Anyone else rate Mozzer over The Smiths?

[modrevolve]

If we are talking tempos, the one Smiths cover Morrissey does that I prefer over the original is "I Want the One I Can't Have". Never rated the music much till I heard the Malmo 2002 boot. For me it just grooves so much better at a slightly slower tempo then how The Smiths performed it.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Put another way, when I’m listening to ‘Nobody Loves Us’, I’m not thinking about ‘William, it was Really Nothing’.

I agree absolutely. I don't rate Moz over Smiths, I don't even compare them. It's just a good thing that Morrissey went on to produce great work after the band that hatched him broke up.

I think the genre dried up.

Not in 1987. By 1991, yes.

Not with you there I'm afraid. Rod Stewart for the gallery-crawling set? No thanks.

His voice. It's pretty. Silvery. Listen to "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." And "So" hit that magical balance (with a bit less energy and sexiness) that INXS reached on "Kick." Besides, he's the reason I was reading Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath at 12.

If you hate Paul Simon's dip into African music with "Graceland," but you love Vampire Weekend, then you should at least respect Peter Gabriel. He's done a huge amount of work to support the distribution of great world music artists in the UK and US. That's what he's been doing between recording his infrequent (and increasingly limp) albums. Jaysus, I sound like a raving fan. I'm not, he's just one of my earliest experiences with grown-up music. "Biko" is not "Shake Your Love."

So your Columbia college boys might never have heard all that eccentric funky stuff that made them the coolest thing ever to come out of a Manhattan prep school if not for Peter Gabriel getting those artists out there. They'd never know what an mbira was if not for... well, somebody.

Comes down to what sort of art you're attempting, don't it, like.

God, I hope so.

 

[Worm]

Not in 1987. By 1991, yes.

But the writing was on the wall in '87.

Besides, he's the reason I was reading Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath at 12.

Peter? Not Morrissey?

If you hate Paul Simon's dip into African music with "Graceland," but you love Vampire Weekend, then you should at least respect Peter Gabriel.

For a silvery, pretty bit of sophistry of my own, may I offer you the following? Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon plundered African music for a buck. Vampire Weekend plundered Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon for a buck. In my world that's a subtle but important difference.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

Peter? Not Morrissey?

I saw Peter Gabriel live in Germany in the summer of 1987. I first heard of The Smiths in January of 1988. No, Morrissey had me reading Oscar Wilde and the Brontes and taking road trips to Fairmount, Indiana.

For a silvery, pretty bit of sophistry of my own, may I offer you the following? Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon plundered African music for a buck. Vampire Weekend plundered Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon for a buck. In my world that's a subtle but important difference.

It is? Lol... why? You just have a boy crush on them. You should go see them live. I hear they're touring now.

This is no longer about Smiths v Moz. We've hijacked another thread.

 

[Worm]

This is no longer about Smiths v Moz. We've hijacked another thread.

People have said what they're gonna say. A very familiar pattern. The responses break down like this:

1) "Morrissey is better than The Smiths!"

2) "The Smiths are better than Morrissey!"

3) "The question is irrelevant because it all boils down to personal taste!"

4) Random song lyrics quoted without elaboration.​

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

People have said what they're gonna say. A very familiar pattern. The responses break down like this:

1) "Morrissey is better than The Smiths!"

2) "The Smiths are better than Morrissey!"

3) "The question is irrelevant because it all boils down to personal taste!"

4) Random song lyrics quoted without elaboration.​

You forgot to mention sixteen year olds mouthing off that they don't like Johnny Marr because he has shifty eyes. Or something like that. Kids these days have no respect!!!!! blurble blurble uphill both ways had to start it with a crank only three channels get off my lawn!!!!

 

[mozsupportsrovers]

I have to say that if i had to choose between the two i would proably go for Morrisseys solo work. I try not to seperate the two but see them just as a continous work by Morrissey

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

You stand corrected. Look at him, he's not even breaking a sweat!!




For comparison... about half speed and the riffs are still wrong:

I do indeed stand corrected!

Alain in particular looks like he's shitting himself during that song. If there's one thing with Moz's live performances these days that isn't as good as before the 'big comeback' it's that Boz picks up that acoustic FAR too often!

PS In reference to another post, I read somewhere that John Porter suggested 'bruises as big a dinner plates' was better than 'bruises bigger than dinner plates' as opposed to Marr.

 

[Amy]

PS In reference to another post, I read somewhere that John Porter suggested 'bruises as big a dinner plates' was better than 'bruises bigger than dinner plates' as opposed to Marr.

Ohh I hadn't heard that, I can't remember where I read the Marr thing originally but it's on 'Passions...' too, about halfway down:

http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/gigs/moz-gi0404pre.htm

"In "The Headmaster Ritual" Morrissey changed "bruises bigger than dinner plates" to "bruises as big as dinner plates". Funnily enough, in an interview published shortly before the tour, Johnny Marr mentioned that when the Smiths had recorded the song, he had had a discussion with Morrissey in which he had told him that he should sing "as big as" instead of "bigger than". It seems that Morrissey finally took the advice, albeit 20 years later".

 

[Neader]

I read that in Mozipedia.

 

[mozsupportsrovers]

I do indeed stand corrected!

Alain in particular looks like he's shitting himself during that song. If there's one thing with Moz's live performances these days that isn't as good as before the 'big comeback' it's that Boz picks up that acoustic FAR too often!

PS In reference to another post, I read somewhere that John Porter suggested 'bruises as big a dinner plates' was better than 'bruises bigger than dinner plates' as opposed to Marr.

Alain isnt playing in that clip from glastobury though, it was his stand in Barry Codgan. The poor lad was probably shitting himself having only a few weeks to learn the set and play in front of a large glastonbury crowd

 

[Neader]

Did you really just say the Smiths is more pop than his solo stuff?

...schwhat?

 

[nugz]

Did you really just say the Smiths is more pop than his solo stuff?

...schwhat?

yeahhh, ive actually found that people who i try to get into the whole Smiths/Moz thing....the ones who have shittier taste in music over all...prefer Morrissey solo over the Smiths. the Smiths are too over their head or something. not a very scientific study, but just something ive noticed.

oh and i responded to you cuz i was agreeing with you, didnt know if that was very clear, haha.

 

[Neader]

Yeah I understood haha.

Maybe it's because they get sick of the Smiths and think they're old and Morrissey seems fresh and new? I don't know how someone can get sick of the Smiths anyway :/

 

[Dave]

Did you really just say the Smiths is more pop than his solo stuff?

...schwhat?

I think that's true, yes. Of course it's a general statement. I don't think "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" was written for the TOTP, but generally I think that there is an immediacy to The Smiths that is more likely to translate to radio play. Now, in the US Morrissey was actually on the radio more than The Smiths, but "alternative" music was at it's peak then in popularity. Also, the success of Morrissey built on the delayed success of The Smiths. They might have been bigger than he was at his peak if things had gone differently. I find generally that The Smiths music is less specifically autobiographical, but that might just be my interpretation. I think that the songs were more likely written then with the idea of getting them on the air, while at the same time perpetuating the myth and the image.

 

[Neader]

I think that's true, yes. Of course it's a general statement. I don't think "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" was written for the TOTP, but generally I think that there is an immediacy to The Smiths that is more likely to translate to radio play.

Arguably. Look at their singles and some of that fits while others don't, How Soon is Now? That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Shoplifters of the World Unite, Girlfriend in a Coma, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me all aren't exactly poppy. Without a doubt though the Smiths WERE trying to achieve radio play during their career. However, some of the other singles I don't really consider poppy myself either, practically all of them except Stop Me and Ask, (if Stop Me counts.) I think we have a different definition of pop, but songs like I Like You and The More You Ignore Me the Closer I Get are more poppy than anything the Smiths have ever done.

I find generally that The Smiths music is less specifically autobiographical, but that might just be my interpretation. I think that the songs were more likely written then with the idea of getting them on the air, while at the same time perpetuating the myth and the image.

I think I'd agree with you on that. After the Smiths Morrissey wrote more about himself I thought than he did about society as he did with the Smiths. The thing about Morrissey's lyrics in the Smiths is that even though most of them use the first and second person point of view, it's more of just to relate to the person listening than Morrissey himself. I don't think Morrissey is really singing about himself in a lot of his songs in the Smiths, however, when he becomes solo this becomes more apparent. You Are the Quarry, practically the whole album is autobiographical, we get less societal songs we had in the Smiths like Suffer Little Children, the Headmaster Ritual, and others that we love.

Were they written specifically for the radio? No. Maybe with the exception of Ask. I think they just wrote songs and decided to put them on, not the other way around. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore was not meant to be a single, it has nothing a single needs, and to realize it as one in my view was one of the worst moves of their career, What She Said or Nowhere Fast (especially with the political tone) would had gained them so much more attention.

 

[nugz]

Yeah I understood haha.

Maybe it's because they get sick of the Smiths and think they're old and Morrissey seems fresh and new? I don't know how someone can get sick of the Smiths anyway :/

well the people i was referring to were a few friends and family members who really werent familiar with any of Morrissey's work. i was like "hey, you should listen to this cuz it's awesome." and they always preferred solo. I once made a Smiths mix and a Moz mix and gave them both to someone, and they really liked the Moz mix, but I think they listened to the Smiths mix once. I have an aunt who's into a lot of classic rock and just mainstream stuff in general and she instantly took to Moz's music, and again, the Smiths not so much.

 

[Neader]

Well Moz is more poppy and to those with such poor taste that is much more appealing than the deep and meaningful lyrics of the Smiths. I'm sure the general population would rather hear First of the Gang to Die than There is a Light.

 

[nugz]

Well Moz is more poppy and to those with such poor taste that is much more appealing than the deep and meaningful lyrics of the Smiths. I'm sure the general population would rather hear First of the Gang to Die than There is a Light.

yes exactly.

 

[Neader]

Can I say the 5 years that I've been on forums this is by far the funnest thread I've ever read.