You can not argue with that review. It is all true. Poor Morrissey, if only the good old days could have lasted.

I find it interesting that many reviewers who should know something about the person they're reviewing...don't. How many times must it be repeated that Morrissey has new material awaiting a record label to release it? I just read that Morrissey will call his new release "Irish Blood, English Heart". I like the title. I would love to see a review on Morrissey with a few new adjectives at least! We read the same words again and again, just different scribes. Sad.
I now go back to listening to "Kill Uncle".
Bye all! Thank you, I love you, goodbye!

It was a daft review from Mulvey posing as a critic. The only thing accurately descriptive of his review, was the picture of Morrissey that he used. Consequently, I set it as wallpaper.

"The Malady Lingers On."

Even if Morrissey does have an album complete, there is no reason to believe that a record company will release it.

Concert numbers do not necessarily translate in to record sales. Look at Neil Diamond (another old loser), he can make millions off of concerts and sells out loads of them, but he can not sell a record to save his life. He is just supported by old fans longing for some connection with the past...the same longing that old Morrissey fans have.

It is time to face up to the sad, hard truth. Morrissey really has lost all trace of any creativity and risk-taking. Morrissey is stuck in the past....while the WORLD marches on without him.

People on this site act as if Morrissey is putting out great records and that the press are being unfairly brutal. Well the truth is Morrissey's most recent releases have been utter rubbish. He should really pack it in before he uses up any credibility he has left (which is not much).

Poor, sad, bitter old fool Morrissey.

Where can we go online to purchase this set? I read the article but I didn't see mention of where to actually get the set. If anyone knows, please let me know.

I hate to break it to you "Morrissey Sucks", but there are LOTS of people who >gasp actually ENJOY Morrissey's more recent records regardless of what the guns-for-hire have to say and despite your declaration that they are "utter rubbish". How dare they?! And, the last Morrissey concert I was at was attended mostly by teenagers, so while it sounds nice to say all Morrissey concert goers are "old fans longing for some connection with the past", it just isn't accurate.
By the way, I have a number of friends who run labels who would LOVE to release Morrissey's new record, who can't contact Morrissey to save their lives. Morrissey/Morrissey's people are damn near impossible to reach. I think if Morrissey's camp tried a little harder they could easily find a label for the new record.

I don't think that Morrissey is a spent force. However, I do agree with some of Mulvey's comments.

C'mon the man should be releasing fantastic stuff instead of the godawful Maladjusted and Southpaw Grammar. I listened to both albums once. I was so disappointed.

I put Bigmouth Strikes Again on the record deck and remember how great The Smiths were and how great Morrissey was. Talent like that doesn't die.

End the obsession with the self and return to the old house.

Morrissey has commented that he tends to live in the past - pasts that are way before his time. He does a smashing job of drawing from those pasts and turning them into something present of which he, and all of us, can enjoy and identify.

M.S.: You say "Poor, sad, bitter old fool Morrissey." No, I don't think so; perhaps you are describing your own jealous self? A person that has as much time on their hands as you appear to have, to then come here (and quite frequently) and criticise our Morrissey...well, you must lead a very tedious life. I would hope I am wrong, and that maybe you volunteer your time to a worthy cause. Your time here is ill-spent!

I think the rewiev on nme.com lacked a lot...The person doing the review, jesus....

Lets just say that good things come to those who wait...Moz most likely has something up his sleeve..

!VIVA MOZZER!

Yes, I'm being ignorant, but I will not change and I WILL NOT be nice...

There's a stink in the air alright, and it lands in our stratosphere courtesy of another rancid review by the nme.
It simply confirms what I and other music lovers already know; the nme is completely out of touch and guilty of having way too much time on their hands.
Who, other than the lowly nme would attempt to debauch the most important singer/songwriter of the late 20th century?
The review was mean spirited and completely ignorant of some of the best music ever created!

Um, to the person talking about record sales as
some indication of artistic worth, I'm sorry that
you're so programmed by the corporate media, such as Entertainment Weekly, to judge things by chart positions.

To the NME reviewer:
First, don't most noteworthy artists have just a few themes they obsess on for their whole career?
Think about it. Check out the 3-CD Johnny Cash thing that just came out. Are you going to attack it for having a "limited range"? What rubbish.
Think of the best artists in any artform, painting to film. Fellini, Scorsese....

Second, you give yourself away when you take that unfair shot about him not being able to release anything new, instead re-releasing old stuff. The fact is, he had a batch of new songs in 1997 - an album and a b-sides EP - and he has an album's worth of new songs ready to go. For Morrissey that's a long time, but that's only because he's way more prolific than the average bands, who NORMALLY wait about 3 years between albums. Now is it Morrissey's fault MErcury got effed up? Lots of artists got screwed up by them.
And as far as old material coming out again...isn't that a credit to Morrissey's worth? That people are still interested? Wouldn't that suggest the songs are better than you let on? Most of the bands NME hypes are forgotten in one year, and then appear on some one hit wonder compilation as a novelty.

Finally, there's something tragic about music journalists who spend most of their time writing baloney about crap such as the Spice Girls (NME called them "punk" once!), and yet they don't know how to handle a more interesting, genuine artistic talent. Sure there are negative things to say about Morrissey's solo years. But you lose your creibility when you're so ridiculously unfair, mean-spirited, and unable to use your brains and ears. Losers. Shall we assemble a compilation of NME reviews over the past 10 years and see how well they stand up? Now that would be amusing.

I'll be the first to admit that this particular singles box set includes some of Morrissey's lesser singles. But I don't think this review will hold up as an accurate assessment of the solo years. Viva Hate up Your Arsenal!

"Consistancy is a last-ditch effort by the creatively lacking". Of course Morrissey's music will not be the same as his Smiths days or even his early solo work. The man wants to write songs that mean something to him, "sing his life" so to speak! If we can identify with him through his songs, great! Those are the songs I typically cling to and enjoy. I would hope that each CD Moz puts out IS different from the last, else would we not become bored? I mean, we're not Brittney Spears or Mariah Carey fans here, are we?! Same old boring lyrics and music.
"Oh one more song, about the queen...".

To Morrissey Sucks: Please tell us WHY the last few albums are "utter rubbish". Some constructive criticism with an air of intelligent thinking might be nice. I'm truly interested in your opinion, as long as it is well thought out and maturely stated. ;)

Sorry folks, but the NME has always been dead-on with the Morrissey/Smiths thing.
They raved about the Smiths and loved Morrissey's first venture as a solo artist. The Suedehead and Everyday is like Sunday singles were "single-of-the-week" for chrissakes.
And true to form, as Morrissey's quality suffered (the horrible ouija board and Kill Uncle cd) the NME told the truth. Then they actually "liked" Your Arsenal, but he had that debacle with the Union Jack which ruined any kind of big comeback.

After the horrible "Southpaw Grammar" and "Maladjusted", I'm not holding my breath on some great new cd.
Then again, some say three's a charm.

I've been a Moz fan for 15 years but that reviewer hit the nail on the head.

The way I see it is, anyone who makes records as long as Morrissey has will have many ups and downs, and certainly will have lost the excitement of being new. The record industry is not set up to allow many artists to last as long as Moz has. But look at the whole body work. Taken as a whole - masterpieces, slumps, and everything in between - what you have is a talented guy who's singing his life...a document of what he feels , observes, believes. Each album a snapshot. Morrissey loves Joni Mitchell, and that's interesting to me, because Joni's body of work is perhaps the most interesting document of a woman's life, experiences and feelings ever in music, and yet she's been out of favor with the critics for many years now. People won't appreciate the value of Mitchell's complete discography TAKEN AS A WHOLE, WARTS AND ALL, until later on. I think the same is true with Moz. He's a cult artist, he's never gonna race up the charts again, but he's in the phase where those who are interested do find a lot of value in continuing to follow what he's up to. And when it's all said and done, when both Morrissey and his critics are long retired or dead, some people will still be exploring this body of work AS A WHOLE because he had the guts to sing his life. People will always find that fascinating.

I hope that made some sense, as it's why I guess I'm not as hard on Morrissey as many of you and many of the critics are. I feel it a priviledge to continue getting Morrissey albums. He hasn;'t had a masterpiece since "Vauxhall & I," but I believe the lesser works of great artists are well worth exploring. I don't expect every Scorsese movie to be a masterpiece, but I sure wouldn't miss a single one of them, because they all have evidence of his special talents on them.

I have a few comments to make:

You can fool some people all of the time

you can suffer fools some of the time

you can even fool ALL the people ALL of the time

but you can never kid yourself..........
Morrissey is finished,he was finished here in england the moment he flirted with racism,AND, before you all start dredging up some old interview in some brazillian jazz mag,where he "almost" answered the accusation believably YOU KNOW HES NEVER REALLY DENIED IT!!!The truth IS hard,i grew up with the smiths,i followed them on tours etc etc,they were(and still are)the most important thing in my life,but slowly and surely Morrissey has corroded away every nuance of genius he ever had.The real point is most americans haven't grown up with the race riots in the late 70sin London, names like southall,birmingham mean nothing(they have thier own names of shame-"sharpsville","memphis"),the skinhead culture and National front seems a million miles away in "quaint lil england"so far away in fact that you all try and block out the nagging little voice in the back of your mind when you sing along with "life is hard enough when you belong here"(and you all have that,lets face it)and you all conclude "no,he wouldnt,couldnt,MEAN it, hes being very clever"-dont understand it though do you?,doesnt sit well that one does it?(along with NF disco,England for the english,etc etc) Morrisseys skill with words was epic in the 80s,"the queen is dead" was the most outragous,hilarious and truely shocking titles EVER-and he got away with it,tounge in cheek his voice said things most people would have tried not to even think about.The national front and skinhead culture is something that no-one can even look at sideways,not even morrissey,theres no toungue in cheek,theres no excuse,it makes no sense.That is why Morrissey screwed himself in this country,for him to blame the NME for it!!!well,flak from the BBC,radio 1,Capital radio,all network t.v,The tabloid press-all those british music,and media institutions could'nt stop the smiths by giving them no airtime on radio,backlashing them Inventing relationships with lyrics and child abuse etc-BUT they still sold records,charted high and enjoyed a massive live following regardless.Years down the line and Suddenly the little old NME questions his motives,and they have "ruined his career",turn the country against him and,and he flees to the states where they accept his art????!!!!!THINK ABOUT IT.the idiots who call themselves names like "skinstorm" "Nf" and all the other skinhead related "handles" that they choose should do some research,trace it back,understand what the culture meant-I know that if anyone in the usa wrote songs about the KKK and flirted with the imagary of the burning cross,and came here, youde be horrified at our ignorance,THINK ABOUT IT-its the exact same taboo and shamefull history as we're talking about,and if they still can kid themselves.........well hes in the right place ,and you can have him.

Please, grow up, you Morrissey criticizers! He may have some ongoing themes in his music, but in my opinion he re-invents them brilliantly. Maladjusted is a very solid album - perhaps one of Morrissey's most emotive works yet. Southpaw is ingenious and shows how eclectic his voice and songwriting are. I'm sure whatever is in (or yet to be) in the works will be brilliant as well. As for the box set, it's a nice, rare glimpse into an important transitional period between the Smiths and Morrissey's solo career. Enough said.

How many cliches can you squeeze into one review? Wouldn't it be nice if the NME could find something different to say about Moz? But they can't, of course. They have nothing of interest to say. Sad really. But the NME stopped being remotely relevant a long time ago. I thought the Mojo review was a far more intelligent piece of journalism...

While it is true that Morrissey's last two efforts, for the most part, lacked the pananche that his first three albums exuded, I can't truly agree with other posters who claim he is in a permanent decline. I do find that Maladjusted was a great improvement on the embarassment that was Southpaw Grammar ("The Teachers..." was the only bright spot amongst the otherwise bland tracklistings). I really enjoy the title track, "Trouble Loves Me", "Ambitious Outsiders" and "Sorrow Will Come in The End". These songs give me hope that one day soon Morrissey can create a well-received album that is evenly dispensed with potential classics in the tradition of "Suedehead" or "Playboys".

I thought this was supposed to be a review of his singles work from '88-'91 and NOT his entire career. If they had done that, there would not have been a need to complain about his "Rocabilly" output as there really wasn't really any in that singles selection.

But I guess when they come out with a career retrospective, NME will be focusing on 1992.....still.

You kind of remind me of the nutty Aunt who keeps going on and on about what her ex-husband did to her when he left her a decade ago, and everyone is tired of hearing about it.

And yes, we were all counting the moments until the internet was created....but whoppee, you've know it for eons and that information is of no use to you either way.

I just listened to the CD My Early Buggery Years. Now I'd have to say the NME Review would be a perfect fit for that release as well.

What a bunch a crap. A few songs we've already heard and a bunch of rejects picked up off the floor.

I don't care what anyone says about Moz being antiquated. I can still listen to Viva Hate or really any of his albums over and over again and the sound is still fresh. His voice is just awesome, and until any of you critics can manage to do such a perfect vibrato, there should be no criticism from anyone. Yeah. Cool.
~~~Debonair

Having read this bitter nasty attemp at wit, and the subsequent comments, I have to ask this question.

If you don't like Morrissey, hate his recent albums, and have nothing interesting to say, why do you come here?

i will honestly be surprised the day i see an absolutely unbiast opinion come off the pages of nme about morrissey....therefore their credibility is zero.

LOOK AT THIS BULLSHIT-this is the infuence of the great morrisseys lyrical vaugeness-defend it now you bunch of idiots,heres your evidence,heres what youre associating yourself with.
End Of the Debate

I had to sit and stare at this notice for ages before i could believe my eyes.Why is this fascist bollocks on here,and why is there only one objection to it?what the hell is happening to this site?