posted by davidt on Saturday May 31 2003, @11:00AM
JacquesTheLad writes:

Came across this in the Daily Record in Scotland today...They give "Under The Influence" a measly one star out of five. In the same page, they give the debut album from Girls Aloud (from Popstars: The Rivals) four stars...Anyway, here's the transcript:

Various Artists - "Under The Influence"

MORRISSEY is one of those musicians you either love or hate.

For the record, this reviewer has never really bought into the hype which surrounds the miserable, flowers-in-his-pockets musician.

Unsurprisingly then, this compilation, which has been dedicated to The Smiths' frontman, was reviewed without the need to wear rose-coloured spectacles which the contributing artists clearly wore with pride.

Aside from the fact that Morrissey's music was dreary, depressing and downright rotten, many of the artists featured, such as The Ramones, The Cats, Diana Dors and Patti Smith, must have been at a loose end one day to agree to take part in this woeful excuse for an album.

If Morrissey fans want to pay homage to their idol, then tune into his collection of dull music (God only knows there's plenty to choose from), but don't do yourself and your idol the disservice of buying this banal compilation album.
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  • Is it me... (Score:2, Interesting)

    ...or does it sound as if the reviewer is completely missing the point of this album? Sounds like he thinks it's a tribute to Moz rather than a compilation of tracks selected by him.

    Says a lot for this guy's reviewing capabilities if he believes the likes of Klaus Nomi and Joey Ramone would still in a fit state to contribute to a tribute record...!
    Raskolnikov -- Saturday May 31 2003, @11:45AM (#63342)
    (User #753 Info)
  • not only did he miss the point of the album, he misses the point of Morrissey. the whole "miserable" thing i never understood. Guns and Roses wrote way more sad songs...no one calls them "Mopey"

    eh, anyways, about this album: i don't quite get the point. does Morrissey get a cut of the royalties? do these things actually sell? i could really care less who/what Moz listens to...Ramones? yuck!
    mr. superinvisible -- Saturday May 31 2003, @02:47PM (#63353)
    (User #6367 Info)
  • Justice (Score:3, Funny)

    I always enjoy confirming that the average Moz-hating journalist has a deeper problem of poor linguistic articulation lurking below his debatable musical taste.

    "God only knows there's plenty to choose from"? He surely means "God knows there's plenty to choose from", for he also claims to know it. It's not important, just a symptom of untidy reasoning. Which I enjoy, call me childish.
    Schiphol -- Saturday May 31 2003, @08:10PM (#63374)
    (User #8233 Info)
    • Re:Justice by David T (different) (Score:1) Sunday June 01 2003, @02:13AM
    • Re:Justice by Lazy Sunbather (Score:1) Sunday June 01 2003, @07:36AM
      • Re:Justice by Schiphol (Score:1) Sunday June 01 2003, @02:28PM
  • Happy Birthday to me, Morrissey has decided to share something he enjoy's with us his fans. All my friends make me tapes, or cd's of there favorite tunes. Some songs I like, some I don't but I understand why they do, and sometimes it opens a whole new enjoyment to me. This work is like one of those gift tapes from a friend but it is from Morrissey, who I have endlessly felt a freindship with. I don't think guys like that are even meant to understand what this means to people like us.
    MasterOfWho -- Sunday June 01 2003, @12:02AM (#63380)
    (User #7664 Info)
    Is there room in your heart for a Tennant who carries a Rose? http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/
  • And how he got a job in journalism?
    English Martyr -- Sunday June 01 2003, @01:24AM (#63387)
    (User #655 Info | http://website.lineone.net/~smilingontim/timstwin.htm)
  • This is like the time "Satan Rejected My Soul" came out as a single and one of the B Sides was "This is not your country"and the gobshite reviewer,who obviously hadn't even heard the song,denounced it as another racist diatribe,which it pointedly is not.
    Wankers!!!
    O'Muirgheasa -- Sunday June 01 2003, @02:54AM (#63391)
    (User #7536 Info)
    Perhaps my best years are gone.When there was a chance of happiness.But I wouldn't want them back.
  • I've never understood why a critic would review a genre she or he fundamentally opposes. (And surely The Smiths / Morrissey may be considered a distinct genre).

    Moreover, this critic admits in the first lines a bias. Why should we keep reading? Why on earth did he continue writing?
  • ...is a newspaper that aims to one day emulate the literary style of the Sun, but thus far fails to live up to their high standards.
    Anonymous -- Sunday June 01 2003, @08:47AM (#63418)
  • The woman who reviews music in the Daily Record is a complete moron with no taste whatsoever, giving five stars to the likes of Busted. It's very populist and has about as much authority as the reviews section in Heat magazine.
    Anonymous -- Sunday June 01 2003, @09:52AM (#63425)
  • Not all tabloids have bad music coverage - The Mirror has the great Gavin Martin, ex-of NME to review music. The broadsheets music coverage can be poor too.
    Anonymous -- Sunday June 01 2003, @09:57AM (#63427)
  • Morrissey getting a bad review in the Daily Record isn't such a bad thing really, as the Record's musical stance is so utterly amateurish and contemptable. The day after they reviewed Under The Influence they announced that Morrissey had signed a new deal, and would be releasing an album soon. The article was accompanied by a photo of Morrissey from The Smiths days, probably the most up to date photo of him they have.

    The Daily Record's music journalism has always been lamentable, probably because they still have Billy Sloan as the music editor. Sloan has been in charge of the music coverage for almost 30 years now, and he is still spectacularly clueless. He is forever praising tripe like Rod Stewart, The Average White Band, Nazereth etc, purely because they're Scottish. Occasionally he tries to bolster his credibilty by reviewing hip Indie bands, often with laughable results, like today when he gave Radiohead a 5-star live review, but got several of the song titles wrong.
    Lycanthropus -- Sunday June 01 2003, @10:46AM (#63438)
    (User #7468 Info)
    Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?...shovelled up like muck and setting the night on fire.
  • Could someone please post the name of the author of this 'piece of journalism' as well as the e-mail, phone number or mailing address?
    Thank you
    MOZ IS GOD -- Sunday June 01 2003, @01:19PM (#63463)
    (User #3249 Info | http://www.myspace.com/coldwarspies)
  • Oh well, this guy probably hates Morrissey because he talks openly about depression and lack of selfconfidence.. Things that the reviewer knows everything about but like many other people who dislike Morrissey doesn't wanna talk about because its taboo....... It's always the same kind of who doesn't like Morrissey....Who cares anyway?
    mozzergirl -- Monday June 02 2003, @02:34AM (#63501)
    (User #2801 Info)
    Will you put your arms around me, I won't tell anybody
  • I'm shocked! Not at the review obviously, but the fact that the Record staff managed to stop licking Lorenzo Amorouso's arse long enough to actually have time to write something else!
    Anonymous -- Monday June 02 2003, @05:10AM (#63506)
  • Someone shoot this tosser!
    SeaDocked -- Monday June 02 2003, @09:34AM (#63528)
    (User #7779 Info)
    Boxing Depression with a Southpaw fist...
  • Now that the FCC in the U.S. has loosened regulations for managing the % market a media corporation can own, this will only become more common place. I'm sure this reviewer could tell you everything there is to know about pop music and whatever music he enjoys listening to at home, but anything else...forget it! Corporate media cares about profits and consolidation.
    Anonymous -- Monday June 02 2003, @12:03PM (#63555)


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