The Last Three Albums

skull

Well-Known Member
Many Morrissey fans think his latest works are not at the same level as in the old days. I think his last three albums and many of the b sides are just great works. Among some of his best ever. What do you think?
 
Many Morrissey fans think his latest works are not at the same level as in the old days. I think his last three albums and many of the b sides are just great works. Among some of his best ever. What do you think?

YATQ is very good, up there with some of the best stuff he has ever done (as are the b-sides from that album).

ROTT was just average. A lot of noise and guitars and repetitive songs. I rarely listen to anything from that album except Life is a Pigsty.

YOR is a very good collection of songs, not a great album. I listened to it quite regularly when it first came out (well, when it was leaked and freely, openly and illegally shared for all the world to steal on these boards) but it fell out of rotation very quickly.

That said, it's the same for most Morrissey albums as far as I'm concerned: play them to death for a bit, then they just become fodder for the iTunes shuffler. Except Southpaw Grammar. I listen to that quite regularly.
 
Many Morrissey fans think his latest works are not at the same level as in the old days. I think his last three albums and many of the b sides are just great works. Among some of his best ever. What do you think?

The last album has great individual songs, but not a great album in itself. No atmosphere. Prefer the previous two.
 
Many Morrissey fans think his latest works are not at the same level as in the old days. I think his last three albums and many of the b sides are just great works. Among some of his best ever. What do you think?
I absolutely agree Skull, his last 3 albums are great works and I actually prefer the latter two to YATQ.
Also the live performances I have witnessed this year equal the best I have ever seen him perform, hes in a great period of his career I think...
 
I absolutely agree Skull, his last 3 albums are great works and I actually prefer the latter two to YATQ.
hes in a great period of his career I think...

Same for me
 
All 3 albums have stand out tracks, none of them as albums compare favourably with Viva Hate, Your Arsenal, Vauxhall & I (and for me Southpaw)

Let Me Kiss You is in my top 3 Moz songs however
 
The 21st century Morrissey songs are similar (musically) in quality to the post-Vauxhall stuff in the 90's i.e. a bit hit and miss (perhaps slightly better, but not greatly).
The main change has been the decline in the quality of the lyrics. Moz still has moments of lyrical clarity and greatness but, generally, there is way too much anger, clumsiness, bluntness and humourlessness taking the place of the humility, observation, melancholic reflection and poetry of yore.
Here are his top 8 worst lyrics of the 21st century;
- explosive kegs between legs
- nothing entered me until you came with a key
- I see the world it makes me puke
- smiling children tell you that you smell
- your smelly uniform
- face dragged in 15 miles of shit
- thicker than pigshit
- yes there are things worse in life than never being someone's sweetie (cringe!)
There have been some genuinely great lyrics in the recent stuff but, the trouble is, they are increasingly few and far between...
 
The 21st century Morrissey songs are similar (musically) in quality to the post-Vauxhall stuff in the 90's i.e. a bit hit and miss (perhaps slightly better, but not greatly).
The main change has been the decline in the quality of the lyrics. Moz still has moments of lyrical clarity and greatness but, generally, there is way too much anger, clumsiness, bluntness and humourlessness taking the place of the humility, observation, melancholic reflection and poetry of yore.
Here are his top 8 worst lyrics of the 21st century;
- explosive kegs between legs
- nothing entered me until you came with a key
- I see the world it makes me puke
- smiling children tell you that you smell
- your smelly uniform
- face dragged in 15 miles of shit
- thicker than pigshit
- yes there are things worse in life than never being someone's sweetie (cringe!)
There have been some genuinely great lyrics in the recent stuff but, the trouble is, they are increasingly few and far between...

I think the world has generally got more angry & I think that's reflected in the lyrics. 'I see the world, it makes me puke' being a prime example. It says everything to me about my life to paraphrase something someone one said.
Most popstars are 'thicker than pigshit' & if you'd 'had your face dragged in 15 miles of shit' you wouldn't be too happy about it either!

I do however, accept your point. I think YOR has been an improvement in that respect. Pretty much every song on Quarry & ROTT seems to be about himself & sung in the first person. On YOR there are a few more character songs & in 'Something Is Squeezing My Skull' or 'All You Need Is Me' some much missed humour.

PS: On the other hand 'there are explosive kegs between my legs' makes me want to throw stuff. The only two times I've ever been pissed off as much by Moz's lyrics have been throwing the chorus away on 'Dagenham Dave' & the whole of Ambitious Outsiders.
 
I think the world has generally got more angry & I think that's reflected in the lyrics. 'I see the world, it makes me puke' being a prime example. It says everything to me about my life to paraphrase something someone one said.
Most popstars are 'thicker than pigshit' & if you'd 'had your face dragged in 15 miles of shit' you wouldn't be too happy about it either!

I do however, accept your point. I think YOR has been an improvement in that respect. Pretty much every song on Quarry & ROTT seems to be about himself & sung in the first person. On YOR there are a few more character songs & in 'Something Is Squeezing My Skull' or 'All You Need Is Me' some much missed humour.

PS: On the other hand 'there are explosive kegs between my legs' makes me want to throw stuff. The only two times I've ever been pissed off as much by Moz's lyrics have been throwing the chorus away on 'Dagenham Dave' & the whole of Ambitious Outsiders.

yeah, YOR is a slight improvement, if anything. I think ROTT was the nadir. stuff like Father Must Be Killed and On The Streets were just absolutely flipping dreadful.
I wouldn't defend the Crashing Bores lyrics though. they're muddled, confused, charmless and actually quite dim. Moz says the popstars are thicker than pigshit. then he says they're scared to show intelligence it might smear their lovely career.
first, the phrase 'lovely career' is feeble, half-witted sarcasm at its very worst. also, if they're deliberately not showing intelligence for careerist reasons, then they're clearly not 'thicker than pigshit'!
a truly ghastly song, and I'm dismayed that he's brought it back.

anyway, this is all v critical stuff. Moz can still deliver, lyrically. I really love the lyrics to 'Shame is the Name', Carol and Birthday, so I'll end this post on a positive!
 
I personally think that while none of them are perfect, the last few albums have been quite high quality, especially YATQ which I think fully measures up to the comparisons that have been made between it and Vauxhall. ROTT was a bit more 'meh' than YATQ and now YOR, but still has some good songs. :thumb:

I could say more, but I think you get the general idea. :D And anyway, I can't be bothered. :p
 
I've mentioned this before but I think Years Of Refusal is a cracking collection of songs but a rubbish album. I won't explain because you'll either know what I mean or not.

I don't understand the negativity around ROTT. Although Refusal is probably better in every department, ROTT has some good stuff on it.

But there's been alot of talk about some of the lyrics not being up to standard but not many have mentioned You Have Killed Me. Never has a lyric meant less about anything than it's verses.
 
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