2008-05-27
There are some things that need to be said before I engage in writing this review on
Morrissey's new "Greatest hits album. First of all, it's about time we all get over the fact that he was lead singer for the Smiths. I mean, that's great and all, but lets get over it. Second of all, yeah, he's a great musician but lets be reasonable about it. last and for most, I don't care how good is music is, or his career was, that doesn’t mean I care about who he sleeps with.
After those harsh (but fair) words I can approach this collection of songs. The compilation is mostly an assemble of songs from three main albums, his first solo album "Viva hate" and his two last solo album "You are the quarry" and "Ringleader of the tormentors". I'll the say that the reason for not including songs from other albums have mostly to do with rights and royalties issues.
In 2004, after 7 years of silence, "You are the quarry" was released. As much as giving it the title "comeback album" sounds tempting, the right term would probably be his "resuming album". As much as it was already an anticipated album by itself, the fact that it would was produced by Jerry Finn (who had worked with bands like AFI, Sum 41, Green day, Blink 182, The Offspring) made people think that they might get a different version of Morrissey, expectation rose high. Soon enough it turned out that we got back the same old Morrissey, with the same old tricks, and musical gestures. In the mid nineties, you could've find the Smith's influence in almost every note played in Britain's musical groups, what made things very hard on Morrissey's music. So instead of directing himself into other styles and notions, he just decided to sit this one out, and let the times around him change. It took about 7 years.
But with all Sarcasm involved in the last phrase, "You are the quarry" was actually one of Morrissey's best albums to date, if not the best one in total. With tracks like "first of the gang to die", "Irish blood, English heart" and "I forgave Jesus", and in accountancy to its release date, it easily became Morrissey's Renaissance album. The album reminded many fans and critics that there was a time when they thought Morrissey is a genius.
In 2006, only two years after "You are the quarry", "Ringleader of the tormentors" was released. The album was received with open arms straight into the number one position in English charts. Tracks like "You have killed me", "In the future when all's well", "I Just want to see a boy happy" and "the youngest was the most loved" he officially regained all trust and love from critics and listeners.
This "Greatest hits" album, released only 4 years after his musical rebirth, sounds mostly as if it's trying to recreate and capture only good memories and sum his solo career only through its critically acclaimed periods (though he could've added tracks from "Vauxhall and I").
Two new tracks were written for this compilation – "all you need is me" and "That's how people grow up". If you're not a Morrissey fan you would never know that they weren't taken from an official studio album. The fact is that over the years Morrissey's music hasn't change much- same lyrical topics, same musical style. This for me, is a bit of a let down.
In about a month from now, Morrissey will land in Tel Aviv for a single performance in which he will play his greatest hits. I'll probably be there in the crowd somewhere, not far from his front stage die hard fans, but not far of that group that always come to concerts just to make sure they won't miss anything worth talking about. What's certain is, that I'll make sure that I'm sleeping over at my Girlfriend's house afterwards, because after 2 hours of Morrissey you'll need all the proof for Testosterone you can get.
Roy Povarchik
