Johnny Marr Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 is #44 on MOJO's Top 50 Albums of 2022

[Benjamin Braddock]

The 50 Best Albums Of 2022

MOJO selects the best albums of the year.

www.mojo4music.com

"44 JOHNNY MARR
Fever Dreams Pts 1-4
(NEW VOODOO/BMG)
The 40th anniversary of the Smiths’ formation might have prompted retrenchment in less questing souls, but Marr’s energies remained resolutely on his own music: streamlined, precision-tooled 21stcentury electro-rock. Consumed as four chunky EPs or at once as an epic album, Fever Dreams was all turbo-charged forward motion, relentlessly focused on the event horizon even as it was constructed in the stasis of lockdown. Whatever happened to that other guy in the old band?
Standout track: Tenement Time"

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

"21. Johnny Marr, 'Fever Dreams Pts 1-4'​

Johnny Marr had already teased a whopping eight advance songs on EPs before Fever Dreams arrived. So, how much more could we reasonably expect from the former Smiths guitarist's first new album since 2018's Call the Comet? Turns out, quite a lot. Lockdown-era seclusion sent Marr's imagination into wide-open spaces, as he packed eight more tracks into a double-album package. But forget about the guitars. While Call the Comet was a kind of post-punk manifesto, Fever Dreams traffics in electro-indie keys. Time and, undoubtedly, the pandemic have made Marr a touch more contemplative – but he hasn't been this dance-y since collaborating with the guy from New Order as Electronic. (Nick DeRiso)"


Read More: Top 30 Rock Albums of 2022 | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/best-rock-albums-2022/

 

[The Wild Turkey]

I'll be honest with ya.
I'd rather hear Bonfire Of Teenagers.

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

Record Collector's Best New Albums of 2022

www.albumoftheyear.org

"19. Johnny Marr - Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4​

In 4 Lists
February 25, 2022
Indie Rock
CRITIC SCORE
79

15 reviews
Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 is some great reward for the Marr faithful, a hope-fuelled 16-song set mounted on a generous, expansive balance of scope and detail."

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

I'll be honest with ya.
I'd rather hear Bonfire Of Teenagers.

Understood, but as a huge Smiths fan, I thought we should give Johnny some props as well on his achievements.

 

[The Wild Turkey]

Understood, but as a huge Smiths fan, I thought we should give Johnny some props as well on his achievements.

Yeah, I went ahead and listened to Fever Dream.
I wanted to like it, but I just didn't like it.

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

Yeah, I went ahead and listened to Fever Dream.
I wanted to like it, but I just didn't like it.

That's cool that you gave it a chance. I happen to absolutely love it.

 

[Surface]

Yeah, I went ahead and listened to Fever Dream.
I wanted to like it, but I just didn't like it.

That's fair enough, personally I thought it was good, not great but I liked a fair few tracks on it, particularly Spirit Power and Soul.

 

[The Wild Turkey]

That's cool that you gave it a chance. I happen to absolutely love it.

That's fair enough, personally I thought it was good, not great but I liked a fair few tracks on it, particularly Spirit Power and Soul.

Guess I'll try in again the future.
It does seem to get a high regard.

 

[Surface]

Guess I'll try in again the future.
It does seem to get a high regard.

I think everyone likes whatever they like, if everyone liked the same thing it would be rather boring. I'm actually more pleased to see Buzzcocks getting good recognition for their first album after Pete's passing. I've met Steve Diggle and he was really nervous about carrying on with Buzzcocks without Pete but he actually wrote 30% of the songs so it made sense for him to carry on and the sell out tours and a great album are fab to see.

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

Best Albums Of 2022: 40 Essential Releases Of The Year - Dig!

From pop perfection to punk-inspired screeds, the best albums of 2022 are so attention-grabbing they simply demand to be heard.

www.thisisdig.com

32: JOHNNY MARR: ‘FEVER DREAMS PTS 1-4’​

Drip-feeding us with a couple of EPs prior to its release, Johnny Marr released his spirited double-album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, in February. Fiercely committed to his fondness for shimmering indie-rock and post-punk-style riffs, it’s a collection of 16 songs that shows the former Smiths guitarist at the peak of his powers, from the disco-flavoured Spirit, Power And Soul to the mass-media critique of Night And Day. “There’s a set of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing – really since getting out of The Smiths until now, and I hear it in this record,” Marr told Rolling Stone. As one of the best guitarists of all time, Marr has nothing left to prove but, by releasing Fever Dreams Pts 1-4, it’s clear he has unfinished business. Fans of The Smiths will not be disappointed with what he has to offer here.

Must hear: Night And Day

 

[Luxo]

Haven't heard this album myself, can't say I'm a major fan of Johnny. However, I'm glad he's doing well for himself. I have respect for a man who just likes to get on in life, keep his head down and do the work he enjoys, while so many other people are turning into paranoid maniacs, spending too much of their time on the internet getting into YouTube black holes.

Good man, Johnny. Thanks for appreciating my Crombie coat that one time.

P.s. this is a great song. Closest thing we'll get to The Smiths sound in the modern era, and a much better reproduction of that sound than Rebels Without Applause.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

P.s. this is a great song. Closest thing we'll get to The Smiths sound in the modern era, and a much better reproduction of that sound than Rebels Without Applause.

Musically it's neither better nor worse than Rebels Without Applause. But it can't be a better reproduction of the Smiths sound, because the voice is foreign to that sound. Morrissey's voice is essential.

 

[Luxo]

Musically it's neither better nor worse than Rebels Without Applause. But it can't be a better reproduction of the Smiths sound, because the voice is foreign to that sound. Morrissey's voice is essential.

I'm not even talking about the vocals here, but I'm aware that wasn't clear. I'm talking about the sound of their music, the bits played on instruments.

The Rebels recording sounds like it's being played underwater, which isn't a sound the Smiths used (except on Golden Lights), whereas Hi Hello actually sounds very much like a Smiths song, especially There Is A Light.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

I'm not even talking about the vocals here, but I'm aware that wasn't clear. I'm talking about the sound of their music, the bits played on instruments.

The Rebels recording sounds like it's being played underwater, which isn't a sound the Smiths used (except on Golden Lights), whereas Hi Hello actually sounds very much like a Smiths song, especially There Is A Light.

Okay, then yes. Hi Hello is nicely produced and much more Smiths-like than the Rebels single release (which indeed sounds underwater).

 

[Luxo]

Okay, then yes. Hi Hello is nicely produced and much more Smiths-like than the Rebels single release (which indeed sounds underwater).

Again, apologies for my lack of clarity in my initial post. I sometimes forget (despite spending years of my life on the internet) that we need to be clearer in our written communication here.

Johnny is an OK, capable enough singer, but there's nothing special about his voice. He just has a typical Mancunian singer voice.

 

[Benjamin Braddock]

The Best Things We Heard In 2022 | Defector

This is what the Defector staff enjoyed listening to in 2022.

defector.com

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Best Things We Heard In 2022​

DEFECTOR STAFF
4:46 PM EST on Dec 28, 2022

“You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby,” by The Smiths​

The greatest thing I heard this year was from 1986. I was at an arena show by The Killers in D.C. in October and the support act, Johnny Marr, came out with the headliners for an encore. Marr launched into a tune that wasn’t introduced but whose reverb-y echo jangle was instantly recognizable as something from a time long ago and a place far away—Manchester, actually. The vocal mix was garbled enough where I was sitting that it took me a while to figure out they were playing “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby,” originally recorded and released by Marr’s brilliant and long-defunct former band, The Smiths. Good god, what a band! And what a tune!

I’ve had the song playing almost nonstop through one of my screens or in my head ever since. Any version I can get my ears on, I’ll consume. (Here’s a good cover from Kirsty MacColl, another under-appreciated ‘80s Britpop artist with oodles of good-as-it-gets singles—top THIS—whose career was derailed when she was run over by a boat.) But I’ve spent the most time with the original recording by The Smiths, which somehow was never released as a single.

Every listen reminds me of one of the biggest musical mistakes of my life. I’ve always been a concertgoer and have seen just about every act ever wanted to and lots more. But back in the summer of 1985 my friend Will told me he was going downtown to see The Smiths at Warner Theatre and asked if I wanted to go, and I said “Nah!” for no good reason. They stopped touring the next year and broke up, so I never had another chance to see The Smiths and that hurts bad. (As a younger dirtball in 1978, I had also declined ticket offers from my friend Scott for D.C.-area shows by Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, the latter of which was canceled. But I did pay to see Jethro Tull five tours in a row that decade. What was I drinking?)

I looked up the setlist from the 1985 Smiths show and “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” wasn’t on it, but hell if every tune they did play in my absence that night ain’t a timeless banger. Maybe my recent Smiths binge is me subconsciously trying to atone for my negligence all those years ago.

Not that obsessing over “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” has in any way been a grind. More like a godsend! Don’t take my word for it! Listen to the song here and then here and then here, even! Rinse and repeat! How great is that? – Dave McKenna