"Morrissey's best solo work to date"
You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side
Glamorous
GlueWe'll
Let You KnowThe
National Front DiscoCertain
People I KnowWe
Hate It When Our Friends Become SuccessfulYou're
The One For Me, FattySeasick,
Yet Still DockedI
Know It's Gonna Happen SomedayTomorrowReleased In July 1992
Yea-Sayers:
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TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD SIMON GODDARD DEFENDS MORRISSEY'S HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL 1992 'GLAM RENAISSANCE', YOUR ARSENAL He's been called a poet, a genius, the voice of his generation and the greatest living Englishman- He's also been condemned as "devious and truculent" in the eyes of a high court judge, targeted by The Sun, accused of condoning paedophiles and still finds himself haunted by hysterical charges of racism To be Morrissey is to be no stranger to controversy. First the Thatcherite tabloids (goaded by former Sounds writer Gary Bushell) had hounded The Smiths for allegedly promoting child-abuse on ', Reel Around The Fountain" Then came a similar outcry, provoked by "Suffer Little Children". an account of the Moors murders that was equally misconstrued by the popular press. Meanwhile, naming an album The Queen Is Dead ranked him as pop's public enemy number one. After "Shoplifters Of The World Unite", questions were raised in the House of Commons. " Margaret On The Guillotine" was subversive enough to warrant a police investigation (as mischievously recollected on 1990's "He Knows I'd Love To See Him") When Morrissey later sang "Trouble Loves Me", it was no jest. Throughout such misdemeanours Morrissey had been largely supported by the British music press, eager to ally themselves with their favourite cover star against the Conservative moral majority. That all changed, irrevocably, on August 8, 1992, when against a stage back-drop depicting two skinhead girls, Morrissey wrapped himself in the Union Jack at that year's Finsbury Park Madstock weekender. The press reaction was to berate his use of "fascist imagery , interpreting the national flag in the context of the skinhead backdrop as a dangerous flirtation with far-right extremist parties (even though it had been a hardcore skinhead minority, hurling bottles and abuse, that had forced him to abandon his set). The NME's subsequent "This Alarming Man" feature pronounced him guilty as charged. Young Asian bands- Cornershop included - burned his records outside the offices of Morrissey's label, EMI. Only last winter, touring the UK after a two-year hiatus with no record to promote, an NME columnist likened him to a Nazi war criminal, suggesting he be "bricked" off stage. The verdict still stands. After Finsbury Park, when Britpop reclaimed the Union Jack and effectively legitimized fervent nationalism. Morrissey never received his due pardon. With the whole country rediscovering their appetite for jingolism during the Euro '96 soccer tournament, to be Noel with the flag on your guitar or to be Ginger Spice (a self-confessed Thatcherite) in that dress, was to be a patron saint of "Cool Britannia" It was a tragic Irony. For Morrissey, the real tragedy of Finsbury Park was that it sabotaged what had until then been his boldest manoeuvre since The Smiths Four years after the initial solo Number One honeymoon of 1988's Viva Hate, In the wake of ever decreasing singles chart positions and 1991's bitterly disappointing Kill Uncle, Morrissey once the most important man in pop - was fast becoming obsolete. He needed a dramatic comeback and, although it would ultimately lead him to his fate at Finsbury Park, Your Arsenal was it. The omens for Morrissey's third solo album improved with his first full-scale tour since The Smiths to promote Kill Uncle, paradoxically, his weakest recording ever was the catalyst for stage one In Morrissey's rebirth His new band of unknown Camden Town rockabillies restored his confidence as a performer while guitarists Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer would soon emerge as the longest serving co-writers of his entire career Just as crucial was producer Mick Ronson, once Ziggy Stardust's iconic right-hand guitar hero (who would tragically lose his battle against cancer the following year). Ronson enticed Morrissey to fulfil his most perverse glam fantasies, symbolically shedding the fey indie-skin of bedsit miserablism and with it the ballast of The Smiths. It was as if Morrissey wiped the slate clean, baptising himself anew as a bona fide rock star Hell, a glam rock star. There was the Bolan-esque "Certain People I Know", a virtual rewrite of " Ride A White Swan" that would even be issued in a promo pastiche of the classic T-Rex Wax Co design sleeve. On the glitter-stomping "Glamorous Glue" and "You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side", it finally registered that Morrissey really had been besotted with The New York Dolls "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" even plagiarised Ronson's past; the "Won-der-ful" climax of Bowie's "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide". Stranger still, Bowie himself would cover this same track on 1993's post-Tin Machine comeback Black Tie, White Noise - a bizarre case of Bowie doing Moz doing Bowie His genius for self-deprecating melodrama returned with a vengeance on the serene "Seasick, Yet Still Docked", pulverising the soul with its exorcism of emotionally alienated despair ("All my life, nobody's ever given me anything") Similarly, the punch-line frivolity of the singles "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" and "You're The One For Me, Fatty" were the work of an old master rediscovering his irrepressible sense of pop vaudeville with fresh zeal. Yet at the heart of Your Arsenal boils a more savage documentary, one of turnstile thugs and social misfits finding strength in the politics of hate; an unspoken, ideologically fucked-up England at odds with its past, terrified of its future "We'll Let You Know", an objective psychoanalysis of football hooliganism, remains depressingly relevant given the recent shame of Euro 2000 ("The songs we sang, they're not supposed to mean anything"). More problematic still is "The National Front Disco" - in which Morrissey dares to humanise a member of the far-right. While dangerously empathetic (with no accompanying lyric sheet we weren't to know, as he later insisted that "England for the English" is recited in quotation) the "dream" of white rule the song's protagonist clings to is a hopeless one; for "you want the day to come sooner", read "You just haven't earned it yet, baby." Morrissey knows a loser when he sees one, NF conscripts included. Your Arsenal stirred up some uncomfortable home truths about our national character, insights only a social commentator as arch as Morrissey would even think about putting into song. But hadn't he always? Morrissey is in his prime when overstepping the mark, missing on taboos, unafraid of the consequences. As an audacious two-finger salute to his native country, Your Arsenal is up there with the best of The Smiths. Indeed, its release coincide with just that: The Smiths' posthumous Best Of... compilation reaching Number One that summer. With his most accomplished solo work not far behind and the reissued "This Charming Man" back in the Top 10, suddenly Morrissey was the people's friend again. Until Finsbury Park, that is. His failure to react to the racism charges by way of an official public apology was taken by many as a confirmation of guilt. Rallying to his defense however, Tony Parsons later commented, "Morrissey could invade Poland and I still wouldn't believe he is a nazi." Absolutely. Would a racist ever make a point of including Bob & Marci's "Young, Gifted and Black" or Afro-American poet Maya Angelou reciting her own fiercely poignant "No, No, No, No" on pre-gig tapes played to packed arenas world-wide? Come on, would a fascist ever lament her majesty's death and Mrs T's head on a chopping block? Morrissey himself would reflect, "I think that if the National Front were to hate anyone it would be me." Like the man said, if we don't
believe him now, will we ever believe him. |
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LOVING
Morrissey Saves Himself There comes a point in many major artists' careers where they have to make an album of some significance or the game is well and truly up. Morrissey is at exactly that point. The solo career had reached a stage where the song titles were more interesting than the songs themselves, and many a revisionist knife was sufficiently sharpened to suggest that The Smiths have had little lasting influence - unless James and Raymonde really count - and that, bar a few cracking singles, they weren't actually that great. Your Arsenal is his musical salvation. It's his wise choice of sidemen that really scores. Mick Ronson is Morrissey's ideal producer. Aside from his serious health problems placing the singer's hypochondria in its proper context, his glam background matches Morrissey's latent '70s fixation, giving a beefy sound - huge drums, sparingly used power chords - that has previously been missing. Guitarist Boz Boorer, an ex-Polecat, might appear a strange choice, but he's well up to the task - if anyone puts a foot wrong, it won't be him. Importantly, most of the tunes just beg to be whistled. Ex-Fairground Attraction Mark Nevin co-writes a brace of songs but on the rest it's rockabilly guitarist Alain Whyte (ex-Rug Cutter and Memphis Sinner who's been with Morrissey since 1990) who gives Morrissey some of the purest melodies he's ever sung. As for Morrissey himself, he's stopped droning once and for all and even if he can't quite manage sexy, at least he doesn't sound like he's whinging about having to go to the laundrette. The introduction to the opening You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side (co-written with Nevin) promises a new improved Morrissey. At once it resembles the grumgling murmur of Richard Thompson's Read it In Books, the rush of The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead and some old swamp-rockabilly tune even the Polecats never heard. Later in the same song, Morrissey tells a joke: "And here I am," he declaims, as if there were any debate as to whom the "someone" you need is. "Well, you don't need to look so pleased," he moans, right out of Frankie Howerd. There are many deft, loving touches like that. We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful ("And if they're Northern, that makes it even worse") features strained laughter, "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha", after all sorts of "ooh, look at those clothes" type bitchiness. You're The One For Me, Fatty is as funny as it should be, and The National Front Disco shows a bold willingness to re-open old debates - recalling the misguided campaign to portray Morrissey as racist because he didn't much go for reggae, and the Viva Hate track Bengali In Platforms, which was an irresponsible title for a feeble song - and has a glorious chorus to boot, although clearer enunciation would have helped Morrissey's cause no end. I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday even has samples on it, which splendidly offset Morrissey at his most impassioned and dramatic. Certain People I Know is Bolan's Ride A White Swan re-visited and it's as if Morrissey has finally dared to do what he's always really wanted: to merge his childhood rocking (his New York Dolls fetish is well-known) with his own distinct lyricism. Your Arsenal is his best solo work yet and easily stands comparison with the best of The Smiths. (*****) - John Aizlewood, Q, September 1992 |
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Introducing his first
coherent band since The Smiths and produced by an inspired outside bet,
veteran glam rocker Mick Ronson, Morrissey's muscular third solo studio
effort helped rehabilitate much of his critical and commercial standing,
especially in America. Unfortunately, his growing fascination with romanticised
East End thugs and racists in songs such as "We'll Let You Know"
and "The National Front Disco" lost him much goodwill, a situation
not helped by provocative interviews and the unprecedented lack of a
lyric sheet. A qualified triumph. (***) |
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GUNNER MAKE HIM A STAR |
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Morrissey's
Kill Uncle album of last year was just over 30 minutes long
- and equally short of bold musical ideas. The doubters were left to
feed on Mozzer's decline with glee. For all its elegant restraint, the
LP failed to disguise Morrissey's position as a distant and irrelevant
figure, confirming a trend suggested by the uneven pop of Viva Hate
and Bona Drag, and the growing importance of English pop bands
like the Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
Come '92, however, a shortage of home-grown talent and renewed interest in The Smiths has caused the fickle wind of fame to blow, once again, in Morrissey's favour. First came Johnny Rogan's controversial tome The Severed Alliance; then WEA's compilation of Smiths material. More importantly, though, there is now Your Arsenal. This is Morrissey's best solo work to date: a prodigal return achieved with all the confident swagger of Stephen [sic] Patrick's favourite new pretenders, Suede. The former Smiths singer has, at last, made a positive, loud and involved record, drawing inspiration from the highlights of his own musical past - in particular acoustic material like 'Back To The Old House' - and an imaginative delve into his record collection. The opening gambit, 'You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side', features a powerful psychobilly riff, thrust into the spotlight by the firm hand of Mick Ronson, former Bowie cohort and producer of this new opus. A strong opening, consolidated in quick succession by the album's heaviest track, 'Glamorous Glue', a blatant 'Jean Genie' steal (complete with critic-provoking lyric "London is dead"), which is carried off with a panche Morrissey seemed incapable of mustering only a few months ago. More glam lift comes on the catchy 'Certain People I Know', but this song represents a melodic, guitar-pop style typified by the two singles, 'We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful' and 'You're The One For Me, Fatty', plus the equally-catchy 'The National Front Disco' - all co-written with guitarist Alain Whyte. A further dimension to the album is represented by a trio of acoustically-based songs: 'We'll let You Know', 'Seasick, Yet Still Docked' and 'I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday'. Radio samples, ticking clocks, gentle squalls of feedback and milaristic rhythms build-up the atmospheres on these tracks - in stark contrast to the sparsely-textured sound of Kill Uncle. 'We'll Let You Know' is cold and stoical, opining: "We're the last truly British people you ever know" [sic] to a jingoistic beat. Although 'Seasick, Yet Still Docked' deals with Morrissey's favourite theme of unrequited lust and love - "Wish I had the charm to attract the one I love/But you see I've got no charm" - and luxuriates in sadness, the album closes in optimistic mood: 'I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday' is a wistful look into the future, and 'Tomorrow' seals the album on a positively triumphant note. Whether Your Arsenal is Morrissey's final flourish, or the first sign of a powerful new direction, remains to be seen, but it is undoubtedly a pleasing work from a writer who, these days, irritates and inspires in equal measure.(8) - Steve Malins, Vox |
Nay-Sayers:
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"You're the One
for Me, Fatty" - intriguing, provocative, sardonic, compassionate.
"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" - incisive,
bitter, accurate, wounding. No one can title a song the way Morrissey
can. Rightly, he considers the rest of the manual labor (tunes, etc.)
beneath him, but on this occasion, he's got a chugging bunch of rockabilly
manservants creating the illusion of excitement which he is then able
to puncture as soon as he opens his mouth. Oh, the irony. |
Moz-Speak:
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"The 'Rock And Roll
Suicide' riff was an absolute accident. David Bowie mentioned to Mick
that he thought the end of the song was from 'Rock And Roll Suicide'
and it's true, now that I listen I can hear it, but at the time it was
completely accidental. It wasn't something that Mick threw on or instigated.
It was an accident." |
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"The reason why 'The National
Front Disco' was pounced upon was really because - if I may say so -
it was actually a very good song. And if the song had been utter crap,
no one would have cared. I was stopped by many many journalists who
obviously raised the topic in an accusatory way, and I would say to
them, Please, now, list the lines in the song which you feel are racist
and dangerous and hateful. And they couldn't. Nobody ever ever could,
and that irked me. Even though, simply in the voice on all of those
songs, on 'Asian Rut' or 'Bengali In Platforms' or 'The National Front
Disco', one can plainly hear that here is no hate at all." |
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"You're
the first person who's said that and it's nice that somebody has." |
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"I didn't want to use a lyric
sheet. I wanted to make as physical a record as I possibly could instead
of contantly being curled up in a little ball at the foot of the bed." |
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"I
like to feel, in some small way, that I'm not actually restricted in
anything I wish to write about. Of course, within the exciting world
of pop music, the reality is that we are restricted. Whether
you chose to write about wheel-chair bound people, November Spawned
A Monster, or the subject of racism, The National Front Disco, the context
of the song is often overlooked. People look at the title and shudder
and say, Whatever is in that song shouldn't exist because the subject,
to millions of people, is so awful." |
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"I
understand the level of patriotism, the level of frustration and the
level of jubilance. I understand the overall character. I understand
their aggression and I understand why it must be released. I'm not a
football hooligan... You might be surprised by that. But I just understand
the character. I just do. I've got a computer at home for such things." |
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"I
don't know if you know anything about Marc Bolan, but he took a lot
of inspiration from rock'n'roll. If, for example, you listen to early
Carl Perkins you'll probably hear Marc Bolan playing 'Ride A White Swan'
in the background... although I doubt it.."
- Morrissey tries to explain away charges that "Certain People I Know" plagiarises T.Rex's "Ride A White Swan", Q, September 1992 |
