The Guardian reviews "Years of Refusal"

Orson Swells said:
Oh come on, the music world was waiting years for a middle-class daughter of a famous comedian who lives on a houseboat to come along and spin the tortuous banalities of her privileged, celebrity lifestyle into badly sung songs.
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Well I live in a cave with bunnies so I'm not sure my opinion matters on this (":crazy:"), but without knowing she was all that, I've just listened to a couple of her songs, and I like them. "Everyone's at it" has lyrics about antidepressants bolder than Something is squeezing my Bull, to start with...

(runs)
 
Barking said:
Well I live in a cave with bunnies so I'm not sure my opinion matters on this (":crazy:"), but without knowing she was all that, I've just listened to a couple of her songs, and I like them. "Everyone's at it" has lyrics about antidepressants bolder than Something is squeezing my Bull, to start with...

(runs)
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I completely see what you mean...

"I'm not try'na say that i'm smelling of roses,
but when will we tire of putting shit up our noses."

"The kids are in danger,
They're all getting habits,
Because from what I can see,
Everyones at it."
 
Comtesse said:
Okay, yes, I agree with you. You have an excellent point. When I think of YOR as a 3/5 it's because Quarry is 4/5 and Vauxhall is 5/5. I can't give YOR as high of a rating as Vauxhall or Quarry. You're right - compared to the rest of the dross that passes for music these days, it should be ranked much higher. Sometimes, you know, I can't see the woods for the tree that I obsess over.
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I agree with you, it was an excellent point.

You're warming to YOR with every post that passes in this thread. Come page 8 of this thread you'll be tracking Alexis Petridis down and bludgeoning him to death.

'But there is nothing i can do to make you mine.. and i don't need you and i never have i never have noooooo....since the day i was born in 1975.....I'm throwing my arms around....' Sing along Comtesse - we know you're loving it really.
 
bhops said:
What's with all this personal attack stuff?

As a long time Morrissey fan (22 years or something like that) I've read a fair amount of personal attacks on him in my time and this review is reasonably gentle by comparison to some.

Is it just possible that the guy didn't like the album? Why does a review that is less than positive immediately become some sort of hatchet job on Morrrissey?

Honestly sometimes his fans can be as paranoid as the man himself and that's saying something.

I don't particularly love it myself , nor do I loathe it I just find it (yet again) another middling effort.

I'm in the minority but I really didn't love Curry that much and thought Tomotoes was a far more rounded effort.

So does this guy. What's the fuss?

His point is that lyrically Moz has been lazy and it's a crticism that I find hard to argue. I get the sense that what he's saying is that with a little more effort this album could've been GREAT and again I have to agree.

Morrissey's solo career has been a magnificent effort and I can't think of a single artist that has come out of such an influencial group (and that includes every Beatle) who has gone on to have such significant artistic success as a solo artist, but if there was one word I would use to describe Moz's solo efforts it would be 'sporadic.'

I'd say The Guradian is right.

3/5. Fair enough.
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Wow. I completely agree. A first!
 
dizzywhore_1804 said:
"...miles of shit.
And I do not like it."

"tell you that you smell.
Well...."

Nobody's perfect. How many people have actually listened to the album here? Or are we that group of people who are qualified to judge based on what we've heard other people saying :lbf:
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A more convincing argument would have been to list any decent lyrics she's done.

I heard one playing in HMV the other day, She was spouting on in that ridiculous put-on voice and singing something about lying in the wet patch and moaning about giving head for ages and not getting anything decent in return. In a nutshell, it was f***ing rubbish.
 
Manchester Neil said:
A more convincing argument would have been to list any decent lyrics she's done.

I heard one playing in HMV the other day, She was spouting on in that ridiculous put-on voice and singing something about lying in the wet patch and moaning about giving head for ages and not getting anything decent in return. In a nutshell, it was f***ing rubbish.
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Littlest Things
Friday Night
Everyone's At It
The Fear
Chinese

Cracking little pop tunes. Littlest Things being a beautiful love song.

I can see that some people don't like her but really it just strengthens how stupid and pointless music reviews really, truly are.
 
Manchester Neil said:
she was (..) moaning about giving head for ages and not getting anything decent in return. In a nutshell, it was f***ing rubbish.
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Well that's the kind of lyrics I would actually like.:)

You're just fuelling my curiosity. :D I like her voice as well.

She may have got there thanks to her da (who hasn't, eh Nance) but to me as I don't know her history she's just a young cute woman. Maybe that's why you don't like her?

(the annoying dog innocently asks before running away again.)
 
The Guardian/Observer "reviews" of YOR

OK, another "strange" review from the guardian:

"There are good tunes and Morrissey's turns of phrase remain singular. But after years of underperformance, Morrissey has once again missed the motherlode. This record should be jaw-dropping. Instead, the only thing dropping will be that kid, if he's not careful."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/15/morrisey-album-review

And a decent rating 4/5 followed (again) by a "strange" review in The Observer:

"there's nothing new to report. Except that the post-comeback glow that has surrounded Morrissey since 2004's You Are the Quarry has definitely faded, and that even the most easily pleased Mozophile must find themselves wondering what would happen if he finally ditched his pub-rock collaborators and hooked up with someone exciting and, you know, modern. Morrissey vs Hot Chip? Morrissey vs Calvin Harris? I've got it: Morrissey produced by... Dave Sitek!

I know: never going to happen. But surely, making exactly the same record for more than 20 years must lose its charms eventually.

Mustn't it?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/15/morrissey-years-of-refusal
 
Has anyone noticed that quite a few of the mainstream reviews mention him getting sex in ROTT but being back to normal in YOR.

It's almost like they allowed themselves to like him in ROTT because they decided he was finally "normal" (even though they made up the so called affair in their heads), but now with YOR it seems they realised they were wrong so they reject him again.

Not that I'm saying they're not allowed to prefer ROTT, I think I prefer it myself, but their reasoning seems suspect to me.
 
Danny_ said:
Has anyone noticed that quite a few of the mainstream reviews mention him getting sex in ROTT but being back to normal in YOR.

It's almost like they allowed themselves to like him in ROTT because they decided he was finally "normal" (even though they made up the so called affair in their heads), but now with YOR it seems they realised they were wrong so they reject him again.

Not that I'm saying they're not allowed to prefer ROTT, I think I prefer it myself, but their reasoning seems suspect to me.
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It's like morrissey said in the Xfm interview (about his detractors) - everytime an album comes out they never review the music they review ME or the idea they have of me - and that is absolutely true in this case, unfortunately, and it doesn't do the Guardian any favors
 
Here's another from today's Observer Music Monthly...

2ih2cts.jpg


Peter
 
Re: The Guardian/Observer "reviews" of YOR

justme said:
the most easily pleased Mozophile must find themselves wondering what would happen if he finally ditched his pub-rock collaborators and hooked up with someone exciting and, you know, modern. Morrissey vs Hot Chip? Morrissey vs Calvin Harris? I've got it: Morrissey produced by... Dave Sitek!
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Pathetic, fashionable, narrow minded fool. :)
But surely, making exactly the same record for more than 20 years must lose its charms eventually.
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Lazy journalist.

This is from their 'Barometer':
'His arsenal We can cope with Morrissey flashing his arse on the inside sleeve of his last album, but that recent nude shoot - with "little Moz" covered only by seven inches of vinyl - is too much, even for us...'
 
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I'm terribly dim and sorry - I should have read Justme's submission before posting the review. I'll sidle away now like an embarrassed whippet.

Peter
 
Uncleskinny said:
I'm terribly dim and sorry - I should have read Justme's submission before posting the review. I'll sidle away now like an embarrassed whippet.

Peter
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Awww, thank you very much for posting the scan.
Particularly people outside of UK find good to see actual publication.

We have to start collection for your new scanner. :)
 
The Guardian/Observer have identikit reviews when it comes to Morrissey and just change the album title and a few words here and there, I'm convinced of this...
 
Uncleskinny said:
I'm terribly dim and sorry - I should have read Justme's submission before posting the review. I'll sidle away now like an embarrassed whippet.

Peter
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No, not at all :) it's nice to actually see the article (even if it's not brilliant journalism).

One thing that struck me (not being British and all) is that the american reviews are actually better - not because of the ratings, but because they don't seem to have as much prejudice towards Moz and his work, which is quite clear some of the British "reviewers" have. Not all of them of course,many are quite good, but the guardian & Co. for instance
 
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