Removing Songs From Reissues

[Vauxhall95]

I know there have been other members critical of reissues because of the jacket photo cover change but honestly it never really bothered me because (IMO) it is more about the music on the record, not the sleeve.

However, with the tentative tracklisting for the reissued "Maladjusted" released, it appears Morrissey is planning on removing "Roy's Keen" from the album. I know many dislike the song but regardless of its merits, I find it odd an artist would remove a song from a reissue. I understand it is Morrissey's right to do it, I think it is wrong to do so. It is a revisionist history of Morrissey's past. He should own all his songs, not just the good ones.

On a tangent, I find the revisionist history of fans on the subject of "Roy's Keen" quite humorous. I really don't recall as the fuss and furor over the song back in '97. It only seems fashionable now to call it appalling.

 

[Johan de Witt]

I

On a tangent, I find the revisionist history of fans on the subject of "Roy's Keen" quite humorous. I really don't recall as the fuss and furor over the song back in '97. It only seems fashionable now to call it appalling.

And to add to the humor, it is called 'superb' in the press- release.

I always quite liked it, not one I would skip when I play the album. It has always been traditionally fashionable to call Papa Jack and Sorrow Will Come In The End appalling, but they remain...

I agree with you that the tracklisting should always remain intact, so I won't be buying it.

 

[Worm]

I really don't recall as the fuss and furor over the song back in '97. It only seems fashionable now to call it appalling.

It isn't appalling. It's just minor. And it was a single at a time when (so the theory goes) Morrissey was allegedly releasing "top tunes" to a world of trendy morons who turned a deaf ear to his greatness.

And to add to the humor, it is called 'superb' in the press- release.

Perhaps we shouldn't credit the press release, then. I'm guessing no RK in the tracklisting was a mistake.

 

[Vauxhall95]

And to add to the humor, it is called 'superb' in the press- release.

I always quite liked it, not one I would skip when I play the album. It has always been traditionally fashionable to call Papa Jack and Sorrow Will Come In The End appalling, but they remain...

I agree with you that the tracklisting should always remain intact, so I won't be buying it.

Yes. I mean, it was released as a single!? "Sorrow Will Come In The End" has always been lambasted, but it wasn't even on the U.K. release, so I never understood why anyone would get that worked up over it. But to remove a single and pretend it never existed is very odd.

So Johan, you're not buying even if the tracks are remastered? I like "Maladjusted" (and I don't care who knows!), and I love the b-sides from that era. If it's remastered, I'm going to say I'll buy it. I still think the song omission is wrong, but I'm an audiophile.

 

[Vauxhall95]

It isn't appalling. It's just minor. And it was a single at a time when (so the theory goes) Morrissey was allegedly releasing "top tunes" to a world of trendy morons who turned a deaf ear to his greatness.

Yes, please don't get me started on that argument! If valid, YOR should be thriving: Morrissey is fashionable, the album reviewed extremely well, and people tell me it's brilliant.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Southpaw and Maladjusted are my least favorite Morrissey albums, but I found it odd that there is one b-side missing from the SG reissue ... and now leaving two album tracks off of Maladjusted? The completist in me finds this very disturbing!

 

[Worm]

Yes, please don't get me started on that argument! If valid, YOR should be thriving: Morrissey is fashionable, the album reviewed extremely well, and people tell me it's brilliant.

Well, you got the last part right, anyway. Listen again or the Morrissey Police will come to your home and administer YOR to you Clockwork Orange style.

 

[Dothatagain?]

Yes. I mean, it was released as a single!? "Sorrow Will Come In The End" has always been lambasted, but it wasn't even on the U.K. release, so I never understood why anyone would get that worked up over it. But to remove a single and pretend it never existed is very odd.

I've just been reading Len Brown's book about Morrissey, and I'm sure at one point it said that Morrissey effectively disowned Roy's Keen soon after release - I'll see if I can find it. It would explain a lot, though.

 

[Vauxhall95]

Well, you got the last part right, anyway. Listen again or the Morrissey Police will come to your home and administer YOR to you Clockwork Orange style.

Honestly Worm, I try. I do. I listen to it everyday, but it just saddens me. Yes, there are moments that flourish but there is an over-arching sense of deja vu. More importantly, deja vu done better. Finally, while I'm happy Morrissey is "getting it on" nowadays, the way he writes about sex seems down right adolescent compared to, say Jarvis Cocker.

I like "Shame is the Name," and (as usual) I pound my head against a brick wall wondering why he didn''t include it on the album. It has single potential (on an album that's crying out for a single), so why relegate it to b-side status?

 

[Vauxhall95]

Southpaw and Maladjusted are my least favorite Morrissey albums, but I found it odd that there is one b-side missing from the SG reissue ... and now leaving two album tracks off of Maladjusted? The completist in me finds this very disturbing!

I guess it provides insight into what Morrissey thinks about his own work. In the grand scheme I don't find either omission particularly offensive. Personally, I think "Sweetie Pie" and "Black Eyed-Susan" should be placed in a deep whole in the earth and covered with stones.

 

[Bona Drag]

Roys keen was one of my favorites in the record to be honest... it would be sad if they remove it...

 

[Worm]

It has single potential (on an album that's crying out for a single), so why relegate it to b-side status?

Because he's perverse and he's intentionally avoiding doing everything he can to reach as wide an audience as he can.

 

[Vauxhall95]

Because he's perverse and he's intentionally avoiding doing everything he can to reach as wide an audience as he can.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

Sincerely,

"Nobody Loves Us"

 

[Ugly Devil]

I guess it provides insight into what Morrissey thinks about his own work. In the grand scheme I don't find either omission particularly offensive. Personally, I think "Sweetie Pie" and "Black Eyed-Susan" should be placed in a deep whole in the earth and covered with stones.

Both "Sweetie Pie" and "Black Eyed-Susan" were pretty experimental pieces of music for Morrissey, it seems odd that you reject them with such vitriolic spite. I'm sure you have good reasons, but it seems to me you like your music unfussy and simple - which is dreadfully boring.

 

[Jones]

Do people actually believe that "press release" then? There's already been one press release before about Maladjusted that turned out to be the invention of a troll.

 

[Kewpie]

Do people actually believe that "press release" then? There's already been one press release before about Maladjusted that turned out to be the invention of a troll.

lutewhine posted a Guradian article of Siouxsie 10 hours before on sale in 2008.
He's not a troll.

 

[pronocturn]

So Johan, you're not buying even if the tracks are remastered?

Do we really need an album from 1997 to be remastered? It was just over a decade ago, well into digital recording/cds/etc.

 

[Johan de Witt]

Do we really need an album from 1997 to be remastered? It was just over a decade ago, well into digital recording/cds/etc.

No we don't! A sad waste of aluminum and polycarbonate plastic surely.

 

[the_kaz]

I don't like the idea of removing songs from an album on a re-issue, even if the song in question is bad. As we all know, what's "bad" to one person might be "great" to another. I think that Sorrow Will Come In the End is an appalling track, but it's an important slice of Morrissey history and had an important role on the album. Cutting it out of the U.K. release made the album incomplete, and that is a shame. In saying that, I'm very glad to see that it's on the tracklisting for the Maladjusted re-issue (assuming that it's accurate).

I personally like Roy's Keen. It's a fun pop song and, IMO anyway, a good choice for a radio-friendly single. Omitting it from the re-issue would be a daft idea. Pappa Jack I don't have any animosity towards, and I was quite surprised to see how heavily slated it was around here. I think it's pretty average but not nearly as bad as Ambitious Outsiders, and I could live without it, but I still think that it would be stupid to leave it of.

 

[punkfloyd]

All I know is that the original release of Maladjusted had the WORST cover art of any Morrissey album. Terrible, amateurish art direction. And this coming from something who thinks the original Southpaw Grammar artwork is brilliant in a low-fi kinda way.