Fao of all Moz/Smiths fans

R

realit¥bites

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I have some serious questions that I am hoping you guys would be willing to answer. I was just wondering:

1) If ROTT was the very first Morrissey album that you were to listen to, do you think you would become a long-time, devoted fan for life, based on this album alone? Or, would it require the back catalogue as well, to cement the deal?

2) You are trying to make a new fan out of your coworker. Would you have him or her lose their virginity to ROTT or would you chose another album? If so which one? Why?

3) Does ROTT rank in your top five Moz/Smiths albums? How about YATQ?

4) Are you growing more fond of ROTT or less, as the days pass?
 
1. I don't think it would cement a long-term fan. Might pique their interest though.

2. An older album. I'd go with Vauxhall & I, especially if it's a female. Your Aresenal for male. Bona Drag is neutral. Why? These albums are just better. The songwriting is so good, it has to grab you.

3. No, and YATQ an even stronger no.

4. I haven't listened to it since the week I got it. Uh oh, a bad sign?
I did like the album over all though, it doesn't mean as much to me as most of the older albums of course, but it sounded very nice.
 
I'd give a non-fan a copy of Bona Drag or Your Arsenal to listen to. If they don't like those albums then there's something wrong! ;-)
 
Thanks so much for your replies dallow_bg.

> 1. I don't think it would cement a long-term fan. Might pique their
> interest though.

I agree.

> 2. An older album. I'd go with Vauxhall & I, especially if it's a
> female. Your Aresenal for male. Bona Drag is neutral. Why? These albums
> are just better. The songwriting is so good, it has to grab you.

Again, I agree with this.

> 3. No, and YATQ an even stronger no.

Unfortunately, I feel the same.

> 4. I haven't listened to it since the week I got it. Uh oh, a bad sign?
> I did like the album over all though, it doesn't mean as much to me as
> most of the older albums of course, but it sounded very nice.

This was my exact thoughts this morning and thus the reasoning behind me asking these questions. I was smitten with ROTT the first week I listened to it. Now, my enthusiasm is waning. Instead of jamming out to it in my car, I have been listening to the ol' standby Srangeways Here We Come. And, I have been watching my Oye Esteban DVD rather than the ROTT videos. I don't know, maybe it is just me stuck in a time warp. Hell, all last night I was listening to old New Wave hits from the early 80's.
 
> Thanks so much for your replies dallow_bg.

> I agree.

> Again, I agree with this.

> Unfortunately, I feel the same.

> This was my exact thoughts this morning and thus the reasoning behind me
> asking these questions. I was smitten with ROTT the first week I listened
> to it. Now, my enthusiasm is waning. Instead of jamming out to it in my
> car, I have been listening to the ol' standby Srangeways Here We Come.
> And, I have been watching my Oye Esteban DVD rather than the ROTT videos.
> I don't know, maybe it is just me stuck in a time warp. Hell, all last
> night I was listening to old New Wave hits from the early 80's.

i have to agree with all of that - probally will play ROTT lots agian very soon, but at the moment gone to listening to Spirit of Eden - Talk Talk.
 
1-I definitely gave it to some people, and it turned a few friends into bigger fans (IE those who only heard The Queen Is Dead LP, no Morrissey.

2- I would too give Your Arsenal to a guy, Bona Drag to someone i thought would be in between, and Vauxhall & I to a girl

3-YATQ is a good album, ROTT is better, but you cannot fu*k with Viva Hate. Any first album of a lauded band's lead singer turned solo that starts with a track like "Alsatian Cousin" is bound to be a classic.

4-I still listen to it, mostly i pick tracks from it and make a playlist with other stuff too...really into the ROTT B-sides lately.
 
> 1) If ROTT was the very first Morrissey album that you were to listen to,
> do you think you would become a long-time, devoted fan for life, based on
> this album alone? Or, would it require the back catalogue as well, to
> cement the deal?

I'd like it more if it was all I'd heard (lower expectations), and it would motivate me to check out his previous stuff. "Life Is A Pigsty" alone would do that, but it would take his back catalog to become a full-on fan.

I wouldn't know from "Ringleader" that - as Moz says about the NY Dolls in the new documentary - this guy is IT, which was the immediate feeling when I heard songs like "Last Night I Dreamt," "Everyday Is Like Sunday," etc.

> 2) You are trying to make a new fan out of your coworker. Would you have
> him or her lose their virginity to ROTT or would you chose another album?
> If so which one? Why?

I'd try and prevent "Ringleader" from being their deflowering. Put Moz's best foot forward. Doing that with The Smiths is easy. The solo years is more complicated because there's more diversity and it spans more years, thus there are several distinct "phases." Probably best to go with "Vauxhall" plus a homemade compilation spanning the rest. "Vauxhall" is rarely stocked in stores, so it's unlikely people will start with that one on their own.

Of course I've long since stopped trying to convert people to Morrissey. The most I do is have people accidentally hear him (like, in my car when I give a ride) and see what their reaction is, if any. It's up to them to ask from there.

> 3) Does ROTT rank in your top five Moz/Smiths albums? How about YATQ?

I rank Quarry in the middle of his solo albums, and Ringleader second-to-last.

> 4) Are you growing more fond of ROTT or less, as the days pass?

More fond of "The Youngest Was The Most Loved" thru "To Me You Are A Work Of Art"; less fond of the first three and last two tracks. I'm playing "Ringleader" once a week at this point, and that way I find myself thinking, "Awwww, I was being too hard on Mozza, this is pretty cool." Past albums I'd listen to every day for weeks, however.

-LoafingOaf
 
> Of course I've long since stopped trying to convert people to Morrissey.
> The most I do is have people accidentally hear him (like, in my car when I
> give a ride) and see what their reaction is, if any. It's up to them to
> ask from there.

And what they often ask is, "Can we put something else on??"

That's good, too. Then I know I should think lesser of that person.
 
1. I can't answer this question really. Surely the album would lead you to the back catologue. No one can become a devoted fan on the basis of one album.

2. All depends on what type of person they are and their preferred type of music.

3. I think it may be 5, 6 or 7. Quarry is brilliant, but not classic.

4. My opinions on Ringleader aren't really changing at all. I still think it's a magnificent album and Morrissey's best since Vauxhall. The songs I didn't like at first (On The Streets I Ran, I Just Want To See The Boy Happy) have grown on me, though, and I'll gladly listen to them more often.
 
> And what they often ask is, "Can we put something else on??"

> That's good, too. Then I know I should think lesser of that person.

Good Answer!
 
Thanks for all the replies so far. More responses welcomed.
 
> 4. My opinions on Ringleader aren't really changing at all. I still think
> it's a magnificent album and Morrissey's best since Vauxhall. The songs I
> didn't like at first (On The Streets I Ran, I Just Want To See The Boy
> Happy) have grown on me, though, and I'll gladly listen to them more
> often.

"On the Steets I Ran" has become one of my faves on the album. I like the lyrics a lot and it leads so very nicely into the glorious "Work of Art."

The reviews that attacked the line "which isn't very nice" on "Streets" I think is an example of people who aren't exposed enough to Morrissey not completely "getting" some of his lines and how they're meant to be taken.
 
Eek. That's my least favourite line on the album too. I get that there's meant to be a slight charm and modestly funny understatement to it, but I find it annoying. He did the same thing with How Can Anybody Possibly Kow How I Feel's "And I do not/And I do not/And I do not like it", but that's even worse than "Which isn't very nice".
 
My new 2-CD "Vauxhall and I" special edition

Homemade. All the b-sides and non-album singles recorded during the "Vauxhall and I" period, plus some live tracks. The end result being further proof that "Vauxhall" reigns supreme (although I know "Jack the Ripper" was recorded in 1992 - but I'm gonna put the studio version on a "Your Arsenal" spec ed).

Warner should copy this for an official special edition!!

(I thought about starting it with the "Moon "River" edit and ending with the extended, but that was a bit too much "moon river" even for me.)

Disc 2:
1. Sunny
2. A Swallow On My Neck
3. Black-Eyed Susan
4. Have-A-Go Merchant
5. Spring-Heeled Jim [Live]
6. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself [Live]
7. Interlude [Extended] by Morrissey & Siouxsie
8. Jack The Ripper [Live]
9. Boxers
10. Whatever Happens, I Love You
11. Moon River [Extended]
12. London [Live]
13. Billy Budd [Live]
14. I'd Love To

Live tracks taken from the "Boy Racer" CD singles, except "Jack the Ripper," taken from the "Now My Heart Is Full" single.
 
1) No, i dont think so. I'd get really eager to hear the back catalogue, and then, i'd be hooked. One record isnt enough really for life-time devotion.

2) No. I'd give my coworker Bona Drag. I think it gives a pretty good image of what you get from Morrissey. And it should make my coworker beg for more. But you never know, some people just seem to hate Morrissey from the second they first hear him!

3) No, i dont think so. One of them might take place at no5. But i cant quite figure out if its ROTT or YATQ that belongs at no5..

4) Less, i think. After the release of YATQ i was obsessive for weeks. I was really intense about ROTT the first week, but now i hardly ever listen to it.. I love it though - and i think it will make a comeback in my stereo soon.

(sorry if my english isnt the best in places, but i'll excuse myself with being swedish!)
 
> 2) No. I'd give my coworker Bona Drag. I think it gives a pretty good
> image of what you get from Morrissey. And it should make my coworker beg
> for more. But you never know, some people just seem to hate Morrissey from
> the second they first hear him!

Don't you think you have to add "My Early Burglary Years" too? That has a couple live tracks which hint at what a Moz concert might be like, and it has some tracks from the later years. "Bona Drag" has nothing with Alain and Boz! But I guess, as you say, it might leave them begging for more.
 
> Don't you think you have to add "My Early Burglary Years" too?
> That has a couple live tracks which hint at what a Moz concert might be
> like, and it has some tracks from the later years. "Bona Drag"
> has nothing with Alain and Boz! But I guess, as you say, it might leave
> them begging for more.

yes, some live-tracks would be great! if i really was intending to get someone into the smihts and morrissey, i'd make a compilation of my own istead of handing out one of the albums. some smiths-tracks mixed with bona drag and one or two from "who put the M.."! good idea, using live-tracks. they really have a certain feeling to them..
 
> 1) No, i dont think so. I'd get really eager to hear the back catalogue,
> and then, i'd be hooked. One record isnt enough really for life-time
> devotion.

> 2) No. I'd give my coworker Bona Drag. I think it gives a pretty good
> image of what you get from Morrissey. And it should make my coworker beg
> for more. But you never know, some people just seem to hate Morrissey from
> the second they first hear him!

> 3) No, i dont think so. One of them might take place at no5. But i cant
> quite figure out if its ROTT or YATQ that belongs at no5..

> 4) Less, i think. After the release of YATQ i was obsessive for weeks. I
> was really intense about ROTT the first week, but now i hardly ever listen
> to it.. I love it though - and i think it will make a comeback in my
> stereo soon.

> (sorry if my english isnt the best in places, but i'll excuse myself with
> being swedish!)

Your English is much better than my Swedish.
 
> if i really was intending to get someone into the smihts and morrissey, i'd make >a compilation of my own istead of handing out one of the albums.

Me too.
 
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