Has The Czech Republic yet to realize that solo Morrissey

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I still contend that Your Arsenal is the second best thing Morrissey ever involved himself with.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Granted, solo Morrissey also means a lot of crap, but Czech was once all like "man, nothing past Strangeways is worth my time." Which is just wrong, man.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I've come around on solo Morrissey, and am looking forward to Ringleader of the Tormentors. I've always thought that "Everyday Is Like Sunday" is better than Johnny Marr's a few of uninspired musical efforts like "I Won't Share You" or "Unhappy Birthday," so the rule does have exceptions.

[Slayer 0]

Incandenza spawned a monster

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

The word 'kill' crops up in the tracklisting of Ringleader... far too often for it to be bad.

[The Czech Republic 0]

"I Will See You In Far-off Places"

"Dear God Please Help Me"

"You Have Killed Me"

"The Youngest Was The Most Loved"

"In The Future When All's Well"

"The Father Who Must Be Killed"

"Life Is A Pigsty"

"I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now"

"On The Streets I Ran"

"To Me You Are A Work Of Art"

"I Just Want To See The Boy Happy"

"At Last I Am Born"

 

Morrissey will forever be known for his contributions in the field of song titles.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Well OK it was twice. But the message is clear. God bless him. And yeah Your Arsenal is class, but I think 'Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself' is his best song. Also, The live versions of the Your Arsenal songs on Beethoven Was Deaf are absolutely superb.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

The album cover has been made public. I'll link to it because it's a huge fucking image:

 

http://www.girlieaction.com/Band%20Pages/m...oz-coverart.jpg

 

I like it. As to whether the music itself will be good, I dunno.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Nice! Obv. I'll probably love it whatever, at least to some degree. I'm only going on descriptions but it sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than You Are The Quarry.

[snuffbox 0]

Youre the one for me, Fatty.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

To convince me of the very thing stated in this thread's title, a friend of mine made me a two-disc Morrissey comp. I'll at least hold the overall Smiths catalog and Morrissey's solo catalog in about equal estimation now.

[Anorak 0]

Just a one-disc comp would do me on Mozza's solo years. The bloke still inspires so much devoted fandom you're not sure whether or not to trust the initial reviews you see of any new album he puts out. Quarry wasn't up to much on reflection but his successful and celebratory live performances in support of it were the main highlight for his real fans anyway.

[Anorak 0]

Just a one-disc comp would do me on Mozza's solo years. The bloke still inspires so much devoted fandom you're not sure whether or not to trust the initial reviews you see of any new album he puts out. Quarry wasn't up to much on reflection but his successful and celebratory live performances in support of it were the main highlight for his real fans anyway.

[Anorak 0]

Just a one-disc comp would do me on Mozza's solo years. The bloke still inspires so much devoted fandom you're not sure whether or not to trust the initial reviews you see of any new album he puts out. Quarry wasn't up to much on reflection but his successful and celebratory live performances in support of it were the main highlight for his real fans anyway.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Hey Inc what did you think of YATQ? Same goes for Czech, who doesn't seem to be too fond of Moz period.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I didn't like YATQ very much, outside of "Irish Blood, English Heart" and "First of the Gang to Die."

 

Solo Morrissey is waaaaaay hit-or-miss. For every Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I, you get Kill Uncle and Maladjusted. I still remain interested in whatever he does, though. His enigmatic nature keeps me coming back.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Likewise, but throw "I Like You" in there as well.

 

Who said I'm not fond of Morrissey at all, though?

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

'I Like You' wasn't too good. I liked 'I Have Forgiven Jesus' and 'You Know I Couldn't Last' however. His live covers of 'No One Can Hold A Candle To You' and 'Redondo Beach' were good on his last tour.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I guess "I Like You" just resonated with me in a special way, because I like people.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Ah, see, not me.

[Slayer 0]

What the hell... since there is some intersection with some of my tastes and Inc's (believe it or not), go ahead and recommend a set of Morrissey songs

 

Do The Smiths too, why not

[The Czech Republic 0]

The Smiths recommendations:

01. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

02. I Know It's Over

03. Bigmouth Strikes Again

04. Cemetery Gates

05. The Queen Is Dead

06. The Headmaster Ritual

07. Well I Wonder

08. Barbarism Begins At Home

09. I Want The One I Can't Have

10. Asleep

11. Rubber Ring

12. Ask

13. Oscillate Wildly

14. This Night Has Opened My Eyes

15. Back To The Old House

16. William, It Was Really Nothing

17. This Charming Man

18. Pretty Girls Make Graves

19. A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours

20. Girlfriend In A Coma

21. Death Of A Disco Dancer

 

In no immediate order after #1

[Guest Famous Mortimer]

I find his solo stuff past the first album (which was mostly stuff he wrote while still a Smith, if memory serves) is a bit hard work. Better song titles than songs.

[The Decemberists 0]

Morrissey recommendations:

 

Maladjusted

A Swallow On My Neck

Southpaw

Suedehead

Billy Budd

Everyday Is Like Sunday

First of the Gang to Die

Irish Blood English Heart

Jack The Ripper

Now I Am A Was

Lost (see attempted attachment)

Never Played Symphonies

Nobody Loves Us

Seasick, Yet Still Docked

National Front Disco

Speedway

The Edges Are No Longer Parallel

The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get

Trouble Loves Me

We'll Let You Know

Whatever Happens, I Love You

 

 

 

And Morrissey > Smiths

02_Lost.mp3

[The Czech Republic 0]

Sir, you know that isn't true. Johnny Marr is a superior composer/arranger/producer compared to Stephen Street, Boorer & White, and anyone else Moz worked with after Marr. Andy Rourke is a fantastic instrumentalist if you bother to pick out his bass lines, say what you will about Mike Joyce but at least he wasn't splitting time with Good Charlotte. Basically, Moz's lyrical quality is pretty constant from 1984 to present, it's just the music behind him that makes the difference.

[The Decemberists 0]

Sir, if J. Marr is so great why is the world not wetting itself in anticipation of his forthcoming Johnny Marr and the Healers album? And why has he done nothing (bar a Kirsty McColl track or two) of note since 1987? Rouke is a excellent bass player, but he's not drastically better, if better at all, than Bedders, Day or Bridgewood. And, let's be honest, all drummers are pretty much the same.

 

Plus Moz is such a better singer than back in the Smiths days, with much more texture to his voice.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

I completely agree with Czech (!!)

 

Decemberists, you are kidding yourself if you think that the Morrissey band is on a par with those members of The Smiths. Who cares if Marr hasn't done anything since then? He's still a million times better than the faceless collaborators that Morrissey hangs about with now (a few good songs an album, as opposed to many). And Rourke is one of the best bassists ever ('This Charming Man', 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', 'Barbarism Begins At Home' to name three). The guy that Morrissey has now can't touch him.

 

I like Morrissey, am going to see him in Glasgow in April and I like some of his solo work but The Smiths were far superior and that isn't opinion - that is fact.

[The Decemberists 0]

Who cares if Marr hasn't done anything since then? He's still a million times better than the faceless collaborators that Morrissey hangs about with now (a few good songs an album, as opposed to many).

 

Listen to Boomslang by Marr and then comeback and say he's "a million times better" than any of Moz's solo work (Kill Uncle excluded - even I'm not that deluded )

 

And Rourke is one of the best bassists ever ('This Charming Man', 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', 'Barbarism Begins At Home' to name three). The guy that Morrissey has now can't touch him.

 

Charming Man is fine but over rated - there's a reason it was dropped from the live set very early on, even Morrissey and Marr find Heaven Knows somewhat embarrassing, and Barbarism is fine for what it is, but it just far far too long. And I'm surprised all it takes to be 'one of the best bassists ever' is to learn *exactly* what someone else tells you to play, as was the case for 99% of the Smiths output.

 

I'm not saying the Smiths were shit for God's sake, it's just that I listen to Moz solo more than often than Smiths as I prefer it. And that Marr had a good four year run but has done nothing since then to suggest he's as great as he's made out to be.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

They would have dropped 'Charming Man' because it's impossible to do justice to in a live setting. It's easily one of the best guitar parts ever composed for a rock song.

 

And Rourke would have come up with most of the bass lines himself - he had a unique style and a different musical background to that of Marr and Morrissey.

 

Although I appreciate your love of The Smiths, I can't help thinking you have an amazing bias against the instrumentalists.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Charming Man is fine but over rated - there's a reason it was dropped from the live set very early on, even Morrissey and Marr find Heaven Knows somewhat embarrassing, and Barbarism is fine for what it is, but it just far far too long. And I'm surprised all it takes to be 'one of the best bassists ever' is to learn *exactly* what someone else tells you to play, as was the case for 99% of the Smiths output.

 

I'm not saying the Smiths were shit for God's sake, it's just that I listen to Moz solo more than often than Smiths as I prefer it. And that Marr had a good four year run but has done nothing since then to suggest he's as great as he's made out to be.

No, you're wrong about Rourke. Do you know much about music? Honestly. He wasn't told "exactly" what to play; it's rare that bassists are told exactly what to play. Look at sheet music for big band. It's very seldom that piano, rhythm guitar, and bass parts are written out note-for-note. Yes, Marr gave him the chords to work with, but Rourke pretty much took care of the actual part from there within the given parameters of the chord progression. Read The Severed Alliance, Songs That Saved Your Life, anything in which the musical talents of the band are discussed, and Morrissey, Marr, Joyce, John Porter, Stephen Street, anybody will attest to the fact that Andy Rourke was coming up with highly innovative bass lines, when other bassists would be content to just go chunk-chunk-chunk-chunk on the root of each chord. They said you can isolate the bass track of any song and it'll be just as interesting on its own as the guitar parts. If he was expendable as you make him seem, don't you think they would've just kept Craig Gannon at bass?

 

As for "This Charming Man," Marr said early on that he would retire it at age 23 or something so as not to keep the same old songs kicking around in the live set. As for Johnny Marr, the guitarist, I can't call him overrated at all. Far from it. His grasp of counterpoint is amazing, and he just does all this really subtle stuff that's actually much harder to do than it sounds. He makes tough stuff seem effortless, which is the mark of any good musician.