Morrissey's Kill Uncle turned 27 last March 4: after all this time what are your opinions on it?

My favourite parts are I'm the end of the family line and There is a place in Hell for me and my friends. Sometimes, maybe down to the production, maybe it's just the songs, but much of KU feels a bit weak but those songs just work.

I agree that they are a nice couple of songs -- and they really complement each other -- but since they come after such a dire run of halfwritten songs, they still feel too minor songs to rescue the album. If they were placed at the end of a bunch of sturdier songs, they would be a really classy way to end an album.

To me Kill Uncle and Southpaw Grammar are the only proper Morrissey studio albums in which the flaws are too major to be ignored. Southpaw is a brave and adventurous album and the long songs are good enough to support the concept, but sadly the mid-part has some of the worst songs Moz has ever put his name onto: The Operation, Dagenham Dave, Do Your Best And Don't Worry and Best Friend On The Payroll is by far the worst four-song run in any of his albums, and on a 8-track disc that is a big problem.
 
I agree that they are a nice couple of songs -- and they really complement each other -- but since they come after such a dire run of halfwritten songs, they still feel too minor songs to rescue the album. If they were placed at the end of a bunch of sturdier songs, they would be a really classy way to end an album.

To me Kill Uncle and Southpaw Grammar are the only proper Morrissey studio albums in which the flaws are too major to be ignored. Southpaw is a brave and adventurous album and the long songs are good enough to support the concept, but sadly the mid-part has some of the worst songs Moz has ever put his name onto: The Operation, Dagenham Dave, Do Your Best And Don't Worry and Best Friend On The Payroll is by far the worst four-song run in any of his albums, and on a 8-track disc that is a big problem.

I really like The Operation and don't mind Dagenham Dave either. That said, The Operation does make me go and skip some of it. My worst album is Ringleaders, I don't know if it's because of the songs, because I Will See You In Far Off Places was leaked and I hated it and it clouded my judgement or it's because it had too much Limiter applied to it which makes it sound a bit shit if it's not on full volume.
 
How come kill uncle is hated? I love this album so dearly and i think it shows a very venerable side of morrissey's songwriting, the tunes are joyful and playful I can't compare it to any other album he made. Mute Witness, Asian Rut and Tony the Pony are quite the highlights of this album in my opinion.
 
How come kill uncle is hated? I love this album so dearly and i think it shows a very venerable side of morrissey's songwriting, the tunes are joyful and playful I can't compare it to any other album he made. Mute Witness, Asian Rut and Tony the Pony are quite the highlights of this album in my opinion.

It's frequently said to be the weakest of his albums, also by Morrissey himself. And at 33 minutes it is a slight work, especially as it has no proper hits or live favourites on it. Tony The Pony doesn't really count, since it was added only on the US edition by the record company, who apparently thought the original album was not long enough.
 
Over the years many people have criticised the production and I tend to agree. The songs sounded great on the KU tour (Sing Your Life, Mute Witness, There's a Place in Hell..., Driving Your Girlfriend Home - such a poignancy on the live version) and I think it's a shame he hasn't performed any of them live since 1991. I can't think of another time in his career where he so quickly distanced himself from an album.

Definitely all of this. I saw him too on the KU tour in Chicago, IL. I remember Jamie and I discussing this with him posting the set list. Like Urbanus posted earlier The End of the Family Line really spoke to me as at the time there was time to have a family and perhaps there still is, but I knew this was not the path I was going to take. Also Pregnant and My Love Life were gems even if not on the album.

Sing Your Life had its brief time as a video on MTV and I quite liked the throw back rockabilly style of a sock hop. He and the band were very handsome devils and again he was right there ready to take a hold of popular music:

 
Definitely all of this. I saw him too on the KU tour in Chicago, IL. I remember Jamie and I discussing this with him posting the set list. Like Urbanus posted earlier The End of the Family Line really spoke to me as at the time there was time to have a family and perhaps there still is, but I knew this was not the path I was going to take. Also Pregnant and My Love Life were gems even if not on the album.

Sing Your Life had its brief time as a video on MTV and I quite liked the throw back rockabilly style of a sock hop. He and the band were very handsome devils and again he was right there ready to take a hold of popular music:


Soulmates!

LOL
 
Wow that time flew by. I was in college/university then and my brother was more into Moz than I was. Although I really liked Moz I didn't have money and always knew the brother would buy the Kill Uncle CD anyway. So, he gives me the money and I bought the CD for him, brought it home from the city to my hometown, handed it to my eager brother, only to see his face collapse with disappointment. I remember the both of us trying to convince ourselves it was a good album, but we really only liked 'Driving your girlfriend home' an 'there is a place'. Time has helped me appreciate it more, but to me it is still probably Moz's worst album. But everyone is allowed to have one weaker album. I don't think anyone can complain at the high quality of music that Moz has released over the years.
 
Certainly in later years. I think you can pinpoint it to Ringleaders. That's where his lyrics started to be blunt rather than have nuance. Since then it's just got worse and worse. With Kill Uncle the quality probably wasn't there but there was humour in the lyrics.

Exactly this Charles^^^. After the clever You Have Killed Me, nothing ever felt quite the same for me. The use of a lyric like "there are explosive kegs between my legs" was the first twinge I got from any Morrissey song and it was to prove my tapping out from his music pretty much after that. Still there is the man himself who I will continue to be drawn to like a moth to a flame regardless.
 
Exactly this Charles^^^. After the clever You Have Killed Me, nothing ever felt quite the same for me. The use of a lyric like "there are explosive kegs between my legs" was the first twinge I got from any Morrissey song and it was to prove my tapping out from his music pretty much after that. Still there is the man himself who I will continue to be drawn to like a moth to a flame regardless.
Not to forget the desperation and depression and loneliness in his voice deserted him. That instead became his life with the few people around him being there to avoid him topping himself which he tried twice.

Source:
Moz fan nurse
 
My worst album is Ringleaders, I don't know if it's because of the songs, because I Will See You In Far Off Places was leaked and I hated it and it clouded my judgement or it's because it had too much Limiter applied to it which makes it sound a bit shit if it's not on full volume.

I've never been able to really get behind I Will See You In Far Off Places. Just has never clicked with me, either on record on in concert. Most of the rest of Ringleader I quite like, however.
 
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Hey FWD, I thought (for an instant) I saw a post that mentioned that Chrissie Hynde was in the Sing Your Life video. Many others may have known this but I had to re-watch it and was wondering if she was the girl dancing in the crowd with the short black hair while he was singing? I never noticed that before. Their relationship does go back quite some time. Good for him if she is still a friend. I think they would make a great couple...of what I have no idea ;)
 
"Sing Your Life" is a great little Morrissey ditty. It feels so lightweight now and Morrissey probably cringes at the sound of it. I don't. When you watch the "Live in Dallas" gig you realise how explosive those "Kill Uncle" songs were on stage.

But that's because they were performed in a totally different style, in most cases....
 
But that's because they were performed in a totally different style, in most cases....

True, and that gets back to production being more of an issue perhaps than the strength of the songs. I didn't so much dislike Kill Uncle at the time (definitely didn't like it as much as Viva Hate). However, once Your Arsenal and then Vauxhall came out it seemed to make Kill Uncle seem even more paltry and uneven, IMHO.
 
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If you came from the smiths days on up, you wouldn't have thought it would go that direction, especially considering the singles just prior. But I did like the album then, but more so today.


It was really a time of commitment for a fan. You had to be on a mission to get what you wanted back then. No Internet to see anything on demand. When I got this from Japan, I felt like the only guy in America who got to watch these videos whenever I wanted (I know I wasn't, but it felt good). Great memories.


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If you came from the smiths days on up, you wouldn't have thought it would go that direction, especially considering the singles just prior. But I did like the album then, but more so today.


It was really a time of commitment for a fan. You had to be on a mission to get what you wanted back then. No Internet to see anything on demand. When I got this from Japan, I felt like the only guy in America who got to watch these videos whenever I wanted (I know I wasn't, but it felt good). Great memories.


15rgplc.jpg

You're so right and it took a lot of work and effort to get your hands on things you wanted back then. I miss those days a lot when things you did or managed to get your hands on became a little adventure in itself.
 
It's funny that Robert Christgau rated Kill Uncle a B+, the same grade he gave The Queen Is Dead...
 
Hey FWD, I thought (for an instant) I saw a post that mentioned that Chrissie Hynde was in the Sing Your Life video. Many others may have known this but I had to re-watch it and was wondering if she was the girl dancing in the crowd with the short black hair while he was singing? I never noticed that before. Their relationship does go back quite some time. Good for him if she is still a friend. I think they would make a great couple...of what I have no idea ;)

1.46: She has her hair tied back and is wearing a scarf around her neck. I've always assumed it was her he was giving the eye and grinning at. If I didn't know him better I would swear he was flirting...

Apropos of nothing, at 2.42 Gary Day appears to be sporting the biggest lovebite I have ever seen.
 
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You're so right and it took a lot of work and effort to get your hands on things you wanted back then. I miss those days a lot when things you did or managed to get your hands on became a little adventure in itself.
I used to travel all over my state by bus when I was young with the majority of a month's pay in pocket to go trawling through record stores
just in case they had something I didn't. Rain or shine, just me and a green army satchel large enough for vinyl records. The internet has sapped a lot of the joy out of life. I'd miss the madness, but if something fried the whole system I do believe the sale of anti-depressants would plummet for some and skyrocket for others, and I'd just sit in the sunshine sipping coffee and blinking at the sun wondering where to pick up a paper with current concert listings.
 
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