Maladjusted

S

Son of a Bu$h

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I just can't stop playing this album - i know it gets slated but it's truly a wonderful album, one of moz's most passionate to date.

Maladjusted, Trouble loves me, ammunition, and of course Alma Matters - i even have a soft spot for Sorrow will come in the end...
 
I loVe this album the only track im not keen on is Papa Jack.... Wide To Recieve holds a special spot in my heart!
 
I don't get along with myself....

Thats it, thats all..
 
Agreed

I don't know why people seem to dislike this album so much. It has a few rough moments but by and large it's (in my opinion) a very solid and enjoyable Moz album. His voice on this album is superb, and it has some of his best b-sides (Lost, This Is Not Your Country, I Can Have Both, etc.)
 
Re: Agreed

> I don't know why people seem to dislike this album so much. It has a few
> rough moments but by and large it's (in my opinion) a very solid and
> enjoyable Moz album. His voice on this album is superb, and it has some of
> his best b-sides (Lost, This Is Not Your Country, I Can Have Both, etc.)

I agree. The first half of the album is brilliant. Didn't it get quite good reviews at the time? I think it's only in retrospect because it didn't sell a lot it's been slagged off.
 
For some reason, I tend to play this album from start to finish more than just about any Morrissey release. Its got its faults - certainly - but overall its a perfectly fine album. I'd rank "Maladjusted" and "trouble Loves Me" in my Moz Top 20 easily.

And as someone else has just pointed out (and has been pointed out 2349 times since 1997 on these boards,) most of the B-Sides are fantastic. Consider the following track listing:

Maladjusted
Alma Matters
I Can Have Both
Ambitious Outsiders
Lost
Trouble Loves me
The Edges Are No Longer Parrallel
Ammunition
Wide To Receive
Roy's Keen (I know this song is kinda weak, but something about it makes it hard to totally omit!)
This is Not My Country
Satan Rejected My Soul

This takes it from a "B-" to an "A/A-" quickly, no?
 
I'd say so. Moreso than any other album, Maladjusted could have been elevated to greatness by the selective inclusion of some of its singles' b-sides. As is, really, the only track I dislike is Papa Jack (and to a lesser extent Ambitious Outsiders). Hell, I even love Sorrow Will Come in the End. And who can deny Satan Rejected my Soul?
 
Papa Jack haters...

PJ is surely one of the most derided album tracks in the Moz-solo canon. Personally it's not a track that comes to mind often, and doesn't really have any significant ranking in the catalogue, but I can't understand why it gets slagged off so much. Here's a post I made about it from earlier this year:

"Why do people hate this track so much? It's definitely nowhere near Morrissey's best, but it has its charms. I remember the press release for this album saying Papa Jack's guitars recalled The Who live at Leeds. I like the vocal/guitar wall of sound at the end, and the sentiment of the song is nicely in line with the rest of the album. I don't mind the vocal melody, either.

People on here are usually able to articulate why the love a song, but not able to articulate why they hate one. How about a more detailed critique of why you think this song (and others on Maladjusted) is/are "bad" or "crap" etc."

Any takers?
 
Re: Agreed

well, the b-sides are in fact much better for me....I can't understand why he didn't incude "I can have both" and "lost"
 
Re: Papa Jack haters...

To whom ever is interested, for the little it's worth I love this Album. It was not criticise overly badly - just not bought in droves.

To me it sounds like the most mature and professional Album he did up until YATQ. B Sides are also great.

I think thats a scandal and the greatest irony that we (in England) lost Moz at this time.

- In my opinion it's as good as anything Bowie never did.
 
I'll bite

It's a lot easier to describe why you like a song than why you dislike one, as you said. I'll try...

I wouldn't say it's a bad song, per se. I can listen to it by itself, but I always skip through it when I'm listening to Maladjusted in its (near) entirety. It just dosn't feel right to me on Maladjusted, especially sandwiched between the epic "Trouble Loves Me" and "Ammunition". When I try to mentally place it in its proper spot in Maladjusted's tracklist, I can't find it.

The guitars don't catch me in the same way that they do on, say, "Ammunition" or "Maladjusted". As a whole, the song's music just doesn't do anything for me. The bridge builds up "But there was a time / When the kids reach up..." and just doesn't seem to go anywhere.

I will say that the song's lyrical theme is enjoyable, if not captivating, and Moz's vocals are (as with every song released in this album period) top-notch. The song's not dross, and I certainly wouldn't hold it against someone for having a different opinion on it than I do. I just don't care for it much personally.
 
Re: I'll bite

Ill go with the above - Thats exactly what I think about it.

I tried to write something similar - but Ive had a little too much Xmas cheer. Hic.

Maladjusted is great just for the line in said title song: "Well... do you want to hear my story or not?" Said with such passion.

Considering those that were trying so hard to listen, but were talking endlessly about the court case and rascism charges and all that crap.
 
Re: I'll bite

Papa Jack isnt awful, but i recall a review at the time saying the end section sounded like Morrissey had long left the building, leaving the band to it, and i can see what they meant.

I love the band, and think Boz and Alain are great writers, but they do have their odd perfunctory moments, and i think Papa Jack is one of them, and Morrisseys vocal melody isnt quite enough to lift it from the ranks of the mediocre

There are great songs on Maladjusted though, and it is indeed a much undervalued album. I think though, people saying the B sides being on the album are missing the point a bit. Singles SHOULD have great b sides, and i think its in Morrisseys favour that he continues to do this.

"Lost" though - what a f***ing song.
 
Re: I'll bite

I agree with all said before. It's not that it's a bad song, it's just that it provokes no feelings at all. In fact I prefer songs that Morrissey has written that I would consider bad. At least I have some kind of reaction to them.

I'd put "He Cried" into the same bracket. Just songs that do nothing.
 
Thanks to everyone...

for posting some longer thoughts about this neither-here-nor-there song. Never read the review quote about Morrissey "leaving the building" for the end of PJ, but it's funny. He does it on stage, why not in the studio?

Still no outright haters posting their thoughts, either because they can't be bothered, or can't write.

trivia: morrissey-solo.com started around the release of Maladajusted...
 
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