Long time lurker finally chiming in.
Sadly, this review seems to be pretty close to the mark. It isn't a great album, it's an average album with a couple of almost hits.
As for the "Musically almost waltz-like" controversy on the first 4 songs, I have to agree. I think we're splitting hairs with the "What is a waltz" though. I personally am fine with a slow song as an opening track. I'm fine with the first two songs being slow. But four slow throwaways that might fit better as b-sides? That's a lot to ask for a fan that's waited 5 years for a new release.
This album has too slow of a 40% ramp-up and it never "ramps-up" anywhere. A good album has a beginning, middle, and end and most artists take precious care in where how their songs are ordered on the tracklisting. Morrissey has always treated his tracklistings with a cinematic scope.
If you look at his first 7 solo albums, there was always
1) A promising opener (You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side, Teachers are Afraid of the Pupils, Now My Heart is Full, You Know I Couldn't Last)...
2) A few peaks in the middle (Suedehead, the 4 middle songs in Your Arsenal, First of the Gang)
3) The dramatic dropping of the curtain in the closing song (Speedway, There's a Place in Hell, Margaret on the Guillotine)
4) The odd filler (Asian Rut).
With WPINOYB, there's no structure in the album as a whole.
A reader early in this thread mentioned listening to the recent James release and getting those familiar tingles upon first listen--the same tingles we all got with albums from the initial listens to the first half of Morrissey's catalog.
This review states it fairly clear: Morrissey's voice is there, his songwriters are not. Tobias and Gustavo will never challenge Morrissey when it comes to turning in music that will inspire him to greatness. Remember, the music comes before the lyrics for Moz.
Boz used to inspire Moz, but now that he's comfortable and doesn't have Alain to bring the best out in him. (From what I remember from Autobiography, didn't Morrissey say there was some tension between Alain and Boz when it came to songwriting?)
With World Peace, i defer to B.B. King, "The thrill is gone."