Suedehead (The Best Of Morrissey) [Remastered] - Morrissey > Reviews > Hey Purplelynne! Guess What I Got For Xmas!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	God
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

WHO'S THIS THEN?
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Aw, thanks for asking. It's Morrissey, king of no-mates, bedsitter-dwellling students of the 1980s. He started off life in the band The Smiths in 1983. When they split in 1987, he went solo the following year before sodding off to live in LA in 1997 amid accusations of racism (he was draped in a Union Jack at a concert singing a song called The National Front Disco). He returned this year with the acclaimed album You Are The Quarry and as Smash Hits would have said around 1986, he is back Back! BACK!!

WHAT'S HE SOUND LIKE?
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He's like Marmite. You either love him or you hate him. His monotone baritone voice can be rather appealing and he has a wicked way with a wry lyric. His detractors will call him depressing, boring or talentless. Now in his mid-40s he probably has just a couple more albums left until self-parody sets in.

WHAT'S THIS ALBUM ABOUT?
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It's a "best of" released in 1997 when his record company dropped him and thus squeezed the last drop of money they could from him. I got this for Xmas and know that the missus paid £2.99 for it in HMV! (She thought that was hilarious, naturally ). It collates all his solo singles and some album tracks from 1988 to 1995. I've rated the song out of five and added a TBM (Typical Bloody Morrissey) rating to prove his lyrics are mad/depressing/unintelligible (delete as applicable).

THE TRACKS
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1 Suedehead (1988)
Title track to this album and his first solo single after the Smiths split in 1987. This was released in 1988 and rocketed into the top ten (a harder thing to do in those days). It' a real thumping strummer of a track with ever so gentle fuzzy guitar and plonking piano pounding away in the background. If you took the vocals aways, you'd have the entire musical output of Keane in one track!
TBM: "You had to sneak into my room just to read my diary"
Mark: 9/10

2. Sunny (1995)
Some very Oasis-like strumming opens the track before some 60's Britpop-style drumming (ie simple and hi-tempo) comes in. It's not his greatest track by a long shot, but there's just enough interesting lyrics and arrangements here to keep you interested. Morrissey's not really known for his harder edged music but the outro starts to rock quite nicely until an ill-advised producer brings things to an early end.
TBM: "WIth your jean belt wrapped around your arm, oh my heart goes out to you"
Mark: 7/10

3. Boxers (1995)
This track has a lovely, catchy hook just before the chorus and it's a shame that a lot of people will never hear this because of their aversion to Morrissey. This mid-tempo stomper is a nice surprise and addition to this album and sems to represent mid-period Morrissey quite nicely.
TBM: "Your weary wife is walking away"
Mark: 8/10

4. Tomorrow (1992)
You'd think that by the bombast of the intro with its clanging guitars and clashing cymbals you might have accidentally walked into a Guns N Roses b-side, but no, it's stil Mozza. After the first verse and chorus are out of the way, Tomorrow settles down into a great jangly affair that reminds me a lot of the early Smiths' music. It's not immediately catchy, but the best songs never are, are they?
TBM: "Would you put your arms around me? I won't tell anybody"
Mark: 6/10

5. Interlude (1994)
Hey happy kids, this track is a duet between Morrissey and Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie And The Banshees. It's a gentle, piano and cello-led ballad with dramatic pauses and stop-start imagination. Almost a French torch song, Morrissey sounds more at home singing this type of tune than Siouxsie does. Great stuff and there's nothing else like this on the album which is a shame.
TBM: "What seems like an interlude now could be the beginning of love"
Mark: 7/10

6. Everyday Is Like Sunday (1988)
The best Morrissey solo track until Irish Blood English Heart was released this year. It's big, bold and has a catchy chorus with chiming guitars and lovely bass and strings that build and build up to the ecstatic choruses.
TBM: "Trudging slowly over wet sand back to the bench where your clothes were stolen"
Mark: 10/10

7. That's Entertainment (1991)
A bizarre addition to the album, this. It's a straightforward cover of the old Jam (Paul Weller) tune from 1980. Some of the observant lines of the original are missed out as Morrissey slows down the tempo of the original to suit his pleading voice. Although it's a bizarre track to include it works really well although it doesn't add a great deal to the original.
TBM: "Open the window and breathe in petrol"
Mark: 8/10

8. Hold Onto Your Friends (1994)
A nice jangly intro leads this song off as Morrissey mourns his way through the first verse. The drums come in at just the right time and the overall feel is that of the Pretenders' 2000 Miles with its melody. Despite this mighty comparison, the track never really goes anywhere, save for a couple of blistering build-ups to the choruses and a lovely guitar solo near the end. Not his best.
TBM: "Don't feel so ashamed to have friends"
Mark: 7/10

9. My Love Life (1991)
More acoustic jangliness starts this mid tempo track off. It's possibly the nearest this album has to the spirit of the Smiths with its deft chord changes and repeatedly sung title. This song seems to go on forever but somehow manages to not outstay its welcome as Morrissey wibbles and croons and adlibs to the end.
TBM: "I know you love one person so why don't you love two, love?"
Mark: 6/10

10. Interesting Drug (1989)
This is fabulous. Recorded and released in 1989 at the start of the dance-drug culture it's a real snipe at that scene. Where the Smiths' Panic had a go at dance music, this track attacks the culture. It's beautifully jangly and the bass is almost taking the piss out of the heavy bass used in most dance tracks of that time. The "la-la-la-la-la" lead up to the chorus is simple, melodic and brilliant. Great stuff.
TBM: "They're saving their own skins by ruining other people's lives"
Mark: 9/10

11. Our Frank (1991)
Coming on like a cross between Madness (bass and piano) and Buddy Holly (uh-ho a-ho-ho), this track is one of the less heard in Morrissey's catalogue. This is a shame, because the uplifting bridge of "give us a drink and make it quick" before the chorus reeally tops this great song. A hidden gem.
TBM: "You're frankly vulgar in a red pullover"
Mark: 8/10

12. Piccadilly Palare (1990)
More Madness-style music hall creativity allied to some cutting lyrics about central Manchester and the people that dwell there. The piano is tinny and effective and the uptempo beat suits the style of the rest of the instrumentation. In typical Morrissey style, it's over all too quickly and fades out at about two and a half minutes.
TBM: "We plied an interesting trade where we threw all life's instructions away".
Mark: 6/10

13. Ouija Board Ouija Board (1989)
Who said Morrissey was depressing? In keeping with the theme of the track, the song starts off with ghostly, ethereal vocals. It then perks up quite nicely into a great mid tempo Morrissey stormer. "The table is rocking, the glass is moving" he sings wryly throughout. He's a laugh ain't he?
TBM: "Ouija board would you help me because I still feel lonely"
Mark: 7/10

14. You're The One For Me Fatty (1992)
Knowing Morrissey this is song is either about: a) being so ugly and having to settle for someone in his life who is clinically obese, or b) a war-cry to all overweight people to stand up and be proud. The lyrics don't really give much away, but the music is absolutely top drawer, being as it is, an uptempo thumper in the style of The Smiths' This Charming Man. Great stuff.
TBM: "You're the one I really really love and I will stay"
Mark: 7/10

15. We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (1992)
He's right. My old school mate won the lottery in 1997. He's a bastard. Great song, though.
TBM: "We hate it when our friends become successful and if they're Northern, that makes it even worse"
Mark: 8/10

16. The Last Of The Famous Intrenational Playboys (1989)
This is just great. A real piss take of the glamour criminals like the Krays and Dave Courtney who've made their fortune (whilst either imprisoned or free) out of books of their memoirs. It's a slower-paced track and the nagging guitar just adds to the sarcasm of this track. Brill.
TBM: "Reggie Kraaaaaay - do you know my name?"
Mark: 10/10

17. Pregnant For The Last Time (1991)
Quirky, offbeat jungle rhythms and skiffle guitars start us off here. Mozza's vocals are distant and echoed here and it sounds a lot like I Started Something I Couldn't Finish by the Smiths. Almost 50's rockabilly in execution this is a good, creative idea gone very bad.
TBM: "Chips with cream for the last time the People's Friend for the last time"
Mark: 4/10

OVERALL
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As a chronicler of inner-angst, self loathing and loneliness, there are few better than Stephen Patrick Morrissey.

However, there are a couple of glaring omissions from this set, but overall if you're new to Morrissey or liked the singles he's released this year, I'd recommend this album as a start.

Thanks for reading

Wayne