there were a similar similarity between the two men's lyrics) - see also "The Right Thing Right".

Listening to this only brings home how piss poor THE NEXT DAY is in the wider scheme of Bowie. Also nice to hear a Bowie record that sounds contemporary.and somewhat relevant

I'd take Sunday, Slip Away or Heathen (The Rays) alone over the whole of The Next Day.

In comparing these two albums, The Next Day is the equivalent of listening to tracks 5 and 6 of Heathen on repeat 5 times over. That's the only point at which these two albums become comparable.

Loomis wrote:

You Are the Quarry was quite a return to form, critically and commercially. And I like that album quite a bit. I'm not especially keen on Ringleader of the Tormentors or Years of Refusal, though.

Try these alternate running orders for Tormentors and Refusal:

TORMENTORS:

I WILL SEE YOU IN FAR OFF PLACES
YOU HAVE KILLED ME
THE FATHER WHO MUST BE KILLED
TO ME YOU ARE A WORK OF ART
DEAR GOD PLEASE HELP ME

IN THE FUTURE WHEN ALL'S WELL
LIFE IS A PIGSTY
ON THE STREETS I RAN
I'LL NEVER BE ANYBODY'S HERO NOW
AT LAST I AM BORN

The above omits two of the awfully half-arsed filler tracks (incredibly both released as singles, what was he thinking? No wonder both of them bombed) and tightens the whole thing up into a far more structured and balanced five-a-side album. It's still comfortably my least favourite of his last three albums though, and even the presence of Visconti and Morricone can't change that.


REFUSAL:

SOMETHING IS SQUEEZING MY SKULL
MAMA LAY SOFTLY ON THE RIVERBED
BLACK CLOUD
I'M THROWING MY ARMS AROUND PARIS
WHEN LAST I SPOKE TO CAROL

SORRY DOESN'T HELP
IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY ANYMORE
YOU WERE GOOD IN YOUR TIME
ONE DAY GOODBYE WILL BE FAREWELL
I'M OKAY BY MYSELF

Again, the above tightens the album up into a more structured five-a-side affair, and completely cuts out the distracting fat dumped on the album through Moz including two singles on it which were already tired through being over a year old, not to mention that neither of those tracks fit comfortably at all anywhere on the album, especially with All You Need Is Me being a blatant closing track dumped onto an album which already clearly has a definitive closing track. I like Refusal quite a bit in this running order, and think that if producer Jerry Finn hadn't died then this album could have become the equal of Quarry. But there's still a classic Moz spite and venom to this album in quite a few places, and I love so many of the track titles, it's Moz on overdrive hammering home and taking the piss out of his "morbid and miserable" tag. Just look at all five of those titles in the second half.

I actually dug out some of my old Moz CDs yesterday that I hadn't listened to in years. I was surprised to find Tormentors much better than I'd remembered, at least on the strength of "I Will See You....", "Life Is a Pigsty" (both of which seem shockingly innovative musically, at least by Moz's ultraconservative standards) and "You Have Killed Me" (any song that namechecks Fellini, Pasolini and Visconti is okay by me - amusingly, it was also produced by a chap named Visconti). I also had a listen to Live at Earl's Court, which gets a thumbs-up for starting with "How Soon Is Now?".

However, right now I'm more intrigued by Morrissey's autobiography than I am by the prospect of new music from him.

Loomis wrote:

However, right now I'm more intrigued by Morrissey's autobiography than I am by the prospect of new music from him.

When's that coming out?

No idea. But here's a recent article about it:

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2013/01/7212130/morrissey-signals-fans-his-autobiography-coming-whos-publishing-it

I also seem to recall reading a few months (or maybe even a couple of years) ago that Moz already has a completed new album in the can but is waiting to sign with a new label before releasing it - maybe Laz can throw some more light on this.

He's apparently had an album ready ever since he played Glasto nearly two years ago. He's just being his usual stubborn self over a record deal.

THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE -- JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

I haven't been as enamored with this guy as seemingly the rest of America over the years but this album is a damn fine listen. Nice mix of Tennessee soul and pop. Also really digging that most of the tracks are seven- to- eight minutes long, giving each plenty of time to breathe and gestate. And kudos to Timbaland for producing this -- a much more well-rounded album sonically than anything else I can recall with his name on it.

My favourite sleaze bag with his best album, Histoire de Melody Nelson. Though his chatshow encounter with Catherine Ringer is another classic.

Erica Ambler wrote:

My favourite sleaze bag with his best album, Histoire de Melody Nelson. Though his chatshow encounter with Catherine Ringer is another classic.

Some consider this the sexiest album ever made.

Salomé wrote:

Some consider this the sexiest album ever made.

No self-respecting music collection is without it, that's for sure. Serge taught Air all they know.

Moving on, Gen X's Kiss Me Deadly is their forgotten album, but contains the original Dancing with Myself with the legendary Pistol Steve Jones on lead. Fantastic. Don't think that cover art would pass without comment these days, though ...

Fat of the Land 15th Anniversary 2CD edition - Prodigy

Currently listening to The Stranglers' Aural Sculpture. Finally got some of their balls back.

Bark Psychosis - Hex



One of my favourite albums of the 90s. Utterly ublime.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Moving on, Gen X's Kiss Me Deadly is their forgotten album, but contains the original Dancing with Myself with the legendary Pistol Steve Jones on lead. Fantastic. Don't think that cover art would pass without comment these days, though ...

No I don't think the art would. That's a great little find. Well aware of Gen X and Idol, but wasn't aware of the presence of Pistol Jones. Must pick that up, I try to grab anything I can find featuring the legendary Pistols guitarist.
A somewhat obscure Jones project was this one, Neurotic Outsiders (the title drawn from a name that punks were often called). Circa 1996. Jones formed the group with Duran's John Taylor and Gunners Duff McKagan (who has punk roots) and Matt Sorum

Neurotic Outsiders Live. L to R. McKagan, Jones and Taylor.

Primal Scream - More Light.

Unexpectedly excellent, indeed by far the Scream's best album since 1991's Screamadelica (although that's perhaps not saying all that much). David Holmes' production is superb.

I'm going to give it a listen, though admittedly I was put off by this review:

http://musicfeeds.com.au/album/primal-scream-more-light/