Review of LIHS - Sound of Violence (French website)

Humasexual

Member
https://www.soundofviolence.net/articles/album/4301/morrissey_low_in_high_school.html

In this article, the author says that the album is not as good as WPINOYB. The production of the album is "very bad"
Quick translation:
-First song : it is compared to Muse in term of loudness. But Moz' voice is superb
-Jacky : One of the best song of the album
-Who will protect us from the police : Compared to Ganglord but it's "disappointing"
- In your lap : could have been a great surprise but..no. It's quickly boring
- Israel : not really exciting
But two songs are masterpeace : Home.. and I bury
- Home ... : production is good on this one
- I bury : long and experimental in the end of the song , good lyrics

Major negative point is the quality of the lyrics.
Not really a good review, i'm a little bit disappointed that the author did'nt go further than just say that songs are bad

Oh and ...sorry for my english, i'm french.


Google Translate to English
 
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A scream. Thus begins the eleventh solo album of the legendary Mancunian Morrissey. This cry, however, has nothing to do with the bawling of the miners on strike in England in the mid-80s that we hear on the intro of Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me . No, this one seems to be more of madness, even damnation. Anyway, Low In High School really has nothing to do with The Smiths. Morrissey has turned the page of his legendary band for a long time, even if he continues to play three or four of their classics on stage. So this cry, after a first single, Spent The Day In Bed, catchy but still very poor, whether in terms of melody and words, would it be the symbol of a revolt, an agony, or a flop? Maybe a little bit of the three at a time ...

Let's say it clearly Low In High School does not have the stuff of World Peace Is None Of Your Business . One of the major problems of this album lies undoubtedly in the production. My Love I'd Do Anything For You is a perfect example. The beginning of the album is bloated. The sound is heavy, fat, it seems to be in the middle of Origin of Symmetry Muse, as much as question finesse, we will iron. I Wish You Lonelywhich ensues does not reassure us either at the level of the sound. If the song is pretty good, it dripping synths 80s and metal guitars wish stunned by a drumbeat battery. This sound is all the more frustrating as the 60 year old sings marvelously well. But this magnificent voice ends up serving Morrissey himself. Indeed this one is not enough any more to save compositions after all very hollow.
The disc is not a shipwreck as such. Jackie's Only Happy When She's Up On The Stagefind a place on this disc. The song could be controversial during its presentation at the BBC in early October when on in the song of the Mozz, after a dubious joke about the non-election of Anne Marie Waters at the head of UKIP, it seemed to perceive " Everybody is looking for Exit-Brexit "sung at the end of the song. It is in fact nothing, Exit remaining the only word to remember this final.

Ambiguous as always, but above all political, already in her pocket, Low In High Schoolallows Morrissey to criticize the time of an improbable tango ( The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Would Not Kneel) the interest of the policies in the oil. It is also an opportunity for him to reoffend on the police, with whom he also had trouble in Rome last summer. Ganglord was not enough, he adds a layer of fat with Who Will Protect Us From The Police? in the end, heartbreaking. In Your Lap could have been a very nice surprise. But the song worthy of a piano bar is finally boring. We're really far from Come Back To Camden on You Are The Quarry . The same goes for Israel , sung Isra-hell, martial conclusion of the disc but which turns out in the end quite not exciting.

But then what else is there to remember from this new album? Well, before all, two totally opposite songs. Home Is A Question Mark , first. Possibly inspired by Kit's intro , unpublished recorded during the Maladjusted sessions that ended up leaker two years ago, this piece makes the difference by its simplicity. The production does not happily damage it and Morrissey plays it perfectly crooner by quoting the film Hell with Guillaume Canet. References to French actors remain in the spotlight after Claude Brasseur, eleven years ago on At Last I Am Born . And then, big piece of the record, and not just on its duration: I Bury The Living. Ode of a soldier probably dead in battle, Morrissey traces the life of this serving military and narrate the despair of parents face the disappearance of their son. The Mancunian going up dramatically upset his song in the last part of it. It seems to be akin to a hymn that is probably related to the madness of one of the parents on the loss of their child (" It's funny how the life goes on our John, the la la ... "), all ending on laughter, of which we do not know if they are related to the experimentation of the recording of the song by Morrissey and his musicians or if they concern the crazy despair in which the parents of this young man live now ...

So, of course, we are disappointed. It is difficult to understand why this record has such a bloated production while it was recorded at the Fabrique de Saint Remi de Provence and Rome in the studios of Ennio Morricone. The album requires a lot of listening to be tamed. Low In High School, as you will understand, does not do in the immediacy. If he gains interest over the plays he will not feature in the Pantheon of the best records of the charming man. One could even push up to this interesting theory of Morrissey's solo albums released in odd years that are mostly the least successful of his solo career. It does not escape despite some good or very good times. We bet that in 2020, English will release a new album, which will be above all a very good sign, even before listening to it.
TRACKLISTING

  • 01. MY LOVE I'D DO ANYTHING FOR YOU02. I WISH YOU LONELY03. JACKIE'S HAPPY WHEN SHE'S UP ON THE STAGE04. HOME IS A QUESTION MARK05. SPENT THE DAY IN BED06. I BURY THE LIVING07. IN YOUR LAP08. THE GIRL FROM TEL AVIV WHO WOULD NOT KNEEL09. ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE10. WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR LEGS11. WHO WILL PROTECT US FROM THE POLICE12. ISRAEL
RECOMMENDED TITLES

  • JACKY'S ONLY HAPPY WHEN SHE'S UP ON THE STAGE - HOME IS A MARK QUESTION - I BURY THE LIVING
 
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