Morrissey - Years of Refusal
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
Morrissey has been an important piece of my musical soundscape since before he had a solo career, but over the years I’ve learned not to build up my expectations. From the beginning Viva Hate and Bona Drag set the bar pretty high and I can remember when Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I were on heavy rotation, but most of the stuff from his other albums has failed to impress. And then in 2004, Morrissey staged a “comeback.” It seemed more like a long hiatus to me, but You Are the Quarry was received like a comeback and, excluding any of the aforementioned releases, it was definitely his best album. Then came Ringleader of the Tormentors, which was more critically acclaimed, but it just wasn’t as good. Years of Refusal is better than both of those albums.
The disc starts out with the only bad song, “Something Is Squeezing My Skull,” a track that has such a bad chorus that even a recitation of medications can’t save it. Lately, the choruses in Morrissey’s songs are where any problems reside…the issues with “Skull” are the words and the delivery, but in the other songs there is frequently a tonal shift to a more cheery direction when the music should remain somber. The next two songs, “Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed” and “Black Cloud” both exemplify this to a slight degree, but they remain two of the best tracks on this album. “I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris” follows with the type of sentiment that Morrissey does best. Another one of the better tracks, “When Last I Spoke to Carol,” comes later, and it’s an almost spaghetti-western departure complete with roosters crowing, whistling and subtly powerful horns. The horns show up again in “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell” before the album takes a breather and slows down for a couple songs. The album speeds back up for the end, but none of the remaining songs are remarkable in any way.
- Score
- 78%
It’s been fifteen years since an equally compelling release from Morrissey and, if you consider yourself a fan, Years of Refusal should not be missed.
