Very sad indeed, and a great object lesson: Morrissey has just put out his best album in a decade, and he utterly lacks the skills it takes to successfully promote his work in the digital age. He's always relied on the fervor of his fans to carry him through, but these days that just isn't enough. Time is working against him (and he hasn't helped matters any by drumming up some of the worst press this side of Justin Bieber). Great work just isn't enough, either. You need a media presence, and that is the very thing that he cannot (and will not) deliver. It's a flaw that could prove fatal.
Weird Al deserves his first No. 1 after more than 30 years in the business: he played the media just right, releasing a video a day - it was a sensation. The world's greatest novelty act finally made it to the top because he's not only very, very talented, he's very, very smart. His record label couldn't pay for the promos, so he got sites like Nerdist and Funny or Die to foot the bill for the privilege of hosting the content. That's how the game is played.
I sympathize with Morrissey: he has serious personal issues which make media outreach a task that is way, way, out of his comfort zone. Even at the height of his fame, he torpedoed opportunities most artists would have killed for. This time Harvest footed the bill for some creative, innovative videos, they set up a Twitter account that was wildly successful for the microsecond that folks actually thought it was Morrissey. He had everything he needed to push this album a lot closer to the top, but he couldn't make it happen. He's always managed to (somehow) pull himself out of what appears to be a nosedive - I hope he manages to do so again.
