I must say it. Newer Moz better than older Moz
- Thread starter Vegan
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ordinaryboy86
Well-Known Member
No
Calamine Lotion
Well-Known Member
No. Maladjusted is difficult and uneven but for the title cut alone it's better than anything after Quarry, and Southpaw is a great record that was a little too heavy on guitars for the part of the audience that likes absolute dreck like "Christian Dior."
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Anonymous
Guest
I like different periods for different reasons. Maladjusted is like to me a better vauxhal and once I got the reissue I just loved it but southpaw was really boring to me. People can say it's because of loud rock guitars but I think that's just based around the type of music they listen to as compared to the blood brothers nothing moz has put out is very loud or heavy to me. I was never a viva fanatic but it's fine though I love love bona drag and arsenal. Quarry was great and refusal was good but I hate ringleader. Swords and world peace are both at the top of my list. I guess to some up I live certain albums from all his periods. His output since and including quarry has been really good though I admit
Jamie
Bluff, Ardour & Assoc.
Every person's ears beholds music a different way. Vocally perhaps, yes, he has never sounded better. But the lyrics have moved me less and less since Maladjusted. Musically, I've found the melodies have never been as strong since Whyte was the main man.
Southpaw remains my go-to Morrissey album. It still sounds vibrant and exciting to me. I play it more than most of the Smiths albums. Which I play much more often than anything from 2006 forward. It also was the first new Morrissey album released in my lifespan as a fan, so the nostalgic pull is not lost on me.
Southpaw remains my go-to Morrissey album. It still sounds vibrant and exciting to me. I play it more than most of the Smiths albums. Which I play much more often than anything from 2006 forward. It also was the first new Morrissey album released in my lifespan as a fan, so the nostalgic pull is not lost on me.
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Anonymous
Guest
Everything pre-Jesse was great. Jesses arrival ruined Morrissey.
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Anonymous
Guest
An interesting post. I agree with the idea that a 'nostalgic pull' is important. I have fond memories, for example, of buying Maladjusted when it was released (and the 3 singles of that year) and even though there was nothing less fashionable than being a Morrissey fan at the time, I enjoyed listening to it. The title track and 'Trouble Loves Me' are great but it is let down by some of Morrissey's weakest and vaguest lyrics imo (eg. Roy's Keen, Papa Jack).
Southpaw Grammar is quite simply the least of Morrissey for me. Only 8 songs and he really needed to write a lot more lyrics for this one. Nearly all of the songs are also twice as long as they should be, apart from Dagenham Dave which is very weak lyrically.
Some people (I'm not referring to you here now) choose to dismiss everything from 2004 onwards, which makes no logical sense. The You are the Quarry songs were written by the same team (and some of them very shortly after Maladjusted) and there is no huge change in style. Morrissey had thankfully stopped writing puns and joke songs though and, even though there are too many court case references, it is a superior album to its predecessor due to the singles and Come Back to Camden. I would also say that it was a special time in 2004 to see the singles and album performing so well in the charts and to witness Morrissey going from zero to hero in the eyes of the public (and to be able to see his birthday show at the MEN of course).
M
Musician
Guest
While i don't dismiss EVERYTHING post-2004, i do most of it. Morrissey's persona, originality and uniqueness was about talking about subjects no-one ever talked before, or rather, no one ever sang about things the way he did. I think one of the key quote is the one from Panic: ''the music that he constantly play, it says nothing to me about my life''.
There are WAY too many references on ''Quarry' about the court case, and 'You know I couldn't last...'''....obviously I can't expect him to be stuck as a Mancunian loner for ever, but a butt-hurt LA millionaire singing about ''evil legal eagles'', ''royalties brings you luxuries'', and policemen this and that....he just said nothing to me about my life anymore.
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Anonymous
Guest
I agree with a lot of what your saying especially about southpaw. Have you tried the maladjusted reissue. I understand, especially if you have a nostalgic pull for that album, but it eliminates some catchy but derivative songs like Roy's keen and add some really good ones as well as making the album flow a lot better. Some like to keep the historical perspective or the original release but to me I'd just rather have the better album and in this case I think it so much better that it out weighs reservations. I was very meh about the album until I got the reissue. It gets maladjusted out of the way first and ambitious outsiders which lets the rest of the album flow in a gentle soft way which suits it much more important. It's my chill out moz album. Also yes come back to Camden is beautiful
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Anonymous
Guest
Fair enough but I have forgiven Jesus is really clever and relevant as is come back to Camden which is just about loss, a universal theme, and America is not the world which is about big headed American righteousness which seems to be a popular theme here and there contradictions in judging themselves. First of the gang is just a story song etc. I don't do ringleader but something is squeezing my skull is about depression and medication which is just an updated take on his old theme while songs like Paris seem to be just about feeling lost and unmoored and searching for a place to call home that. Songs about cops, and I live in Baltimore so maybe this is even more relevant to my life than ever, is a theme people all over the world can
Relate to. I really like that moz has modernized as the world has changed a lot since the days of the smiths and I find his modernization and talk of current times very refreshing and healthy myself. Again it's fair for you to like what you do but I find it neat that his songs can appeal to so many more people these days. Musical I found world peace to be vary vary refreshing. The musicality from everyone seemed to step up and yes that includes Jesse as I loved his songs from that album
I agree about the reissue including some good songs such as I Can Have Both, Lost and The Edges are no Longer Parallel. But the issue I have with it is that the other three b-sides are not strong enough to have been included. Heir Apparent and Now I Am a Was are both weak and This is Not Your Country is one of Morrissey's worst. A shame that Kit and I Know Who I Love couldn't have been included instead.
I would still say that compared with the deluxe edition of You are the Quarry, it comes up short.
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Anonymous
Guest
Heir apparent is ok but I love now I am a was as its super infectious and he sings it really well and this is not your country myself so that only made it a better album to me but to each his own. Heir apparent is catchy but reminds me to much of the boy racer. Quarry was a great album but they feel different to me so it's hard to compare. Quarry doesn't feel as chill as maladjusted does. I also hate the title track so it being first on the record lets me skip it and pretend that they just dropped it altogether. Since quarry didn't really change out any songs and I don't listen to extra tracks much such as bonus tracks my opinion of that one stays the same. I prefer to just take them and make b-sides albums out of them and other songs though the maladjusted reissue really messed up a good b-sides album for me as I had to take those songs out of it but oh well
Might as well close the forum down then...
Vegan
Well-Known Member
Well, yeah, that's obviously true. It's just that the impression I get here is that Viva Hate thru Vauxhall And I are the Holy Canon while everything else is tantamount to apocrypha. Well there was some thumbs up for Swords in one of my many rose-colored bespectacled posts about MY new discovery, Morrissey. He's great. Have I mentioned that. And he's a vegan to boot!
marred
Member
I was afflicted by Viva Hate many years ago and have not yet found a cure. I am a pre Quarry Mozzer fan but I definitely think he has upped his game in the live arena since 2000. I do listen to his post Quarry albums a lot though, especially World Peace...I find that I prefer post 2003 Moz (starting with Quarry) more than what came before. Anyone else suffer from this same affliction?
Well, yeah, that's obviously true. It's just that the impression I get here is that Viva Hate thru Vauxhall And I are the Holy Canon while everything else is tantamount to apocrypha. Well there was some thumbs up for Swords in one of my many rose-colored bespectacled posts about MY new discovery, Morrissey. He's great. Have I mentioned that. And he's a vegan to boot!
I think sometimes on this board there are signs of nostalgia towards not only the old stuff, but also towards any musicians no longer in Morrissey's band. The esteem they are held in now has no real connection with how they were perceived at the time though. Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted both got a very mediocre reception when they were released and nearly killed Morrissey's career.
It's interesting to read the hate for the past four albums here, considering the positive reception they were all given in the press. No matter what people think of Jesse Tobias though, I think it would be difficult for people to argue with the fact that the lyrics in general have improved from You are the Quarry onwards compared with the likes of Dagenham Dave, Best Friend on the Payroll, Alma Matters, Roy's Keen etc.
