"Low In High School" review by Stephen Troussé in Uncut (5/10, Dec. 2017)

Oh dear:
“his weakest since Kill Uncle”
“the album is often musically splendid...”
5 out of 10

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UPDATE Nov. 22, 2017

Link to online version posted by Uncleskinny.

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Related item:

• "World Peace..." review by Stephen Troussé in Uncut (8/10, Aug. 2014) - June 21, 2014

 

[Anonymouser]

Critics are prostitutes, they sell their wares to anyone for a price, they don't create art, they are (he)artless. Take the Turner prize, those winners create naught but trash, yet the critics love them, ergo, critics like trash, or they get paid to like trash, but it doesn't mean anything to ordinary boys or girls who prefer genuine art not richman's talentless hacks attempts thereat. Let the fans decide, their opinion means more than paid flunkies who follow their masters' agenda. The world's media is owned by the same people as Harvey Weinstein, are their hacks reliable, truthful and qualified to know what art is and should be? NO, the only opinion that counts is your own.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Maybe it's about Jacky Stallone living vicariously through her son, Rocky Balboa, ''Lost you'' is a reference to when Apollo Creed died, and ''Up on stage'' is the Ring, which is the only place she feels at home and she can seek some sort of redemption against Ivan Drago, and all the russians are heading for the EXIT, THE EXIT - You can fit the lyrics to however they suit you really.

that was my first interpretation of it too! well, he did write 'Boxers'.

 

[Shyness 1s nice]

that was my first interpretation of it too! well, he did write 'Boxers'.

to you both for making me remember the AJ fight is next week. I nearly forgot

 

[ordinaryboy86]

I thought you were calling Kewpie 'mother'. I have no idea what you mean by 'mother'. Where's nothappynotsad with her Norman Bates avatar?



Yes, he didn't cloak his opinions in his statements on the French presidential election and the Manchester arena bombing at all, did he? His "everybody is too afraid to say in public what they say behind closed doors" comment was as plain as day. As for songs: Bengali in Platforms and National Front Disco were Moz being Ambiguous also, and look at the controversy they've aroused over the years.

This is taking his prevaricating public statements and ambiguity of the songs just mentioned and adding an allegorical layer to it. Still it's easy enough to decipher. "Why write a 5min cryptic song", you asked -- it's because lyrics are written in a different style to public statements. I'm not saying this is Art, but it's modern Morrissey's attempt at it, along with probably getting a kick out of writing a song where the hidden context will pass many by (he hoped). See 'Panic', 'Billy Budd', even 'Wide to Receive' for past examples in his oeuvre of this way of writing.

Mate, to put it politely, you're f***ing wrong, way off on this one. Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world. You're just trying to read more into the song than's actually there, because in truth, they lyrics are bland shit and your clutching to justify them as genius.

 

[g23]

Mate, to put it politely, you're f***ing wrong, way off on this one. Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world. You're just trying to read more into the song than's actually there, because in truth, they lyrics are bland shit and your clutching to justify them as genius.

My thought is that it's either himself, ran through the filter of song, or Kristeen Young, who does look a fair bit like Jackie Onassis on white drugs. And as I've said on another thread, I know I ran for the exit, exit, until her set was over more than once.

 

[URBANUS]

Never saw the point with critics who all seem to forget an end product is an artist decision to leave it at that. Many changes are made during the process of creating something but in the end the person who created it gives it the all clear and so there is no need for critics.

This goes for all the arts but critics are people who of course never got that and somehow believe their input has any value and that a creation, be it music or a painting or a book or a film, would have been better had the artist behind it listened to their views.

It is as we know hubris of the highest order belonging at the bottom of the coat pocket among Hitlers sweets.

Having said that I am more than willing to let the world know how I feel about it.

 

[firsttodie]

As Morrissey has said before, if you don't meet the right people in the right bars.....they'll have you. I've already heard a good deal of his new material and it's doing it for me.

 

[Born to Harangue]

Mate, to put it politely, you're f***ing wrong, way off on this one. Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world. You're just trying to read more into the song than's actually there, because in truth, they lyrics are bland shit and your clutching to justify them as genius.

I'm not trying to justify anything as genius. What gave you that impression? Maybe I was being too cryptic for you somehow, but if you go to page seven of this thread you would see that I said this song is 'easily forgotten'. In fact, I'm not too enamoured with any of the new songs, particularly the aggravating tinkering piano and sparse/repetitive lyrics of 'All the Young People', and the blunt force trauma/tinnitus inducing guitar mess and tuneless inspiration-free mish-mash of lyrics on 'I Wish You Lonely'.

The only two songs where it sounds like *some* effort was attempted in the lyrics department are 'Home is a Question Mark' and the otherwise forgettable 'Jacky'. "I've made this claim, now let me explain" is a classic early '90s style Morrissey line, in stark contrast with "heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin". Upon first hearing 'Spent the Day in Bed' on Chris Evans's Radio 2 show I wrote 300 or so words rubbishing it, but I never got around to posting it, so I'll paste some of that here now:

"[...] It is inconsequential. The unimaginative melody, the lazy singing, the sloppy lyrics which look like a first draft written while he was still half asleep. They're like scraps of third rate ideas, jotted down somewhere and then thrown together when it was time to add words to a new backing track. He doesn't even have the discipline to expand on the initial idea of spending the day in bed, there's potential for great humour there but he doesn't deliver. Instead he meanders. It starts as a Madness 'Driving in My Car' style of frivolous romp but he's unable even to stay true to and expand cleverly upon the frivolity.

The instrumentation is light and airy and he had the opportunity to fill in the gaps with some cracking lines, but there's nothing quotable or worth remembering, and we're back in familiar WPINOYB territory of listing similar sounding things for no particular reason ("stun you with their stun gun, tase you with their taser"//"no highway, no freeway, no motorway"// + "Bahrain, Ukraine", etc. & "no bus, no boss", etc.) Uninspiring to say the least. There's no depth to the lyrics either, no potential hidden meanings to mull over and speculate about.

It's a song completely without character.
I will say that it's better than most of WPINOYB but that's not much of a compliment. The bar had already been set so low that for it to be lowered any further could only be done as a deliberate act of self destruction on his part."

It's about on par with 'Lifeguard on Duty' and 'Oh Phoney', songs which were relegated to unheard b-side status 30 years ago. I've since updated my opinion of STDIB from 'rubbish' to 'inoffensive'. It irritates me less than Kiss Me a Lot and that's about the best I can say for it. So as you can see, I'm not defending anything, certainly not trying to claim anything I've heard is 'genius'.

But with that being said, if you're going to come out with brazen statements such as "you're f***ing wrong" and "way off on this one" then you'd want to have something to back it up. You realise most songs are generally written about *something* don't you, and people who write for a living often have layers to their work if they're any good (and Morrissey has been very good in the past, so I see no reason to believe that he can't still have select moments of inspiration).

You say "Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world.", so tell me how you know. If you have an e-mail from Morrissey or someone in his inner circle who confirms this, I'd be interested to see it. Otherwise you're just giving your interpretation of the lyrics which is no more surely right or wrong than mine or anybody else's. g23, a few comments above, thinks it's about Kristeen Young, will you tell him he's "f***ing wrong" or is that interpretation more pleasing to you? It's funny though, that you think my reading of the lyrics is too overly thought out that even the lyricist himself couldn't have thought of it. Thanks for the unintended compliment!

 

[Shyness 1s nice]

I'm not trying to justify anything as genius. What gave you that impression? Maybe I was being too cryptic for you somehow, but if you go to page seven of this thread you would see that I said this song is 'easily forgotten'. In fact, I'm not too enamoured with any of the new songs, particularly the aggravating tinkering piano and sparse/repetitive lyrics of 'All the Young People', and the blunt force trauma/tinnitus inducing guitar mess and tuneless inspiration-free mish-mash of lyrics on 'I Wish You Lonely'.

The only two songs where it sounds like *some* effort was attempted in the lyrics department are 'Home is a Question Mark' and the otherwise forgettable 'Jacky'. "I've made this claim, now let me explain" is a classic early '90s style Morrissey line, in stark contrast with "heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin". Upon first hearing 'Spent the Day in Bed' on Chris Evans's Radio 2 show I wrote 300 or so words rubbishing it, but I never got around to posting it, so I'll paste some of that here now:

"[...] It is inconsequential. The unimaginative melody, the lazy singing, the sloppy lyrics which look like a first draft written while he was still half asleep. They're like scraps of third rate ideas, jotted down somewhere and then thrown together when it was time to add words to a new backing track. He doesn't even have the discipline to expand on the initial idea of spending the day in bed, there's potential for great humour there but he doesn't deliver. Instead he meanders. It starts as a Madness 'Driving in My Car' style of frivolous romp but he's unable even to stay true to and expand cleverly upon the frivolity.

The instrumentation is light and airy and he had the opportunity to fill in the gaps with some cracking lines, but there's nothing quotable or worth remembering, and we're back in familiar WPINOYB territory of listing similar sounding things for no particular reason ("stun you with their stun gun, tase you with their taser"//"no highway, no freeway, no motorway"// + "Bahrain, Ukraine", etc. & "no bus, no boss", etc.) Uninspiring to say the least. There's no depth to the lyrics either, no potential hidden meanings to mull over and speculate about.

It's a song completely without character.
I will say that it's better than most of WPINOYB but that's not much of a compliment. The bar had already been set so low that for it to be lowered any further could only be done as a deliberate act of self destruction on his part."

It's about on par with 'Lifeguard on Duty' and 'Oh Phoney', songs which were relegated to unheard b-side status 30 years ago. I've since updated my opinion of STDIB from 'rubbish' to 'inoffensive'. It irritates me less than Kiss Me a Lot and that's about the best I can say for it. So as you can see, I'm not defending anything, certainly not trying to claim anything I've heard is 'genius'.

But with that being said, if you're going to come out with brazen statements such as "you're f***ing wrong" and "way off on this one" then you'd better have something to back it up. You realise most songs are generally written about *something* don't you, and people who write for a living often have layers to their work if they're any good (and Morrissey has been very good in the past, so I see no reason to believe that he can't still have select moments of inspiration).

You say "Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world.", so tell me how you know. If you have an e-mail from Morrissey or someone in his inner circle who confirms this, I'd be interested to see it. Otherwise you're just giving your interpretation of the lyrics which is no more surely right or wrong than mine or anybody else's. g23, a few comments above, thinks it's about Kristeen Young, will you tell him he's "f***ing wrong" or is that interpretation more pleasing to you? It's funny though, that you think my reading of the lyrics is too overly thought out that even the lyricist himself couldn't have thought of it. Thanks for the unintended compliment!

Even if the song is not written about Britain/Brexit, I do like your vision of it. Isn't it great that each person can have their own interpretation of a song

 

[ordinaryboy86]

I'm not trying to justify anything as genius. What gave you that impression? Maybe I was being too cryptic for you somehow, but if you go to page seven of this thread you would see that I said this song is 'easily forgotten'. In fact, I'm not too enamoured with any of the new songs, particularly the aggravating tinkering piano and sparse/repetitive lyrics of 'All the Young People', and the blunt force trauma/tinnitus inducing guitar mess and tuneless inspiration-free mish-mash of lyrics on 'I Wish You Lonely'.

The only two songs where it sounds like *some* effort was attempted in the lyrics department are 'Home is a Question Mark' and the otherwise forgettable 'Jacky'. "I've made this claim, now let me explain" is a classic early '90s style Morrissey line, in stark contrast with "heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin". Upon first hearing 'Spent the Day in Bed' on Chris Evans's Radio 2 show I wrote 300 or so words rubbishing it, but I never got around to posting it, so I'll paste some of that here now:

"[...] It is inconsequential. The unimaginative melody, the lazy singing, the sloppy lyrics which look like a first draft written while he was still half asleep. They're like scraps of third rate ideas, jotted down somewhere and then thrown together when it was time to add words to a new backing track. He doesn't even have the discipline to expand on the initial idea of spending the day in bed, there's potential for great humour there but he doesn't deliver. Instead he meanders. It starts as a Madness 'Driving in My Car' style of frivolous romp but he's unable even to stay true to and expand cleverly upon the frivolity.

The instrumentation is light and airy and he had the opportunity to fill in the gaps with some cracking lines, but there's nothing quotable or worth remembering, and we're back in familiar WPINOYB territory of listing similar sounding things for no particular reason ("stun you with their stun gun, tase you with their taser"//"no highway, no freeway, no motorway"// + "Bahrain, Ukraine", etc. & "no bus, no boss", etc.) Uninspiring to say the least. There's no depth to the lyrics either, no potential hidden meanings to mull over and speculate about.

It's a song completely without character.
I will say that it's better than most of WPINOYB but that's not much of a compliment. The bar had already been set so low that for it to be lowered any further could only be done as a deliberate act of self destruction on his part."

It's about on par with 'Lifeguard on Duty' and 'Oh Phoney', songs which were relegated to unheard b-side status 30 years ago. I've since updated my opinion of STDIB from 'rubbish' to 'inoffensive'. It irritates me less than Kiss Me a Lot and that's about the best I can say for it. So as you can see, I'm not defending anything, certainly not trying to claim anything I've heard is 'genius'.

But with that being said, if you're going to come out with brazen statements such as "you're f***ing wrong" and "way off on this one" then you'd want to have something to back it up. You realise most songs are generally written about *something* don't you, and people who write for a living often have layers to their work if they're any good (and Morrissey has been very good in the past, so I see no reason to believe that he can't still have select moments of inspiration).

You say "Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world.", so tell me how you know. If you have an e-mail from Morrissey or someone in his inner circle who confirms this, I'd be interested to see it. Otherwise you're just giving your interpretation of the lyrics which is no more surely right or wrong than mine or anybody else's. g23, a few comments above, thinks it's about Kristeen Young, will you tell him he's "f***ing wrong" or is that interpretation more pleasing to you? It's funny though, that you think my reading of the lyrics is too overly thought out that even the lyricist himself couldn't have thought of it. Thanks for the unintended compliment!

I didnt read your post, (a bit too long and drawn out for me, sorry) But i did word count it and had fun reading the results. Goodnight

 

[Anonymous]

I didnt read your post, (a bit too long and drawn out for me, sorry) But i did word count it and had fun reading the results. Goodnight

View attachment 42488 View attachment 42489 View attachment 42490 View attachment 42491

You really need to get out of the basement more if that is how you have fun. Try visiting a cemetery on a sunny day to look at all the headstones of people born in the same year as you. That could be fun.

 

[Born to Harangue]

Even if the song is not written about Britain/Brexit, I do like your vision of it. Isn't it great that each person can have their own interpretation of a song

No it isn't. Every other interpretation is f***ing wrong and way off! The song is about the magnificence of Brexit, at least the magnificence of the groundswell of feeling which led to Brexit, if not the aftermath with the career politicians, who never wanted it, being at the helm and destined to doom it. Brexit was very important symbolically, as a roaring statement by the people, but the current Blairite wing of Labour and Conservative political classes would have to be swept out of power, and the vote would need to be Europe-wide (or in the big five or six countries at least) for such a thing to have the desired impact.

Brexit was a working class movement (with plenty of opportunist politicians jumping on the bandwagon along the way) which is why it was feared, such as it is any time they make their voices heard, as they aren't trusted by the perennially powerful to shape their own futures. There's too much at stake -- but not for the working classes who at this stage have little to lose.

Here's hoping for many more 'Brexits' across Europe over the coming years --- as a line-drawn-in-the-sand giant 'f*** you' statement of intent there's nothing that chills the bones of the European champagne classes more right now. Although I'm not too fond of the new music, I'm glad Morrissey decided to write a song about it.

 

[Morrissey-so-old.com]

From what i've heard so far, 5/10 seems about right. Viva hate was an amazing album, Vauxhall was an amazing album, YA, YATQ, ROTT, all very solid albums. How anyone can put LIHS on a level with those is beyond me, it's even an insult to compare it to Kill Uncle. When are we all going to admit that Morrissey isnt as good as he once was. His new stuff is dire.

I’ve been saying that for years but these tossers can’t get uncle Morrissey’s meat free cock out of theyre mouths to see that. He’s not what he use to be and the days of returning to his once greatness are long gone but leave it to these blinded fools to call something that’s mediocre great, if Morrissey were take a shit on them they would say it smells good because it’s Morrissey.

 

[Born to Harangue]

I didnt read your post, (a bit too long and drawn out for me, sorry) But i did word count it and had fun reading the results. Goodnight

Just as I thought, you have nothing, just gazing in envy at my word count. Go on, scarper off to bed. Spend the day there tomorrow and 'please yourself', wanker.

 

[Anonymous]

Although I've stopped listening to his recent stuff, (WPINOYB was an album that I didn't stand for day one due to the Manzur un-post-punk un-roxy-iesque arrangements - I wish Christopher Pooley had arranged those recent tracks but that's another subject...), I have to say this : I won't take for granted anything coming from a critic saying that Kill Uncle is a bad LP. So if you like Manzur's playing on WPINOYB, changes are high that you'll enjoy this one too. As always, the soul is what matters: that Vintage Uncut review of Boxers is a no-no: Boxers is one of my top 3 favorite Morrissey solo singles along with HOTYF and Interlude. Uncut is like the NME, or ennemy, uncut is in fact in the same group as NME. Who cares of reviews anyway

 

[Anonymous]

As Morrissey has said before, if you don't meet the right people in the right bars.....they'll have you. I've already heard a good deal of his new material and it's doing it for me.

Me Too.

And that was true in 1952 and its still true today
- that's the Manufactured World Of Music for you. Sad.

Hazard
x

 

[ordinaryboy86]

No it isn't. Every other interpretation is f***ing wrong and way off! The song is about the magnificence of Brexit, at least the magnificence of the groundswell of feeling which led to Brexit, if not the aftermath with the career politicians, who never wanted it, being at the helm and destined to doom it. Brexit was very important symbolically, as a roaring statement by the people, but the current Blairite wing of Labour and Conservative political classes would have to be swept out of power, and the vote would need to be Europe-wide (or in the big five or six countries at least) for such a thing to have the desired impact.

Brexit was a working class movement (with plenty of opportunist politicians jumping on the bandwagon along the way) which is why it was feared, such as it is any time they make their voices heard, as they aren't trusted by the perennially powerful to shape their own futures. There's too much at stake -- but not for the working classes who at this stage have little to lose.

Here's hoping for many more 'Brexits' across Europe over the coming years --- as a line-drawn-in-the-sand giant 'f*** you' statement of intent there's nothing that chills the bones of the European champagne classes more right now. Although I'm not too fond of the new music, I'm glad Morrissey decided to write a song about it.

You are f***ing deluded.

 

[Shyness 1s nice]

No it isn't. Every other interpretation is f***ing wrong and way off! The song is about the magnificence of Brexit, at least the magnificence of the groundswell of feeling which led to Brexit, if not the aftermath with the career politicians, who never wanted it, being at the helm and destined to doom it. Brexit was very important symbolically, as a roaring statement by the people, but the current Blairite wing of Labour and Conservative political classes would have to be swept out of power, and the vote would need to be Europe-wide (or in the big five or six countries at least) for such a thing to have the desired impact.

Brexit was a working class movement (with plenty of opportunist politicians jumping on the bandwagon along the way) which is why it was feared, such as it is any time they make their voices heard, as they aren't trusted by the perennially powerful to shape their own futures. There's too much at stake -- but not for the working classes who at this stage have little to lose.

Here's hoping for many more 'Brexits' across Europe over the coming years --- as a line-drawn-in-the-sand giant 'f*** you' statement of intent there's nothing that chills the bones of the European champagne classes more right now. Although I'm not too fond of the new music, I'm glad Morrissey decided to write a song about it.

A magnificent follow up from English Heart

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not trying to justify anything as genius. What gave you that impression? Maybe I was being too cryptic for you somehow, but if you go to page seven of this thread you would see that I said this song is 'easily forgotten'. In fact, I'm not too enamoured with any of the new songs, particularly the aggravating tinkering piano and sparse/repetitive lyrics of 'All the Young People', and the blunt force trauma/tinnitus inducing guitar mess and tuneless inspiration-free mish-mash of lyrics on 'I Wish You Lonely'.

The only two songs where it sounds like *some* effort was attempted in the lyrics department are 'Home is a Question Mark' and the otherwise forgettable 'Jacky'. "I've made this claim, now let me explain" is a classic early '90s style Morrissey line, in stark contrast with "heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin, heroin". Upon first hearing 'Spent the Day in Bed' on Chris Evans's Radio 2 show I wrote 300 or so words rubbishing it, but I never got around to posting it, so I'll paste some of that here now:

"[...] It is inconsequential. The unimaginative melody, the lazy singing, the sloppy lyrics which look like a first draft written while he was still half asleep. They're like scraps of third rate ideas, jotted down somewhere and then thrown together when it was time to add words to a new backing track. He doesn't even have the discipline to expand on the initial idea of spending the day in bed, there's potential for great humour there but he doesn't deliver. Instead he meanders. It starts as a Madness 'Driving in My Car' style of frivolous romp but he's unable even to stay true to and expand cleverly upon the frivolity.

The instrumentation is light and airy and he had the opportunity to fill in the gaps with some cracking lines, but there's nothing quotable or worth remembering, and we're back in familiar WPINOYB territory of listing similar sounding things for no particular reason ("stun you with their stun gun, tase you with their taser"//"no highway, no freeway, no motorway"// + "Bahrain, Ukraine", etc. & "no bus, no boss", etc.) Uninspiring to say the least. There's no depth to the lyrics either, no potential hidden meanings to mull over and speculate about.

It's a song completely without character.
I will say that it's better than most of WPINOYB but that's not much of a compliment. The bar had already been set so low that for it to be lowered any further could only be done as a deliberate act of self destruction on his part."

It's about on par with 'Lifeguard on Duty' and 'Oh Phoney', songs which were relegated to unheard b-side status 30 years ago. I've since updated my opinion of STDIB from 'rubbish' to 'inoffensive'. It irritates me less than Kiss Me a Lot and that's about the best I can say for it. So as you can see, I'm not defending anything, certainly not trying to claim anything I've heard is 'genius'.

But with that being said, if you're going to come out with brazen statements such as "you're f***ing wrong" and "way off on this one" then you'd want to have something to back it up. You realise most songs are generally written about *something* don't you, and people who write for a living often have layers to their work if they're any good (and Morrissey has been very good in the past, so I see no reason to believe that he can't still have select moments of inspiration).

You say "Jacky is not the union jack and the stage is not the world.", so tell me how you know. If you have an e-mail from Morrissey or someone in his inner circle who confirms this, I'd be interested to see it. Otherwise you're just giving your interpretation of the lyrics which is no more surely right or wrong than mine or anybody else's. g23, a few comments above, thinks it's about Kristeen Young, will you tell him he's "f***ing wrong" or is that interpretation more pleasing to you? It's funny though, that you think my reading of the lyrics is too overly thought out that even the lyricist himself couldn't have thought of it. Thanks for the unintended compliment!

If Only...someone with half of your level of intelligence had actually written that review (which started this POST) then we wouldn't be here reading this crap, Born to Harangue. Sorry, but you KNOW what I mean.

And I definitely know Jacky is NOT about Kristeen Young - basically because there were only 56 people present whenever Kristeen got up on stage to bang that Piano. I know this because I've been there. Seen her. Watched her. Checked that piano. Enjoyed her music and laughed at her jokes...or not.

And lastly, respectfully, Morrissey has been having moments of inspiration CONTINOUSLY since 1977 - you just haven't heard them yet, baby, in your brain. Buy the album. And listen !

Viva Morrissey
Hazard
x

 

[Anonymous]

I actually like this album quite a bit. If you pay attention to the lyrics, it's quite personal. You all are quite harsh on him. I really do think he "Spent the Day in Bed" quite a few times. With all of that money, adoring fans, friends and he still is depressed. It begs the question why? Makes me sad.