Morrissey - Greatest Hits [2008]Fans of Morrissey and The Smiths know better than most that compilations should be handled with care. Whether the blame lies with profiteering record companies or with Morrissey’s narcissism, it seems that for every proper LP that the man puts his voice to, a compilation of some sort will follow. For the confused, an abridged guide to just some of Morrissey’s compilations follows:
1995: World of Morrissey
1997: Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey
2000: The CD Singles, Vol. 1
2001: The CD Singles, Vol. 2
2001: The Best of Morrissey
2002: The Very Best of Morrissey (my emphasis)
2008: Greatest Hits.
All this collating, repackaging, remarketing, and recycling of old material is palpably ridiculous. But is it wrong? Morrissey has a big target painted onto his back by virtue of his hard-line, limp-wristed positions on stuff like seal clubbing (Canada’s endorsement of which caused him to cancel a 2006 tour of that despotic nation), so he’s always ripe for parody and/or rancour from those cynical carnivores amongst us.
“Greatest Hits” is not exempt from such cynicism. To take the obvious example, it’s an utter misnomer to call a Morrissey album of 2004-2008 material “Greatest Hits”, when the guy’s prolific solo career began in 1987. But this is how it works: every Morrissey single is a hit, an album worth of hits is a compilation. There’s no point fighting it.
Beyond the inevitability of the thing, it’s not fair to make fun of Morrissey for releasing a new compilation every twelve seconds, for two reasons. First, people are obviously buying these records. That means they’ll keep getting made, thanks to capitalism and all, and PETA will keep getting its fat annual check from Morrissey. Second, notwithstanding the constant rape and pillage of his back catalogue, the man continues to make great music.
That Morrissey is still capable of penning a great tune is perhaps the point of “Greatest Hits”. Not everything that he does these days still works, but for an awkward, bullied Manchester kid come poet, musician, and androgynous vegan with three decades of groundbreaking music under his belt, we can allow some false steps.
There’s a couple of false steps here. One of two new tracks featured on the compilation, “That’s How People Grow Up”, is truly grotesque. Crunchy, pub-rock guitar is countered with dramatic-by-numbers rising strings and repeatedly interrupted by this horrible chorus from nowhere. It sounds like something a sleep-deprived Muse would squirt out late night in the studio. “In the Future When All’s Well”, which hit # 17 on the UK charts, is annoyingly repetitious and fails to reach Morrissey’s lyrical potential.
Apart from that, though, we’re in solid territory here, largely because Morrissey has had something of a renaissance of late. His 2004 album “You Are the Quarry” was stellar, and four of its tracks are featured on “Greatest Hits”. The wonderfully titled 2006 album “Ringleader of the Tormentors” didn’t reach Quarry’s zenith, but it’s singles, with the exception of “In the future…”, stand up well. Morrissey’s cover of Patti Smith’s “Redondo Beach” is also a treat.
And of course, the token pre-2004 tracks (all four of them) are fantastic. Thing is though, they’re so good that they threaten to overshadow the new stuff that, in all but name, this compilation is a showcase of. The two 1988 classics, “Suedehead” and “Everyday is Like Sunday”, are pretty much flawless, and feature some of Morrissey’s best poetry as lyrics. His call for nuclear Armageddon in the latter song still strikes me as the most poignant enunciation of subjugated teenage angst I’ve heard.
Don’t buy this album. If you’re interested in discovering Morrissey, pick up a Smiths record and try one of his early solo albums, let’s say 1992’s “Your Arsenal”. If you want to know what Morrissey’s been up to post millennium, buy “You Are the Quarry”. If you hate Morrissey and want him to die, then don’t go to England. He still gets played on the radio there.
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