Why is there so much hate for Years of refusal?

Mike Thomas

Member
It seems like Years of refusal is generally not considered to be that great of an album around here when thinking of Moz's entire catalog? Granted it may not be in the top two or three but I never understood all the hate? I think its a really great album that is just as good as its predecessor ringleader , if not even better. Why all the hate? BTW The distorted guitar sound has never bothered me, maybe that's why I like the album so much. Ringleaders to me had some great songs but I wasn't too keen on Visocnti's over use of the slap back delay on the vocals.

Perhaps if Quarry's producer Jerry Finn hadn't passed away then just maybe based on Quarry's success Moz might have kept using Finn therefore releasing slightly different post Quarry albums?
 
It seems like Years of refusal is generally not considered to be that great of an album around here when thinking of Moz's entire catalog? Granted it may not be in the top two or three but I never understood all the hate? I think its a really great album that is just as good as its predecessor ringleader , if not even better. Why all the hate? BTW The distorted guitar sound has never bothered me, maybe that's why I like the album so much. Ringleaders to me had some great songs but I wasn't too keen on Visocnti's over use of the slap back delay on the vocals.

Perhaps if Quarry's producer Jerry Finn hadn't passed away then just maybe based on Quarry's success Moz might have kept using Finn therefore releasing slightly different post Quarry albums?

I'm with you. It is a great album and that opening track!!!

 
Some probably don't like the loud uptempo guitars and that the album didnt find morrissey in emotional heartache mode as much but I also think that despite featuring some of his songs this was the album that didn't have Alain playing on it and was the time when he left or was asked to leave the band and some can't seem to get over it. I personally really like it and find songs like something is squeezing and someday to be very amusing and quotable. It should also be noted that most of the dislike comes from the older fans and that Paris was one of his most popular songs when it came to streaming platforms etc. it could also be a British American divide. It seemed as if the British public liked yor less than ringleader as it charted three while ringleader was a number one and in America the opposite was the case with yor hitting eleven after ringleader dropped to number twenty seven even after the success of quarry. It seemed clear that when it came to Americans we liked the sound of yor a bit more. Critically, according to meta critic, they got around the same level of praise in reviews though yor beats ringleader, a more commonly loved album here on this board, in both pro reviews and listener scores by a small margin. I guess what I'm saying is that it might not be that yor is disliked as much as this place might make you think it is as I think the boards majority might be the demographic that didn't care for it
 
I personally would rate it as one of my least favourite solo albums. Musically It's just a too loud with very little creativity or experimentation. Apart from a couple of moments I also think it's weak lyrically. It also contains two of my least favourite Morrissey singles, AYNIM and THPGU. Which were released way before the album was even announced. I was so gutted when I saw them in the track list. I actually prefer a lot of the b-sides to the album tracks. I very rarely listen to it, as an album.
 
Some probably don't like the loud uptempo guitars and that the album didnt find morrissey in emotional heartache mode as much but I also think that despite featuring some of his songs this was the album that didn't have Alain playing on it and was the time when he left or was asked to leave the band and some can't seem to get over it. I personally really like it and find songs like something is squeezing and someday to be very amusing and quotable. It should also be noted that most of the dislike comes from the older fans and that Paris was one of his most popular songs when it came to streaming platforms etc. it could also be a British American divide. It seemed as if the British public liked yor less than ringleader as it charted three while ringleader was a number one and in America the opposite was the case with yor hitting eleven after ringleader dropped to number twenty seven even after the success of quarry. It seemed clear that when it came to Americans we liked the sound of yor a bit more. Critically, according to meta critic, they got around the same level of praise in reviews though yor beats ringleader, a more commonly loved album here on this board, in both pro reviews and listener scores by a small margin. I guess what I'm saying is that it might not be that yor is disliked as much as this place might make you think it is as I think the boards majority might be the demographic that didn't care for it

Southpaw Grammar is an album with "loud, uptempo guitars" and probably has less "emotional heartache", but it's an immeasurably better album than Years of Refusal.

Ringleader of the Tormentors and Years of Refusal are both shit.
 
To me, it lacks the same kind of album-cohesiveness that Quarry and RoTT have. Perhaps it's just in my mind this way because two of the songs were singles far in advance of the album release. I think it's a rather blunt album, sonically speaking, and he didn't really need that right after the hack-job Visconti did on RoTT. Not shitting on Jerry Finn at all - it's just that a "World Peace" would have been a more-welcomed follow-up in the progression of Morrissey after RoTT. It's a shame there won't be another Morrissey-Finn album, but I've also got no qualms with how Chiccarelli treats Morrissey.
 
To me, it lacks the same kind of album-cohesiveness that Quarry and RoTT have. Perhaps it's just in my mind this way because two of the songs were singles far in advance of the album release. I think it's a rather blunt album, sonically speaking, and he didn't really need that right after the hack-job Visconti did on RoTT. Not shitting on Jerry Finn at all - it's just that a "World Peace" would have been a more-welcomed follow-up in the progression of Morrissey after RoTT. It's a shame there won't be another Morrissey-Finn album, but I've also got no qualms with how Chiccarelli treats Morrissey.

I feel the opposite about ringleader. It felt all over the place to me while if anything yor might have felt a little to cohesive as it kinda rolls on steadily halfway over before I know it. That transition from far off places to dear god please help me is really jarring imo though I like both songs. Production or mix wise, I don’t know, it’s kinda a mess. Starting with you have killed me until maybe pigsty it got weird separation issues in the sound. My least fav sounding of all of morrisseys albums. As to loud guitars sure southpaw had some but nothing is as uptempo and consistently uptempo as yor nor as distorted sounding as the guitar on squeezing my skull. Mostly though I just find southpaw really boring with little in the way of hooks or interesting lyrics. While songs like black cloud may be really lyrically direct and simple it at least had a hook and songs like all you need is me was funny
 
Because I just know you wanted to know.

Best To Least

1. Vauxhall And I
2. Your Arsenal
3. You Are The Quarry
4. Bona Drag (I consider it an album)
5. World Peace
6. Years Of Refusal
7. Maladjusted
8. Southpaw Grammer
9. Viva Hate
10. Ringleader...
11. Kill Uncle
 
Because I just know you wanted to know.

Best To Least

1. Vauxhall And I
2. Your Arsenal
3. You Are The Quarry
4. Bona Drag (I consider it an album)
5. World Peace
6. Years Of Refusal
7. Maladjusted
8. Southpaw Grammer
9. Viva Hate
10. Ringleader...
11. Kill Uncle

There's so much wrong with your chart that I don't know where to start. So I won't.
 
It's too loud and brash. Jesse already has a harsh guitar tone to begin with. Throw in some brickwalled mastering and the end result is an album which is not very pleasing to the ears.

The demos which were posted a couple years ago are actually quite listenable. You can actually hear Boz in the mix which is a rare occurrence in post-Quarry Morrissey.
 
I’ll add swords and bona drag because I love them

Bona drag
Your arsenal
World peace
Quarry
Swords
Maladjusted
Vauxhall and I
Years of refusal
Viva hate
Kill uncle
Ringleader of the tormentors
Southpaw
 
I really enjoy listening to refusal,was a great tour as well,some great shows.
 
It seems like Years of refusal is generally not considered to be that great of an album around here when thinking of Moz's entire catalog? Granted it may not be in the top two or three but I never understood all the hate? I think its a really great album that is just as good as its predecessor ringleader , if not even better. Why all the hate? BTW The distorted guitar sound has never bothered me, maybe that's why I like the album so much. Ringleaders to me had some great songs but I wasn't too keen on Visocnti's over use of the slap back delay on the vocals.

Perhaps if Quarry's producer Jerry Finn hadn't passed away then just maybe based on Quarry's success Moz might have kept using Finn therefore releasing slightly different post Quarry albums?

Ringleader was a success
 
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