T
The Original J.T. Ripper
Guest
Well, I actually pulling out The Smiths LP kicking and screaming from the vaults to be a rather interesting exercise and a study in contrast, so tonight I shall do the same with the other early Smiths' album with which I am far less familiar than all the others: Meat Is Murder. I first acquired this CD back in 1992, after having acclimated to Bombs, Queen, and Strangeways. In one month in early summer of '92 (June, I believe) I snared both the debut and Meat Is Murder, and gave both a few spins. Meat stuck with me a little better than the debut did, but found myself stuck on How Soon Is Now?, and then returning to Louder Than Bombs. Then July '92 came and I returned to the present, focusing on the newly released Arsenal. Since then, I've returned to Meat on occasion over the years, but find it to be a slightly superior version of The Smiths LP, but all in all listening to it for, say, the 10th time is less appealing than hearing Queen Is Dead for the 100th time, etc. etc.
So now, time to give it another spin and really hammer out just what is what with this oldie-but-a-goodie --- how far have Moz and Marr progressed since we last heard them closing out "Suffer Little Children?".....
HEADMASTER RITUAL -- Yes!! Right out of the gates, a massive improvement over everything we heard on the debut. Rourke's bass flying all over the place, but BEHIND Marr's guitars, not dominating things. The "Sir thwacks you on the knees, knees you in the groin" stanza is damn memorable. Parts of the tune still showcase Monotone Moz, but his voice is a bit fuller which is a welcome improvement. The lyrics is pretty violent imagery, more outrightly so than previously, and Morrissey strongly evokes the earlier England where stricter discipline was not only tolerated but the rule-of-thumb. His yodelling during the middle break and towards the end is rather annoying, however. All in all, a VAST improvement over the first album, ranking only behind Pretty Girls Make Graves to this point.
RUSHOLME RUFFIANS -- A step down. We see a return to Monotone Moz, and even his efforts at falsetto on the "senses being dulled are MIIII-II-IIIINE" fall flat. I'd even go so far as to suggest that his vocals' "vibrato" is really more of a tremor than anything. Singularly unimpressive effort by Marr, there's very little to recommend this track's tune, as it's just the same riff repeated over again (more of the jauntiness). Kudos to Morrissey for his ever-improving lyrics tho, as there are multiple passages that create lasting imageries in the head. We're seeing a pattern here already tho -- album's first cut pretty solid, followed by a weak sophomore track.
I WANT THE ONE I CAN'T HAVE -- Production values on this, while still a bit weak, are still better than before. But that doesn't save this ramshackle, frenetic song from mediocrity. It's not that Marr's songwriting is so bad, it's the 3-strikes-and-you're-out combination of frenetic-yet-not-really-catchy music, nondescript Moz vocals, and one of the worst lyrics we've seen from the Man up to this point. Again, as per the debut, a solid opening cut, followed by two frustraingly sub-par efforts.
WHAT SHE SAID -- Yikes. What's with this hyperactive writing from Marr? For some reason, this cut is more enjoyable than the previous two, even though it suffers from similar faults. Morrissey's voice is placed way back in the mix, and treated a bit too with echoes, creating a somewhat impersonal feel.
THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE -- Aha, now we're getting somewhere. Reminiscent eerily of Last Night I Dreamt...., although obviously this one precedes that one. Gorgeous piano intro. Clearly this sort of song resonates firmly with the established Moz fanbase, and with good reason. A highlight of Meat Is Murder, without question. I would LOVE to hear this song re-done 2 years later on Strangeways... it would be a perfect fit on that album, albeit re-done with the more lush instrumentation of that later album, and with Morrissey's voice in fuller bloom. But we're seeing progression here -- in fact, he seems to be blossoming as i play this, and the fault lies more in the production and mix than with him. The fadeout followed by a fade-in is also a clever touch.
HOW SOON IS NOW? -- Heh, talk about a song that needs no introduction. Not included on the British LP, the song is completely out of place on the album sounding nothing like any of its counterparts, yet the U.S. fans loved it. Obviously it's such a unique song that one can't really call it a "progression" of sorts, because it was a total one-off. I won't deal with the kudos, because it's a bit akin to praising Stairway to Heaven --- everyone knows it's great, and yet trying to praise it only results in the usual chorus of "egh, i'm sick of it cos it's overplayed" or "sigh, that's the song EVERYONE loves, I've SO moved past that!" So I won't bother. But suffice it to say, this is the best thing on the album, setting aside its massive radio play.
NOWHERE FAST -- Marr is hitting his stride with music, this much is blatantly obvious. The unique break right after "it's such a sad sound" introduces the element of surprise so sorely lacking on the debut. I continue to be struck by the sheer DIRECTNESS of his wordsmithing -- he really didn't mince words quite as much back in the early days. "I'd like to drop my trousers to the world/Queen" rank amongst the most memorable lines on the album. Not only that, but of all the Meat tracks, this one most clearly points the way to what was to come on The Queen Is Dead. If I didn't know any better, this IS a Queen outtake. Faint echoes of Frankly Mr. Shankly reverberate through Nowhere Fast... which is praise, indeed.
WELL I WONDER -- A classic case of the music being better than the
vocals. Is Marr progressing at a faster rate than Moz is? Nah, probably not, but it occasionally seems like it. We still have the amateurish falsetto singing (i know, i know, some are going to love it... but, consider the fact that Moz never really did it again, and I think Moz, if pressed, would probably agree with me), but it's a shame because his lyric, while short and simple, is stunningly effective. Overall one of the album highlights.
BARBARISM BEGINS AT HOME -- More Marr progression. Again we have Rourke jumping ALL OVER the place on his bass line, but as a complementary force to Marr's guitarwork. They're also clearly doing more exploring in the studio, what with the yelping effects and the reverbs. Lyrically, this could be considered an extension of The Headmaster Ritual. As we near the end of Meat Is Murder, it's hitting me that Marr's songwriting and Moz's lyric writing are outstripping Morrissey's vocal progression. But any progression at all is welcome, and songs like Barbarism put the debut LP to shame. A middle-road Meat track.
MEAT IS MURDER -- This track has all the subtlety of America Is Not the World, only 19 years prior to the fact. Critical consensus is that this track is a failed experiment promoting Moz's vegetarian stance, and even many die-hard Smiths (and indeed, Meat Is Murder LP fans) will acknowledge that this was a bit of a dead-end for the band. It certainly has an engaging, hypnotic, swirling quality to it, and the criticisms stem more from Moz's unnecessarily harsh and condescending word choices. This isn't the place to start on this album, but placed at #10 out of 10, there's little worry that any unwitting Smiths newcomer would stumble onto this track first. Fans will probably fall into 3 categories with regards to this title track: the fans that acknowledge it for the failed (if fascinating) experiment that it is, those that love it for the sociopolitical message Moz is making, and those that love it because they simply love everything moz has done.
The one other point to make about this title track -- setting aside How Soon Is Now? because it didn't really belong on the album, this title track marks the first time that Moz begins to show his future "crooner voice." That alone makes the track worth it to me. Listen in particular to the first line that he sings, focusing on how he sings the words "whines" and "cries." Hear that? That FULLNESS, that RICHNESS. The genuine VIBRATO instead of the shrill tremor of yore. I quite like this title track because it ushers in the Queen-Strangeways period, presaging the future development of Morrissey's voice.
So the conclusion here is that the Meat Is Murder LP is precisely what one might expect from an album that falls smack between The Smiths (LP) and Queen Is Dead --- it's a waystation, a stepping stone, a transient phase... but a fascinating place to stop for a day as well. It remains an album I likely won't come back to a whole slew of times more, but it fared better under inspection than my memory had served. Thus, as with a lot of things in life, it all boils down to objective-in-an-absolute-sense versus relativity: in an absolute sense, it's a good album, interesting, with many flaws and weak points, showing both Moz and Marr taking risks and experimenting. In context, relative to the albums that would postcede it, it remains frustratingly undeveloped and lacking the humour and subtlety of Queen and Strangeways.
J.T.
So now, time to give it another spin and really hammer out just what is what with this oldie-but-a-goodie --- how far have Moz and Marr progressed since we last heard them closing out "Suffer Little Children?".....
HEADMASTER RITUAL -- Yes!! Right out of the gates, a massive improvement over everything we heard on the debut. Rourke's bass flying all over the place, but BEHIND Marr's guitars, not dominating things. The "Sir thwacks you on the knees, knees you in the groin" stanza is damn memorable. Parts of the tune still showcase Monotone Moz, but his voice is a bit fuller which is a welcome improvement. The lyrics is pretty violent imagery, more outrightly so than previously, and Morrissey strongly evokes the earlier England where stricter discipline was not only tolerated but the rule-of-thumb. His yodelling during the middle break and towards the end is rather annoying, however. All in all, a VAST improvement over the first album, ranking only behind Pretty Girls Make Graves to this point.
RUSHOLME RUFFIANS -- A step down. We see a return to Monotone Moz, and even his efforts at falsetto on the "senses being dulled are MIIII-II-IIIINE" fall flat. I'd even go so far as to suggest that his vocals' "vibrato" is really more of a tremor than anything. Singularly unimpressive effort by Marr, there's very little to recommend this track's tune, as it's just the same riff repeated over again (more of the jauntiness). Kudos to Morrissey for his ever-improving lyrics tho, as there are multiple passages that create lasting imageries in the head. We're seeing a pattern here already tho -- album's first cut pretty solid, followed by a weak sophomore track.
I WANT THE ONE I CAN'T HAVE -- Production values on this, while still a bit weak, are still better than before. But that doesn't save this ramshackle, frenetic song from mediocrity. It's not that Marr's songwriting is so bad, it's the 3-strikes-and-you're-out combination of frenetic-yet-not-really-catchy music, nondescript Moz vocals, and one of the worst lyrics we've seen from the Man up to this point. Again, as per the debut, a solid opening cut, followed by two frustraingly sub-par efforts.
WHAT SHE SAID -- Yikes. What's with this hyperactive writing from Marr? For some reason, this cut is more enjoyable than the previous two, even though it suffers from similar faults. Morrissey's voice is placed way back in the mix, and treated a bit too with echoes, creating a somewhat impersonal feel.
THAT JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE -- Aha, now we're getting somewhere. Reminiscent eerily of Last Night I Dreamt...., although obviously this one precedes that one. Gorgeous piano intro. Clearly this sort of song resonates firmly with the established Moz fanbase, and with good reason. A highlight of Meat Is Murder, without question. I would LOVE to hear this song re-done 2 years later on Strangeways... it would be a perfect fit on that album, albeit re-done with the more lush instrumentation of that later album, and with Morrissey's voice in fuller bloom. But we're seeing progression here -- in fact, he seems to be blossoming as i play this, and the fault lies more in the production and mix than with him. The fadeout followed by a fade-in is also a clever touch.
HOW SOON IS NOW? -- Heh, talk about a song that needs no introduction. Not included on the British LP, the song is completely out of place on the album sounding nothing like any of its counterparts, yet the U.S. fans loved it. Obviously it's such a unique song that one can't really call it a "progression" of sorts, because it was a total one-off. I won't deal with the kudos, because it's a bit akin to praising Stairway to Heaven --- everyone knows it's great, and yet trying to praise it only results in the usual chorus of "egh, i'm sick of it cos it's overplayed" or "sigh, that's the song EVERYONE loves, I've SO moved past that!" So I won't bother. But suffice it to say, this is the best thing on the album, setting aside its massive radio play.
NOWHERE FAST -- Marr is hitting his stride with music, this much is blatantly obvious. The unique break right after "it's such a sad sound" introduces the element of surprise so sorely lacking on the debut. I continue to be struck by the sheer DIRECTNESS of his wordsmithing -- he really didn't mince words quite as much back in the early days. "I'd like to drop my trousers to the world/Queen" rank amongst the most memorable lines on the album. Not only that, but of all the Meat tracks, this one most clearly points the way to what was to come on The Queen Is Dead. If I didn't know any better, this IS a Queen outtake. Faint echoes of Frankly Mr. Shankly reverberate through Nowhere Fast... which is praise, indeed.
WELL I WONDER -- A classic case of the music being better than the
vocals. Is Marr progressing at a faster rate than Moz is? Nah, probably not, but it occasionally seems like it. We still have the amateurish falsetto singing (i know, i know, some are going to love it... but, consider the fact that Moz never really did it again, and I think Moz, if pressed, would probably agree with me), but it's a shame because his lyric, while short and simple, is stunningly effective. Overall one of the album highlights.
BARBARISM BEGINS AT HOME -- More Marr progression. Again we have Rourke jumping ALL OVER the place on his bass line, but as a complementary force to Marr's guitarwork. They're also clearly doing more exploring in the studio, what with the yelping effects and the reverbs. Lyrically, this could be considered an extension of The Headmaster Ritual. As we near the end of Meat Is Murder, it's hitting me that Marr's songwriting and Moz's lyric writing are outstripping Morrissey's vocal progression. But any progression at all is welcome, and songs like Barbarism put the debut LP to shame. A middle-road Meat track.
MEAT IS MURDER -- This track has all the subtlety of America Is Not the World, only 19 years prior to the fact. Critical consensus is that this track is a failed experiment promoting Moz's vegetarian stance, and even many die-hard Smiths (and indeed, Meat Is Murder LP fans) will acknowledge that this was a bit of a dead-end for the band. It certainly has an engaging, hypnotic, swirling quality to it, and the criticisms stem more from Moz's unnecessarily harsh and condescending word choices. This isn't the place to start on this album, but placed at #10 out of 10, there's little worry that any unwitting Smiths newcomer would stumble onto this track first. Fans will probably fall into 3 categories with regards to this title track: the fans that acknowledge it for the failed (if fascinating) experiment that it is, those that love it for the sociopolitical message Moz is making, and those that love it because they simply love everything moz has done.
The one other point to make about this title track -- setting aside How Soon Is Now? because it didn't really belong on the album, this title track marks the first time that Moz begins to show his future "crooner voice." That alone makes the track worth it to me. Listen in particular to the first line that he sings, focusing on how he sings the words "whines" and "cries." Hear that? That FULLNESS, that RICHNESS. The genuine VIBRATO instead of the shrill tremor of yore. I quite like this title track because it ushers in the Queen-Strangeways period, presaging the future development of Morrissey's voice.
So the conclusion here is that the Meat Is Murder LP is precisely what one might expect from an album that falls smack between The Smiths (LP) and Queen Is Dead --- it's a waystation, a stepping stone, a transient phase... but a fascinating place to stop for a day as well. It remains an album I likely won't come back to a whole slew of times more, but it fared better under inspection than my memory had served. Thus, as with a lot of things in life, it all boils down to objective-in-an-absolute-sense versus relativity: in an absolute sense, it's a good album, interesting, with many flaws and weak points, showing both Moz and Marr taking risks and experimenting. In context, relative to the albums that would postcede it, it remains frustratingly undeveloped and lacking the humour and subtlety of Queen and Strangeways.
J.T.
