Based on what you've heard and read so far, do you think World Peace Is None of Your Business will be a stronger album than all of Morrissey's releases post-Vauxhall (that means Southpaw Grammar, Maladjusted, You Are the Quarry, Ringleader of the Tormentors and Years of Refusal)?
Based on what I've heard so far, Istanbul being the strongest track, plus the reviews coming in, I think it has a good chance of taking the crown.
Not sure, but it'll likely contain some of his best stuff in ages.
Great poll. And a loaded question.
While Vauxhall is not a divisive album (i.e. it is generally regarded as a masterpiece...probably because it is so Smith-ish), there are other albums that really divide the fan (yes, I used the word) base. But in a poll "Quarry" will always top a "Quarry" vs. "Ringleader" vs. "Refusal" poll. Yes, that was redundant. Score - 1 But don't take my word for it or bother to search the archives, just post the poll (no not you, Leer) and the outcome is certain. If Ringleader was better than Refusal, (and it was) and Quarry beat Ringleader in a poll (and it did)...
Not-so-die-hard fans clearly also loved Quarry, because, um, it crossed-over and went platinum in the UK. Every time the album started to sink in the chart, one if its 4 singles - all top 10 UK hits - would buoy the album back up. It was a true comeback, artistically, commercially, and in every which way. A true return to form...dial a cliche. If you think Quarry is "shit" or "fair to middling" (no not you, Leer), it is much better than the studio album that came before it, the incredibly divisive "Maladjusted" which Morrissey himself said to paraphrase 'was not a show stopper.' Quarry's four singles are fantastic. The charts may be shit but they don't just give top spots away. Morrissey earned those. It was 8 parts quality and 2 parts publicity. Well deserved. "First of the Gang to Die" will be remembered like "Everyday is Like Sunday" as among the man's very best. You want a Cork-er? "Irish Blood, English Heart." The lyrics are very good throughout Quarry and sometimes they rise to magnificent. The production quality...whatever Finn (R.I.P.) did was brilliant...the music not low in the mix, the album reportedly recorded while Morrissey was actually in the room with the musicians, and not just doing 2 takes in a box to music just waiting for a vocal lay-down, for starters. The album from beginning to end is incredibly satisfying (understatement). "Come Back To Camden" is to die/cry for. The closer "You Know I Couldn't Last" - please explain to me how "Speedway" is a better closer? Or just save your breathe. The Quarry b-sides were just good enough. The right songs were chosen for A-sides, and the right songs were chosen for b-sides (yes, he was right to put "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?" on the album because it fits the album and "Daddy's Voice" doesn't). I could go on.
Now, having said that, Leer, I think you can appreciate what follows, because you have never been one to shy away from gut instinct as this very forward-thinking poll shows. I do feel in my bones, or perhaps Michael feels it in his, that this album will be better than Ringleader or Refusal. As for what has been released, I have heard the studio versions of nothing. I have only heard the songs performed live, twice, save Istanbul (which I have not heard). In those songs which I did experience live, I felt there was something a little spacey going on (and I was sober)...a little bit of experimenting...think "I'm Not Sorry" which made use of keyboard, flute, and some kind of sinking below water sound effect, etc.
The Spanish-Gypsy influence on "Earth Is The Loneliest Planet" is anything but subtle. We first saw this type of influence, as I recall, on Quarry (Alain White spends a lot of time in Los Angeles...go figure). A track-by-track review of 3 new songs from two live shows is not possible...though the sounds do linger in the 7th window of my mind. I believe we are witnessing something close to a "World Music" style album. And I have always believed that such an album would suit an artist who can headline festivals from Coachella to Manchester to Istanbul - an artist who can and does play the continents of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia when he is not ill or faking ill. This is an artist whose albums even chart in Israel and Estonia!
I have felt that Boz's writing could only naturally, over time, be influenced by Portugal where he spends so much of his time and where they have a great tradition of music including Fado, Folk, and Portuguese rock, the latter two being almost criminally ignored by anyone outside of Portugal. Add to this that Tobias (whether he is writing music or not) is of Hispanic, specifically Mexican descent, is a friend and influence on Morrissey AND that Gustavo Manzur, while born in the States, is well-versed in music from South America, Columbia and Columbian Folk in particular.
So, now we have the Iberian Peninsula crashing with South America mixing with Tex-Mex whispering to a rockabilly bloke from London (who is probably telling him to "F-off!")...and in the middle or the front is this Man from Manchester you may have heard of. Take away the lawnmower parts (the Walkers - just kidding - okay so I'm not) and it all begins to swirl and whirl. Morrissey has lived, on the record, in England, Ireland, the United States and Italy, and on-off the record in Spain (not just recently but in the late 1990s as well). And all these influences and the sound that flows as a result, I feel, will be reflected on "World Peace..." Having said that, while Morrissey will allow these influences to seep and creep into his world (as he allowed new influences to make way onto Quarry) as I was nearly dancing to "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet" it was still, somehow, quintessentially, Morrissey. Setting out to make a "World Music" album, or something like it, would have been a mistake; it happening on its own, naturally, organically because of those that you gravitate to and who gravitate to you...well that's just evolution or fate.
Morrissey once said something along the lines of his words being like 'fragile eggs' and how he could not trust his words to just anyone - which is a load of crap. If anyone could trust their words to Tobias' music, that statement is rubbish. So, while I don't believe Moz is writing with great composers, because his eggs can be hatched under seemingly anyone's axe, and while I would love to see what Alain could have brought to this fondue pot, I do think, in the end, for the reasons set forth above, "World Peace..." will bring you a lot of satisfaction (understatement).
Another Vauxhall? No. That could only happen if Morrissey phoned up Stephen Street and said "Lillyblack is a tosser...you know I'm sorry, I paid you those 'Interesting Drug' monies, I even let you re-master a couple albums for me with cash on the nail...listen I have one more album left on my deal with Harvest / Capitol and I'd like to do a proper follow up to 'Viva Hate' wherein we use a lot of acoustic guitars, find me someone who plucks with a Spanish-y flair, and sometimes it should be as if I am singing almost a capella. Do you think you can send me some songs on a cassette via mail? My address in Barcelona is _____" Keep with those Latin-rooted words "Viva" and "Bona" and call it something cool that could have a double-meaning (such as 'I like to shag transvestites'), and you shall have your Vauxhall Re-Visited, and we could all live/die happily ever after.
- Ghoul