Your Morrissey album Top 11

And coming around the first bend.... here's the ranking based on total position so far. (Yes, I'm avoiding doing work.)

Vauxhall and I ... 43
Viva Hate... 50
You are the Quarry ... 57
Your Arsenal ... 61
Ringleader of the Tormenters ... 95
World Peace is None of Your Business ... 96
Low in High School ... 112
Southpaw Grammar ... 115
Years of Refusal ... 124
Kill Uncle ... 128

Follow along at home!

Oops, I left off Maladjusted, which should have come between WP and LIHS with 106. In any case, coming out of the clubhouse turn, here's the update (Arsenal moves up in a four way race, with the rest of the pack far behind!):

Vauxhall and I ... 53
Viva Hate... 73
Your Arsenal ... 80
You are the Quarry ... 94
Ringleader of the Tormenters ... 147
Maladjusted ... 152
World Peace is None of Your Business ... 154
Low in High School ... 159
Southpaw Grammar ... 171
Years of Refusal ... 175
Kill Uncle ... 183
 
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Also, it’s always puzzled me that Vauxhall is generally considered to be his best work. For me, it is his blandest album (with competition from Maladjusted). I distinctly remember hearing The More You Ignore Me.... for the first time &, to me, it didn’t even sound like Morrissey. It was the last time I bought a single of his until this past year.

The overall tone of the album is too light, with little variation, & ive never understood people’s love for Speedway. There are some decent tunes & lyrics but it will never appear in my top 3, or maybe even 5. This is where the band really fell into the unimaginative strumming & picking mode that would become their calling card for many years to come.
 
I don't consider myself obstinate, provocative or 'edgy' (I will leave that to those far better qualified here :) )
That said, I truly can't rank the albums.
I've bought hundreds of singles, 12"s and multiple copies of albums etc and never really rated them in that manner.
Viva... was special to me because the horror I felt seeing The Smiths break and then seeing the chaos and excitement at Wolverhampton thereafter and the fact there even was an album - well, I return to it always because of this.
The critical response to Vauxhall renewed my love of the music - it made me glad to be a 'fan' and that body of work is still something I'd never turn off if I heard it.
Maladjusted, too, has me returning to it - for reasons not befitting a web forum.
Quarry - with its build-up, marketing (being a huge fan of the Attack products/iconography) and coming back from the 'wilderness' remains a high point too (that 'wilderness' seemed like forever).
Mentioning these specifically doesnt diminish my love of other albums though.
Obviously, one thing to mention is that some of the tracks we all love and listen to repeatedly never featured on any 'official' album.
Regards,
FWD.

Beautifully put. Exactly how I feel. Thanks.
 
Likewise. I also saw him live for the first time on that tour & that whole period of Morrissey's music from Viva to Arsenal is my favourite, as that’s when I was really deeply interested.

I have never understood the criticism of Kill Uncle. I think it is a fine album & a lot more musically diverse & interesting than much of what followed. Sure, there are a few duff tracks but, personally, I’d say that’s true of all of Morrissey’s output; mostly due to him never having an equal songwriting partner like Marr to spur him on to create his best.

I’ve never been good at ranking but the only album he’s made with tracks I simply cannot stand to listen to & ALWAYS skip, is Low In High School (the offending tracks being Spent The Day In Bed & Who Will Protect Us). Most of the rest of his output is fine by me.

Kill Uncle would definitely rank near the top for me.

Maladjusted is probably the most forgettable, for me. Closely followed by World Peace & Years Of Refusal (though each of these albums have their moments).

Bona Drag is probably the most consistent, for obvious reasons. I also love Swords, proving that a lot of his better later songs ended up as b-sides

It must be tours that spring them up the list for me, because I love Ringleader. And that was also a great tour for me. And I didn’t much enjoy the LiHS tour, and it’s at the botttom of my list. Lots of middle aged people swaying. I think Bona Drag is untouchable in terms of being a great listen from start to finish. But it can’t feature in the list.
 
I was going to just put them in order like they keep getting worse but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that.
 
It must be tours that spring them up the list for me, because I love Ringleader. And that was also a great tour for me. And I didn’t much enjoy the LiHS tour, and it’s at the botttom of my list. Lots of middle aged people swaying. I think Bona Drag is untouchable in terms of being a great listen from start to finish. But it can’t feature in the list.

I like the besides/singles comps like bona drag and swords not just because the song are great but also as they don't have theme or whatever around them like some of the albums do they come off more well rounded with a mix of sounds and lyrical content that veers from funny and trite to personal and serious. I liked world peace in many ways for this reason as well
 
Vauxhall and I ... 53
Viva Hate... 73
Your Arsenal ... 80
You are the Quarry ... 94
Ringleader of the Tormenters ... 147
Maladjusted ... 152
World Peace is None of Your Business ... 154
Low in High School ... 159
Southpaw Grammar ... 171
Years of Refusal ... 175
Kill Uncle ... 183
Nice to see the total scores so far.
Top-4 are the universally acclaimed masterpieces, the rest are way behind but close to each other. They each have their moments, and their fans, but they are a bit hit and miss.
 
Nice to see the total scores so far.
Top-4 are the universally acclaimed masterpieces, the rest are way behind but close to each other. They each have their moments, and their fans, but they are a bit hit and miss.

Yes, it seems every poll or thread around here has kept those 4 in the top 4, usually in that order.
 
First Division
1. Vauxhall
2. Ringleader

Second Division
3. Viva Hate
4. Your Arsenal
5. YAT Quarry
6. Years of Refusal
7. Southpaw

Third Division
8. Kill Uncle
9. Maladjusted

North West Counties Football League
10. Low in High School
11. World Peace

I'd predict that I am not going to end up listening to future releases very much, so this can probably be considered definitive.


Viva hate in second division...NOOOOO, i will not have a good sleep this night.

It's the champion league, the winner of 1988 !
 
Southpaw
Ringleader
Vauxhall
Arsenal
Quarry
 
1. Vauxhall & I
2. Bona Drag
3. Ringleader of the Tormentors
4. Viva Hate
5. Your Arsenal
6. Kill Uncle
7. Years of Refusal
8. Maladjusted
9. Low in High School
10. World Peace is None of Your Business
 
Vauxhall and I
Low in High School
You are the Quarry

Your Arsenal
Viva Hate

Years of Refusal
World Peace is None of Your Business (non-deluxe)
Ringleader of the Tormenters
Southpaw Grammar

Maladjusted
Kill Uncle
 
1. Your Arsenal
2. Bona Drag
3. Years of Refusal
4. Maladjusted
5. Vauxhall and I
6. Viva Hate
7. Kill Uncle
8. Ringleader of the Tormentors
9. You Are the Quarry
10. World Peace is None of Your Business
11. Low in High School
12. Southpaw Grammar
 
Vauxhall
Quarry
Viva
LIHS
World Peace
Your Arsenal
Years..
Uncle
Ringleader

Not placed:

Maladjusted (but shave 2/3 and you’d have a terrific EP)
Southpaw
 
Oops, I left off Maladjusted, which should have come between WP and LIHS with 106. In any case, coming out of the clubhouse turn, here's the update (Arsenal moves up in a four way race, with the rest of the pack far behind!):

Vauxhall and I ... 53
Viva Hate... 73
Your Arsenal ... 80
You are the Quarry ... 94
Ringleader of the Tormenters ... 147
Maladjusted ... 152
World Peace is None of Your Business ... 154
Low in High School ... 159
Southpaw Grammar ... 171
Years of Refusal ... 175
Kill Uncle ... 183
You’ve got a new update ;-)
 
  1. Vauxhall and I - masterpiece :)
  2. You Are the Quarry - has a soft spot in my heart for being my first solo Morrissey album
  3. Viva Hate - a bit iffy in parts, but mostly sublime
  4. Your Arsenal - too short, but a great album
  5. Maladjusted - flawed, but I never understood the hate it gets
  6. Southpaw Grammar - I can see why people don't like this one, but I think it has some cracking tunes
  7. Ringleader of the Tormentors - I like this album, but this to me represents the point where all of Morrissey's albums became lifeless and samey
  8. Kill Uncle - took me a long time to appreciate it, but definitely flawed
  9. Low in High School - a sharp improvement over World Peace, but contains too much crap for my liking
  10. World Peace is None of Your Business - not sure which I dislike more out of this and Refusal, but I probably won't listen to either ever again
  11. Years of Refusal - has the distinction of being the first (but not last) Morrissey/Smiths album I didn't like (also, the inclusion of the two songs that previously made me go out and buy the sub-par Greatest Hits left a bad taste in my mouth)
 
First Division
1. Vauxhall
2. Ringleader

Second Division
3. Viva Hate
4. Your Arsenal
5. YAT Quarry
6. Years of Refusal
7. Southpaw

Third Division
8. Kill Uncle
9. Maladjusted

North West Counties Football League
10. Low in High School
11. World Peace

I'd predict that I am not going to end up listening to future releases very much, so this can probably be considered definitive.


For once I nearly totally agree with cornflakes. Low in High school should be disqualified from any league...
 
And coming up on the far turn.... your Superfecta tickets remain unchanged! ROTT holds on to 5th! Maladjusted stays strong! LIHS and YOR are moving up while Kill Uncle continues to trail!

Vauxhall and I ... 64
Viva Hate... 98
Your Arsenal ... 103
You are the Quarry ... 124
Ringleader of the Tormenters ... 182
Maladjusted ... 193
Low in High School ... 198
World Peace is None of Your Business ... 200
Years of Refusal ... 213
Southpaw Grammar ... 218
Kill Uncle ... 227
 
1, Viva Hate
2, Vauxhall and I
3, Ringleader of the Tormentors

4, Your Arsenal
5, You are the Quarry
6, World Peace is None of Your Business
7, Low in High School
8 Years of Refusal
9, Maladjusted

10, Kill Uncle
11, Southpaw Grammar
 
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