No new album in 2000?

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Yak Butter Statue

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Hmm, it's already March, Big M is still touring for a while ... so if he does get a new record deal, it'll take a few months to record and mix a new album, then the label will want a few months to plan a 'sales strategy' ... so it's looking pretty unlikely that there's going to be a new album this year, isn't it? Making it a massive gap 'twixt albums.

Big M did say around the time of 'Maladjusted' that Mercury were the only label in the world who would sign him ... is it possible that no label has been showing a serious interest in signing him up?
 
just listen...

just listen to any of his last album. it sounds exactly like the previous 2 and exactly like any new album he will make. his music no longer has any originality, no lush arrangements, no new or different instruments, just thump thump rockabilly. no wonder no one will sign him. he keeps making the same record over and over, and it doesn't sell. would *you* want that kind of liability?

come on, moz, give us something new and exciting.

benny :)^o

> Hmm, it's already March, Big M is still touring for a while ...
> so if he does get a new record deal, it'll take a few months to
> record and mix a new album, then the label will want a few
> months to plan a 'sales strategy' ... so it's looking pretty
> unlikely that there's going to be a new album this year, isn't
> it? Making it a massive gap 'twixt albums.

> Big M did say around the time of 'Maladjusted' that Mercury were
> the only label in the world who would sign him ... is it
> possible that no label has been showing a serious interest in
> signing him up?
 
maybe the boys from jeepster could save his skin?(NM)

> Hmm, it's already March, Big M is still touring for a while ...
> so if he does get a new record deal, it'll take a few months to
> record and mix a new album, then the label will want a few
> months to plan a 'sales strategy' ... so it's looking pretty
> unlikely that there's going to be a new album this year, isn't
> it? Making it a massive gap 'twixt albums.

> Big M did say around the time of 'Maladjusted' that Mercury were
> the only label in the world who would sign him ... is it
> possible that no label has been showing a serious interest in
> signing him up?
 
Re: just listen/Eno producing Morrissey...

> just listen to any of his last album. it sounds exactly like the
> previous 2 and exactly like any new album he will make. his
> music no longer has any originality, no lush arrangements, no
> new or different instruments, just thump thump rockabilly. no
> wonder no one will sign him. he keeps making the same record
> over and over, and it doesn't sell. would *you* want that kind
> of liability?

> come on, moz, give us something new and exciting.

> benny :)^o

Personally, I think he'll be considered a liability in that he's developed a reputation for non-co-operation in promoting and publicising his work and record labels now - in such a professional, high-promotion world that the music biz has become - won't have much truck with that.
Okay acting like a prima donna when you're young and really hot stuff but that reputation will linger to haunt you in your later years and people won't want the hassle. Labels aren't even allowed his phone number are they - even his managers can't get in touch!
As to new directions - I liked Maladjusted and thought it was a bit different; more mature somehow - but I remember someone once suggesting to M that Eno might be a good choice of producer for him. M said "very good - but no, no ..." presumably because Eno would make him re-evaluate his methods and approach to recording as a matter of course and M. wouldn't want to change.
Hmm ... in an alternative world, if M let Eno take the production reins on a new M. album ... what might it sound like?!
 
eno

i think you are completely right about his inability to cooperate being a major problem for him in aquiring a label.

i hadn't heard about the brian eno suggestion, but i agree it would definitely be interesting. i will admit that 'maladjusted' was a decent record, it did vary a little from his formula, but it is still pretty similar. i have likes most of his recent albums (not too fond of 'southpaw', though), i am just ready for a change.

whoever produced ben folds five, or rufus wainwright, would also, in my opinion, be great for moz.
 
Re: eno

> i think you are completely right about his inability to
> cooperate being a major problem for him in aquiring a label.

> i hadn't heard about the brian eno suggestion, but i agree it
> would definitely be interesting. i will admit that 'maladjusted'
> was a decent record, it did vary a little from his formula, but
> it is still pretty similar. i have likes most of his recent
> albums (not too fond of 'southpaw', though), i am just ready for
> a change.

Personally, I think if Eno produced Morrissey he'd specifically try to disorientate him and get him to try new approaches - basically to continually SURPRISE himself in the studio. This could mean doing a few songs where the lyrics weren't the main emphasis but the music and Morrissey's now rather good singing. The feel of the words rather than the meaning.
He'd probably try to get him to change the instrumentation he works with - and the musicians. As M is now friends with U2, maybe Larry Mullen and the Edge could get in there!! - just think, M recreating himself as U2 did rather well with 'Achtung Baby'! And how about Bowie's avant-garde jazz pianist Mike Garson on keyboards? Or some techno backing?! Better to me than trying to ape Sham 69 pub rock which is just undignified and prehistoric.
He'd try and get M. every time he started settling into a rut or feeling comfortable with what he was doing, to change direction and do something unpredictable. Basically, experimentation would be the order of the day.And many of M's heroes - Bowie, Bolan, Dusty Springfield, were always keen to reinvent themselves - maybe M. could give it a go ...
Eno producing Morrissey. I think it'd be a good thing and get him out of a rut.
 
Re: eno

> i have likes most of his recent
> albums (not too fond of 'southpaw', though), i am just ready for
> a change.

Southpaw was a change. Are you really ready for another one?
 
Re: eno/Southpaw

> Southpaw was a change. Are you really ready for another one?

It wasn't a change for the better though - and certainly not of subject matter or instrumentation. It just made M sound more outdated and out of touch than ever before.
 
Re: eno/Southpaw

> It wasn't a change for the better though -

That's my point. Most people feel that way about Southpaw.

I think it happens to be one of his strongest works because of the way the eight songs work together as a whole. I find myself emotionally drained after listening to it, especially if I have it turned way up. The last track, Southpaw, can bring me to tears almost every time I hear it.

I know Southpaw isn't for everyone, but it was an artistic change.
 
Re: eno/Southpaw

> That's my point. Most people feel that way about Southpaw.

> I think it happens to be one of his strongest works because of
> the way the eight songs work together as a whole. I find myself
> emotionally drained after listening to it, especially if I have
> it turned way up. The last track, Southpaw, can bring me to
> tears almost every time I hear it.

> I know Southpaw isn't for everyone, but it was an artistic
> change.

Respect your view but I didn't really find it an artistic change - what i didn't like was that it was all of a kind - no real change of mood, pace or atmosphere throughout. It was a bit harder but there were definitely weak tracks on it - and a few stretched out waaaaay beyond their worth.
I felt people didn't like Southpaw because it was *more of the same* - except worse!
 
Re: eno

> Eno producing Morrissey. I think it'd be a good thing and get
> him out of a rut.

I basically agree with all this - Moz is NOT the person he was in the Eighties - he lives in LA, he wears designer clothes, he's wired to the internet, he attends music biz functions ... I have no problem with this. How many of us can say we are truly the same people we were 18 years ago? Moz has changed and his new music can reflect that - but I think his own mythology and the expectations of his fans are keeping him trapped into doing the same thing over and over, less convincing each time.
The suggestions of Eno producing, U2 playing, techno backings, Mike Garson on piano, Moz songs that don't concentrate on the lyrics etc. are so outrageous they make me laugh - think how outraged at the notion the diehards'd be. Weeeell ... all the more reason to do it!
Offend us, Morrissey, surprise us, shake up our conceptions of what you are and what you're all about!!! Blast your own mythology to smithereens!
 
Re: just listen...

I want to say that I'm grateful for everything M has put out, and for you to hen peck at his accomplishments is pretty rude. What have you given to so many people on the scale that morrissey has for almost two decades. Someone suggested playing with U2. What an insult. Let M do his own thing and if you bore of it -it's your loss- piss off.

> just listen to any of his last album. it sounds exactly like the
> previous 2 and exactly like any new album he will make. his
> music no longer has any originality, no lush arrangements, no
> new or different instruments, just thump thump rockabilly. no
> wonder no one will sign him. he keeps making the same record
> over and over, and it doesn't sell. would *you* want that kind
> of liability?

> come on, moz, give us something new and exciting.

> benny :)^o
 
Re: just listen...

> I want to say that I'm grateful for everything M has put out,
> and for you to hen peck at his accomplishments is pretty rude.
> What have you given to so many people on the scale that
> morrissey has for almost two decades. Someone suggested playing
> with U2.

Actually, just on the verge of becoming a cliched national joke, U2 reinvented themselves pretty interestingly and -phenomenon of phenomenons - even became quite good!Achtung Baby and Zooropa are better, more interesting albums than Southpaw - the group re-evaluated themselves and took risks.It was a brave move.
I think the idea of Moz doing something that would offend his diehard keep-him-in-the-same-box-all-his-life fans like yourself WAS THE POINT!!!
Your non-de-plume is accurate - except for the 'educated' bit.

PP
 
Morrissey Likes U2

> I want to say that I'm grateful for everything M has put out,
> and for you to hen peck at his accomplishments is pretty rude.
> What have you given to so many people on the scale that
> morrissey has for almost two decades. Someone suggested playing
> with U2. What an insult. Let M do his own thing and if you bore
> of it -it's your loss- piss off.

You piss off, you vacant jerk. At a recent awards ceremony Morrissey announced U2 as being very sexy and walked off arm in arm with Bono - so *he* obviously likes them. This is the problem - if you're a Morrissey fan you're not allowed to like this and that - you can't like U2, you can't like dance music and on and on - you hem yourself in with restrictions that even Morrissey himself probably no longer adheres to. Think for yourself, brain drain!
 
Re: Morrissey Likes U2

I don't have a problem with U2. I bought October when it came out and the other early material. I personally don't care for over produced music. I want morrissey's ideas not some producers. That was my point.
You're right there's nothing wrong with an artist changing and It would be interesting to hear what would become of his music with a different twist. I listen to a wide range of music I wouldn't criticize you for what else you enjoy. I'm just sticking up for morrissey. I do think for myself.

> You piss off, you vacant jerk. At a recent awards ceremony
> Morrissey announced U2 as being very sexy and walked off arm in
> arm with Bono - so *he* obviously likes them. This is the
> problem - if you're a Morrissey fan you're not allowed to like
> this and that - you can't like U2, you can't like dance music
> and on and on - you hem yourself in with restrictions that even
> Morrissey himself probably no longer adheres to. Think for
> yourself, brain drain!
 
Re: eno

after his last album not really charting too much, i think he should quit worrying about it and find someone to work with him that doesn't care how much radio play his stuff will get as long as it's good. I know he was paid a bundle by Mercury to actually get some airplay, but Morrissey fans are like Tom Waits fans. They'll pick up his records without even hearing anything off of them, and you can tell this by his record sales on his last album. If you listened to the radio, you would never have known that Morrissey had a new album.

Although I really like Vauxhall & I, Steve Lillywhite is a producer who is basically chosen to make material sound money worthy. Listening to many producers, and having talked with one a bit, they have their ear turned towards the hit song. They listen for things a label would be interested in. Many of them don't really speak in things in terms of artistry. They may be interested in listening to some artists like Belle and Sebastian, I don't know, but you know also that they would probably never come near B & S for the life of them because their material is not radio worthy, or until something like B & S suddenly charts really big.

Why? Because many of these producers have to eat as well. It's sort of like us volunteering for the Red Cross and giving up our day jobs without any real source of income coming in, and eventually becoming homeless yourself in the name of feeding the homeless.


ode to silliness
 
Re: Morrissey Likes U2

> You piss off, you vacant jerk. At a recent awards ceremony
> Morrissey announced U2 as being very sexy and walked off arm in
> arm with Bono - so *he* obviously likes them. This is the
> problem - if you're a Morrissey fan you're not allowed to like
> this and that - you can't like U2, you can't like dance music
> and on and on - you hem yourself in with restrictions that even
> Morrissey himself probably no longer adheres to. Think for
> yourself, brain drain!

You go! You tell them!! I'm in love with U2 and I think it's a great idea if by chance they decided to work together. Damn!!, me and my sister would go crazy. That would be truly amazing music!

U2,DM and Moz forever....
 
Morrissey is a phenomenon.

> just listen to any of his last album. it sounds exactly like the
> previous 2 and exactly like any new album he will make. his
> music no longer has any originality, no lush arrangements, no
> new or different instruments, just thump thump rockabilly. no
> wonder no one will sign him. he keeps making the same record
> over and over, and it doesn't sell. would *you* want that kind
> of liability?

That's true, but I think his current tour is showing that his fans are still very loyal, numerous, and international. Obviously, not as numerous as back in 1991, but still there are many. He might not be a top selling act anymore, but he's a reliable sale. Probably too small for a large label, but take V2 for example. Stereophonic barely sell 100,000 and they're treated like heroes. I'm sure Morrissey could easily move that much with just about every release. And if it were an exceptional album, his name carries so much weight, it could easily be an incredible amount of sales because he's so marketable. It might not be like Oasis' numbers (who sold "just" 7 million of their worst album) or Smashing Pumpkins (who sold "just" 1 million of their worst), but it would certainly have greater potential than a great album from V2's golden boys, Stereophonic. [Can you tell that I don't like them?]

**Disclaimer: I don't know exactly how many LP's Stereophonic have moved now, so if you're offended by the 100,000 number, that's around what it was when last I read, which was admittedly some time ago.**

> come on, moz, give us something new and exciting.

I think I've said this before, so excuse me for being repetitive, but I've had this conversation so many times with my former editor about Morrissey's... ahem, "stability" over the past few years and we eventually came to the conclusion that he is one of those rare phenomenons in popular music/culture, that really seem to defy what common sensibilities might dictate. Somehow, he's managed--and still manages in fact, judging from the younger generation of loyal fans--to touch people so deeply, he *almost* transcends his music which is a very curious thing. As a journalist, he's a very slippery (and fun!) subject to write about because his enduring success seems such an anomaly. I'd like to see any other band do the same thing, write the same music for 10 years and see where they'd end up.

Morrissey (the singer, the band, the phenomenon) is truly something very, very special and unique. You almost can't put your finger on it.


ah_039.jpg
 
Eno!!!

Eno would be great! great!! GREAT!!! Production is so important. Just listen to the tracks from 'the smiths' and compare them to the 'hatful of hollow' versions. The presentation makes all the difference.

Lillywhite is BORING.


devo1.jpg
 
what?

At a recent awards ceremony
> Morrissey announced U2 as being very sexy and walked off arm in
> arm with Bono - so *he* obviously likes them.

Morrissey hasn't been to any awards ceremonies recently, has he? I can't imagine him going on stage and saying 'I just want to tell everyone that U2 are sexy. Good night and thank you. Let's go, Bono.'
 

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