Maladjusted Reappraised

Its patchy. Stunning opening, stunning first single, stunning balladeering and one of the most exceptional songs of Morrissey's (including The SMiths) canon in Trouble Loves Me

Papa jack, Ammunition, Ambituous Outsiders, He Cried, mwah mwah mwah. Terrible terrrible songs.

As for Roy's Keen a great Alain Whyte tune sadly lost in puns about footballing window cleaners. Still Morrissey's worst single of his career (along with That's How People Grow Up!)

All I can say is thank god for I-pod shuffle.

The B-sides of the era though are underrated gems.

Personally I think Morrissey's judgement and quality control for one reason or another (Michael. Joyce. Truculent. Unreliable. Deviant.) were all over the shop. The clue was in the short haircut and the two date UK December tour. A country where he no longer felt loved.

An interesting artefact but no masterpiece
 
As I've said before, I feel this is the last album from the Morrissey who used to front The Smiths...with his return 7 years later, his career took on a new life of it's own.

I don't feel Morrissey has ever been as lyrically strong and mature in his solo career as he was on 'Maladjusted'....not to mention, he was at an absolute creative peak at the time - 11 album tracks, 6 b-sides, 5 unreleased tracks (that we know of).

Brilliant album. Love it to death.
 
Read through this thread and decided to pull out my LP.
A very underrated album, indeed.

Maladjusted along with Southpaw Grammar always ranked higher than anything else.
 
I've always thought maladjusted was one of his best songs lyrically, i always love his songs that are about something, other than 'the heart' or the usual stuff! (dont get me wrong, many of those sort of songs are brilliant). The last lines of that song to me are just pure class. Who else could write a song about prostitution like that? I also think trouble loves me is one of his best songs too, just very well written. I wish his new songs were half as good as some of the songs on this album because they were clever, witty and actually had a meaning.
 
Because of that thread, I have just listened to it again.

I still believe it is his worst album.

Maladjusted has no melody.

Alma Matters is nice, but too long and, again, the vocal melody is poor compared to what Morrissey can do.

Ambitious Outsiders is ok for a b side.

Trouble Loves Me is great, the only song on the album that matches Moz' high standards.

Papa Jack is embarrassing.

Ammunition is ... nothing.

Wide to Receive sounds almost like a joke.

I kinda like Roy's Keen, but I'm weak though, at least, it has a melody.

He cried is not almost a joke, it is on and it is not funny at all.

Sorrow will come in the end : I would forgive that one if it was the first and last about the court case.

Satan Rejected My Soul is weak, but it is funny as a response There's a Place in Hell ... which is a billion times better anyhow.
 
Nikita said:
Because of that thread, I have just listened to it again.

I still believe it is his worst album.

Maladjusted has no melody.

Alma Matters is nice, but too long and, again, the vocal melody is poor compared to what Morrissey can do.

Ambitious Outsiders is ok for a b side.

Trouble Loves Me is great, the only song on the album that matches Moz' high standards.

Papa Jack is embarrassing.

Ammunition is ... nothing.

Wide to Receive sounds almost like a joke.

I kinda like Roy's Keen, but I'm weak though, at least, it has a melody.

He cried is not almost a joke, it is on and it is not funny at all.

Sorrow will come in the end : I would forgive that one if it was the first and last about the court case.

Satan Rejected My Soul is weak, but it is funny as a response There's a Place in Hell ... which is a billion times better anyhow.
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul Morley
 
Nikita said:
Because of that thread, I have just listened to it again.

I still believe it is his worst album.

Maladjusted has no melody.

Alma Matters is nice, but too long and, again, the vocal melody is poor compared to what Morrissey can do.

Ambitious Outsiders is ok for a b side.

Trouble Loves Me is great, the only song on the album that matches Moz' high standards.

Papa Jack is embarrassing.

Ammunition is ... nothing.

Wide to Receive sounds almost like a joke.

I kinda like Roy's Keen, but I'm weak though, at least, it has a melody.

He cried is not almost a joke, it is on and it is not funny at all.

Sorrow will come in the end : I would forgive that one if it was the first and last about the court case.

Satan Rejected My Soul is weak, but it is funny as a response There's a Place in Hell ... which is a billion times better anyhow.
Click to expand...

Wow, I've never seen anybody be SO COMPLETELY WRONG. :D

Nonetheless, thanks for offering your opinion.
 
I really like it as well. Great album except the lazy cover. For any other artist an album of this quality might be their magnum opus but with moz it's just another fine work. And I to also really like years of refusal.
 
!Viva Hate! said:
5 unreleased tracks (that we know of).
Click to expand...

I count 6. Are we all on the same page or have I missed something? Thanks.

I Know Who I Love
Kit
Spencer co-written version of Walk Tall
Northern Leaches (Is it known if this is just an early recording of Couldn't Last or a completely different song?)
I'm Not Worth Hitting (Was this ever confirmed to be a real song? I remember Steve Lillywhite himself mentioned the title at the time on an AOL chatroom)
Maladjusted-era recording of No-one Can Hold a Candle
 
Born In 1975 said:
I count 6. Are we all on the same page or have I missed something? Thanks.

I Know Who I Love
Kit
Spencer co-written version of Walk Tall
Northern Leaches (Is it known if this is just an early recording of Couldn't Last or a completely different song?)
I'm Not Worth Hitting (Was this ever confirmed to be a real song? I remember Steve Lillywhite himself mentioned the title at the time on an AOL chatroom)
Maladjusted-era recording of No-one Can Hold a Candle
Click to expand...

You're right. I forgot about 'The Leeches Go On Removing' and 'I'm Not Worth Hitting'...but you left out 'Hanratty' and 'Nightmare'.
 
Maladjusted is such a frustrating album. It has better songs than Southpaw certainly, but doesn't hang together as a coherent whole the way that album does. Maladjusted and Trouble Loves Me are absolute classics in my mind. Alma is a pleasantly solid, if unspectacular single. Ammunition and Wide To Receive are very interesting tracks. He Cried and Papa Jack are okay, but perhaps would have been better deployed as b-sides.

Roy's Keen is great musically, but perhaps is a step too far into whimsy and certainly should never have been a single. Sorrow and Outsiders aren't the strongest by any means; extra track fodder at best. Satan is a good pop tune but seems to suddenly stray in from another album and doesn't fit with the over all tone of the piece. Perhaps it would have been better as a one-off single.

Clearly quality control seems to have been all over the place at the time. I Can Have Both and Heir Apparent are both excellent and should have been on the record. And then we have Edges and Lost - two absolutely brilliant songs casually tossed away as b-sides. The murky version of Kit that has leaked is very promising and apparently I Know The One I Love is pretty good too.

So I think there's a fine album in there somewhere, it just didn't make it onto the finished record. I'm no expert, but the production sounds muddy to my ears. I think the big mistake, perhaps, was returning to Lilywhite for a third time. I think if Strummer had been at the helm it would have brought greater focus and a far more sonically-exciting album may have emerged.

Still, there are so many good songs in there, I find the whole Maladjusted period very interesting. It seems - a little like his Kill Uncle line-up - that just as the band were finding their feet (with Lost and Edges) the era suddenly came to an end.
 
Nikita said:
Because of that thread, I have just listened to it again.

I still believe it is his worst album.

Maladjusted has no melody.

Alma Matters is nice, but too long and, again, the vocal melody is poor compared to what Morrissey can do.

Ambitious Outsiders is ok for a b side.

Trouble Loves Me is great, the only song on the album that matches Moz' high standards.

Papa Jack is embarrassing.

Ammunition is ... nothing.

Wide to Receive sounds almost like a joke.

I kinda like Roy's Keen, but I'm weak though, at least, it has a melody.

He cried is not almost a joke, it is on and it is not funny at all.

Sorrow will come in the end : I would forgive that one if it was the first and last about the court case.

Satan Rejected My Soul is weak, but it is funny as a response There's a Place in Hell ... which is a billion times better anyhow.
Click to expand...

I bet you dont even like how he sings "chev-er-on", you miserable get.
 
I bought Maladjusted waaaaaaaay later, the reissue. I adore it. So many underrated tracks: He Cried is a particular favourite, pop perfection. Love the lyrics in Ammunition. This is Not Your Country is a little drawn out, but it's still a good track. Now I am a Was, and I Can Have Both are perfect pop songs, something you'd expect to see on the Ed Sullivan show eons ago. Ambitious Outsiders can be read from so many different angles; I don't think the meaning is as obvious as a serial killer living in an upright neighbourhood. The explanation on World of Morrissey makes sense to me. Trouble Loves Me is so good it doesn't even need to be discussed any further. Musically and lyrically, it's one of Morrissey's best. Maladjusted is haunting, dark and a great opener.

Yes, Maladjusted is in my top three favourite Moz albums ever along with Vauxhall and Southpaw (reissue), with Your Arsenal creeping along behind. Speaking of reissues, is Vauxhall EVER going to get one?!
 
I avoid reissues based on so-called principals, but I made an exception with Maladjusted mainly at the urging of a friend. The reissue is now my third favorite behind V&I and YA.
 
kip winger said:
I avoid reissues based on so-called principals, but I made an exception with Maladjusted mainly at the urging of a friend. The reissue is now my third favorite behind V&I and YA.
Click to expand...

The reissue is problematic because although it contained the phenomenal b-sides he recorded around that time; he left off two amazing songs from the original version. Additionally; I'm not a fan of albums that take a year to listen to. I think things should be kept concise; 10-12 songs, unless it's an out-and-out compilation like Swords or Louder Than Bombs. Otherwise the insularity and the thematic integrity of the original concept is compromised; like when you let too many people into a club.

Adding all that stuff to Maladjusted, even with the omissions, and then rearranging the tracks, left for a muddied senseless rewrite of what was, to begin with, a near-perfect album with exemplary outtakes. That's just my opinion obviously, and I think he was at the top of his game back then, but to me the re-issue should have been a two-disc affair.
 
Skylarker said:
The reissue is problematic because although it contained the phenomenal b-sides he recorded around that time; he left off two amazing songs from the original version. Additionally; I'm not a fan of albums that take a year to listen to. I think things should be kept concise; 10-12 songs, unless it's an out-and-out compilation like Swords or Louder Than Bombs. Otherwise the insularity and the thematic integrity of the original concept is compromised; like when you let too many people into a club.

Adding all that stuff to Maladjusted, even with the omissions, and then rearranging the tracks, left for a muddied senseless rewrite of what was, to begin with, a near-perfect album with exemplary outtakes. That's just my opinion obviously, and I think he was at the top of his game back then, but to me the re-issue should have been a two-disc affair.
Click to expand...

Well, our opinions diverge from the outset as I found favor in the omission of the two songs. I don't get all apoplectic about those songs llike others, but let's just say I don't miss them.

As far as the rearrangement, perhaps it was because I didn't get too acquainted with the original. As far as the length, didn't and doesn't bother me a bit. There are plenty of other albums in comparison that are at least as long but still thoroughly enjoyable experiences. But as you say, proverbially, like assholes, we've all got one.
 
I only have the maladjusted reissue and it took me a long time to digest. Southpaw Grammar on the other hand, I liked instantly and in terms of the music and Morrissey's voice it is the better album of these two. I always thought that Morrissey sounds rather strange on Maladjusted, and while that initially put me off, I came to appreciate it as a unique and interesting quality. It took several listens for me to get into it, and though I still don't like the title track, most of the songs, especially The Edges Are No Longer Parallel, Trouble Loves Me, Lost, He Cried, Apparant Heir and Ambitious Outsiders are truly amazing. I do think however that this album is a little too long and the reissue should have been kept shorter.
 
JJKelsall said:
I only have the maladjusted reissue and it took me a long time to digest. Southpaw Grammar on the other hand, I liked instantly and in terms of the music and Morrissey's voice it is the better album of these two. I always thought that Morrissey sounds rather strange on Maladjusted, and while that initially put me off, I came to appreciate it as a unique and interesting quality. It took several listens for me to get into it, and though I still don't like the title track, most of the songs, especially The Edges Are No Longer Parallel, Trouble Loves Me, Lost, He Cried, Apparant Heir and Ambitious Outsiders are truly amazing. I do think however that this album is a little too long and the reissue should have been kept shorter.
Click to expand...

I agree that Southpaw Grammar is a better album as a whole, but I think Maladjusted has better individual songs. I think the title track is one of the best things he ever did, including Smiths-era.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom