"California Son" review in NME by Jordan Bassett (2/5 stars)

Morrissey – ‘California Son’ review - NME
By Jordan Bassett
Score 2 of 5 stars

The unofficial line is that Morrissey has recorded a covers album to allow the music to speak for itself. What 'California Son' is saying is that it's not very good


An interesting but deeply strange review in/on the NME:

"Morrissey has done almost everything in his power [to] undo his own legacy, but this is impossible because you can’t diminish the beauty of ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ or the anti-racist righteousness of ‘The National Front Disco’. Yet that doesn’t mean an occasionally accomplished covers album can rescue his reputation, or that that’s even desirable at this point."

(Amusing that the NME is now toting National Front Disco as "anti-racist righteousness"...)
 
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All you have to do is look below this post for the fans slagging off this review because it's not as effusive as the ones they like better.
 
the negative comments wouldnt be because

1 jordan bassett, whoever in f he may be sucks:mouseface::baseball::baseball:
2 the NME sucks:dromedarycamel::basketball::basketball::basketball:

:neutral:
 
Haven't heard the album, can't say if he's right but the Roy Orbison cover is great........hard to trust this guy's review based on that silly judgement.
 
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Maybe this article represents a UK-centric perspective, but on the idea that his audience has been alienated... the guy just did a string of capacity-crowd North American shows in some of the more liberal areas of the continent, and those tickets weren't cheap!
 
Maybe this article represents a UK-centric perspective, but on the idea that his audience has been alienated... the guy just did a string of capacity-crowd North American shows in some of the more liberal areas of the continent, and those tickets weren't cheap!

It's definitely written for a predominantly UK readership yes. But it's an undeniable fact that some of the UK fanbase has indeed been alienated - nobody knows to what extent. More importantly, I genuinely can't see how Morrissey can play any UK shows at this point. Yes, there are still thousands of fans who'd love to see him here, but surely it would be too risky for venues / promoters to put on shows given the passions ignited by his apparent political stance at this point in time.
 
Can't wait for when 'Bengali in Platforms' is touted as an anti-racist song too :^)
Am I missing something? It is anti-racist. He's telling the Bengali not to change his ways in order to fit in - to be himself. He doesn't need to try to embrace the culture of a foreign land because it's difficult for everyone.
 
It's definitely written for a predominantly UK readership yes. But it's an undeniable fact that some of the UK fanbase has indeed been alienated - nobody knows to what extent. More importantly, I genuinely can't see how Morrissey can play any UK shows at this point. Yes, there are still thousands of fans who'd love to see him here, but surely it would be too risky for venues / promoters to put on shows given the passions ignited by his apparent political stance at this point in time.

Morrissey can still play the UK, he just needs to play a small handful of dates and good venues. Imagine if he played the Roundhouse again. If he did that, say, for one night and one in Manchester then moved on to Ireland or the rest of Europe he'll do fine. This seems sensible to me as he doesn't have to worry about selling out venues etc, as he'll most likely sell out one or two nights easily. There's obviously some work that needs to be done in the UK and starting small (in terms of tour dates) is a good place to start.
 
Well, it's funny how the National Front Disco was once used precisely as an example of his "racist" views. Now it's the reverse! I'm fairly certain NME writers were very scathing about it in the past...

Also strange how his voice isn't really mentioned in the review - especially given just how fantastic it sounds on this record. Except he does say the vocal is thin on Morning Starship. Which it really isn't! He then suggests the music is "overcooked". Whereas to me the production and instrumentation sounds sparser and brighter than it has in years.

I'm a massive Bob Dylan fan and I think they did a great covering a Dylan song that is practically uncoverable. Having only heard it a couple of times, the standouts for me are the very tracks the reviewer states are forgettable. Suffer the Little Children, Lenny's Tune and Some Say I Got Devil.

Like The Guardian, I don't think the NME can dissociate the music from what they perceive his politics to be. But it's really a fantastically entertaining and enjoyable record.
 
Euh.... “Days of Dedication”?

I don’t mind a bad review, but for the love of God, get your facts straight. Nothing worse than lazy, sloppy journalism.

Move on folks, nothing to see here...
 
‘you can’t diminish the beauty of ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ or the anti-racist righteousness of ‘The National Front Disco’. ’

Well, at least for once they got something right.
 
Ronnie Scotts residency please - Jazz inflected interpretations of Kill Uncle
 
Well, it's funny how the National Front Disco was once used precisely as an example of his "racist" views. Now it's the reverse! I'm fairly certain NME writers were very scathing about it in the past...

Also strange how his voice isn't really mentioned in the review - especially given just how fantastic it sounds on this record. Except he does say the vocal is thin on Morning Starship. Which it really isn't! He then suggests the music is "overcooked". Whereas to me the production and instrumentation sounds sparser and brighter than it has in years.

I'm a massive Bob Dylan fan and I think they did a great covering a Dylan song that is practically uncoverable. Having only heard it a couple of times, the standouts for me are the very tracks the reviewer states are forgettable. Suffer the Little Children, Lenny's Tune and Some Say I Got Devil.

Like The Guardian, I don't think the NME can dissociate the music from what they perceive his politics to be. But it's really a fantastically entertaining and enjoyable record.

Agreed. It feels like they’re definitely downplaying how great his voice is these days which seems a near universal opinion even among the haters. His voice on morning starship is excellent. I do like that he actually describes the music in some detail even if I can’t agree with what he’s saying about it
 
All you have to do is look below this post for the fans slagging off this review because it's not as effusive as the ones they like better.
I think that NME review wasn't too badly written. The author made his points and backed them up with reasons, which is more than Moz does in most interviews.
I watched the Larry King interview again last night and some of his answers were cringeworthy and sounded like a toddler who just fell on his face.
 
It's definitely written for a predominantly UK readership yes. But it's an undeniable fact that some of the UK fanbase has indeed been alienated - nobody knows to what extent. More importantly, I genuinely can't see how Morrissey can play any UK shows at this point. Yes, there are still thousands of fans who'd love to see him here, but surely it would be too risky for venues / promoters to put on shows given the passions ignited by his apparent political stance at this point in time.

He probably won't sell out the huge arena's he was playing but so what. Some of the best gigs have always been at the smaller venues esp in the 90's. Hopefully, the prices will be reduced as well.
 
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