What happened to Morrissey's voice between 1992 and 2004?

esskay

Member
I'm listening to Maladjusted right now, and I'm reminded that Morrissey went through a very long period in which his voice was quite different from what it had been and what it is now.

It is noticeable even on Your Arsenal, but very pronounced on Vauxhall, Southpaw and Maladjusted, that he developed a singing style that was much more limited in range - no falsetto, no strange leaps - even if it was more effective at holding a tune in a traditional sense. At the same time, every song - on Southpaw and Maladjusted especially - sounds like he's singing through a bad cold.

He took those years off and came back, on You Are The Quarry, singing like the old days. No more cold, and the falsetto was back: songs like I Have Forgiven Jesus were like something from Viva Hate in singing style.

On subsequent records, he has continued to sing in something approximating the classic Morrissey style, even with improved range and power.

Does anyone know anything about why his voice changed in the 1990s? Was it a deliberate stylistic decision (in response to Britpop) or whatever? Was it a medical issue (sinuses or something) since resolved? Was it just down to reduced confidence (on Maladjusted he sings like you would imagine the guy on that original album cover would sing)?
 
I know he started taking singing lessons. Not sure when exactly. Maybe the end of the 80s or the start of the 90s.
 
Definitely true that his voice got deeper and richer. Vocally "Drag the River" is incredible, really Sinatra-esque.

I've noticed that he can't hit some of the higher notes in older songs these days, for example in "National Front Disco" he can't even attempt the "ah, then you might do" bit.

In the Smiths he was often singing too much through his nose and he clearly learned how to sing "properly" since then although he has always sung with a pretty unique style.

In my opinion "Vauxhall and I" was intentionally a total change in direction and that includes vocally. It was the first time he allowed his softer voice to come to the forefront rather than most songs being wailed or belted out which of course was a staple with the Smiths. "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" was almost Elvis-like in delivery at times. His vibrato was far richer than ever and it seems that that entire album was sung in a more mature crooner type voice. Of course he also did "Interlude" around this time.

In "Southpaw Grammar" he sings with excessive power and it seems like he's trying to be really ballsy and tough on that record.

"Maladjusted" was more or less a fusion of previous styles. I don't think that album had a very clear direction for the most part in any regard. Largely he channeled the Vauxhall voice on this album again but I think for the most part the album has an overly subdued atmosphere that comes off as somewhat uninspired as opposed to the sullen and emotional Vauxhall.

In my opinion he didn't revert to his old ways come Quarry, he just kept moving forward and if anything kept it pretty basic. As far as I'm concerned the one thing that was notable was an excessive use of falsetto. I mean he was throwing in falsetto wherever he could at this point.

Through to Refusal he mostly started shouting for some reason. Refusal has some good vocal moments (Paris) but definitely way too much pure shouting.

And here we are at World Peace. He has by now not bothered with the excessive and pointless lunges into falsetto but uses it tactfully: "Art Hounds" and "Julie in the Weeds" -- the latter being a particularly beautiful example of his falsetto. I was actually surprised at times with some really great vocal moments on the new songs. There are a number of moments where it seems like he's embracing his crooner side and you can really hear the Sinatra influence on his voice -- again, Drag the River -- and it pops up now and again. I do think if anything on this record he oversings at times because the best vocal moments as far as I'm concerned are the ones where he isn't belting out the lyrics. For example "Kiss Me A Lot" is a great song but I think he sings it with too much force and if he scaled it back just a bit it would honestly be better.
 
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I think we should look at the obvious here...

One issue is bad production. Every album Steve Lillywhite produced sounded like it was recorded underwater. Another issue is the natural wear and tear of age and singing on the vocal chords. Also, beginning with the introduction of Whyte and Boorer in the band, Morrissey adopted a more "aggressive" rock style to his music that a falsetto just wouldn't work on.

Around 'Maladjusted' he was already abandoning the harder sound and dabbling with his vocal range again with songs like "Lost" and "Kit".
 
I think his voice sounds fantastic on WPINOYB.
 
He did seem to hit puberty around Your Arsenal, in more ways than his voice, lol.

I think his voice is beautiful now. It's richer, a bit huskier yet maintains the youthfulness he had when he was younger. I attribute some of that to the fact that he was never a smoker. So many great vocalists ruined their voices from smoking and quit when it was too late. I think the change from 92 on is simply from age. Considering how much he has used his voice in his life, it shows no sign of wear and tear.

He did have vocal lessons in the early days of The Smiths. It's quite amazing if you watch the first two Hacienda shows-his voice was so flat( I like the punk quality it had), and changed drastically.

However, my favourite phase of his voice is Viva Hate. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel emotional everytime I hear Late Night Maudlin Street.
 
He did seem to hit puberty around Your Arsenal, in more ways than his voice, lol.

I think his voice is beautiful now. It's richer, a bit huskier yet maintains the youthfulness he had when he was younger. I attribute some of that to the fact that he was never a smoker. So many great vocalists ruined their voices from smoking and quit when it was too late. I think the change from 92 on is simply from age. Considering how much he has used his voice in his life, it shows no sign of wear and tear.

He did have vocal lessons in the early days of The Smiths. It's quite amazing if you watch the first two Hacienda shows-his voice was so flat( I like the punk quality it had), and changed drastically.

However, my favourite phase of his voice is Viva Hate. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel emotional everytime I hear Late Night Maudlin Street.

That truly is one of the best songs of all time. It never loses its depth and emotion and its like an epic journey through tons of nostalgic memories, good and bad.
 
That truly is one of the best songs of all time. It never loses its depth and emotion and its like an epic journey through tons of nostalgic memories, good and bad.

It really is. Blows me away every time.
 
He did seem to hit puberty around Your Arsenal, in more ways than his voice, lol.

I think his voice is beautiful now. It's richer, a bit huskier yet maintains the youthfulness he had when he was younger. I attribute some of that to the fact that he was never a smoker. So many great vocalists ruined their voices from smoking and quit when it was too late. I think the change from 92 on is simply from age. Considering how much he has used his voice in his life, it shows no sign of wear and tear.

He did have vocal lessons in the early days of The Smiths. It's quite amazing if you watch the first two Hacienda shows-his voice was so flat( I like the punk quality it had), and changed drastically.

However, my favourite phase of his voice is Viva Hate. I don't know why, but I can't help but feel emotional everytime I hear Late Night Maudlin Street.

That truly is one of the best songs of all time. It never loses its depth and emotion and its like an epic journey through tons of nostalgic memories, good and bad.

and so we crept through the park...

Those three little innocuous notes kill me everytime. And the end. That song is perfection.
 
and so we crept through the park...

Those three little innocuous notes kill me everytime. And the end. That song is perfection.

So many things about his voice in this song really kill me as well.

-how he pronounces "cut" and "bus"

-the "you know" after "1972"


-"16 stitches all around my head"

-"I'm packed"

Don't know why, but his voice in those lines are so amazing to me.
 
I think we should look at the obvious here...

One issue is bad production. Every album Steve Lillywhite produced sounded like it was recorded underwater. Another issue is the natural wear and tear of age and singing on the vocal chords. Also, beginning with the introduction of Whyte and Boorer in the band, Morrissey adopted a more "aggressive" rock style to his music that a falsetto just wouldn't work on.

Around 'Maladjusted' he was already abandoning the harder sound and dabbling with his vocal range again with songs like "Lost" and "Kit".

What's the production got to do with the pitch of his voice.
 
What's the production got to do with the pitch of his voice.

You mean you think the same voice you hear on the record is the same one you get live?

If you think he simply walks in and sings and then they add his vocals to the backing track, you're crazy...a lot of production work goes into all aspects of a record, including layering vocals, pitch changes, tempo changes and so on.
 
Aside from Viva Hate. I think my favourite Morrissey vocals are on Years Of Refusal. Really top drawer stuff.
 
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He stopped using the falsetto around the same time he tried to beef up his image, moving away from the Oscar Wilde obsessed delicate flower in a big girls blouse (which, to some extent, lingered up to 91), to a more masculine figure who liked beer and boxing. I think it was a conscious choice to lose that flowery high pitch wailing for a while, but now he seems more comfortable using it when the song calls for it. There was a period during the mid - late 90's when he almost never used it.

I'm glad he's brought it back.

Generally, I think his range and vocals have improved immeasurably with time, however it's true to say that he can't hit the high notes at the top of his old range without using falsetto - the end of The National Front Disco is completely beyond him.
 
For me the only record where his vocals sounded unpleasant at times was on Years of Refusal, especially on I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris-- where he did sound ill (in the music video he also looked ill, although I don't know if that was intentional).

As for the other albums I think his voice sounded quite unique (and different) on all of them, there's definitely a observable evolution.
 
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