Morrissey: Difference between revisions

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After a falling out with Stephen Street over production royalties, Morrissey recruited the production aid of [[Clive Langer]] and songwriting services of [[Mark E. Nevin]], of Fairground Attraction, for the studio follow-up to ''Viva Hate,'' entitled ''[[Kill Uncle]].'' The album, which peaked at #8 on the UK charts, is often cited as the weakest in Morrissey's back catalog.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> The two singles released in promotion of the album, "[[Our Frank (single)|Our Frank]]" and "[[Sing Your Life (single)|Sing Your Life]]", failed to break the Top 20 on the singles charts reaching #26 and #33 respectively.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> Morrissey released two non-album singles, "[[Pregnant For The Last Time (single)|Pregnant For The Last Time]]" and "[[My Love Life (single)|My Love Life]]", nearly faring better on the charts. The band Morrissey assembled in 1991 for his ''[[Kill Uncle]]'' tour went on to record 1992's hit album ''[[Your Arsenal]].'' Composition duties were split between guitarists [[Boz Boorer]] and [[Alain Whyte]], who have been the core of Morrissey's band ever since. ''Your Arsenal'' was produced by former [[David Bowie]] guitarist [[Mick Ronson]], and earned a Grammy nomination for best alternative album. The album peaked at #4 on the UK charts, with two of its four singles, "[[We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (single)|We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful]]" and "[[You're The One For Me, Fatty (single)|You're The One For Me, Fatty]]", both debuting in the Top 20 in the UK.<ref name="guinness book solo" />

By 1994 Morrissey had suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad, and Nigel Thomas. Channeling his grief, Morrissey wrote and recorded his second #1 album in the UK, ''[[Vauxhall And I]].''<ref name="guinness book solo" /> Years after the release, Morrissey acknowledged that he felt at the time that it was going to be his last album, and that not only was it the best album he'd ever made but that he would never be able to top it in the future. One of the album's singles, "[[The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get (single)|The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get]]," reached #8 in the UK and #46 in the US.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> That year, he also released a single "[[Interlude (single)|Interlude]]" a duet with [[Siouxsie Sioux]] of [[Siouxsie & the Banshees]]. Following the success of ''Vauxhall And I'', Morrissey began work on ''[[Southpaw Grammar]]'' in early 1995. When released in August, the album was a hit, peaking at #4 in the UK.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> However, both of its singles failed to chart in the Top 20.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> The nature of the album was different to past Morrissey releases. Musically, the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten minute mark, the near two and half minute drum solo courtesy of [[Spencer ~~Cobrin~~]] which opens the track "[[The Operation]]" and the sampling of a [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]] symphony have led a critic to dub the album as 'Morrissey's flirtation with prog-rock.' Some critics were impressed by this apparent attempt at progression, while others dismissed the longer tracks as mere self-indulgence. With the exception of the single "[[Sunny (single)|Sunny]]" in that December it would be another year before Morrissey released a new album or single.

By 1994 Morrissey had suffered the loss of three people close to him: Mick Ronson, Tim Broad, and Nigel Thomas. Channeling his grief, Morrissey wrote and recorded his second #1 album in the UK, ''[[Vauxhall And I]].''<ref name="guinness book solo" /> Years after the release, Morrissey acknowledged that he felt at the time that it was going to be his last album, and that not only was it the best album he'd ever made but that he would never be able to top it in the future. One of the album's singles, "[[The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get (single)|The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get]]," reached #8 in the UK and #46 in the US.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> That year, he also released a single "[[Interlude (single)|Interlude]]" a duet with [[Siouxsie Sioux]] of [[Siouxsie & the Banshees]]. Following the success of ''Vauxhall And I'', Morrissey began work on ''[[Southpaw Grammar]]'' in early 1995. When released in August, the album was a hit, peaking at #4 in the UK.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> However, both of its singles failed to chart in the Top 20.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> The nature of the album was different to past Morrissey releases. Musically, the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten minute mark, the near two and half minute drum solo courtesy of [[Spencer Corbin]] which opens the track "[[The Operation]]" and the sampling of a [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]] symphony have led a critic to dub the album as 'Morrissey's flirtation with prog-rock.' Some critics were impressed by this apparent attempt at progression, while others dismissed the longer tracks as mere self-indulgence. With the exception of the single "[[Sunny (single)|Sunny]]" in that December it would be another year before Morrissey released a new album or single.

Morrissey returned on a new record label in 1997 with the single "[[Alma Matters (single)|Alma Matters]]" in promotion of his album ''[[Maladjusted]].'' Though the album was hailed as a return to form for Morrissey the album only peaked at #8 <ref name="guinness book solo" />and its further two singles, "[[Roy's Keen (single)|Roy's Keen]]" and "[[Satan Rejected My Soul (single)|Satan Rejected My Soul]]" peaked outside the UK Top 30.<ref name="guinness book solo" /> However, the album did cause a small amount of controversy over what was to be the penultimate track. Entitled "[[Sorrow Will Come In The End]]", it featured Morrissey intoning, rather than singing, over a backing of manic strings and the beat of a judge's gavel. The song is clearly about the [[Mike Joyce]] royalties dispute, and lyrically takes the form of, essentially, an extended threatening message to him and his representatives. [[Island Records]], Morrissey's label at the time, dropped the track from UK versions of the album for fear of libel action. Having left his new record label and lost a court case over Smiths royalties with former band mate Mike Joyce, Morrissey relocated from his Dublin home to Los Angeles in the late 1990s; though Morrissey continued to tour in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it would be another seven years before he would release another single or studio album.