2006; Morrissey’s worst ever batch of songs?

[mozsupportsrovers]

i dont understand it, i absolutley love ROTT. why so many people not like it

 

[Young And Alive]

i dont understand it, i absolutley love ROTT. why so many people not like it

I can't quite out my finger on it. To me, it just seems to lack the pop-ness of YATQ which I loved. The lyrics are more complex than any he had written before, and personally my favourite Moz songs are the painfully blunt ones.

It's not his worst effort by any means, but I did expect more.

 

[Vauxhall95]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (what am I saying you will anyway), I believe "Now My Heart Is Full" was released as a UK only single.

Your point is a good one. For me, it is not placing "Nobody Loves Us" on Southpaw Grammar. That is not a B-Side, it is the best song to come of those sessions...

Lost and Trouble Loves Me are among the best songs Morrissey has ever written.

Why does he persist on not releasing his best material? Can you imagine how much bigger he would be had he released the likes of the aforementioned, and songs such as National Front Disco, Speedway, I Like You, Now My Heart Is Full etc.?

 

[Houdini]

Interesting stuff. Would be good to see how the actual year's worth of songs compare though. The brilliant b-sides in 2004 and 97 would surely lift the average scores for the albums from those years as would the non 'Kill Uncle' Nevin songs from 91.
Conversely, the lack of decent B-sides from 2006 would probably reveal it to be one of the worst years for Morrissey releases...

Sorry to disappoint you again
1991 and 1997 remain well behind 2006, though 1995 wasn't a bad year at all:

1991

Our Frank - 7,55
Asian Rut - 6,39
Sing Your Life - 7,97
Mute Witness -7,69
King Leer - 7,35
Found Found Found - 5,87
Driving Your Girlfriend Home - 7,75
The Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye
(I'm) The End Of The Family Line - 7,68
There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

Journalists Who Lie - 4,76
Tony the Pony
That's Entertainment
The Loop
Pregnant For The Last Time - 7,39
Skin Storm - 7,26
My Love Life - 8,32
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty - 9,03

Average score so far: 7,31


1995

The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils
Reader Meet Author - 8,12
The Boy Racer
The Operation
Dagenham Dave - 6,78
Do You Best And Don't Worry - 7,26
Best Friend On The Payroll - 6,60
Southpaw - 8,47

Boxers - 8,21
Have-A-Go Merchant - 7,32
Whatever Happens, I Love You
Nobody Loves Us - 9,10
You Must Please Remember
Sunny
Black-Eyed Susan - 6,45
A Swallow On My Neck - 7,68

Average score so far: 7,59

1997

Maladjusted - 8,26
Alma Matters - 7,88
Ambitious Outsiders - 6,34
Trouble Loves Me
Papa Jack - 5,10
Ammunition - 6,74
Wide To Receive
Roy's Keen - 6,75
He Cried - 6,24
Sorrow Will Come In The End - 5,41
Satan Rejected My Soul - 7,91

Heir Apparent - 6,94
I Can Have Both - 7,89
Lost - 8,35
The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
Now I Am A Was - 6,94
This Is Not Your Country

Average score so far: 6,98


2006

I Will See You In Far Off Places - 7,58
Dear God Please Help Me - 7,66
You Have Killed Me
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
In The Future When All's Well - 7,64
The Father Who Must Be Killed
Life Is A Pigsty - 8,90
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7,70
On The Streets I Ran - 7,00
To Me You Are A Work Of Art
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy - 7,15
At Last I Am Born - 6,71

Human Being - 7,07
I Knew I Was Next - 7,39
Good Looking Man About Town - 7,28
Ganglord - 8,11
A Song From Under The Floorboards - 7,36
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me - 7,62
Christian Dior - 6,84
Sweetie-Pie

Average score so far: 7,47

 

[Not Right in the Head]

I can't quite out my finger on it. To me, it just seems to lack the pop-ness of YATQ which I loved. The lyrics are more complex than any he had written before, and personally my favourite Moz songs are the painfully blunt ones.

With the exception of "Life Is a Pigsty," and the possible exception of "Dear God, Please Help Me," none of the songs on RotT really say anything to anyone about their lives; not mine, anyway. The lyrics are "distant" in a way that previous ones generally weren't.

As much as I love Morrissey, I'd be dishonest if I didn't say that his lyrics capture the essence of my adolescence very well, but his lyrics haven't matured the way, say, Elvis Costello's, John Lennon's, Joni Mitchell's, Sinead O'Connor's, or Marshall Crenshaw's (who?), etc. have. Hearing a 47-year old (at the time) sing about the same kinds of frustrations that the rest of us have (hopefully) already gotten past by our late 20s is a bit, well, immature. It's his legacy that keeps me a fan and keeps me on these forums.

I wish that these polls could be broken down by members' ages. I wonder whether RotT is thought of more highly, on the whole, by younger listeners who hear the lyrics the way I heard R.E.M.'s as a teenager--witty, poetic, enigmatic, and sophisticated, but ultimately they just didn't grow with me.

 

[Vauxhall95]

No, I don't think 2006 is the worst batch of songs. I mean if you had to pick between ROTT and Southpaw Grammar you'd pick Southpaw? Really? Or Kill Uncle for that matter? Granted those other albums have their moments, but ROTT is more consistent.

I'd argue that 2007 has seen the worst songs. The new batch he insists on performing are mediocre at best. "All You Need Is Me" heard live is a powerful, rocking song but the others are all B-Sides no?

"I was driving my car,
I crashed and broke my spine,
So yes, there are things worse in life than
never being some-one's sweetie."

WTF?! Yes, I am concerned about 2007. 2006 seems like the golden oldies...

 

[SNS22]

We'll see about The Youngest and Killed Me in the next couple of weeks.
It is true that most 2006 songs have scored between 7 and 8, which means that they are good songs, if not great ones. Only Ganglord and Pigsty have scored over 8, which is great, with Pigsty almost at 9, which is classic.

Your post has made me interested in what the scores per album would be like.
Here is how they look as of today:


VIVA HATE:

Alsatian Cousin - 8,38
Little Man, What Now? - 7,73
Everyday Is Like Sunday - 9,49
Bengali In Platforms - 7,23
Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together - 8,22
Late Night, Maudlin Street - 9,17
Suedehead -9,61
Break Up The Family - 7,64
The Ordinary Boys
I Don't Mind If You Forget Me - 8,05
Dial-A-Cliche - 6,98
Margaret On The Guillotine - 6,64

Average score so far: 8,10

KILL UNCLE:

Our Frank - 7,55
Asian Rut - 6,39
Sing Your Life - 7,97
Mute Witness -7,69
King Leer - 7,35
Found Found Found - 5,87
Driving Your Girlfriend Home - 7,75
The Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye
(I'm) The End Of The Family Line - 7,68
There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

Average score so far: 7,31

YOUR ARSENAL:

You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
Glamorous Glue - 8,05
We'll Let You Know
The National Front Disco
Certain People I Know - 7,74
We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
You're The One For Me, Fatty
Seasick, Yet Still Docked - 9,11
I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday - 8,61
Tomorrow

Average score so far: 8,38


VAUXHALL AND I:

Now My Heart Is Full - 9,63
Spring-Heeled Jim - 8,57
Billy Budd - 7,70
Hold On To Your Friends - 8,37
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself
I Am Hated For Loving - 8,33
Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning - 8,34
Used To Be A Sweetboy
The Lazy Sunbathers
Speedway - 9,63

Average score so far: 8,65

SOUTHPAW GRAMMAR:

The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils
Reader Meet Author - 8,12
The Boy Racer
The Operation
Dagenham Dave - 6,78
Do You Best And Don't Worry - 7,26
Best Friend On The Payroll - 6,60
Southpaw - 8,47

Average score so far: 7,45

MALADJUSTED:

Maladjusted - 8,26
Alma Matters - 7,88
Ambitious Outsiders - 6,34
Trouble Loves Me
Papa Jack - 5,10
Ammunition - 6,74
Wide To Receive
Roy's Keen - 6,75
He Cried - 6,24
Sorrow Will Come In The End - 5,41
Satan Rejected My Soul - 7,91

Average score so far: 6,94


YOU ARE THE QUARRY:

America Is Not The World - 6,46
Irish Blood, English Heart - 9,02
I Have Forgiven Jesus - 8,49
Come Back To Camden - 8,39
I'm Not Sorry - 7,79
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? - 7,30
First Of The Gang To Die - 8,96
Let Me Kiss You - 8,48
All The Lazy Dykes - 6,06
I Like You - 7,88
You Know I Couldn't Last

Average score so far: 7,88

RINGLEADERS OF THE TORMENTORS:

I Will See You In Far Off Places - 7,58
Dear God Please Help Me - 7,66
You Have Killed Me
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
In The Future When All's Well - 7,64
The Father Who Must Be Killed
Life Is A Pigsty - 8,90
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7,70
On The Streets I Ran - 7,00
To Me You Are A Work Of Art
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy - 7,15
At Last I Am Born - 6,71

Average score so far: 7,62

It is interesting that the traditional views of the albums (Vauxhall and Arsenal best, KU, Maladjusted and SP worst) has already been confirmed by the song-per-song rating.

And of course I realize that an album is more than a sum of its parts etc etc.

What kind of poll ranks Billy Budd below Lifeguard zzzzz and Satan Rejected My Soul???

 

[Not Right in the Head]

No, I don't think 2006 is the worst batch of songs. I mean if you had to pick between ROTT and Southpaw Grammar you'd pick Southpaw? Really? Or Kill Uncle for that matter? Granted those other albums have their moments, but ROTT is more consistent.

I'd most definitely put Southpaw above RotT, but RotT miles ahead of Kill Uncle, but not necessarily due to its lyrics.

 

[Musings]

I think people on here tend never to like the newest material. Why else would they go mad for mediocre songs like Lucky Lisp and The Loop when he introduces them into the set. It's nostalgia.

Danny! Blasphemy! "The Loop" is awesome!

(I do love it, it's one of my favorites, and it's definitely not nostalgic for me.)

 

[Young And Alive]

No, I don't think 2006 is the worst batch of songs. I mean if you had to pick between ROTT and Southpaw Grammar you'd pick Southpaw? Really? Or Kill Uncle for that matter? Granted those other albums have their moments, but ROTT is more consistent.

I'd argue that 2007 has seen the worst songs. The new batch he insists on performing are mediocre at best. "All You Need Is Me" heard live is a powerful, rocking song but the others are all B-Sides no?

"I was driving my car,
I crashed and broke my spine,
So yes, there are things worse in life than
never being some-one's sweetie."

WTF?! Yes, I am concerned about 2007. 2006 seems like the golden oldies...

"My Love Life" was a 1991 song though, and that is one of my favourites

 

[Musings]

I'd argue that 2007 has seen the worst songs. The new batch he insists on performing are mediocre at best. "All You Need Is Me" heard live is a powerful, rocking song but the others are all B-Sides no?

"I was driving my car,
I crashed and broke my spine,
So yes, there are things worse in life than
never being some-one's sweetie."

WTF?! Yes, I am concerned about 2007. 2006 seems like the golden oldies...

I must respectfully disagree here. I think "Throwing My Arms Around Paris" is one of his most beautiful songs, ever. "All You Need Is Me" is PHENOMENAL, and one of the first songs, really, that was written to 'us'. "That's How People Grow Up" and "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" are absolutely wonderful as well, I think.

(Of course, I'm also a rabid Maladjusted fan. )

 

[Maurice E]

Sorry to disappoint you again
1991 and 1997 remain well behind 2006, though 1995 wasn't a bad year at all:

1991

Our Frank - 7,55
Asian Rut - 6,39
Sing Your Life - 7,97
Mute Witness -7,69
King Leer - 7,35
Found Found Found - 5,87
Driving Your Girlfriend Home - 7,75
The Harsh Truth Of The Camera Eye
(I'm) The End Of The Family Line - 7,68
There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends

Journalists Who Lie - 4,76
Tony the Pony
That's Entertainment
The Loop
Pregnant For The Last Time - 7,39
Skin Storm - 7,26
My Love Life - 8,32
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty - 9,03

Average score so far: 7,31


1995

The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils
Reader Meet Author - 8,12
The Boy Racer
The Operation
Dagenham Dave - 6,78
Do You Best And Don't Worry - 7,26
Best Friend On The Payroll - 6,60
Southpaw - 8,47

Boxers - 8,21
Have-A-Go Merchant - 7,32
Whatever Happens, I Love You
Nobody Loves Us - 9,10
You Must Please Remember
Sunny
Black-Eyed Susan - 6,45
A Swallow On My Neck - 7,68

Average score so far: 7,59

1997

Maladjusted - 8,26
Alma Matters - 7,88
Ambitious Outsiders - 6,34
Trouble Loves Me
Papa Jack - 5,10
Ammunition - 6,74
Wide To Receive
Roy's Keen - 6,75
He Cried - 6,24
Sorrow Will Come In The End - 5,41
Satan Rejected My Soul - 7,91

Heir Apparent - 6,94
I Can Have Both - 7,89
Lost - 8,35
The Edges Are No Longer Parallel
Now I Am A Was - 6,94
This Is Not Your Country

Average score so far: 6,98


2006

I Will See You In Far Off Places - 7,58
Dear God Please Help Me - 7,66
You Have Killed Me
The Youngest Was The Most Loved
In The Future When All's Well - 7,64
The Father Who Must Be Killed
Life Is A Pigsty - 8,90
I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now - 7,70
On The Streets I Ran - 7,00
To Me You Are A Work Of Art
I Just Want To See The Boy Happy - 7,15
At Last I Am Born - 6,71

Human Being - 7,07
I Knew I Was Next - 7,39
Good Looking Man About Town - 7,28
Ganglord - 8,11
A Song From Under The Floorboards - 7,36
If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me - 7,62
Christian Dior - 6,84
Sweetie-Pie

Average score so far: 7,47

Proved wrong yet again. Darn!
But I'll still stick with my theory that 2006 produced the fewest number of brilliant songs (i.e. scores over 9) of any solo/Smith year. We're not gonna get a single one.

With over 200 songs in the back catalogue, maybe Moz should really focus on putting out less material but striving for higher quality.
Guess these things tend to be easier said than done!
1995 does do surprisingly well but that's largely (or at least partly) due to the non Southpaw singles/b-sides (Boxers and Sunny)...

Also, there are four brilliant songs left from 1997. Reckon they'll all get at least 8 and 'Trouble's gonna be over 9...

 

[fuckfrankie]

sometimes i think i listen to a different Morrissey than everyone else.

 

[Deleted member 4260]

Life Is A Pigsty should have had a "side 3" disco version, 18 minutes long. I'm still waiting for someone to wake up and let the Pet Shop Boys have a go at a remix.

OMG..i just wet my pants.
PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN..Someone better email the Pet Shop Boys..

 

[Not Right in the Head]

sometimes i think i listen to a different Morrissey than everyone else.

Like this guy?