Dazza
Member
Hiya - hope we're good.
I've put these two albums together in the title as they seem to be regarded (in my view not altogether wrongly) as sort of 'career stopping' albums for Moz.
Many of us have great affection for both Your Arsenal (probably his most consistent and complete album IMO) and I struggle to find even a mediocre track on it. Vauxhall is excellent, but I do think there's a slight lull round tracks 7-10. I'm nitpicking, it's a great record it really is.
Kill Uncle came at quite an important time in Morrissey's career as the immediate post-Smiths fuss around him had quelled slightly and so there was pressure to make a record that would keep him in the public consciousness as well as making a creative impact. I've 'no issue' with a lot of the individual songs on here but as an album experience it just doesn't 'grab' on anything like the two records that followed it and sounds more like something a man of Morrissey's stature and profile could have 'got away with' a bit later on. I genuinely don't think the production helps and that Langer/Winstanley were a 'bad fit' for Moz from that point of view.
That said, keep some of the 1990-91 era singles back for this record and you suddenly have quite a different proposition. Relegate a couple of the weaker tracks to B-sides and stick November/Palare on there, you get what I'm getting at.
Sing Your Life is a lovely, chilled out tune and End of the Family Line has that gorgeous piano hook. Much of the rest is pretty ordinary, by no means bad but merely average - and a little bit plodding when stuck together as an album experience.
Now Southpaw almost seems to be an over-compensation for Kill Uncle. It comes at a time when Moz has re-claimed his place as a major player following two albums that were critically acclaimed and commercially successful (Arsenal saw him crack America while Vauxhall, an altogether more British album, went to #1 over here and spawned the brilliant Introducing Morrissey live film).
We had 'Boxers' in the interim which could have improved Southpaw no end.
Now Southpaw has its fans here and I get why. It has some great moments and I do love the way it 'rocks out' in places although ultimately there are a couple of clunkers in there and even Southpaw (a track I love conceptually) goes on too long - as does the opener. Perhaps wind those both in by a couple of minutes, add Boxers to the record and you have something altogether stronger.
I get that Morrissey wanted to go in a 'new direction' and get where that direction was heading, personally I think he should have waited another year and got some better songs together with his band. Then Southpaw could have benefited from the best bits of what turned out to be the sessions for Maladjusted.
So...what are people's thoughts on Kill Uncle and Southpaw Grammar?
Could they have been done better? Would Moz have been better hanging onto material in the case of Uncle and waiting for better in the case of Southpaw?
Would the 1997 hiatus have been avoided in different circumstances?
Thanks in advance.
I've put these two albums together in the title as they seem to be regarded (in my view not altogether wrongly) as sort of 'career stopping' albums for Moz.
Many of us have great affection for both Your Arsenal (probably his most consistent and complete album IMO) and I struggle to find even a mediocre track on it. Vauxhall is excellent, but I do think there's a slight lull round tracks 7-10. I'm nitpicking, it's a great record it really is.
Kill Uncle came at quite an important time in Morrissey's career as the immediate post-Smiths fuss around him had quelled slightly and so there was pressure to make a record that would keep him in the public consciousness as well as making a creative impact. I've 'no issue' with a lot of the individual songs on here but as an album experience it just doesn't 'grab' on anything like the two records that followed it and sounds more like something a man of Morrissey's stature and profile could have 'got away with' a bit later on. I genuinely don't think the production helps and that Langer/Winstanley were a 'bad fit' for Moz from that point of view.
That said, keep some of the 1990-91 era singles back for this record and you suddenly have quite a different proposition. Relegate a couple of the weaker tracks to B-sides and stick November/Palare on there, you get what I'm getting at.
Sing Your Life is a lovely, chilled out tune and End of the Family Line has that gorgeous piano hook. Much of the rest is pretty ordinary, by no means bad but merely average - and a little bit plodding when stuck together as an album experience.
Now Southpaw almost seems to be an over-compensation for Kill Uncle. It comes at a time when Moz has re-claimed his place as a major player following two albums that were critically acclaimed and commercially successful (Arsenal saw him crack America while Vauxhall, an altogether more British album, went to #1 over here and spawned the brilliant Introducing Morrissey live film).
We had 'Boxers' in the interim which could have improved Southpaw no end.
Now Southpaw has its fans here and I get why. It has some great moments and I do love the way it 'rocks out' in places although ultimately there are a couple of clunkers in there and even Southpaw (a track I love conceptually) goes on too long - as does the opener. Perhaps wind those both in by a couple of minutes, add Boxers to the record and you have something altogether stronger.
I get that Morrissey wanted to go in a 'new direction' and get where that direction was heading, personally I think he should have waited another year and got some better songs together with his band. Then Southpaw could have benefited from the best bits of what turned out to be the sessions for Maladjusted.
So...what are people's thoughts on Kill Uncle and Southpaw Grammar?
Could they have been done better? Would Moz have been better hanging onto material in the case of Uncle and waiting for better in the case of Southpaw?
Would the 1997 hiatus have been avoided in different circumstances?
Thanks in advance.
