There are a million ways to answer this question. Consensus is hard to find among hard-core fans but the buying public and cross-over fans liked Quarry best out of the last 4 if sales mean anything and I think they do mean something. I could go track-by-track and explain why Quarry is better. It wouldn't be very difficult to do. But why be a kill joy? When Houdini is done with his polls, Quarry will have more "8's, 9's and 10's" than "World Peace..." but that doesn't really answer your question. I feel Morrissey was struggling to find a voice post-Vauxhall and Southpaw and Maladjusted did not...work so well. Quarry, dial-a-cliché, was a return to form, where he found a voice, a different sound that doesn't appeal to everyone. I think Morrissey found that voice post-Smiths with Viva Hate, Your Arsenal, Vauxhall, and Quarry - myself personally believing that the Bona Drag singles, if you will, were quite possibly his finest hour. The way I think of his solo output is great albums, good albums, mediocre albums and duds. I put "World Peace" in the 5 spot, out of 10 studio albums, which would suggest "mediocre" but I actually think it's a good album but that Viva, Arsenal, Vauxhall, and Quarry are better. And so it goes. I actually draw lines like this.
Viva
Quarry
Arsenal
Vauxhall
(great)
----------
World Peace
ROTT
(good)
---------
Maladjusted
Kill Uncle
(mediocre)
-----------
Southpaw
Refusal
(duds)
-----------
Why is "World Peace..." a good album? It's good in part because it's better than ROTT and Refusal, so it's got that going for it. The best songs are really strong: Istanbul, Not A Man, Staircase, Kiss Me A Lot, and I would also add Neal Cassady to that list. Then, there lots of people who also dig the less, shall we say accessible tracks, which even many of them would admit required repeat listens. I don't need to list them. Earth Is - seems rather universally panned...but other than that...not a dud in the bunch...even if those other songs are 6 of 10, you don't skip a 6, you listen. By contrast, Refusal had lots of tracks one simply skipped.
So where exactly does World Peace fall flat? Not musically, and not in production, and not in vocals. Only in lyrics, occasionally. And in something we don't really talk much about...wide swaths...where he simply doesn't sing...music takes a greater spotlight than we are used to...something we have not seen since Southpaw. That the album even came out was...well many thought Moz would never record again, having no record deal, so that it saw light of day also takes it up a notch. Then, we wondered, does he have anything left to say? He did, thereby exceeding expectations. Before it came out, I felt we were looking at something approaching a "World Music" album and I think I was right. Not to put down those in are late 30s and early 40s (like me), but I think the vast majority of young people, and Morrissey still draws a lot of water with them, like/love this album...and I think for many of them this is the first album they saw spawn before their eyes...and that's always special...just like I saw "Viva Hate" spawn before my eyes, because I got into Moz after The Smiths broke up.
I would add that I find the bonus tracks to be very very good, so solid, crooner in style, and seemingly effortless. The guy may not be, and I would say isn't, what he used to be, but he still has it, still has an edge about him, still invents and re-invents, never making the same album twice, and he has something to say. Where he goes from here, who knows...but if this is it...he did not end on a low note and I think history will be very kind to this album. I think the way to get into it, is to listen to the tracks you say you like, the bonus tracks that may appeal, and then give each song a chance. Mountjoy and Smiler do nothing for me...I doubt they ever will...so I replace them with Art-Hounds and Scandinavia and am if not downright happy, I am content, I am satisfied, hopeful for another album, a better album, because I truly believe he's got one great album left in him to finish the cannon of his Solo work.
I think much of that will depend on the lyrics and because he's already now done it, I don't want, and I imagine many don't want (even if they don't know it), another album that relies heavily on a Spanish-y sound. I actually believe he could do a "Vauxhall Revisited" if he was in the mood but I simply don't think he wants to. I'll close by saying this particular sound isn't for everyone and if you're looking for an English-ness, it isn't there, and I think that only adds to disappointment; Maladjusted was far more English though I don't think nearly as good. I also have noticed that many of those who love this album either came back after some time away from Morrissey, or this was their first album, or this was when they became hard-core fans, and I think that colors the lenses by which the album is viewed. For example, I walked around Manchester, England listening to Quarry on CD player with headphones on. When I listen to that album that I love for itself, it also takes me back to the 4 days I spent to Manchester, and unbeknownst to me, it may elevate that album to a place it wouldn't have were I not privy to that experience (it would be in my top 4, but maybe not in at number 2).
- Ghoul