Anyone else rate Mozzer over The Smiths?

[marred]

I find these unneccesary refreneces to Mr Boorers weight insulting.

I joined this site for serious debate, not personal attacks on people.

I expected better from a Morrissey forum.

You do realize this is the internet right?

Anyway in response to your thread posting I don't know if I can separate Moz solo and Smiths on likability but I will say I do listen to Mozzer's solo stuff a lot more than I do the Smiths.

I can't put my finger on why exactly but it may be as simple as I was a bit too young to get into the Smiths when they were around and I was the perfect impressionable age of 18 when I fist heard Viva Hate so that may be it?

[Anonymous1]

You do realize this is the internet right?

[CrookedLittleVein]

There’s a certain muddying of the waters in evidence here. The notion that Morrissey’s output as a solo artist isn’t as good the 5-year output of The Smiths and therefore it is Marr’s input that is lacking doesn’t quite add up for me.
I suspect, had The Smiths continued, their output would have been as frequently brilliant, mostly solid and fleetingly awful as Morrissey’s.

[Dave]

That's probably true. I don't think it would have lasted anyway, because at some point Morrissey would have grown out of it and not needed to be part of a gang. Morrissey could not have done the same work if he had remained with The Smiths.

Whatever. It's all about Morrissey to me.

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

As many others have said, there's so much more solo material to choose from but even by Vauxhall's release I preferred (rather than "rated") Morrissey over The Smiths.

I actually see Morrissey's career as an unbroken line from 1983 until the present. Yes, without Johnny's genius there would be no "Morrissey" and yes The Smiths high points will never be matched but he has never really changed, but when Morrissey became the icon rather than worshipping icons it got more interesting for me. I also really like the global influences on his music (L.A., Rome etc.) He had already done "little England" better than anybody before or since.

Strangely, I tend to think of Morrissey's career as pre and post TQiD. It's illogical but when I hear Strangeways I feel like I'm listening to solo material -- perhaps because of the change in sound.

Some interesting points there, I agree totally with everything you've said. Especially about Morrissey branching out in terms of his influences and inspirations, and "becoming the icon".

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

Many people are nostalgically attached to The Smiths, and they're completely blind to the fact that Morrissey releases songs of Smiths quality with every new CD since the days of Viva Hate.

I'll never understand why some people judge music by the complexity of it. I know it can be nice to appreciate the musical brilliance behind some songs, but if that's all you care about, then why not ditch The Smiths and Morrissey entirely and listen to straight classical music?
My point being is that it is not about the song's complexity, it's about how it sounds. Many factors go into the creation of a song, and you can dissect them all day but you'll never change the end result which is the pleasure of the listening experience.

Do most of Morrissey's songs sound as fantastic as the work of The Smiths? Absolutely. Take the very best of Morrissey, and you'll find it's equal to the very best of The Smiths.

Few would disagree that one sound gets boring after a while. Since most people like to listen to music frequently, they tend to listen to songs that don't sound identical. Oddly enough, Morrissey fans seem to be so narrow-minded that they actually believe that if a Morrissey tune doesn't resemble The Smiths, then it's no good. This explains the popularity of Viva Hate, Your Arsenal, and Vauxhall and I. Brilliant albums none-the-less, but they aren't as brave as other albums such as Southpaw Grammar and Ringleader of Tormentors. If people would open their minds a bit more, they'd find that these albums can give you certain pleasures in ways Smiths material couldn't. Morrissey has explored many of the different places music can take you, while The Smiths never ventured very far from what was safe.

Take another listen to Trouble Loves Me, Life Is A Pigsty, Ganglord, Southpaw, It's Not Your Birthday Anymore, I'd Love To, Now My Heart Is Full, and The Edges Are No Longer Parallel. Stop denying the music outside of The Smiths' bubble, and embrace the pleasures of solo-Morrissey.

This. Exactly this. His voice has also improved by miles since The Smiths days, in my opinion- it's richer, deeper, somehow broader, but it's still raw and he still manages to do some lovely vocal acrobatics. The garbled "nooo, no, no"s at the end of 'I'm OK By Myself', for example, and the switch into falsetto in INYBA, take my breath away. I'm talking live, too...







Just listen to the freaking emotion and power there.