Published In Subba Cultcha Feb 2008
Morrissey
Greatest Hits
(Polydor Records)
Last of the famous unconventional playboys
Fascination and intrigue have surrounded Morrissey so intensely that he has now spent almost half his life being showered with fervent admiration and global monomania. His transcendent lyrics that languished in gritty realism struck the hearts of the more conventional inhabitants who found no connection with the more pretentious offerings from bands circling the periphery of what they assumed to be cool. It was glaringly conclusive that Morrissey was much more than some perceptive transient displaying random instances of Ardency in the UK but would suddenly vanish like steam, cast off by the vagaries and fashions of popular music.
Considered by many to be the greatest living Mancunian the significance of The Smiths, and him, remains unparagoned. He’s been a solo artist 15 years longer than his time as a front man, which makes this year his twentieth of cutting it alone. Such an occasion has inspired a delve into his meaty back catalogue. But with typical Morrissey heretics it’s a bit of a mixed bag and notable omissions are conspicuous.
What you notice immediately isn’t the 15 tracks it contains but ones that it doesn’t. No room at the inn for the dynamic November Spawned A Monster’ and neither is stunningly gorgeous ‘Now My Heart Is Full’ anywhere to be seen. To relinquish the chance of illuminating a Greatest Hits package with what was undoubtedly his two strongest singles to date is incredulous. More puzzling is the cover of Patti Smiths ‘Redondo Beach’ surviving the final cut. Moving on you need only go back as far as ‘Ringleader Of The Tormentors’ his exceptional album from 2006 to find four of the tracks included here. Another short step backwards into ‘You Are The Quarry’, the record that signalled his return from 7 year exile in 2004, and you’ll find another four tracks. So far, of the 15 tracks , more than half are pulled from the last two albums.
The 16 year gap between debut ‘Viva Hate’ and ‘Quarry’ is represented by his first three singles. The jangly canter of ‘Suedehead’ with the dramatic coastal bleakness of ‘Every Day Is Like Sunday’ and ‘Last Of The Famous International Playboys’. The dominating ‘The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get’ from the 1994 album ‘Vauxhall And I’ is in residence and quite possibly the most powerful on the album. New single ‘That’s How People Grow Up’ has the furnishings of his sharpness and holds respectable charm Another new song ‘All You Need Is Me’ with energetic drums , essential Morrissey utterances designated in what may promise to be a future of some quality compositions.
As a compilation, and keeping in mind the quite extensive body of work he has produced , I think he just may have got it wrong a couple of times. I’m not saying he could have done better , I’m saying he could have included better. The two I mentioned earlier certainly, and an excessive sprinkling of the last two albums could have been slightly more moderate which would have freed up the territory for something that hails from way back like maybe ‘We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful’?
I’m being a bit pedantic. It’s a very valuable reference that , in the main, will not affect his frenzied fan base and definitely encourage passing inquisitiveness to come in and linger awhile.
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