Is "World Peace…" Morrissey's most divisive album ever?

[Agharta]

"But, as with wine, you will know when you first try it whether you like it as a thing or not from the effect it will have on you. There are forms of it to appeal to all tastes and if you do not like it, none of it, nor, as a whole, while not caring for details, then it is not for you. It would be pleasant of course for those who do like it if those who do not would not feel that they had to go to war against it or give money to try to suppress it, since it offends them or does not please them, but that is too much to expect and anything capable of arousing passion in its favor will surely raise as much passion against it." ~E. Hemingway

Ernest had some interesting views on bullfighting too.

 

[Anonymous]

Ernest had some interesting views on bullfighting too.

about cows also, you boring hag

 

[King Leer]

By virtue of history in the arts, including architecture. Almost anything that has stood the test of time was equally reviled or loved during its debut (or indeed weighted toward the former).
David Bowie's last album was fine but certainly "critic-proof" in its safeness, and barely talked about now. Nobody is debating it, quoting it, or still thinking about it much. Bowie's stroke of genius was releasing it without any prior notice, which deservedly earned it a lot of coverage.

Morrissey is constantly in the news, in the charts (not as high as he'd like, but still) without any comprehensive promotion. Indeed, he sabotaged it this time around.
Morrissey is considered a remarkable genius, remarkable ass, and even a remarkable has-been. But he is empirically remarkable. This divisiveness is what makes him an artist. I liked Years of Refusal well enough but he was in danger of becoming irrelevant. This album is a return to form in that it's being loved and loathed.

How, specifically?

 

[Agharta]

By virtue of history in the arts, including architecture. Almost anything that has stood the test of time was equally reviled or loved during its debut (or indeed weighted toward the former).
David Bowie's last album was fine but certainly "critic-proof" in its safeness, and barely talked about now. Nobody is debating it, quoting it, or still thinking about it much. Bowie's stroke of genius was releasing it without any prior notice, which deservedly earned it a lot of coverage.

Morrissey is constantly in the news, in the charts (not as high as he'd like, but still) without any comprehensive promotion. Indeed, he sabotaged it this time around.
Morrissey is considered a remarkable genius, remarkable ass, and even a remarkable has-been. But he is empirically remarkable. This divisiveness is what makes him an artist. I liked Years of Refusal well enough but he was in danger of becoming irrelevant. This album is a return to form in that it's being loved and loathed.

People also find the weather remarkable.

The quality of art has nothing do with its divisiveness, unless it's agitprop. When you stand before it, that's the dynamic - you and it. You make your own mind up.

 

[Agharta]

about cows also, you boring hag

What were his views on cows?

 

[Chickpea]

By virtue of history in the arts, including architecture. Almost anything that has stood the test of time was equally reviled or loved during its debut (or indeed weighted toward the former).

Indeed. A century ago The Rite of Spring incited riots and the worst reviews imaginable, and the artwork in the Armory Show was pegged as the death of art. I am by no means suggesting that WPINOYB is going to start a cultural revolution to parallel Stravinsky and Duchamp, but it's not hard to find examples of the divisiveness of what we now consider to be master works.

 

[Anonymous]

i think the content subject of the songs can sorta be a factor as well aside from the words themselves. i think theyre are still people who want morrissey to sing about nothing but being alone sad lovelorn and still wrestling with issues he kinda put to bed a long long time ago. throwing my arms around paris is fine, its a nice song, but lyrically it bored the hell out of me. very good points king. thanks

 

[fredkocherpepsi]

A lot of people thought "Pet Sounds" sucked when it came out, too.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's the album itself that's divisive because the kind of people who slag it off are either members who have joined up recently and slate it in every thread they can in the most troll-like fashion or they're anonymous posters like myself - so either the people who dislike it are burdened by emotional problems that they're directing towards Morrissey (jealousy, morbid self-loathing, etc) or the anonymous posters are probably the same few people posting again and again.
For me, it's a divisive album by Morrissey only in the way in which it separates the actual fans of music with an open ear for great work, and smelly old knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers who probably wanted World Peace to sound like their '90s indie MOR collection...

 

[A none E mouse]

I don't think it's the album itself that's divisive because the kind of people who slag it off are either members who have joined up recently and slate it in every thread they can in the most troll-like fashion or they're anonymous posters like myself - so either the people who dislike it are burdened by emotional problems that they're directing towards Morrissey (jealousy, morbid self-loathing, etc) or the anonymous posters are probably the same few people posting again and again.
For me, it's a divisive album by Morrissey only in the way in which it separates the actual fans of music with an open ear for great work, and smelly old knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers who probably wanted World Peace to sound like their '90s indie MOR collection...

What a crock of shit

 

[Anonymous]

What a crock of shit

A case in point, there.
Have you done your homework yet?

 

[Orson Swells]

What a crock of shit

Touché, Oscar.

 

[mozmic_dancer]

King Leer, all of Morrissey's albums are divisive.

In this instance, the positive reviews seem to herald his drift away from britpop/rockabilly/rock genre and applaud his exploration into more "exotic" styles. The negative reviews, seem to lean towards the conclusion that it's uneven offering and not as cohesive than some of his past albums, and that the album does sound like a compilation album.

Some of the really bad reviews seem to either focus on his politics, his animal activism or that it doesn't sound like the Smiths, all of which are not really relevant arguments.

True musics critics are those that really love music, and will always find some kind of merit in an artist's work.

 

[Anonymous]

i concur.

 

[agrownmanof25]

to buy into an album where the highlight is a last minute means either you have more money than sense or more time on your hands or the exact person that Morrissey loves..
massage that ego..

 

[Layne]

Unfortunately a lot of the reviews largely focus on reviewing Morrissey's public image rather than the album itself.

 

[Tokyo Rose]

OP is a plagiarist.

 

[Manhole]

This Album Sucks More Than Morrissey Has In His Lifetime

This album is absolute crap! It sucks more than Morrissey has shined poles in his lifetime! Absolute waste of paper, vinyl, and dead space. I want a refund but sadly can't get one. I want more than a refund, i want my time back too! What a heeping waste of your ear canal...do your ears a favor, go squeeze your cat and see what sounds come out, those sounds are surely better than this dribble! Morrissey your day are done on this planet, quit milking it for what it's worth, throw in the towel your finished. You should have quite while you were on top at the last great album Years of Refusal...that was a masterpiece! All of this is coming from a longtime fan since The Smiths around 1988 or earlier. Sorry Moz you don't have what it takes anymore, your becoming the songs you preach about. Your now an old fat talentless pompadour poser who has sucked more in his life we thought than this new album does. Don't know which sucks or dribbles more, this new album or Morrissey's manhole!?

 

[sorrow of stamford bridge]

I think the best thing to do is walk away from this battle, for we all lose.
All I know is that I love nine of the twelve tracks, and three of the bonus tracks. Four of the songs evoke feelings I had as a late teen listening to Vauxhall and Arsenal. I had given up on a new Morrissey record making me feel that way again. I listened to this record today, put Vauxhall on, but wanted to go back to WPINOYB quicker than I expected. I am definitely not saying Vauxhall or even Arsenal have been trumped. The title track and "Earth" are absolute dingos kidneys, and Kristeen Young's dreadful vocals take the gloss off Kick the Bride. But when I listened to Vauxhall after having played Maladjusted, ROTT and YOR I was left with a very hollow feeling of disappointment. Not this time. It may divide opinion, but this album has many special qualities.

 

[Anonymous]

Four of the songs evoke feelings I had as a late teen listening to Vauxhall and Arsenal. I had given up on a new Morrissey record making me feel that way again.

YES! This is exactly my experience too!!!