Swords Re-appreciation

[goinghome]

Swords is really a fantastic album. After putting it by for a while I listened to it the other day on a long car journey and couldn't wait to put it on repeat and hear one after another moving well-crafted songs again. 'And does anybody feel the way I do?'

...In short, some of these b-sides should have been a-sides.

In the space between rock songs and ballads, Morrissey offers some strange material here that would have never made it onto a proper album. Human Being features a dirty guitar solo that sounds like a distorted saxophone and is punctuated by weird sing-a-long chorus of "I'm a human being." Sweetie-Pie features ghostly vocals over a collection of drones and strangely operatic backup singing. It's quite something else to critise any Morrissey song as being too strange for his catalogue, but experiments like these recall the otherworldy creativity of the The Queen Is Dead and Your Arsenal, even if none of Swords' tracks approach the iconic levels of the classic songs.

In addition to the 18 tracks on Swords, a special release of the compilation offers six live cuts from a performance in Warsaw. It's a welcome addition, on the level of recordings from 2005's Live At Earls Court, and well the worth the higher pricetag. The band is blistering, the energy is high, and Morrissey is at his most charming. As he continues his reign as the king of mope into his fourth music-making decade, it's comforting to know that he's still upholding the tradition of singles and b-sides that really got his career going in the first place.

Swords Music OMH review - http://www.musicomh.com/albums/morrissey-5_1109.htm

Just to remind people of the track listing:


Disc 1:
1. Good Looking Man About Town
2. Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
3. If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me
4. Ganglord
5. My Dearest Love
6. The Never-Played Symphonies
7. Sweetie Pie
8. Christian Dior
9. Shame Is The Name
10. Munich Air Disaster 1958
11. I Knew I Was Next
12. It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small
13. Teenage Dad On His Estate
14. Children In Pieces
15. Friday Mourning
16. My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye
17. Drive-In Saturday
18. Because Of My Poor Education

Disc 2:
1. Black Cloud
2. I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
3. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
4. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself
5. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
6. You Just Havent Earned It Yet, Baby
7. Life Is A Pigsty
8. I'm OK By Myself

 

[lindsey1151]

Good looking man about town is one of Morrisseys best songs!

 

[Giselle]

Swords is really a fantastic album. After putting it by for a while I listened to it the other day on a long car journey and couldn't wait to put it on repeat and hear one after another moving well-crafted songs again. 'And does anybody feel the way I do?'

*raises hand* I definitely do. "My Dearest Love" is a truly excellent song. Why that wasn't included on "YOR", I'll never understand.
Although in my opinion there a few (maybe 2) weak tracks on "Swords" that do belong in the "B side" category, overall I find it a very enjoyable album and quite a pleasant listen.

 

[the_kaz]

I think that some of the songs are pretty average but, by and large, I agree that it's a great album. It's such a shame that it sunk without a trace, though I partly blame the awful cover!

 

[Giselle]

It's such a shame that it sunk without a trace, though I partly blame the awful cover!

I've thought the same thing about the cover. I've said it before: As Morrissey is such a photogenic, handsome man, it is a pity that he (or his people) picked such an unflattering shot for the cover art.

 

[Skylarker]

They're all great songs but the track sequencing is horrible. All of those death-crawl slow songs right next to each other before the album is even halfway through? Hmmm. Amazing songs, but they should be placed more strategically.

 

[Agamemnon]

They're all great songs but the track sequencing is horrible. All of those death-crawl slow songs right next to each other before the album is even halfway through? Hmmm. Amazing songs, but they should be placed more strategically.

I agree with Skylarker, as far as I'm concerned, I listen to that record with a different order in the sequencing : I just put the tracks in the order in which they were released as b-sides.
So the record starts with the B-sides for 'Irish blood, english heart', and ends with those of 'I'm throwing my arms around Paris'.
Which gives as follow :

12. It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small
10. Munich Air Disaster 1958
06. The Never-Played Symphonies
16. My Life Is A Succession Of People Saying Goodbye
13. Teenage Dad On His Estate
02. Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice
15. Friday Mourning
01. Good Looking Man About Town
11. I Knew I Was Next
03. If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me
04. Ganglord
08. Christian Dior
07. Sweetie Pie
14. Children In Pieces
17. Drive-In Saturday
05. My Dearest Love
18. Because Of My Poor Education
09. Shame Is The Name

Give it a try ! That record is really good.

By the way, don't you think that 'Munich Air Disaster 1958' sounds like a song from the Maladjusted era ? Was it written then ?

 

[Anonymous]

Swords is really a fantastic album.

No, it isn't. It's just another shameful example of Morrissey cashing-in.

 

[everydayslikesunday]

I love Swords! Ganglord, Children in Pieces & Friday Mourning are as good as anything he has released on his last three studio albums. But I hate with passion Sweetie Pie (wait for abuse) and why include a cover version of a very second rate song. Personally I would have chopped those two out then it would be brilliant. I def. rate it over RoTT and YoR.

 

[M-in-Oz]

I love it too! It's my most played Morrissey album.

 

[JJKelsall]

I've been slightly put off buying this album because of the negative reviews people were giving about it, but this has convinced me to give it a try. I shouldn't really listen though to what other people say, because most say that 'Kill Uncle' is an abomination and that, 'Vaxhall and I,' is Morrissey's finest moment. I like both albums but I don't think the general opinions of either of them coincide with my own.

 

[smiffy]

i coundnt agree more, i love tha album.
I also agree with EDILS above, sweetie pie just doesnt flick my switch, and while im on the subject, again tempting abuse, Christian Dior is one on my all time least favourites.
These 2 aside, i think that swords is a great album.

 

[JJKelsall]

No, it isn't. It's just another shameful example of Morrissey cashing-in.

Not really, as it is a collection of B-Sides, which don't appear on other albums and judging by the few songs I've heard from the album, like Sweetie Pie, Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice, Friday Mourning and Munich Air Disaster 1958, it is far from shameful.

 

[Stoned]

I love If you Don't Like Me,Ganglord,Shame is the Name...
Cheers Moz

 

[Ryan]

i coundnt agree more, i love tha album.
I also agree with EDILS above, sweetie pie just doesnt flick my switch, and while im on the subject, again tempting abuse, Christian Dior is one on my all time least favourites.
These 2 aside, i think that swords is a great album.

Christian Dior is in my top 5 favorite Moz tracks, don't get people who dislike it.

Anyway, have you heard the alternate official mix of Sweetie-Pie? It's the Mikey Farrell version without the added effects and much more beautiful:

 

[Raphael Lambach]

Certainly it's as good as YATQ or ROTT. It collected masterpieces as Shames is the same, My dearest love and It's hard to walk tall. I bought it weeks ago and was glad for having that interview included.

 

[Giselle]

By the way, don't you think that 'Munich Air Disaster 1958' sounds like a song from the Maladjusted era ? Was it written then ?

I'd never thought of that before you mentioned it, but now that I listen to it again, "Munich..." does sound very much like "Southpaw" or "Maladjusted" era Morrissey. Probably explains why I like it so much!

 

[Anonymous]

Not really, as it is a collection of B-Sides, which don't appear on other albums and judging by the few songs I've heard from the album, like Sweetie Pie, Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice, Friday Mourning and Munich Air Disaster 1958, it is far from shameful.

Remind me how many of the songs on that album were previously unavailable to the public.

 

[goinghome]

Christian Dior is in my top 5 favorite Moz tracks, don't get people who dislike it.

Anyway, have you heard the alternate official mix of Sweetie-Pie? It's the Mikey Farrell version without the added effects and much more beautiful:

I was about to post something almost identical.

Swords is just a very rich, fulfilling listening experience, and proves that Morrissey's as potent a lyricist as ever, even if the world still isn't listening.

 

[JJKelsall]

Remind me how many of the songs on that album were previously unavailable to the public.

Well, I have bought the majority of Morrissey's studio albums and have heard a few of these tracks, mostly on the Live Album at Earl's Court. However and if your like me then you won't mind buying the same song in a studio and live format anyhow. I would also like to know how exactly these tracks were available to the public, were they official releases made by Morrissey, or done by other companies or bootlegs?