I'm only the third person to vote...went for Vauxhall incidentally.

Good poll!

5th person to vote (for Strangeways) but where is Bona Drag? That would win hands down!

i voted - kill uncle, he was piloting the bloody plane............. ;-))

I think the poll question really is: what is your favourite Moz/Smiths album? and we've had this poll already.
It would have been a more interesting poll if Hatful of Hollow, Louder Than Bombs or Bona Drag had been included. Now the poll is already decided after 16 votes:
TQID will win it, Vauxhall will be 2nd, Strangeways 3rd and Meat,Smiths,Viva and YA will battle it out for 4th place.

I don't think that this is the same as 'what is your favourite album?' - think about it hard; you've got one album to listen to repeatedly.

IMHO, this is a bit like choosing your favourite food vs if you had to eat one food repeatedly - it's not the same thing is it?

I think that TQID is an obvious choice but is it the best choice in relation to this poll? I think that, of The Smiths albums, Meat is Murder would stand more repeated listens as it has such an array of musical styles within the tracklisting.

Just my twopenn'orth.

P.S. I always think it's harsh to count Hatful of Hollow as a compilation album (although I accept it kind of is). And yes, that's cos I would have chosen it without a moment's hesitation if it were a poll option. A truly underated, wonderful album.

I was torn between The Smiths and Strangeways, then I thought of the fact that I Know It's Over is on TQID, and imagined myself lying there, dying in the baking sun, whispering Mother, I can feel the sand falling over my head.
In the end, it had to be Strangeways, just because it's my favourite album of all time.
But, damn this pesky poll ... couldn't I just take Moz with me? He could sing his life's work.
Mind you, when he comes to the line in Pretty Girls Make Graves, I'd certainly be giving in to lust upon the sand.

your favourite album, Smith or solo'?

Isn't it obvious that it will be the Queen is Dead from all the previous countless polls we've had?
Talk about doing something to death...

because every live album that morrissey or the smiths or anyone has made (including peter frampton) has absolutely sucked and is a rip off to get more money from us

the home crowd is as follows:

The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils
The Operation
Boxers
Best Friend on the Payroll
Jack the Ripper
I'd Love To
Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice
Maladjusted
Southpaw

it's perfect ... if only Morrissey used me to compile his albums

broken

Alsatian Cousin
Little Man
Everyday is like Sunday
Michael's Bones
TLOTFIPBs
Angel
Late Night Maudlin Street
The Ordinary Boys
November Spawned a Monster
Suedehead
Disappointed

broken

some people have voted for Maladjusted ... or even Southpaw grammar

Wow. 264th to vote..... judging by earlier posts I suspect some people would be impressed collecting tickets from the queue at Tesco's cheese counter.

As much as I like Moz and The Smiths, I can't ever imagine being marooned on a desert Island with only Kill Uncle to keep me entertained.

on a desert island i would not want to risk getting sick of "The Smiths" or "Vauxhal and I" so I went for "Southpaw Grammar" because I listen to that one the least, there's logic there somewhere

Is it possible for me to take Morrissey with me instead? Just think of the possibilities! Being stranded on a deserted island never sounded so good.

What, no Hatful Of Hollow? That would have been my choice.

I went for 'The Smiths' because being stranded on a desert island would mean a pretty back-to-basics attitude to life. It's also the best Smiths album in my opinion.

I was tempted by Your Arsenal purely because 'Seasick, Yet Still Docked' might have come in handy but then 'Tomorrow' might start to grate after a few years sat on the sand.

because speedway will forever have a special place in my heart.
"I could have mentioned your name,I could have dragged you in,guilt by implication,by association,I've always been true to you,in my own strange way,I've always been true to you,in my own sick way,I'll always stay true to you."
                Absolutely amazing!

I love them all but if I had to choose it would be either The Smiths or the Vauxhall and I .

It is such a difficult question since so much of their work is truly indispensible. But left with only one album I would have to go with The Smith's best, most dourly gorgeous farewell: STRANGEWAYS, HERE WE COME. I think that it is the most seminal Smiths album in it's death-drenched subject matter, experimental yet comforting musicality, and lyrical genius. A close second would be THE QUEEN IS DEAD or VAUXHALL & I... I just feel like the utter despondance felt when stranded on a desert island could find greater solace in STRANGEWAYS HERE WE COME, an album which trembles on the edge of existence -- there is hope but more prevalent, a feeling of finality.

But I'll go with Southpaw Grammar, Morrissey's best ever solo album.

No World Won't Listen! Or Hatful of Hollow!

Katie

Personally I'd go for Rank. I listened to that album and it just blew me away. The power, the emotion,the energy. It stands as a testament to everything I love about Moz and it has one of the most tongue-in-cheek titles of all. Marr's on top form too. I could happily listen to that ad infinitum.

I wish that Louder than Bombs was counted more as an album. If you took off about 10 songs that appeared on other albums,you still have 12 or so of their best songs. This is the one I listen to the most,and the one that defines the Smiths at their song writing peak, as well as showing their astonishing diversity.

Oh well, i voted Vauxhall & I which was a close decision with The queen is dead.

- Man of Vision

I'd be alright, though, as long as I can hear his voice. Oh, and I've got a massive supply of batteries of course...

I have never understood why this album was so much maligned. From a strictly content perspective it's still the best collection of his career.
Having said that, it should really include "Handsome Devil" and "Wonderful Woman"
and you have to have the Sire version that includes "This Charming Man".

-The Treading Lemming

"upon the sand, upon the bay....."

... Because if it's the Deluxe edition, then it has more tracks than the others.

I went for Vauxhall only because I think it is the only album I can listen to end to end without a single bad song on it. No skippers a I like to say. Although on an unrelated note I think I might rather have a different artists album altogether if I were in such a position. Nick Cave maybe. Sorry.

I voted for Southpaw I like it ...still. I think TQID is very overated there are some moments of mediocrity on that album. and some absolute gems too but song for song I think Southpaw is a far better and consistent record, and Morrissey isn't on the sleeve as per most of his solo work!

And the queen is dead will win-
But.. I just cant seem to get sick of
You are the quarry ~
supersize it with the deluxe edition
and ill survive

It's hard to pick but I'd have to go with Stangeways. It isn't his/their best but it's the one that started it all for me and I rememeber high school whenever I listen to it.
texasbloke

I choose Viva Hate

TQID is too cynical and angry and glib to be all alone on a desert island with.

Vauxhall has that air of resignation that would be more comforting I think.

1) Lumping The Smiths and Morrissey together.

2) Snobbishly ignoring 'non-studio' albums.

FACT- best Smiths album to be stuck on a desert island with would obviously be "Hatful of Hollow". ...prick.

...would have to be "Your Arsenal". It is the best one (IMHO) to listen through straight through and its got some great songs on it!

How ironic would it be to be there on the island, losing weight and practically starving on a diet of coconuts and listening to "You're the one for me, Fatty." That would be hysterical!

Ok, I'm just being silly now. :)

Being someone who generally matches music listening choice to mood, “Maladjusted” would be the most likely candidate to help me while away the uncertain days on a desert island, without in any way trying to tempt fate!

Adjustment could be difficult amidst nostalgic reflections, in whole or in part, on Alma Mat(er), and maybe even, in such dire straits, about Papa Jack. What better evidence of trouble loving me, or that even Satan rejected my soul?! In sore need I would know why he, whoever he is, cried. And, wondering then, well what could peace of mind be like, I think gradually that that would be my ammunition, along with fond recollections of the ritual mass events of my past society, including the type about which Roy’s keen! With music like that, as always I’ll face it, though I would be more than usually wide to receive any ambitious outsiders that happened to be passing, who might finally stop and tell me: “dear one, you are going home”!!

I would like to hear: "never had no one ever", once and again that could illustrate my life in the island.

What is your favourite Morrissey album?

I voted for Kill Uncle, just so it would'nt feel left out. Thats the sort of considerate guy I am

Man, I can't understand why this is not on almost everyone pick? I mean, Morrissey and Co. sound soo raw and fresh.... its the best in the Smiths/Moz cannon. All the other albums sound produced (in a good way). Dunno, I just like hearing them or bands for that matter when they're raw, when theyre on the dole, when theyre so hungry for it you can hear just how good they really are.
D'you know what I mean?

i would take "Vauxhall and I" just because of it being my first album of his, and I would take "Kill Uncle" only if it served as a heaping plate for food.

If I had to choose which CD to leave behind, I'd be cruelly split between forgoing Southpaw or Malajusted. The situation of being stranded in a desert island, to me, should give you the same feeling as being alone in your room: what Moz mode do you choose when you are alone for many hours, or for a whole day (or two)? One song that I always feel like using to open a "Moz Session" in my sanctuary is "Best Friend on the Payroll"; the guitar work in the beginning gives you a sensation you are purging the pettyness, the dullness and the hostility of each of our (un)fortunate daily lives. "Southpaw" as an album is to me the most rebellious of Moz's work. But I can't go without that unmatchable mixture of self-flagelation and desperate sensuality from "Wide to Receive" - or a little new light on madness in "Malajusted" !... And how about how "He cried" evokes a sort of little prince sacrificed to all the evils of being misunderstood? It has something very novelistic to it, like a tale from Oscar Wilde - The Happy Prince! Or it could just Moz before celebrity granted him an unvulnearable place (questionable fact, I know). I think I would cheat: I'd take both albums with me. And regret the others of course. PS: I is strange that these are excactly the two albums that were the least appreciated by the mass media and even fans. Ah! Not to mention "Alma Matters", which makes me imagine I am in a convertible, driving at 100mph, heading towards a precipice - to get to the other side of the island, of course.

Even though 'Meat is Murder' isn't my favourite album it is the one I would take. I find many of the tracks have great longevity for listening, 'Headmaster Ritual' and 'Rusholme Ruffians' for example are very layered. And of course 'Well I Wonder' is great. Only fly in the ointment would be listening to 'Barbarism Begins At Home' with that horrible funk bass solo and Mozza's atonal wailing.

if you were stranded on a desert island with Morrissey, what do you think would happen?

you'd be a lazy sunbather for the rest of your life, therefore...

Couldn't it be an island in a temperate climatic zone just for once?
Maurice

I like this for a "mid-to-late-90s" Morrissey album:

Maladjusted
Best Friend on the Payroll
Jack the Ripper
Sunny
Alma Matters
Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice (stole this idea from broken!)
Wide To Receive
Swallow on my Neck
The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
Trouble Loves Me
Nobody Loves Us
Satan Rejected My Soul
Southpaw

but this is more a question of which album would most appropriately fit the climate and surroundings?

can you really imagine listening to 'The Queen Is Dead' while sunning yourself on the beach? songs like "I Know It's Over," "Never had No One Ever," and the abrasive title track simply dont go- this is an album whos most appropriate pathetic fallacy should be a depressing and damp drizzle with only a few brief partings of the clouds.

an album like 'You Are The Quarry,' in all its Los Angelesness is a far better fit.

or perhaps the breeziness of the lovely 'Kill Uncle.'

still, could anything be more fitting than lying back wasting away as the sun burns through to planet's core than the musical accompaniment of "The Lazy Sunbathers"? ithink not. 'Vauxhall And I' should havit.

Has anyone seen 'Lost' and is it just me or is it s steaming pile of cow dung?

I would watch it again if one of the characters had any of these albums playing though (actually, I might not as I could just put it on instead and use my brain for something more useful).

do your best & don't worry, definately'll need ta keep going.

Yes, I'm with the current 15% voting for Vauxhall, though I'd be happy to be stranded with (the not mentioned) Bona Drag and Hatfull of Hollow as well.

Still can't believe 5% would go with Your Arsenal or how many critics site this as Morrissey's best album. I keep going back to it to see what I'm missing and keep finding nothing! If I was doing a 'top twenty' Moz compilation, the only song I could even contemplate including would be 'National Front Disco' and, even then, I'm not sure it would make it.

Even Kill Uncle has two great tracks (Mute Witness, End of the Family Line) and the much maligned Southpaw has four! (Reader Meets Author, Boy Racer, Alma Matters, Best Friend on the Payroll). I just feel the songs on Arsenal are so 'average' by Morrissey standards. I know someone will reply saying it's their favouite and I must be thick and this will have me pulling it out again tonight to listen and try and 'get it'. Am I alone?

poll!
why, I hear you cry?
because, put simply, every single peson visiting this website is bound to have YRTQ whereas only about 60% will have the early 90's solo albums like Your Arsenal (many of the younger fans are still working their way back to the solo albums).
that's the only explanation why the wonderful Your Arsenal appears less popular than the patchy Who Ate Me Curry.
J

in tomorrow's NME according to...
http://www.nme.com/magazine
can't wait!
Maurice

how many of us are being stranded on an island with any regularity. it would be the best theme of an album to be listening to.

album. I think it came 2nd/3rd tied in the album poll and fairly high up in the eliminator..

now we've clearly chosen it ahead of Arsenal and Viva.

Proof that it really is a classic Morrissey album.

As some of us said all along.

broken

1 Queen is dead
2 Vauxhall and i
3 Mim = strangeways
5 Viva hate
6 Quarry
7 The Smiths
8 Your Arsenal
9 Southpaw Grammar
10 Kill Uncle
11 Maladjusted

broken

1 Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice
2 Hand in Glove
3 Handsome Devil
4 Last Night I Dreamt
5 TLOTFIPBs
6 First of the Gang to Die
7 Roy's Keen
8 I Know It's Over
9 Alsatian Cousin
10 Late Night Maudlin Street

broken

Thats what I would have voted for if I could - loads of songs so queen is dead faves plus bonus tracks.

Firstly, an incredibly difficult decision to make - like choosing which child to be sent to death. I chose Your Arse... (Over Meat Is Murder) due the sing-along attributes of so many of the tracks. Also, his vocal range is more diverse on this record. More fun to sing with. What surprised me is the amount of votes for the Queen... So obvious... So cliche... It GREAT but...

couldn't you just have the poll results and leave out all the boring comments. So much repetition.

I think this would be so fitting for being trapped alone on an island. "There is something you should know, the girl of your dreams is here all alone".

Besides, its just a great album and, regardless of the critics, I don't think there's a bad track on it (except maybe that into to The Operation).

But, still, Vauxhall has far more of a languid, desert island feel, what with "Lifegaurd Sleeping" and "Lazy Sunbathers". And how sad would you feel listening to "Hold Onto Your Friends" trapped alone on a beach?

Jessica xx

I went for Meat - it was my first choice, but I'd probably take the 20-track version of Viva Hate because it's uplifting to me.