Re: Who, in 2014, has the best musical songwriting skills? Johnny Marr or the Morrissey song compose
I can really only answer this on an emotional level. I saw Johnny on his tour last year, and it was a great, fun show. He's got a whole lot of charisma on stage. Andy came out and played a couple of songs, which was a real rush—I had a feeling it would happen, but standing 5 feet away from half of the Smiths was a pretty thrilling experience.
That said, I cannot imagine putting on a JM record just to listen to. I bought the Messenger and it's perfectly fine, but it doesn't have that thing that I need music to have in order for it to become a part of my life. I liked Electronic a lot, but I think that's due more to Bernard than Johnny…and even then, I can't think of the last time I put Electronic on.
But Morrissey…it's never enough. I always want more. His songs have the thing that I need in my life, they always have. I don't know how that breaks down on a technical level in terms of songwriting expertise, but for this gal's ears/heart, it's always going to be Moz.
(And yes, I realize I answered this without taking the musicians into account. That's an honest answer from me, though—it's always going to come down to Morrissey, no matter who's writing the music.)