Morrissey's most overrated and underrated album

[Ugly Devil]

A lot of you people really seem to have a soft spot for You Are The Quarry. This can probably be attributed to two things - the 7 year gap and two cracking singles (Irish blood, First of the gang). But the truth is, if we look at this album objectively it's only slightly better than Maladjusted. The production is so bland and it's got some of his worst lyrics.

"I've had my face dragged in
Fifteen miles of shit
And I do not, And I do not
And I do not like it."

Morrissey singing "shit" is so jarring and awkward.

Truth is there's only 4 good songs on this album.
Irish blood
First of the gang
Come back to Camden
I've forgiven Jesus.
Everything else is either Morrissey by numbers or just dull.
This album is overrated and I'd rank it above Kill Uncle and Malajusted, but nothing else. 6/10

Years of Refusal is so underrated. It's basically Your Arsenal on steroids. From track 1 to 8 there's no filler, it does tail off and lose momentum towards the end. But even those few songs are very solid. 8.5/10

 

[001]

A lot of you people really seem to have a soft spot for You Are The Quarry. This can probably be attributed to two things - the 7 year gap and two cracking singles (Irish blood, First of the gang). But the truth is, if we look at this album objectively it's only slightly better than Maladjusted. The production is so bland and it's got some of his worst lyrics.

"I've had my face dragged in
Fifteen miles of shit
And I do not, And I do not
And I do not like it."

Morrissey singing "shit" is so jarring and awkward.

Truth is there's only 4 good songs on this album.
Irish blood
First of the gang
Come back to Camden
I've forgiven Jesus.
Everything else is either Morrissey by numbers or just dull.
This album is overrated and I'd rank it above Kill Uncle and Malajusted, but nothing else. 6/10

Years of Refusal is so underrated. It's basically Your Arsenal on steroids. From track 1 to 8 there's no filler, it does tail off and lose momentum towards the end. But even those few songs are very solid. 8.5/10

"I've had my face dragged in
Fifteen miles of shit
And I do not, And I do not
And I do not like it."

That always makes me smile. "And I do not like it". It really is pretty funny. I mean, who would right?

You forgot to mention America is Not The World, I'm Not Sorry and The World is Full of Crashing Bores.

That album really is good UD! But I also like Years of Refusal. If someone threatened to stab me in the eye unless I picked one of the two, I'd go with Years of Refusal. Today! Tomorrow???

 

[Tbevie]

I would personally rate YATQ a little higher and YOR is one of my least favourite Moz albums. I can't even remember the last time I listened to it, as an album or any of the songs individually. If I wasn't a collector I would happily through all my copy's out the window and never think of them again.

 

[g23]

I would personally rate YATQ a little higher and YOR is one of my least favourite Moz albums. I can't even remember the last time I listened to it, as an album or any of the songs individually. If I wasn't a collector I would happily through all my copy's out the window and never think of them again.

That is funny, because my copy of YOR resides somewhere in the high desert scrub outside of Bend, Oregon.

 

[ExpectingToFly]

Personally I have a soft spot for Quarry because that was when I discovered Morrissey as a 'youngster'. With time, some of the tracks do seem like filler, particularly the last 3. But there's some great songs on there. I'd add Let Me Kiss You to your list, and I'm also a big fan of America Is Not The World and I'm Not Sorry.

Years of Refusal ranks quite low down for me, as an album. Positives: Skull, Mama, Carol, One Day Goodbye, and Birthday are all great, but the rest I find myself skipping to be honest. And Paris has to be the most overrated Moz song going.

I guess it's all subjective!

 

[Tbevie]

Personally I have a soft spot for Quarry because that was when I discovered Morrissey as a 'youngster'. With time, some of the tracks do seem like filler, particularly the last 3. But there's some great songs on there. I'd add Let Me Kiss You to your list, and I'm also a big fan of America Is Not The World and I'm Not Sorry.

Years of Refusal ranks quite low down for me, as an album. Positives: Skull, Mama, Carol, One Day Goodbye, and Birthday are all great, but the rest I find myself skipping to be honest. And Paris has to be the most overrated Moz song going.

I guess it's all subjective!

That's what I find interesting about these kind of discussions. Maybe with the exception of Vauxhall & I we all rate the other solo albums differently, for different reasons.

 

[DrStatham]

I'd say Quarry is my favourite album actually. So many classics on it, like The World Is Full of Crashing Bores... The album has humorous lyrics at times, and is a nice balance between the typical Moz themes, and the more recent angrier political themes. I also quite like the musical style, yeah I love Marr's guitar style, but then I also like this more 'standard rock' kinda sound. Oh, and his voice is amazing on that album.

I would say Your Arsenal as most overrated. It is alright, but a lot of meh songs imo. Things like We Hate It When, You're the One for Me, all just a bit average, not much stand out on it.

Kill Uncle as most underrated for me. Not one of his best, but I think people forget the brilliant songs like Sing Your Life, Mute Witness, Our Frank.

 

[g23]

I'd say Quarry is my favourite album actually. So many classics on it, like The World Is Full of Crashing Bores... The album has humorous lyrics at times, and is a nice balance between the typical Moz themes, and the more recent angrier political themes. I also quite like the musical style, yeah I love Marr's guitar style, but then I also like this more 'standard rock' kinda sound. Oh, and his voice is amazing on that album.

I would say Your Arsenal as most overrated. It is alright, but a lot of meh songs imo. Things like We Hate It When, You're the One for Me, all just a bit average, not much stand out on it.

Kill Uncle as most underrated for me. Not one of his best, but I think people forget the brilliant songs like Sing Your Life, Mute Witness, Our Frank.

Kill Uncle could have been an amazing EP, but I think the pressure was on to deliver an album instead. Quarry just needed a few songs reconsidered, either for lightweight music, lyrics, or both.

 

[Anonymous]

Vauxhal is his most over rated imo. It's got a couple of his best songs but the rest is just good to meh. I like the album but it doesn't move me like it seems to move others. I'd say maladjusted is his most under rated. Coming off of the critically mauled, deservedly so, southpaw it had a hard climb but in retrospect it's was a fairly good album

 

[DrStatham]

Vauxhal is his most over rated imo. It's got a couple of his best songs but the rest is just good to meh. I like the album but it doesn't move me like it seems to move others. I'd say maladjusted is his most under rated. Coming off of the critically mauled, deservedly so, southpaw it had a hard climb but in retrospect it's was a fairly good album

And the problem I have with Vauxhall is how similar a lot of the songs sound to each other.

 

[DrStatham]

Kill Uncle could have been an amazing EP, but I think the pressure was on to deliver an album instead. Quarry just needed a few songs reconsidered, either for lightweight music, lyrics, or both.

I agree about Kill Uncle, but I still think there are worse and it isn't as bad as some say.

Which songs would you say need to be reconsidered for Quarry? I would say it's his most consistent solo album.

 

[g23]

I agree about Kill Uncle, but I still think there are worse and it isn't as bad as some say.

Which songs would you say need to be reconsidered for Quarry? I would say it's his most consistent solo album.

I'm not sorry, America is not the world, You know I couldn't last, All the lazy dykes, and How can anybody possibly know how I feel?
5/12 songs. For dull synth cheesiness/flat production, and the start of his lyrical decline into a simpler approach and style, with the exception of Lazy Dykes, which just rubs me the wrong way. If he'd released a song called "All the lazy f*****s" I would feel the same, but I guess it's harder to rhyme.

The rest of the songs, I rate quite highly, especially Camden, which is beautiful beyond words. I'm hard pressed to think of an album that wouldn't have benefitted from some editing/re-writes, but some fare better than others. I feel like a parrot banging on about Vauxhall, but I would consider that his most consistent solo album. Some really great singles, some incredibly memorable non-single tracks. The only song on there that strikes me as B-side material is Used to be a sweet boy.

 

[g23]

Vauxhal is his most over rated imo. It's got a couple of his best songs but the rest is just good to meh. I like the album but it doesn't move me like it seems to move others. I'd say maladjusted is his most under rated. Coming off of the critically mauled, deservedly so, southpaw it had a hard climb but in retrospect it's was a fairly good album

Maladjusted came at a point where music was just getting bad all around. The college rock/alternative/grunge thing had been co-opeted and watered down to the point where you had overly earnest sensitive growlers like Live and Bush at the top of the charts and it was all starting to swing very strongly back into mindless pop territory, and the less said about Nu metal, the better. Most bands that I would consider Morrissey's peers struggled to maintain exposure and fan base in the late 90's because it all seemed to turn to shit somewhere in the middle of the decade and left bands without a compass.
Maladjusted had some really corny numbers- IE: Roy's Keen, Satan rejected my soul, etc, but it had some strong songs as well. Alma Matters is as good as anything he's done, but the timing and album cover were piss poor.

 

[Daddys Voice]

I tried to listen to You are the Quarry this morning and I cringe through half the songs. Then I got thinking about Years of Refusal and realized it's my favorite since VauxHall and I.
I just love it all the way through. It seems more confident than the previous three albums and it's a lot more fun to listen to.
Ringleader seems like the last in a Trilogy starting with Kill Uncle, then Maladjusted. His least impressive stuff. Although the first two had some great material.

I seriously have a hard time with the cold, claustrophobic sound of Ringleader. It doesn't feel alive.

Also which boy does he want to see happy so damn much?
Is it Dagenham Dave or Keen Roy?

Is he full of tears and singing about the loneliness of his heart? Still?

 

[Daddys Voice]

"Lazy Dykes, which just rubs me the wrong way. If he'd released a song called "All the lazy f*****s" I would feel the same, but I guess it's harder to rhyme."

He didn't have to worry about that. He doesn't rhyme anymore, he just repeats the same sentence as if it were a rhyme.

 

[Anonymous]

Maladjusted came at a point where music was just getting bad all around. The college rock/alternative/grunge thing had been co-opeted and watered down to the point where you had overly earnest sensitive growlers like Live and Bush at the top of the charts and it was all starting to swing very strongly back into mindless pop territory, and the less said about Nu metal, the better. Most bands that I would consider Morrissey's peers struggled to maintain exposure and fan base in the late 90's because it all seemed to turn to shit somewhere in the middle of the decade and left bands without a compass.
Maladjusted had some really corny numbers- IE: Roy's Keen, Satan rejected my soul, etc, but it had some strong songs as well. Alma Matters is as good as anything he's done, but the timing and album cover were piss poor.

Maybe the surrounding music was getting poorer, I don't dislike bush, but the same could be said for other periods as well like when pearls jam ruled the charts or in the eighties where terrible pop music was the norm. I don't really think that had much to do with how it's regarded. I think southpaw was terrible and not at all well received and created a lot of ill will and caution towards maladjusted and that the court case and all the attention, a lot by morrissey himself, drowned out a lot of talk about the album. Whenever I see an interview from that period it always seems to revolve mostly around the court case. This I think led to the album being written off in the popular opinion. Most people don't really hate it so much as them seem to forget about it all together. I personally love a lot of the songs like trouble loves me ambitious outsiders alma matters ammunition wide to receive and even Satan rejected my soul for its fun uptempo catchiness and really every morrissey album has at least one just kinda funny song be it fatty some girls or hairdresser on fire.

To the dr (not the one weschester)

I don't know if it's that everything sounds the same or not but it just doesn't do much for me, vauxhal, aside from being strong in some places and sorta pleasant in others. Songs like now my heart tmyimtcig speedway i love and I generally like find out for yourself and hold on to your friends but the rest I find very forgettable to annoyingly boring. Even the songs I do like I don't nessesarily connect with much lyrically or subject wise like speedway or ignore. They're good songs but I don't see myself in them much the way I can in other morrissey songs. That's just me personally thouh. It's a good album but I think the goodwill aresenal gave it made it a good moment for morrissey fandom and it kinda skews peoples view of it

 

[g23]

"Lazy Dykes, which just rubs me the wrong way. If he'd released a song called "All the lazy f*****s" I would feel the same, but I guess it's harder to rhyme."

He didn't have to worry about that. He doesn't rhyme anymore, he just repeats the same sentence as if it were a rhyme.

Careful, that's the sort of talk that get someone to stun you with a stun gun or disable you with a tazer.
I feel you though. That's why I will always skip Spent the day in bed. You can replace the lyrics with La la's and it would sound like something a little girl would hum while waiting for the school bus.

 

[Dabb hands]

Kill Uncle made me sad, which made the unexpected muscle of Your Arsenal all the sweeter.
Malajusted made me cry (partially due to all the drinking it took to get through it)
- couldn't understand how the same band and producer (as Vauxhal) could have made something so bland, awkward and empty

 

[Ugly Devil]

That's what I find interesting about these kind of discussions. Maybe with the exception of Vauxhall & I we all rate the other solo albums differently, for different reasons.

Vauxhall and I and Your Arsenal have always remained by number 1 and 2 with Kill Uncle and Malajusted being my bottom two. Everything inbetween seems to fluctuate each year.
My current rankings are as follows
1. Vauxhall and I
2. Your Arsenal
3. Years of Refusal
4. Viva Hate
5. World Peace
6. Southpaw Grammar
7. Ringleader
8. Quarry
9. Maladjusted
10. Kill Uncle

I'm curious how Low in high school with feature. I have a feeling it'll slip into the number 5 spot, replacing World Peace.

 

[Deleted member 1074]

Overrated - Vauxhall & I
Underrated - Southpaw Grammar