Morrissey's new album 'a stunning career high' review by Eamon Carr - Irish Independent

Morrissey's new album 'a stunning career high' - Irish Independent
by Eamon Carr

 

[Anonymous]

It's at least the 3rd or 4th review that states this!

The music journalist that signed this article is also a musician . Most of the fans that listened to the album agree it's great. So I don't understand some of the comments here.


Some of you may not agree, and that's OK, but that should not diminish everybody else's opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

"cant hum anything" is just a baffling thing to say imo. i cant stop singing world peace.. its so stuck in my head along with bull fighter and instanbul not far behind. i think hes singing really well on these songs and world peace is very cool from and vocal standpoint (giant hook). im not knocking your opinion just wowing over how far away it is from my own. the vocal melodies are what ive really liked about the singles so far.

 

[bored]

I made it all the way to "Stephen" and stopped reading.

There is an irony in trying to look smart and use his full name but then failing to spell it correctly.

Review of the review: -2 out of 5 stars.

 

[bored]

And you're telling me that after FOUR listens you still can't hum The Bullfighter Dies" or any of those other songs. I'm just saying, is your humming box broken?

John Barleycorn spends his time trying to get a rise out of people.

After 1 listen I was a bit harsh on the record but by the time I was through 4 listens and now 15 or 20 I like a lot about it.

I already removed I am Not a Man.. to slow, too preachy and too long.
I'm bordering on removing Smiler With Knife for being way to slow for my listening pleasure.

On the flip side of that, I can't get enough of Neal Cassady Drops Dead, Art-Hounds, One of Our Own, Kiss Me a Lot, Staircase at the University and because there were 4 singles that came out early and one at a time and got overplayed I really like Istanbul and think the title track and Earth is the Loneliest Planet are pretty good.

Forgive Someone is growing on me.

The rest of the songs right now are "ok" but I reserve the right to be won over.

I know plenty of people will disagree with my likes and dislikes and they should. That's the point. But when someone says 4 listens through and can't hum a single song, they're trolling.

 

[Sidnettle]

not sure how being a musician gives someone good taste. hmmmmmmmm. very dubious.

 

[Head Singer Ritual]

I don't have any attention span for a reviewer who won't spend 1 second on the internet to get his facts right .

HEAVEN KNOWS was SMITHS' first top ten entry, THIS CHARMING MAN was their first hit.

We won't even mention STEPHEN ! it spells S.T.E.V.E.N. you idiot !

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

John Barleycorn spends his time trying to get a rise out of people.

After 1 listen I was a bit harsh on the record but by the time I was through 4 listens and now 15 or 20 I like a lot about it.

I already removed I am Not a Man.. to slow, too preachy and too long.
I'm bordering on removing Smiler With Knife for being way to slow for my listening pleasure.

On the flip side of that, I can't get enough of Neal Cassady Drops Dead, Art-Hounds, One of Our Own, Kiss Me a Lot, Staircase at the University and because there were 4 singles that came out early and one at a time and got overplayed I really like Istanbul and think the title track and Earth is the Loneliest Planet are pretty good.

Forgive Someone is growing on me.

The rest of the songs right now are "ok" but I reserve the right to be won over.

I know plenty of people will disagree with my likes and dislikes and they should. That's the point. But when someone says 4 listens through and can't hum a single song, they're trolling.

Having a different opinion to the sheep who seem to be a major constituency of LA era Morrissey is not trolling. I say its a middling Morrissey effort and I'm a troll, you say you're knocking off songs from your playlist already and you are apparently an oracle. Get to f***. Seriously. Idiot.

I like I'm Not A Man. It is about the only song which has a real depth to it. Bullfighter is sheer doggerel. It is trite fluff. Morrissey has often been quite adept at fluff, from Vicar In A Tutu onwards. Bullfighter is not in the same league.

Cassady and Stairway have all the smooth musicality of a singing cactus. The title track is utter nonsense, although if the type of people who have written some of those "Letters To Morrissey" are persuaded not to vote that probably isn't a bad thing for democracy.

I assume the writing process for many of these songs was similar to the method Morrissey has favoured for years. An instrumental demo is delivered, presumably on wax cylinder, and Morrissey works out a lyric and vocal melody. Too often on this album he's failed to find a melody and the lyric is far from convincing.

Bride is pretty good. Smiler is OK, One Of Our Own is about the best on there. Listening to Morrissey singing Forgive Someone is akin to Hannibal Lector telling you he likes veggie lasagne.

There is barely a radio friendly track on the album, hence, perhaps, the slightly unusual promotional campaign.

I was watching Tim Booth a few weeks ago on the Daily Politics. He's essentially a proper old hippy, but he shares much of his world view with Morrissey, from vegetarianism, to animal rights to some of his politics. The latest James album has a lot of interesting things to say about the world, but it is wrapped up in some very catchy tunes. In the end that is sort of the point of music, isn't it?

As I said the other day, there is a West End theatricality about a lot of World Peace. That's fine, but it doesn't always make for hooky tunes.

I've added I'm Not A Man to the end of my Morrissey playlist, which now stands at 72 tracks. If I don't add another Morrissey track ever I think it would serve to wrap up his career quite nicely. Hand In Glove to I'm Not A Man has a nice arc to it.

 

[Luke Action McClure]

People calling this album a masterpiece etc. are doing so with rose tinted arseholes.

It's mediocre and some of the rhyming isn't great. I think the die hards who see Morrissey as being able to do no wrong wanted this album to be amazing, and the relief of getting a full album, coupled with the fact the songs are slightly better than his 2011 efforts, are kidding themselves.

Also, if her Daddy wants her to "get three As", surely he's referring to her school grades which would allow her to get into university. University degrees are awarded on a numerical scale (First, 2:1, 2:2 etc.). So either she was at the university for an open day, or the song should be called Staircase at the sixth form college. Still, at least it's one of the better tunes. Along with Istanbul, it's worthy of some praise. The rest, regrettably, are mediocre for now. I know it's just an opinion and I'm hoping after more listens they all grow on me. Oh, Art Hounds is also great (and before Kreampie butts in, I'm fully aware that Art Hounds is from 2011... And has a hyphen).

 

[Anonymous]

People calling this album a masterpiece etc are doing so with rose tinted arseholes.

It's mediocre and some of the rhyming isn't great. I think the die hards who see Moreissey as doing no wrong wanted this album to be amazing, and the relief of getting a full album, couples with the fact the songs are slightly better than his 2011 efforts, are kidding themselves.

I am not calling it a masterpiece, but easily his best since Maladjusted. And I am a fan who was totally in the belief that Morrissey lost it, with all the ridiculous thing he said, Chinese comment, Norwegian comment, God, i can't even list all of them. I agreed with all the negative comments about Jesse etc. Still this album took me by surprise.

 

[Anonymous]

People calling this album a masterpiece etc. are doing so with rose tinted arseholes.

It's subjective, so it's simply a differing opinion than yours. If you disagree with those opining the LP as a masterpiece, it doesn't automatically follow that it's because you're doing so with a shit-stained arsehole.


Also, if her Daddy wants her to "get three As", surely he's referring to her school grades which would allow her to get into university. University degrees are awarded on a numerical scale (First, 2:1, 2:2 etc.).

Not in the States.

 

[Luke Action McClure]

Not in the States.

Thanks. Had forgotten he'd dumbed down.

 

[fredkocherpepsi]

Listening to Morrissey singing Forgive Someone is akin to Hannibal Lector telling you he likes veggie lasagne.

Not going to lie, this gave me a nice hearty chuckle.

 

[Anonymous]

People calling this album a masterpiece etc. are doing so with rose tinted arseholes.

It's mediocre and some of the rhyming isn't great. I think the die hards who see Morrissey as being able to do no wrong wanted this album to be amazing, and the relief of getting a full album, coupled with the fact the songs are slightly better than his 2011 efforts, are kidding themselves.

Yes, the critics from Uncut, Mojo, Q , and this reviewer ... All die hard fans who are surely kidding themselves, Because you are obviously the one who is right.

 

[Luke Action McClure]

Yes, the critics from Uncut, Mojo, Q , and this reviewer ... All die hard fans who are surely kidding themselves, Because you are obviously the one who is right.

OPINION you thick f***ing anonymous bellend. This reviewer knows f*** ALL, much like yourself it seems.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, many countries in Europe use the ECTS grading scale, going from A to F:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECTS_grading_scale

 

[Anonymous]

It's definately his best album since 'Years of Refusal'.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

It's at least the 3rd or 4th review that states this!

The music journalist that signed this article is also a musician . Most of the fans that listened to the album agree it's great. So I don't understand some of the comments here.

KYTV & Co. IMHO.

 

[Sidnettle]

it all means of course that 3 As is the ideal achievement at universities, not in english sixth-forms where three As are generally required for access to the country's top universities

 

[marred]

Having a different opinion to the sheep who seem to be a major constituency of LA era Morrissey is not trolling. I say its a middling Morrissey effort and I'm a troll, you say you're knocking off songs from your playlist already and you are apparently an oracle. Get to f***. Seriously. Idiot.

I like I'm Not A Man. It is about the only song which has a real depth to it. Bullfighter is sheer doggerel. It is trite fluff. Morrissey has often been quite adept at fluff, from Vicar In A Tutu onwards. Bullfighter is not in the same league.

Cassady and Stairway have all the smooth musicality of a singing cactus. The title track is utter nonsense, although if the type of people who have written some of those "Letters To Morrissey" are persuaded not to vote that probably isn't a bad thing for democracy.

I assume the writing process for many of these songs was similar to the method Morrissey has favoured for years. An instrumental demo is delivered, presumably on wax cylinder, and Morrissey works out a lyric and vocal melody. Too often on this album he's failed to find a melody and the lyric is far from convincing.

Bride is pretty good. Smiler is OK, One Of Our Own is about the best on there. Listening to Morrissey singing Forgive Someone is akin to Hannibal Lector telling you he likes veggie lasagne.

There is barely a radio friendly track on the album, hence, perhaps, the slightly unusual promotional campaign.

I was watching Tim Booth a few weeks ago on the Daily Politics. He's essentially a proper old hippy, but he shares much of his world view with Morrissey, from vegetarianism, to animal rights to some of his politics. The latest James album has a lot of interesting things to say about the world, but it is wrapped up in some very catchy tunes. In the end that is sort of the point of music, isn't it?

As I said the other day, there is a West End theatricality about a lot of World Peace. That's fine, but it doesn't always make for hooky tunes.

I've added I'm Not A Man to the end of my Morrissey playlist, which now stands at 72 tracks. If I don't add another Morrissey track ever I think it would serve to wrap up his career quite nicely. Hand In Glove to I'm Not A Man has a nice arc to it.

The corn has spoken.

Get to f***?

 

[Sidnettle]

It's definately his best album since 'Years of Refusal'.

whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it there