Morrissey- a spent force chart-wise?

[Jacks Shadow]

Disaster.

That is the only word that can be used to describe Morrissey's chart placings this year.

Following the deeply disappointing chart placing of the "Paris" single, Years of Refusal came and went in the blink of an eye, with deeply mediocre sales.

Then this week Something Is Squeezing My Skull fails to chart, and the re-issued versions of Maladjusted & Southpaw Grammar fail to do anything.

This all adds up to a frightening pattern - Morrissey is no longer a viable product for record labels. His singles & albums fail to sell.

Make no mistake - I LOVE Morrissey, and i think the quality of his musical out put is as good now - if not better - than ever, but facts must be faced: his chart clout is fading fast.

I suspect SISMS may well be the last single we ever see from him.

 

[Morrisseyfan08]

Personally I dont like skull.The lyrics are quite self indulgent and I cringe a bit when I watch him sing it.I would have the same criticisms for Paris.
Charming man has been butchered by the band.Grow up is tedious.I think if he really produces something amazing then he will get chart success but he needs someone who has magic fingers on the guitar too to make it happen.

 

[Jacks Shadow]

Personally I dont like skull.The lyrics are quite self indulgent and I cringe a bit when I watch him sing it.I would have the same criticisms for Paris.
Charming man has been butchered by the band.Grow up is tedious.I think if he really produces something amazing then he will get chart success but he needs someone who has magic fingers on the guitar too to make it happen.

As much as i like to agree, Morrissey is on the wrong side of the great gulf that is the digital divide.

The only way he;ll get any chart success is if Radio 1 decide to back him - and that'll NEVER happen.

 

[Morton88]

A poor chart position doesn't necesarily reflect on the quality of his song output!! I'll admit, YOR is by no means his best album, but Skull and Paris are in my opinion 2 great songs.

Come on, were talking about a chart that constantly ops for Beyonce, Lady Gaga etc etc drivel drivel going to the top

Morrissey has and will always remain an outsider, Isnt that one of the reasons we all love him? (apart from the amazing songs).

 

[Raised on prisoner's aid]

Who gives a damn where Morrissey is on the charts? They're full of such rubbish that I've stopped caring for years now

 

[nugz]

Who gives a damn where Morrissey is on the charts? They're full of such rubbish that I've stopped caring for years now

yeah this

 

[bored]

Who gives a damn where Morrissey is on the charts? They're full of such rubbish that I've stopped caring for years now

The records labels.

It's kind of funny. It seemed like Lost Highway was excited about having Morrissey on board but once the time came near they seemed disinterested.

Maybe someday Moz will start his own label and distribute his music digitally with small print runs available via mail order for the real fan base. It would be a really sad day if it came to that. Maybe Moz will just call it a day. Who knows.

 

[Morton88]

Maybe Moz will just call it a day. Who knows
Dont say that

 

[Jukebox Jury]

This would be a fair assumption if every other artist was still selling millions of albums and singles. But they are not.
The record industry is on it's knees, not just an artist like Morrissey.
Save the odd exception like Coldplay etc etc, albums / CD's are simply not shifting via over the counter sales.

Anyone thinking that 'Skull' was going to set the singles chart on fire and that the two re-released albums (that both bombed over a decade ago) were going to reignite a career, then they are seriously delusioned!

Jukebox Jury

 

[mcrickson]

This would be a fair assumption if every other artist was still selling millions of albums and singles. But they are not.
The record industry is on it's knees, not just an artist like Morrissey.
Save the odd exception like Coldplay etc etc, albums / CD's are simply not shifting via over the counter sales.

Jukebox Jury

Maybe people will stop listening to music altogether!

 

[Jukebox Jury]

Maybe people will stop listening to music altogether!

People are still listening to music, just accessing it in a different way than before.

Jukebox Jury

 

[unruly boy]

I think it's a good thing in some ways. Shows that the sort of moronic toilet that tops the charts, and the equivalent people who buy it, are a world away from Morrissey.

It also shows that the mass media aren't arsed about promoting him, which is no bad thing either. I can't abide Radio 1 and would be alarmed if they backed Morrissey.

The bigger picture here though is that he will ALWAYS pull in a crowd for his live shows, even after his chart heyday is long gone and/or the standard of his albums decrease. There are other acts (like them or not) that are like this, Oasis being an example.

If Morrissey didn't release a song for the rest of his life, people would still pay money to go and see him. That, I think, is the key thing here.

 

[Scarlet Ibis]

Who gives a damn where Morrissey is on the charts? They're full of such rubbish that I've stopped caring for years now

But Morrissey cares, so I care a little too. I wouldn't, except when I imagine how happy he'd be to have a #1 single, I can't help but care.

The world is so wrong.

 

[blue jag]

Morrissey is too cool for the charts. I doubt he gives it much thought.

 

[Mozza220559]

How are the charts anything to go by when Shit like Lady Gaga is storming the charts with her vacuous 'pop' records.

Who ever wanted Morrissey to be mainstream?

Not me certainly.

 

[Raised on prisoner's aid]

The bigger picture here though is that he will ALWAYS pull in a crowd for his live shows, even after his chart heyday is long gone and/or the standard of his albums decrease.

Exactly this. Morrissey will ALWAYS have a dedicated fanbase.

 

[smiler]

There are a string of reasons:

Dodgy greatest hits package - which focused on his later years and included new "hits". It was not a great introducion and a test for the completists

Those new hits were then included on a patchy new abum which gave the suggestion that there wasn't alot of strong songs floating about.

I think there were lost opportunities "Goodbye farewell" was done poorly it was better live and looked like a hit before it was recorded.

I think they really missed herp.

The album was then over hyped due to "delays" - record company issues?

Poor choice of first single "Paris" was a weak song - big mistake - with a bad video - even with lots of coverage hype and airplay it flopped - "Skull" ironically is a much better song.

When the first single flopped the album didn't fly - the funding and will is soon to follow.

This "new" single recieved no hype no airplay and effectively no video - one has to assume the record company or the artist is only forfilling an obligation.

With no tempting B-sides the single is only intresting to completists - and they have already been tested.

The question has to be is he holding songs back for future release or are there no strong ones left from those sessions?

Is he a spent force? - well i wouldn't count him out just yet because he can still write great songs - but he shouldn't release an album until he has enough strong songs ready to fill it - and some spare for b-sides.

- you would think he must know that? - Is he really such a bad judge of his own work? Is he blinded by arrogance? Can it always be the record companies fault?

This new album was written effectively during a tour - perhaps he needs time to reflect - less of a rush and a push and more time to think.

he isn't spent

 

[mozfish]

[QUOTE.Morrissey will ALWAYS have a dedicated fanbase.[/QUOTE]

AGREED!!

Think back to the mid 90's, no record deal, no new tracks...... He still sold out Royal Albert Hall gigs, I saw him many times during that period. He will always have an audience, he doesnt need to sell records.
xx

 

[CodenameBarry]

Whether Morrissey is spent chart-wise is mostly immaterial, apart from the financial gain he may get from sales - and something tells me he's probably quite well off anyway.

Of course, when in The Smiths Morrissey would get angry if their songs didn't get in the top 10. But in terms of set-up etc, The Smiths were probably smaller than Morrissey (the band) as a commodity, and perhaps his worry over chart success has waned over the years? I don't know, just maybe.

The Smiths never had that much chart success (relatively), come to think of it....

A more important question is musical integrity - I think Years Of Refusal pushes his music in another direction; it's got a different sound to ROTT and YATQ, and his voice has become richer too.

Just an example, and not necessarily a great one, but Frank Zappa never had that much chart success, yet he always pushed his music in new and interesting directions, and has many fans, myself included.

As long as Morrissey keeps making interesting music, chart success doesn't matter one jot.

 

[Brel]

Music and muscians have been around for a very long time now. The recorded element is relatively new and perhaps we are returning to an age where the musician has to work his/her trade in the time honoured manner - playing in front of paying customers? On that front Morrissey seems to be doing alright, thank you very much!