It's crunch time for Morrissey...

An underperforming single mauled by the critics (possibly worst reception since Roy’s Keen), and ignored by many fans.
Accused, nationally, of being a ‘big-quiffed bigot’ with ‘dodgy views on immigration’.
An aborted tour.
Album sales in decline (Quarry 350,000, ROTT 150,000), Greatest Hits shock departure from top 30 after one week despite huge promotional campaign (TV, Radio, billboards, music press).

Moz now needs, more than ever, to deliver a fantastic album to stop the, err, rot. Not a ‘quite good’ album with one or two really good songs.
A consistently brilliant album stuffed with magical melodies, insightful and contemporary lyrics, and imaginative arrangements. Come on Moz!


All you need is Moz.
 
I think a lot of you guy's have missed the point. THPGU has been on the web and on these forums since June 2007 so it was not a NEW song. You will probably find that it was Decca who wanted to get a greatest hits compilation out there.....remember back in the rough trade days of The Smiths, it was a way of padding out the contract. It is a shame that the tracks on the album were not the strongest of selections....my personal belief is it should have been a double album with at least thirty tracks on it. With regards to the next studio album we may get an album of songs we have never heard. I know we had a couple of crackers in Noise Is The Best Revenge and I Just Playing Easy To Get and they never appeared as a studio recording on an album or single release so we may get a surprise. ROTT and YATQ were both excellent albums and I think that all we ARE EXPECTING FAR TOO MUCH by thinking that he will record an album where every single song is an exceptional piece of musical excellence!! Give the guy a break and enjoy him while we all can please.
 
I think a lot of you guy's have missed the point. THPGU has been on the web and on these forums since June 2007 so it was not a NEW song. You will probably find that it was Decca who wanted to get a greatest hits compilation out there.....remember back in the rough trade days of The Smiths, it was a way of padding out the contract. It is a shame that the tracks on the album were not the strongest of selections....my personal belief is it should have been a double album with at least thirty tracks on it. With regards to the next studio album we may get an album of songs we have never heard. I know we had a couple of crackers in Noise Is The Best Revenge and I Just Playing Easy To Get and they never appeared as a studio recording on an album or single release so we may get a surprise. ROTT and YATQ were both excellent albums and I think that all we ARE EXPECTING FAR TOO MUCH by thinking that he will record an album where every single song is an exceptional piece of musical excellence!! Give the guy a break and enjoy him while we all can please.

I don't think most people on this forum expect an album, "...where every single song is an exceptional piece of musical excellence." However, for an album to be considered a success, the fewer low points the better.

I think the marketing of "Greatest Hits" was disappointing. If Decca had been able to place "Kit" or "I'm Playing Easy To Get" as the b-side then clearly fans would have been more interested. Rather we get live performances - it doesn't create an urgency to run to the store. Also, who decided "That's How People Grow Up" is a stronger single than "All You Need Is Me" needs to be fired. "That's How People Grow Up" is fine, but not a strong single.

On the upside, the covers and artwork are the best of Morrissey's solo career. YATQ and ROTT looked great. So, there's always that!:)
 
rot. Not a ‘quite good’ album with one or two really good songs.
A consistently brilliant album stuffed with magical melodies, insightful and contemporary lyrics, and imaginative arrangements. Come on Moz!

ROTT is one of my all time favorite albums. I think people who dislike it are very misguided.
 
Crunch time in what way? That he'll be consigned to oblivion if he doesn't come up with a million selling album?

This is an artist with 25 years standing of success in the music industry. Why the melodrama and doom mongering? Some of the rhetoric employed on this site at times would put Morrissey's lyrics to shame. :rolleyes:
 
Crunch time in what way? That he'll be consigned to oblivion if he doesn't come up with a million selling album?

This is an artist with 25 years standing of success in the music industry. Why the melodrama and doom mongering? Some of the rhetoric employed on this site at times would put Morrissey's lyrics to shame. :rolleyes:

Agree. What exactly are the stakes here, anyway? He's going to be sacked for ineffeciency? Given a public scolding by Elton John? Pelted with cows? Traded to the Clippers*?



*Never mind about this one. Just never, never mind.
 
ROTT is one of my all time favorite albums. I think people who dislike it are very misguided.


I'm not sure they're misguided, most seem to deem it as unspectacular.

For me, it just comes back to the music rather than the lyrics or melodies. While Moz is running out of things to say, he can still find a melody, it's the music (or lack thereof) that lets the songs down IMO.

Ultimately, it's all just opinions. I didn't mind Dior and liked Sweetie Pie but I Knew I Was Next and Noise Is The Best Revenge are for me, his two worst songs of all time.
 
I'm becoming more a critic of Morrissey these days. Once the self confessed addict of the man, there just doesn't seem to be a spark about the world that is Morrissey at the moment (and ever since the end of the YATQ tour for me).

- Alain Whyte has gone from the live performances, which for me is a big loss.
- Mikey has also taken a well earned break and has affected the accompaniment side of his live performances.
- I didn't buy the single to be fair as it is the worst single I have seen him release since I was old enough to start putting money over the counter.

Maybe i'm living in the past (88-95). I just think Morrissey is in limbo where he is halfway trying to attract the mainstream whilst doing the odd thing that keeps him a cult attraction. 'Something is Squeezing My Skull' sounds great live, and hopefully will be recorded for the album and will sound even better, but it's not consistent enough in my opinion.

- The regular occurrence of live B-Sides for the ROTT singles.
- Some horrors of recorded B-Sides (Christian Dior, Sweetie Pie) but there have been more good than bad for ROTT.
- Other new live singles don't have the same excitement factor about them (Paris/Mama) compared to the 02 tour (IBEH/FOTGTD) but lets wait for the recorded version.

Also, I don't see why Moz had to do so many dates for this tour. I hope it hasn't affected the recording of the new album. I'd rather have had him cut his tour at the end of the US/Mexico dates and spend all of this time creating a polished product. I think the tour was too long and did contribute to his recent illness, and hope it doesn't serve detriment to the new album with a lesser working time.

Is Moz still passionate about music, or is he putting notes into a swag bag with 'Pension' branded onto it? He still adores his fan base, thus the tour and the desire to play places other artists wouldn't dare step foot into. I just hope my fears and views are alleviated and rubbished by the artist I adored fanatically.

Let the abuse begin to drive me back down to Events.

The End :)

mbb321 - your original posting perfectly sums up my own personal feelings. I've been a fan since the early nineties and the current situation is a weird one. The man has a record contract, a loyal fanbase and an album on the horizon yet I'm not overly excited. The 2002 shows were amazing and the build up to You are the Quarry was a good time for us old moz fans as we knew he still had something to offer plus had the songs to deliver. Our loyalty was rewarded. It just seems at the moment that he hasn't got the songs or the band to deliver the goods again. Maybe I'm being negative. The recent single was awful and friends who are fans even admitted this! The Paris song is good though and all you need is me has potential. Mickey leaving the band is a loss and I just hope that Alain Whyte has a big hand in the new album. Unlike many on this forum I liked Jerry Finn as a producer so that bodes well. I guess wel'll have to wait and see on this one...

Wow, I have a quick browse of the boards after a couple of weeks away and people have started talking sense. I, for one, will not be having your drawn and quartered, so fear not. ;)
 
These comments are truly disgusting.

If you don't like it - GET OFF THE FORUM! This place is meant to be for fans, not vultures who circle & destroy the forum.

A quote on an earlier post says it all - a third of "fans" didn't buy the new single.

No - 100% of fans DID buy the single - the people who didn't aren't "fans".

It's only crunch time for Mozzer because of the very, very poor fanbase he seems to have. He's not letting you down - it's the other way around.

Idiots.

You are very spooky! Good choice of name.....
 
Dam am i the only person in the world that likes redondo beach?? I loved the original and i love the cover bring it on.

nah you are not alone! I've got it set on my phone as my alarm call, so every morning I wake up to Mozzers version of Redondo Beach & I'm in a good mood!

love

Grim
 
Crunch time in what way? That he'll be consigned to oblivion if he doesn't come up with a million selling album?

This is an artist with 25 years standing of success in the music industry. Why the melodrama and doom mongering? Some of the rhetoric employed on this site at times would put Morrissey's lyrics to shame. :rolleyes:

The (admittedly ambitious!) purpose of this thread is not to wallow in the gloom and doom, but to spur Moz into action, to produce a truly brilliant album! Ok so he’s already written the album and he (probably) doesn’t visit this website so perhaps a slightly futile aim!
But I do think it kind of is crunch time. You look at his downward sales trajectory; 350,000 (Quarry) then 150,000 (ROTT) and the disappointing Greatest Hits figures…
When an artists sell less than around 75,000-100,000, they are unlikely to get a conventional record deal i.e. with proper singles and non-internet-only releases. This is the only kind of deal Moz wants to be involved with. He won’t sign to a tiny indie label with no marketing clout.
So, if sales continue their downward trajectory, Moz may be left label-less after the next album.
Which is why it needs to be an absolute corker with a couple of dazzlingly good singles. That’s all I’m saying!
 
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They won't continue that trajectory. Quarry was exceptional as the 'comeback record' and had FOTGTD. Greatest Hits was a total botched job considering what might have been. There's no reason to think the new LP will shift any less than Ringleader.
 
This is the only kind of deal Moz wants to be involved with. He won’t sign to a tiny indie label with no marketing clout.
So, if sales continue their downward trajectory, Moz may be left label-less after the next album.
Which is why it needs to be an absolute corker with a couple of dazzlingly good singles. That’s all I’m saying!

Interesting how you seem to have access to the workings of Morrissey's mind. This is the artist who signed to Sanctuary, an indie, in preference to the offers he'd had from majors?
 
Interesting how you seem to have access to the workings of Morrissey's mind. This is the artist who signed to Sanctuary, an indie, in preference to the offers he'd had from majors?

Nope, no access to Morrissey's mind; just his interviews!
He could easily have released albums in the wilderness years. He could have signed to a tiny label and released stuff on the internet like, err, David Essex! But he said that he didn't want to do this. I guess he would've found it a bit humiliating.
He's recently said he doesn't want to go the DIY Radiohead download route either. He wants to feel there are people out there working to get his stuff heard through the conventional channels.
I guess the indie/major label thing isn't a big deal these days. As long as a label can put out singles and albums, afford a bit of marketing and promotion etc, Moz is probably happy with that.
 
Poor old Morrissey. He's always getting it in the neck.
 
Oh, pish.
 
It's crunch time all right - one more turkey and he's history...

He's teetering on the brink of becoming totally irrelevant, and there's just not enough sympathy out there in critic-land to allow him to keep getting away with releasing half-hearted drivel.

While I'm at it - if he must do mainstream UK telly (Ross/Holland etc) he's gonna have to brush it up a bit. I lost count of the people who said to me things like "I watched Morrissey because you keep banging on about him and he's shite" and it's hard to argue.

All the more frustrating when you've been to see him a few nights before and loved every minute of it!

Come on Man - have you still got it, or what?
 
It's crunch time all right - one more turkey and he's history...

He's teetering on the brink of becoming totally irrelevant, and there's just not enough sympathy out there in critic-land to allow him to keep getting away with releasing half-hearted drivel.

While I'm at it - if he must do mainstream UK telly (Ross/Holland etc) he's gonna have to brush it up a bit. I lost count of the people who said to me things like "I watched Morrissey because you keep banging on about him and he's shite" and it's hard to argue.

All the more frustrating when you've been to see him a few nights before and loved every minute of it!

Come on Man - have you still got it, or what?

Good questions all - but he proved to you that he does still have it or you simply wouldnt have loved every minute of seeing him live.

Maybe this is a crunch time for him but it wont be his first!

Sure it would be great to have a critically acclaimed album released (and i am sure it will be) but lets say only fans buy it. Well we are (despite all protestations otherwise) a fairly loyal bunch and i know if there are new songs to be had we will buy it. It will sell at least as well as Ringleader and on the back of what was a very successful tour last year i think it will do well.

Also look on these boards - the age of many fans is quite surprising and i saw lots of younger guys at the recent Roundhouse gigs - he is appealing to new people all the time. Could it be the fanbase is actually growing?

I think all the signs are positive - the new stuff we have heard has been great - and i personally really like Thats how people grow up - i find it to be a grower - the more u listen the more u like!

So maybe the future of his record label contract will depend on this albums success but ultimately it will come down to the quality of the music and i think there he will be just fine.
 
This topic is just making me think of the lyrics to All You Need Is Me...

Of course we shouldn't buy Moz's material blindly and regardless of its quality but neither should we be readying his musical grave and fearing the worst.
I don't think it's crunch time for him at all. Sure YATQ sold very well and ROTT didn't do so well, as someone else pointed out that's to be expected with a 'comeback' album, the one after is unlikely to sell as well no matter how good it is.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of his pre YATQ albums have been massive-selling stadium-buggering titans have they?

Another good point was made regarding Greatest Hits - people are moaning that it's primarily his most recent singles. But firstly if those are his biggest hits then what do you expect from a record entitled Greatest Hits? Yet if it contained all of the songs that people are whining about not being on there, they'd only piss on that it was yet another compilation containing the same old tracks yet again and that "blah blah blah I shan't be buying it, everybody look at how indignant I am, quick!" If he had to do a compilation album (maybe it was contractual obligation) then at least he's done about the best he can to put together a compilation very dissimilar to any of his previous.

Even if the new album sells less than ROTT, I personally don't care. I'm not a Morrissey fan because I want him to be the biggest artist in the world. I'm a fan because of what his music and words have done for my life. I'm sure he would love to sell a lot of records, who wouldnt? But I doubt he'll lose too much sleep if he doesn't. After all, does anyone here honestly hand on heart think that any music he's released in the last 5 years had 'guaranteed hit that'll speak to the kids' written all over it? It's easy to forget that Irish Blood sounded nothing like anyone else when it came out.

Just my 2 bobs worth...
 
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