Morrissey has never made it easy on people who prefer to separate art from artist, but that was often part of his appeal. Even during his star-making days with The Smiths—a magical five-year run in the ‘80s that resulted in the band’s canonization—the singer was known for forcefully speaking his mind about pretty much anything that popped into it. He wasn’t just a faceless singer in a beloved indie band, but a spokesman for the sullen—a celibate vegetarian who hated the monarchy (among other things) but also advocated fiercely for things he loved and believed in. (The Queen = bad; Oscar Wilde = good.) It’s a big part of why he was both deeply loved and frequently reviled.
His solo years—30-plus at this point—have been even trickier, as Morrissey’s real-world pronouncements have flirted with racism and xenophobia, displaying a shocking lack of empathy. He called the Chinese a “subspecies” for their treatment of animals, he may or may not have pooh-poohed the sexual-assault allegations against Kevin Spacey, and he has recently declared his support for a British political party that has a deep fear of Muslims at the core of its platform. He wore a For Britain—that’s the group—lapel pin on a recent Jimmy Fallon appearance, which was either a stunt to promote his new album or a brazen dare to his longtime fans to finally abandon him. A third and more upsetting reason: He believes in For Britain, and he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks or feels about it.
So what does all of that have to do with what ought to be the most innocuous kind of release—an all-covers album—for an aging pop hero to make? Well, besides the obvious question of whether fans will want to remain allegiant to a singer whose values presumably fall far from their own, there’s actually something pointed in some of the songs that Morrissey has chosen for California Son. It’s almost as if he wants people to know that he hasn’t transformed completely into a right-wing loon, and that he still supports some of the progressive causes he always has. To wit: One doesn’t cover Joni Mitchell’s free-flowing, fantastic “Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow” because of its great chorus—it has none—but because it’s a nuanced, painfully smart exploration of feminism. Similarly, there’s no pop-song upside to tackling Bob Dylan’s “Only A Pawn In Their Game.” You do it because it’s a statement about the futility of racism and the pain of American racial history. Elsewhere, Morrissey covers Buffy Sainte-Marie and Phil Ochs, both known as much for their progressive activism as their music. This doesn’t seem like coincidence.
“But what about the music itself?” Morrissey will surely ask with frustration while reading this and every other review of California Son that mentions his worldview. Most of it’s quite good. The aforementioned Mitchell cover works surprisingly well considering its level of difficulty, though the Dylan composition—like many Dylan songs of its type—doesn’t really get off the ground in spite of a strong vocal performance. Roy Orbison’s “It’s Over” is fantastically bombastic in Morrissey’s hands; someday when he decides to do a Vegas residency—which should happen—it’ll be a showstopper. The same goes for Jobriath’s “Morning Starship,” a Bowie-influenced slice of ’70s pomp.
Morrissey has always championed underdogs like Jobriath, and his taste in music is impeccable. He’s been a historian since he was a teenager writing to the British music papers to slag one artist and boost another, so the only thing surprising about an album filled with largely obscure covers is that he didn’t do it sooner. Another highlight is “Wedding Bell Blues,” complete with backing vocals from Billie Joe Armstrong, one of many guests on the album. The roster also includes LP, Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, and Petra Haden. Ariel Engle of Broken Social Scene sings on “Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow,” but after being schooled on Morrissey’s recent political leanings, she publicly expressed regret for participating.
And there they are again: Morrissey’s politics interrupting the enjoyment of his music—though that’s nobody’s fault but his. Some of For Britain’s views line up with the empathetic Morrissey that his fans know: The group is pro-gay rights (though anti-transgender) and pro-animal rights. But it’s also vociferously beholden to the Great Britain of old, and nearly every other position that it takes comes off as nationalistic and xenophobic, with specific aspects of fundamental Islam apparently causing them the most panic. Morrissey has historically fancied himself a free thinker and a true outsider; it’s just a shame that he’s had to go outside the bounds of decency and empathy in recent years.
It’s always been complicated to be his fan, but it was a fandom that could be worn with a certain amount of pride, even (or especially) in its meekness. “It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate / It takes guts to be gentle and kind,” sang 27-year-old Morrissey. It’s a sentiment that 60-year-old Morrissey could use reminding of.
Without the baggage of his political views—which is where the letter grade on this review comes from—California Son would be a worthy addition to a mostly stellar catalog, offering insight into a great singer and lyricist’s taste and breathing new life into mostly forgotten songs. But those who can’t or won’t separate the songs from the performer can’t and shouldn’t be blamed for finding something else with which to stimulate their eardrums—nor could they be blamed for wishing that Morrissey had simply disappeared from public view before entering his foot-in-mouth period.
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The definitive statement about Morrissey was made in 1989 by a Denver band called the Warlock Pinchers
Okay, let’s once again consult the wikiHow titled: How To Deal With It When A Controversial Musical Genius Starts Promoting Far-Right Political Ideas That Dehumanise Entire Races And Religions:1) Don’t buy their music.2) Don’t listen to their music.3) Don’t go to their concerts.4) Don’t moan about how hard it is to do 1), 2) and 3).5) Don’t book them on your TV shows.6) Don’t review them on your websites.7) Do enjoy the vast majority of music that isn’t produced by racist, xenophobic cretins.
Don’t click and comment on articles involving them if you’re so against it?I still like The Smiths, but not so much Morrissey’s solo stuff. I won’t really be supporting him, but if a Smith’s song comes up on Spotify or something I’m ok with him getting the .000001¢ from my listen. People donate to Trump and intentionally don’t recycle. I’m ok with myself and this.
Don’t click and comment on articles involving them if you’re so against it?Maybe to vocally protest the idea of giving this fucking asshole more ink?
I missed the part about him being an asshole. He’s anti-religious. Anytime you want to compare atheist assholes to religious assholes, I’m all for it.
The problem is that Morrissey is using his legacy and the platform it gives him to promote some absolutely vile people who are doing real harm to Britain. There’s been a massive spike in racist crimes since 2016 – people being shouted at in the street, having headscarfs ripped off, being beaten, being murdered. There’s a growing number of far-right groups like For Britain and Tommy Robinson’s thugs trying to legitimise the Islamophobia behind these crimes. Many of them are standing for election as MEPs around Britain today, and may do quite well.And Morrissey is right there promoting them, smirking at the ‘controversy’ of it all, confident that he’ll still get a hearing because he played some decent mopey tunes a few decades ago.Anne Marie Waters, leader of For Britain, has described Islam as evil and as “a culture that does not fit with ours”.Waters thanked Morrissey this week for raising the profile of the party. “I can tell you that the traffic to our website exploded with the story breaking of you wearing the For Britain button badge,” she said. “I hope to meet you one day.”Source.
He’s perhaps a mild stressor on what’s occurring nowadays and not helping, but I don’t think he’s at all solely to blame. I mean it’s good to keep that in mind, but it’s not like eating at Chick-fil-A, going to Hobby Lobby, watching Fox News etc.
Celebrities can help to move the Overton window, though. Groups outside the mainstream love to claim that “we’ve got ___ on our side”, giving them some reflected fame and legitimacy. Look at Jenny McCarthy and the anti-vaxxers.
“During the Vietnam War, which lasted longer than any war we’ve ever been in – and which we lost – every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.” – Kurt Vonnegut
That’s different in a way because the war itself didn’t originate as a grassroots (or quasi-grassroots) shift of opinion wanting war.It’s hard to end a war through of popular opinion because popular opinion doesn’t really start them in the first place. The government seeks to stoke public support, but doesn’t actually need it.On the other hand, something like public acceptance of racism (or public opposition to vaccines) are the kinds of things that can be popularized by celebs promoting or normalizing those stances.
Prejudice is a pretty inherent part of human nature, so I don’t think people need celebs promoting racism to express it. Trump’s success seems to me like a symptom rather than a cause of popularizing racism.
McCarthy alone didn’t mainstream anti-vax stuff: the first Wakefield paper was widely reported and that really set things off. If there was a celebrity I’d credit/blame for spreading anti-vax nonsense it’s Oprah, who gave McCarthy a platform for her batshittery.
The Wakefield quack paper was widely ooh-ed and aah-ed over by the BBC science coverage without the usual penchant for following the money. The conclusion of nonconfirmation didn’t help, because it only set off more widespread ooh-ing and aah-ing. I think it was far more successful than Wakefield could ever have imagined.
doing real harm to BritainI’d rephrase “doing real harm to The British”, because Britain has always been Perfidious Albion.
If you can, check out Johnny Marr’s solo shows. He does around 6 Smiths songs, and the guy can sing. Puts on a great show.
Seconded. Johnny Marr was the real talent behind The Smiths, Morrissey was just the front-man. Listen to the stuff he did with The Pretenders, The The, Modest Mouse, etc, if you want to hear a musical genius.
Marr is getting increasingly good and capable as a front man. I would say that “Hi Hello” from his new album Calling the Comet is as good as any B level Smiths’ song. And that a high bar to cross. Hi body of work as a solo artist is very good and constantly improving. At the rate he’s going, in 2 albums he will be where Moz was a decade a go (and thats an accomplishment he’s been hit or miss since).
And he’s not a cunt.
People who don’t like something are thoroughly within their rights and reasoning to say something about it. I’ve never understood this kind of response in a comments section. It’s just bizarre to me.
K
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Smiths’ albums (to which anyone with taste has all of already) and Morrissey’s Bona Drag is really all one needs. Years of refusal was good though. But his politics make me sick. And I DO believe one should be mindful of an artist’s politics as financially supporting that artist is, in every sense, propping their beliefs and giving their platform credibility.
8) Endlessly tell anyone and everyone that you no longer listen to problematic celeb, otherwise, people won’t know how woke you are.
But be super edge-lord, like you? 😉
3) Don’t go to their concerts.Fans or not, few people go to the rare, not-cancelled Morrissey concert.
He cancelled on at least 3 concerts I had tickets to. Have some chicken soup, Morrissey you’ll feel better.
Have some chicken soup, MorrisseyHow dare you even suggest Moz eats the flesh from such a beloved fowl. Now he’s going to cancel every concert you buy a ticket for… not just his concerts mind you.
I get that you’re trying to be disrespectful to this chap, but in doing so you’re being disrespectful to everyone who excludes meat from their diet. Don’t be like him.
You are right. I do apologize. I was trying to be funny and didn’t think about that. My mistake.
Sure. I think we all need a reminder now & then. I do. 🙂
And the ones that do are largely Latino. Maybe Josh should explain to them why they’re terrible people.
Saw him (for the third time) at Red Rocks four years ago, and it was very nearly full.
I thought all thinking people opposed Islam these days. I’d like to know what you think is so great about it: compared to say, the Tea Party.
He does do a good song though.I think I’ll keep buying his music.
♪♩ I am the son
And the heir
Of some comments on a site that uses Kinja… ♪♩
I would argue that the majority of musicians are racist, xenophobic, genocidal or otherwise deeply, deeply flawed people because I believe that more than half of the human beings that currently live on Earth fit those same classifications.To say that a vast majority of people/recording artists/anyone aren’t xenophobic and/or racist in ways big or small is one hell of a claim that I think is deeply untrue. I’ll bet most of the music you listen to is made by people at least as shitty as those who produce the music I listen to (and no, I am not a Morrissey or Smiths fan, but I do like heavy metal, which means I have to wade through misogynists and literal Nazis as I examine the music that sounds good to me)
Hmmm…which brings me more pleasure: Morrissey and his music or the dubious rewards of virtue signalling to my more-liberal-than-thou acquaintances? I’m gonna go with Moz. He’s been with me through everything, and the whole making sure I dot all my liberal i’s and cross my proving-I’m-woke-enough t’s is a war nobody can win. Seriously, when nobody’s watching, how much do you really care and how much do you want to make sure you’re perceived by the right people as caring about all the right things and as being appalled by all the wrong things?
8) Don’t suggest they ought to have a Vegas residency, unless said residency is in a trailer park.
… the fact that he isn’t kissing the ass of a barbaric, homophobic religion does not at all make him “far right”. Religion is an idea, not a race. Everyone should be HIGHLY critical of all religions and not give a free pass to some religions when it becomes trendy to do so.
If I were only to read, listen to, and look at the works of artists whose politics, beliefs, and actions I always condoned, I’m not sure what would be left to me.
Or just listen on Spotify so the least amount of actual money is going to the reviled musician.
I like this record…but I seriously did not want to actually buy it, because Morrissey’s worldview has become so seriously fucked-up. You’d think being from a family of Irish immigrants would educate him on what exactly all this “England for the English” crap was about…but I guess he feels all assimilated or something.
(Note: if this were 20 years ago and there were still Big Chain Record Stores, stealing the CD would be another viable alternative. Can’t even do that anymore…)
oh fuck right off. you don’t get to tell me that i don’t get to be upset when a musician who has meant the world to me for more than half my life turns into a complete shithead. i grew up on the smiths and his solo records. they’re part of the fabric of my days. they got me through some awful times. i skipped his last local show and if i ever meet him i’m going to tell him off. none of that means i don’t get to be upset.fuck you.we hate it when our friends become reactionaries.
“A third and more upsetting reason: He believes in For Britain, and he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks or feels about it.”This is it. The dude loves animals more than he likes people and For Britain won him over due to their opposition to the fairly brutal practices of halal slaughter and their generally ethical stances on animal abuse.
Then work tirelessly for factory farming and other animal abuses within or without a non-racist, non-xenophobic framework. It’s not like PETA or Mercy For Animals endorses For Britain scumbags.
I’m not arguing that it is good to join For Britain. I am explaining their appeal to a guy like Morrissey, who’s single issue seems to be animal rights.
He’s not a single issue guy. He’s been vocalizing his white nationalist beliefs since the 80s.
PETA is not an organization to look up to or support either.
80% of halal meat in the UK comes from stunned meat. Thats where the animal is stunned unconscious before the ‘brutal practice of halal slaughter’ takes place.Halal meat is slaughtered exactly the same as Jewish Kosher meat, yet most of the kosher meat thats slaughtered in the UK is not from stunned meat.Yet far-right groups don’t care about the above facts, the above facts get in the way of a good anti-Muslim story. These guys claim to care about animal rights yet you hardly hear a peak out of them about kosher meat. Complaints about kosher meat may fall into the anti-antisemitism area and thats a whole different ballgame of hate.see following:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/30/halal-slaughter-more-humane-animal-welfare-lancashireThese groups usually only care about animal rights when it comes to Muslim practices and pay lip service to dubious practices throughout the meat industry.
Uh, they have the same beef with Kosher meat. It’s just that nobody cares about that in Britain because British Jews are far more worried about Corbyn than a party that doesn’t poll well or have any real support.
“Uh, they have the same beef with Kosher meat.”…and chicken and turkey and venison. No bacon though.
While there may be some hypocrisy in his stance the fact that the UK Muslim population is ten times the size of the Jewish population might also have something to do with it.
Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-semite, pass it on!
Morrissey’s stance on animal rights is pretty bonkers too. He recently had a tirade over a proposal in Australia for a cull of the country’s booming feral cat population, likening it to – in his words -“killing a million Cecil the Lions”
Sure, feral cats and Cecil the Lion are technically of the same species and are both adorable in their own way but Cecil the Lion was minding his own business in his natural habitat whereas Australia’s feral cats are an introduced species who are at the top of the food chain. Morrissey’s analogy only really works if someone were to release a million wild lions onto the streets of Salford and the Greater Manchester Area and in the interests of science and if i can gain enough financial backing, I propose to do just that.Let’s see if Moz still feels the same way then!
This is bullshit. Just so any non-Brits ignorant of our political parties can understand this, For Britain are not ‘pro-gay’ in any meaningful sense whatsoever, they just use that as a talking point to bash the(admittedly fucking hideous) treatment of gays in Islamic countries. Ditto animal rights. They’re made up of football hoolies, thugs, the scum that even UKIP won’t let join, people who twenty years ago would have been gay-bashers. They are as far to the right as you can get. This review, if anything, paints far too nuanced a picture of them.
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His solo years—30-plus at this point—have been even trickier, as Morrissey’s real-world pronouncements have flirted with racism and xenophobia, displaying a shocking lack of empathy. He called the Chinese a “subspecies” for their treatment of animals, he may or may not have pooh-poohed the sexual-assault allegations against Kevin Spacey, and he has recently declared his support for a British political party that has a deep fear of Muslims at the core of its platform. Hey, guess fucking what: THIS ISN’T FLIRTING.
I’m sure this would get SOMEONE hot. The world’s a big place!
That’s like saying participating in all-male orgies is flirting with homosexuality.
Seriously. I was waiting for the part where we learn about Morrissey’s – uh – controversial and very public support of a politician who describes Islam as ‘evil.’ Yeah, the evidence is in: Morrissey is just your average sad-sack bigot.
Throw him out with the bath water. Fuck this crypto-fascist.
I haven’t looked at the track list, but having kept up on his shit headed takes, it wouldn’t surprise me if he covered Hail the New Dawn on this record.
There’s a Skewdriver song in there.
It shouldn’t have, but this legit made me laugh.It reminds me of a few years ago there was an article in The Guardian titled “Hail the new Republican Dawn” . . . I screen capped it and shared it with lots of friends. It’s additionally funny knowing how many people read it and didn’t get the reference.
I’ll still listen to All Skrewed Up if it pops up in the shuffle. Never really felt bad about it either.
Fuck this self-righteous, Nazi-apologist bellend. He was overrated in the Smiths, and he sure as hell is overrated now.
Like Danzig, part of the appeal of Morrissey is his over the top-ness. He’s a button pusher.
I’d also argue that The Smiths are one of the greatest rock bands of all time, mostly due to Johnny Marr’s song writing. But that’s just me.
I’m a Smiths fan from way back and I always thought Morrissey was nothing without Johnny Marr. PS: Johnny Marr is touring and is spectacular in concert.
I’d agree with this mostly. There is something about Morrissey’s lyrics that definitely play a big part. His ability to be poetic and self-deprecating is not nothing, but pair it with a lesser-than guitar player/songwriter and it will become clear how important Marr was/is to that formula.I saw Marr twice last year when he came to the Pacific NW. He was outstanding both shows. At this point if you love The Smiths and don’t want the Morrissey baggage, going to see Johnny Marr is the way to go. His band was stellar and he played a great mix of his solo material with previous works mixed in. I loved it.
good coment
How did I miss the fact that Modell is writing for AVC again?Oh, and Morrissey sucks.
Hes like 90 years old, he is going to swing a bit to the right.
So, given that his musical output has been in a steady decline since the turn of the century (frankly, his solo material is always hit or miss, it’s just been way more miss in the last 20 years) it has become relatively easy for me to just shake my head and then ignore the old Mozzer when he says his problematic (read: fucking awful) statements. That said, I always give a listen when new stuff is released. As Mr. Modell says “It’s Over” is pretty bombastic fantastic. I like “I Thought You were Dead” as well. I’m sure I will give this a listen, then promptly ignore it.I’ll still go back to the classics every now and then.
“has been in a steady decline since the turn of the century”Not strictly accurate. Low in High School is incredz.
Admittedly I have only listened to that album three times. But I didn’t enjoy it any of those times.Ringleader of the Tormentors was the last one I mostly enjoyed. But I am probably being generous to it.
Agreed that World Peace… and Years of Refusal are easily discarded.I think Ringleader of the Tormentors is like a crazy 50/50 that almost alternates from great to meh every other track.100% unabashedly love Low in High School.
Really though, his entire Solo career is probably 50/50. He has a bunch of great to excellent to near perfect songs. But the ones that aren’t are generally pretty skippable. I’ll give Low in High School another go eventually. But first California Son!
I’m Mexican so it’s embedded in my DNA to Love Morrissey. His Music has always been there for me. I dont agree with a lot of his personal shit but his music helped me through a deep depression and I will forever be in debt to him. I heard a few tracks of this album, not bad. Get it or don’t people, however you feel is okay.
Legit question: is loving Morrissey a Mexican thing? Listening to Morrissey or the Smiths while depressed seems like a general angsty youth thing (see also Chris Gethard).
It is a generally angsty youth thing, but Morrissey also has had a disproportionately large Mexican and Mexican-American fanbase for years. If you’re interested in taking a deep dive into the reasons why (e.g. the similarities between the themes in his music and those of traditional Mexican folk songs, his active cultivation of Mexican fandom), check out this Washington Post piece:https://beta.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/08/why-do-mexican-americans-love-morrissey-so-much/?outputType=amp
I grew up listening to older spanish pop music (Jose Jose, Juan Gabriel, Rocio Durcal) hip-hop and oldies (El Sereno East LA raised) my older sister was the same then one day she started listening to the Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order and the Smiths/Morrissey. The parallels between new wave/post punk and sad old pop songs was incredible. melancholy ballads about love and loss. It spoke to me and many Mexican/latino/latinX people. I was saying that kinda tongue and cheek like in Antman and Wasp the Luis character (Michael Pena) mentions it but there is definitely some truth to it. As for listening to said music when one is sad and depressed at least in my case, it let me know I wasnt alone and that many people feel this way even rich pop stars. I found more strength in that than any song asking me to waive my hands in the air. But that’s me.
This was so cool to read. I had never heard that about Mexican or latin people loving Morrissey and the like, but it makes sense.
I was born and raised in a Mexican neighborhood and never met one single Mexican Morrissey or Smiths fan. Idk.
Have you not seen Ant-Man 2?Luis wasn’t kidding about any of that.
What’s with all the cover song albums? You got shit like Weezer’s note-for-note versions of “Africa” and “Take On Me” and now this?
It’s been going on for ages. I guess at least it’s a break from Rod Stewart croaking the classics.
British racists are so fucking hypocritical. Like, you built a worldwide empire by conquering the lands of black and brown people, and now you’re pissed when they sit next to you on the tube? you plundered their resources for 500 years and now are worried they’ll take your job? Fuck off, mate.
not to excuse the entirely fucked up paradigms of american racism….
And hopefully not to excuse the entirely fucked up hypocrisy of Muslims calling out others for their imperial histories. Islam started in a small corner of the Arabian peninsula and within a few centuries had empires stretching from Africa to the Pacific Islands and I hate to break it to you, but those people didn’t convert because they saw the light, they converted because they were given a choice to convert or die and, spoiler alert, people really prefer being alive. If they were even given a choice instead of being slaughtered outright. Islam has been murdering, pillaging, raping and enslaving its way across the globe for almost 1400 years. If you want to cry about history, let’s cover it all and from all sides. You’re gonna find nobody looks very good, so fuck off to you to, “mate”.
Not to mention that Britain started out lo these thousands of years ago invaded by the Angles, Saxons, Picts, Celts, etc. Not even mentioning the Romans and various flavors of French.
When they sit next to you on the tube and then blow it up you mean?
Are they as hypocritical as the Muslims that want to play victim after 1400 years of their bloody crusade to convert the world to their religion? British imperialism is a blink of the eye compared with the nearly millennia and a half list of atrocities, butchery, and theft of land committed by the followers of Islam. The reason you’re on the tube with me is because you chose my culture over your own. I’d think about that for a bit before you start throwing the word hypocrisy around.
Morrissey is a fairly terrible human being.No other single cultural icon has affected me so profoundly.Both of those things are true.The world is complicated.
I’ve long since accepted that many of my favorite artists are horrible people who would hate me if they met me (and likely vice versa).
You put your personal feelings over the lives and safety of others. The world ain’t so complicated. You just don’t want to move forward.
Bullshit has been coming out of Morrissey’s mouth for years. No one is dead because of it.
You cannot prove that him amplifying bullshit hate speech hasn’t caused a death.And what a low bar for society you hold. As long as no one dies be a piece of shit. You need to think about your place in the world, son.
1. I’m not your son, so shove your condescension right up your ass.2. Morrissey isn’t exactly the most influential person in the world, and half the shit that comes out of his mouth is designed to get a reaction – and idiots like you freak out over it. Worry about people who can cause real damage in society and not a singer who peaked in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Good thing those little x-wings can’t cause real damage to the Empire. What is it like to play yourself so hard? Either small actions can cause large consequences, or you chose a name admitting you are inefneffective and impotent. Either way, you have a lot in life to learn. Later to your hate speech apologizing ass.Son.
I love you.
Morrissey is a fine human being, and he really hasn’t changed. He won’t kiss your ass and conform to popular opinion out of fear, and he won’t keep his mouth closed. The “woke” sheep criticize him today for the same reasons they idolized him in the past.
He literally wrote (and still performs) a song that is anti-nationalist.
He’s a white nationalist. If you don’t want to support white nationalism, stop supporting Morrissey.
Some staffer at Jimmy Fallon must be going through Rolaids like candy with 2015 flashbacks. Feelings about Morrissey aside, I can enjoy a good cover, especially if they involve some of my favorite pop songs of all time like “Wedding Bell Blues.” Unfortunately that and “Lady Willpower” (another classic – Gary Puckett had such a unique and rich voice) both sound a bit too sterile and machine-like.“Over You” is better, although I kept thinking the voice at the start was Kate McKinnon.
It’s so tedious hearing people bitch about his politics. Just don’t fucking listen to him if it’s such a problem for you. He’s not a politician, he’s not making laws.
Fuck this. There are WAY too many excellent musicians out there to not have to waste your time supporting the bigoted pieces of shit like Morrissey.
Look at all the little snow flakes melting in their own self righteous stew!
“Without the baggage of his political views—which is where the letter grade on this review comes from”Jesus. This is why I quit coming here. I’m troubled nobody sees this as a huge huge problem. The ideological obsession on this site has gotten totally out of control. This used to be my favorite place in the world and I’ve been completely driven out from being mostly very on the left instead of extremely crazily on the left.
AV Club music reviewers were never their strong suit anyway, especially the Morrissey ones (the World Peace review still drives me up the wall when I think about it), but to flat out admit you’re not reviewing the album but rather some various opinions you disagree with from the artist instead…How can you review ANYBODY’S work here? Is everybody held to this standard? Every single person? How can you even keep track? What happens if you give a good review to someone and then the next day they say an opinion you dislike? Should you change it? So you can see the most brilliant film in years but if the director likes some politician you don’t like, the film gets downgraded? So following this logic, I should trust AV Club for reviews on art and have faith in its assessment of quality?AV Club is just proud of the fact that it is no longer the place for honest and insightful criticism of art, but rather some sort of thought police on the artists it chooses to write off, and that truly makes me sad. It really does. I think about this a lot because I spent countless hours here for many years. It’s absolutely tragic what this site has become. And as you may guess, I’m obviously not referring to this one single article, but it’s more a straw that broke the camel’s back situation. I couldn’t take it anymore. After spending all of my time here through most of my 20s, I haven’t clicked on a link to AV Club in maybe 2 years, but broke that today for this pitiful comment that I’m sure will be met with disdain and insults. ‘Twas ever thus.
By the way, after a quick skim through the other comments here, the level of vitriol and hatred and hyperbole and moral panic is staggering to me. This place used to bring me so much joy. There used to be people with great senses of humor and fascinating takes on tv, movies, etc. I can’t believe the level of discourse here now. It’s appalling. It’s one main reason I left a few years ago, but I had hoped maybe things calmed down. Wow. Goodbye now and forever. Yes you’ve made yourselves very plain.
“with specific aspects of fundamental Islam apparently causing them the most panic”Serious question, but do you not understand why a gay or bi man may be panicked about the doctrines of fundamental Islam? Is this such a mystery? I can’t tell if this is some sort of naivety or self delusion so you can appear tolerant or something here. This sentence reads as if it’s some superstition and not literal facts about the religion. And it’s worded so vaguely (“specific aspects”..like?), why not say it, since it’s impacting your review and is the very central thesis of the review? Form some sort of coherent argument or thoughtful essay instead of vaguely calling Morrissey a racist.The same man would be right to be panicked about fundamental Christian doctrines, or any religion that has homophobia written into it. Morrissey was also panicked about anti-gay sentiment in England growing up, many of his songs are about this, as you’re probably aware. Why should he now not care about anti-gay sentiments?Islam is an extremely conservative religion, so to accuse Morrissey of being on the far right because he may have issues with it is weird and deeply confuses the issue. And you know? People are allowed to not like religions. I don’t like most religions. I am allowed to have these opinions. I was born Jewish and I dislike aspects of the Jewish religion, especially the Orthodox kind, which can be oppressive to women. I don’t like Christianity. AV Club mocks religions like this constantly. I don’t like religion mostly as a concept, I think it causes so much harm. It’s ridiculous to exclude a fairly intolerant and conservative religion like Islam because of fears over seeming racist. It doesn’t make any sense. Just be honest with these things, there’s way too much muddling of the issues here. And by the way, it does nothing but harm to Muslims who are trying to escape these cultures, or help to reform or modernize the religion. It makes their job so much harder. At least, that’s what all of them say, all the time, to anyone who will listen. I’m no expert though. Just a weird sentence in this review is all.
“[H]e may or may not have pooh-poohed the sexual-assault allegations against Kevin Spacey”.Risky business.
“…with specific aspects of fundamental Islam apparently causing them the most panic”— in Morrissey’s case, I assume it’s the belief, officially the law in a dozen Muslim countries, that homosexuals should be stoned to death? Or the fact that a poll of British Muslims commissioned by the BBC found that 52 percent think homosexuality should be illegal in the UK?
All Moz did was wear a little pin on a lapel and every panty gets a twisted knot? No one would have even noticed or cared. What about the amazing Jobriah & Buffy St Marie covers, songs that only Morrissey could dare bring to a much-needed modern light? This is the album his real fans have been waiting for. His passionate voice remains unlike any other.
He’s a terrific singer, a powerful lyricist, and has changed the world of music. He has also voiced horrible, often contridictoy political opinions. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the latter. I wouldn’t vote him to be dog catcher, but that doesn’t change my opinion of his music.That said, I don’t really care for this album, and I have enjoyed every one of his previous solo releases, even Low In High School, which I thought was much better than reviewers decided it was. Apart from its souding overproduced (and even a little desperate) I don’t really see the point of Morrissey doing a whole covers album. It’s like if William Burroughs had released an audiobook reading other people’s short stories. Sure, I’d have listened to that once, just to see what he did with the material, but I doubt I would have listened a second time.
I mean, of course, contradictory 🙂
It doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to pass on an inessential covers album by an openly racist shithead. Some of you will jump through hoops to keep supporting an artist who was only passably decent in the 80s though
Seriously I thought this was a music review? Youre like McCarthy era douchebags, did you throw out all your Tupac albums or are you a misogynist? Did you not listen to Kanyes album or are you a Trump supporter, how bout George Michael did you turn gay ?? Grow the F up you children obviously the musics not for you if you need to dissect it also Beyonce’s Lemonade is not for you nor Solange cuz they actually said that … im a gay black Briton who grew up and loves Morrisey hes a dick sometimes but that doesn’t change his music. I came hear for a music review not a white ciz hetero liberals virtue signaling and deriding someones album because you believe differently than he does…
I’m sick and tired of racism being combined with being anti-religion. Religions are not racial, they’re a set of beliefs people chose to believe and they’re based in fantasy bullshit. Being anti-religion doesn’t make someone a hate monger, being a muslim or a christian that wants to kill people for not sharing their beliefs or because a passage in one of their little books tells them being gay, or a woman, is wrong is being a hate monger. Islam, and all religion, is poison to the human mind. It doesn’t deserve respect, it requires treatment. Having that stance doesn’t even make him far right. I’m a leftist and a socialist and I have no respect for religion and we should be worried about it’s spread. Islamic extremism is the most obvious threatening form of religion today and is often the example and for good reason. People can say it’s a small minority of the followers of Islam, but that’s just nonsense. Islamic militants are waging global war against the west and their own secular societies across at least 4 continents. That’s not possible without billions in training, equipment, intelligence, safe havens, and support on every level from local communities to governments like Pakistans and the house of Saud. Speaking out against it doesn’t make you controversial and it doesn’t make you a far right wing loon. Israel is an apartheid state run by a religious cult. Saying that doesn’t make me an anti-semitic nazi. It means I have eyes, ears, and a functioning brain.
This is all par for the course. Morrissey’s been making great music for almost forty years, and has had extremely racist beliefs the whole time. They aren’t mutually exclusive. Viva Hate is a great album, and trapped within it is a disgustingly vile anti-immigrant song (Bengali in Platforms). Your Arsenal has a(n admittedly good) song called The National Front Disco. You either choose to compartmentalize his awful beliefs and separate them from the music, or you don’t. Personally I’ll always love his music but will never defend his beliefs.
Just read Nick Cave’s essay on Morrissey. If you can’t separate the art from the artist, you’re an immature child who needs to grow up. Once the artist releases the music it’s not “theirs” anymore. It’s yours. Enjoy it. If you want to make some sort of “look at me” political point by protesting every thing you disagree with, you literally cannot watch any movie ever without being a hypocrite. Somewhere in that five-minute long list of credits is a “bad person” whom you’d think is evil if you knew every single thing they did in their life. There are certainly people involved in the making of the movie whose politics you would find noxious, cretinous, wrong, evil, etc.