Your Arsenal

I was right there with you! The show was absolutely INSANE, and remains one of the best memories of my life. Did you got to all of the 1992 NYC shows?

I didn't get on stage (I've always been too shy…), but I did manage to get a tiny bit of shirt scrap. :D Is that video online?? I'd love to see it, even if it's terrible quality.

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You and others may not want to hear this but I threw out 2 pieces of his shirt and a maraca I caught plus all my VHS tapes concert tapes (I don't have a player) this blog may explain a little. http://www.morrissey-solo.com/entries/1772-I-m-just-passing-through-here I was going to sell my stuff and was not going to include them. So I let go, I won't display them and felt I did not need to keep them, such is life. There may be video online of that show I don't know. This was a balcony home video. It was the paramount at Madison square.
 
Interesting...I don't mind Your Arsenal but I thought the glam-rock love-in went a bit too far (Gary Glitter?). Some of the tracks are a bit heavy production wise like Tomorrow and some are overly repetitive like We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful and You're The One For Me, Fatty. Maybe it suited the American market more at the time of release. The re-issue has made some of the tracks come alive though.
 
Speaking of the reissue....I am bad with this, but what are the main differences between the single mix of “Tomorrow” (which is on the reissue) and the original? To my ears at least when I did them back to back it just seems like the vocals on the single mix are “clearer”. Thoughts?
 
i like to imagine morrissey and link wray writing an album together to continue the rockabilly angle. he, wray, did a lot of low profile work with a singer named robert gordon and i love those albums and of course rumble was great. they would have made really good music imo. great memory number 1 and if there is a video you could post for us to gawk at then make it so. im jealous
 
Speaking of the reissue....I am bad with this, but what are the main differences between the single mix of “Tomorrow” (which is on the reissue) and the original? To my ears at least when I did them back to back it just seems like the vocals on the single mix are “clearer”. Thoughts?

The US mix is longer but apart from that I have no idea at all.
 
i did the same fred and couldnt hear much of a difference. glam in the brittish sense didnt really penetrate america (maybe in print but even that didnt hang around for very long and people forgot about it very very quickly) so when i tell people that your arsenal is glam influenced they usually say wha i only hear bits of rockabilly. i dont think many americans who just listen to the album and dont read about it like we here do just dont see or understand the connection. to a lot of people born in the us glam means glam metal like poison and motley crue
 
i like to imagine morrissey and link wray writing an album together to continue the rockabilly angle. he, wray, did a lot of low profile work with a singer named robert gordon and i love those albums and of course rumble was great. they would have made really good music imo. great memory number 1 and if there is a video you could post for us to gawk at then make it so. im jealous

Yeah, a Moz + Link Wray collaboration sounds pretty amazing! Every time I put on a LW record I'm in awe. I can't even say he was ahead of his time, because no one else sounds like him now, either! His death barely even registered in the collective consciousness of his own country, sadly, and I regret never having had a chance to see him play live. Putting the LW/Robert Gordon records on my wishlist now…thanks.
 
It begins very strongly, but the album is ruined by the arse dribbly nonsenses that are 'We Hate It..' and 'You're The One For Me Fatty'.
 
It begins very strongly, but the album is ruined by the arse dribbly nonsenses that are 'We Hate It..' and 'You're The One For Me Fatty'.

Correct, they don't belong on that album. To be fair they're followed by two rippers, seasick & I know it's gonna happen, still a real shame even now tho, if only 2 other tracks could have been slotted in their place, would be talkin about morrisseys greatest ever record.
 
It is undoubtedly one of Morrissey's greatest albums, thought I'm probably in the minority by not being too fussed about the opening two tracks. However, from We'll Let You Know onwards it is pretty much perfect. We Hate It and Fatty remind me of Kiss Me A Lot, in that the lyrics are simplistic but they win me over as Morrissey's charm is still present and they are just too damn catchy.
 
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It is his best solo album, I think it stands head and shoulders above all others, Viva Hate comes second and Vauxhall third.
All other studio albums have great songs within them, but none of them quite match Your Arsenal, it is perfect from start to finish.
 
Apart from one or two songs, I'm not a fan. I was always unconvinced by the faux-heaviness glam rock stuff.
I understand Morrissey fans liking it for the cover of masculinity it affords, but I always preferred the stuff that doesn't try too hard to be what it isn't; ie. the poppier or more gentle stuff. The worst is the rockabilly. It's like a kids' version. Listen to proper rockabilly or The Fall, for the good stuff.
Vauxhall & I feels like a revelation in comparison. More personal, more depth, less right-wing wankfest, more honest, more beautiful.

Mark E Smith reviewing 'Your Arsenal'
 
I like it, but I don't love it. I don't listen to it that often. It sounds like a collection of singles to me. It just doesn't have the depth of Vauxhall or Viva Hate for me. What I love most about the album is it gave us 6 promo videos, and then unfortunately followed by an album that only had one.
 
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Agreed, what a great thread. It's a shame Morrissey seems to disregard this type of healthy music discussion whenever he refers to this site. I've really enjoying reading all of these comments. I didn't discover Moz until 2004 so I always love reading fans reminiscing about those earlier years.
 
part of the reason i think i find vauxhal to be just alright is that its the first moz album to be super obvious. he names the song billy bud where he used to hide the references. he name checks the main character in brighton rock in now my heart is full. this trend continues but this is where it started and the music can be kinds boring at times where the guitar used to be a much better counter point the exception being the more you ignore and find out for yourself.
 
Your Arsenal is Morrissey's third best solo album.

How do I know? Well not only is it the one I would reach for after Viva Hate and Years Of Refusal, but it's the third behind those two in terms of how many songs to cut to make the album right.

Viva Hate = Zero
Years of Refusal = 1 ('That's How People Throw Up')
Your Arsenal = 2 ('I Hate It When' and 'Fatty')

For the record, Vauxhall = 4
 
Yeah, a Moz + Link Wray collaboration sounds pretty amazing! Every time I put on a LW record I'm in awe. I can't even say he was ahead of his time, because no one else sounds like him now, either! His death barely even registered in the collective consciousness of his own country, sadly, and I regret never having had a chance to see him play live. Putting the LW/Robert Gordon records on my wishlist now…thanks.

sorry about posting the link wray thought twice. i didnt see my original when i was looking for it and just figured i forgot to post it. you can get a two for one deal one the link wray robert gordan records chickpea and i would highly recommend them. yeah it was sad when he died and didnt get much attention for his achievements. same with johnny winter who is a fabulous guitar player as well. only the diehard guitarists seemed to take notice. at least cale is getting some attention who was also fantastic.
 
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