:: Track Listing

1. America Is Not the World
2. Irish Blood English Heart
3. I Have Forgiven Jesus
4. Come Back to Camden
5. I'm Not Sorry
6. The World Is Full of Crashing Bores
7. How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel
8. First of the Gang to Die
9. Let Me Kiss You
10. All the Lazy Dykes
11. I Like You
12. You Know I Couldn't Last

:: Record Review

Morrissey

You Are The Quarry
(Attack; 2004)

Rating: 84%
Combined Rating: 81%


Steven Patrick Morrissey, or simply Morrissey, was in one of the greatest bands of the '80s and, quite possibly, of all time: The Smiths. Their catchy songs of misery and unrequited love led to the transformation of British pop music that appealed widely to the masses. Surprisingly, The Smiths never achieved any top ten albums or songs before their abrupt breakup in 1987, yet they are revered more than ever now as new generations discover the classics. After the acrimonious breakup of the group, frontman Morrissey embarked on a solo career that ended up making him more successful individually than in all his years in The Smiths. Morrissey has always been an enigmatic musician, and his solo career conintued to constantly fluxuate between aggressive rock and morose pop music.

He released his first solo album in 1988, Viva Hate, that was hailed by critics and Smiths fanatics alike. Even better was the rock-centric Your Arsenal that solidified his talent and fame. Then in 1997 he released the critically panned Maladjusted, which could be compared to Weezer’s Pinkerton as the album that most people seem to despise except for a few people in a cult following sort of way. Since then, Morrissey has been on sabbatical for seven years, which is a huge gap in time for any rock star. In today’s fickle industry, a musician must keep up the momentum or their status will fade away quickly. Only true rock stars like Morrissey can wait seven years to release a new album and still be considered relevant. With his new album You Are the Quarry, Morrissey is back with a bang -- a more mature and cynical album that will inevitably reinforce his status in the rock realm.

The first track is the highly cynical yet satisfying “America Is Not the World,” where Morrissey starts off: “America, your head is too big,” leading to “That’s where the President isn’t black, female or gay/ And until that day you have nothing to say to me.” He mentions how America invented the hamburger and announces: “Why in Estonia they say/ Hey you, big fat pig.” The anti-patriotic song comes off being unintentionally funny and yet very honest and true as he ends it with an “I love you.” Here, Morrissey’s voice has never sounded better as guitars, drums and a tuneful melody back him up. The next song is “Irish Blood, English Heart” that continues with the theme of political and social injustice. It’s fast and earnest and, above all else, it truly rocks. He laments: “I’ve been dreaming of a time when to be English isn’t to be baneful/ To be standing by the flag not feeling shameful, racist or partial.” Morrissey’s lyrics have always been his strongest asset and on this album its no exception. A lot has changed in the world in the past few years, and obviously it has affected him to the core.

The third song is “I Have Forgiven Jesus,” a song about spiritual emptiness and repentance. The rest of the album lightens up in mood and becomes less political with songs like “Come Back to Camden” which integrates the piano in a lovely song about unreciprocated love; “I’m Not Sorry” is a memorable, poetic tune that uses the flute and the sorrowful lyrics: “The woman of my dreams never came along/ The woman of my dreams/ Well, there never was one;" and on the wonderfully titled “The World is Full of Crashing Bores,” Morrissey wants someone to “take me in your arms and love me.” Poor guy—why can’t he ever find someone to love him? Track seven is the lively rock based song “How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?” where Morrissey yields to self-pity and bitterness about the world and the people he knows.

On “The First of the Gang to Die,” Morrissey appeals to his strong Latin base with a song about gangs in L.A. “I Like You,” another rock song, on the other hand, is an optimistic and jovial song about fledging love. On the final track, Morrissey muses about fame in a self-deprecating manner: “Whispering may hurt you/ The printed word may kill you… Teenagers who love you/ They will wake up, yawn and kill you.” Morrissey seems to have learned a lot about being in the media’s eye for so many years and has come to accept his fate and life.

Like fine wine, Morrissey has managed to somehow age well. His endurance and persistence in the music industry should be widely noted, and having just turned 45 years old, he still sounds at the top of his game. Most artists who leave a band and start a solo career never seem to find success on their own (Billy Corgan being an extremely recent example), but with Morrissey’s mid-life crisis approaching he has put his tumultuous past behind him and recorded one of his most straight-forwardly personal albums to date. That it also stands amongst some of his best speaks as loudly for his talent as it does for his future in music, answering the question of "will Moz ever become irrelevent" with a confident "not anytime soon." Garin Pirnia :: 18 May 2004 |