Morrissey - Years of Refusal
February 13th, 2009 | 4:00 pm est |
All the heavy lifting of his comeback finished, Morrissey settles into a robust middle age on Years of Refusal, an evocation of his thick Your Arsenal sound that doesn’t feel like a conscious re-creation — rather, this just is who Moz is, an old brawler who refuses to hang up his gloves or settle a grudge. The sound remains the same but the songs don’t quite: although this is also produced by Jerry Finn, this isn’t the deliberate revival of “You Are the Quarry,” all sharp edges and metallic sheen, the better to rope in the young emo kids who came of age after Maladjusted, nor is it the gentle prog pretensions of the Tony Visconti-produced Ringleader of the Tormented. Years of Refusal is comfortable in its settled nature, in its roaring guitars and swaying melodies, sometimes ratcheting up the aggression — especially so on the tight, compacted opener, “Something Is Squeezing My Skull” — but often just riding along, assured in its might and wit, never feeling the need to change for change’s sake.
Such conservatism has long been part of Morrissey’s makeup — when everybody pined for a synthesized future in the Thatcher/Reagan years, he sought refuge in the past — and now that he has people paying attention again, he’s fine with not changing the sound and writing songs about his happy middle-aged miserablism, a miserablism that increasingly feels like a device to fuel Morrissey’s satire. Morrissey has never been reluctant to turn his wit upon himself but he relishes sending up his moping persona and advancing age here, resulting in some excellent quips and asides, along with some nicely honed ballads like “You Were Good in Your Time.” Along with “That’s How People Grow Up,” where the perennially broken-hearted Moz acknowledges that there are worse things in life than never being someone’s sweetie, this song is the best example of how Morrissey is feeling his years — contrary to the implications within the album’s title, he’s not fretting about his age but throwing his arms around it, giving Years of Refusal a nicely comfortable feel that’s welcome after the slightly strident overtones of its predecessors. Nothing here is surprising, of course, but Years of Refusal is a full-bodied, full-blooded album that also happens to be fully realized — even if it is on a rather modest scale.
I supose you will give 3,5/5,0 for this album.
Better than Ringleader, but worse than You Are the Querry.
But it’s good anyway.
I much preferred Ringleader to You Are The Quarry…hopefully this is more in the vein of the former than the latter.
Hopefully more in the Arsenal vein as mentioned. At least he’s looking hot again.
I was able to get my hands on a copy of the album yesterday and I can say that this review is very accurate.
One virtue of the album, as with almost all of his albums, especially the greatest hits and singles collections, is that the songs flow together so well. Morrissey is a master at tracklisting and it shows through in this piece.
If you’re feeling adventurious, pick up the 45 for “i’m throwing my arms around paris”
This album is his best since Vauxhall and I. Quarry had many highlights; Ringleader was a disappointment IMO.
this album is the worst album in these days, i think that vauxhall and i is the best morrissey’s album in all time. he wouldn’t sing like in 93 again.
ringleader of the tormented?
Think of a left over Pudding outside of a Bakery refrigerated windown : you’ve got this record. Listening back to The Smiths and early Morrissey solo works, it’s painful to notice how much this man has become HEAVY. In the worse sense of the term.
no matter how hard i’ll try: i’ve never been able to give a negative feedback on any of morrissey’s work
Boy, that’s a lot of words just to say “Morrissey - more of the same.”
Step aside, diaper shit. A real album has finally been released.
Bought the CD on Tuesday, Have now listened to it 14 times since. I think it is arguably his best work since Arsenal. The drums are as heavy as they were back on the Vauxhall CD. I cannot get enough of this disc. I love the vocals (as always) but Moz is showing some great range here. He rocks out on most of the songs, sports a tremendous, practically angelic falsetto on another. I havent heard him sing this well in years and I really loved Ringleader better than Quarry.
All I can say is the man gets better with age and this album flat out rocks in very many ways I give it 5 of 5, get off your arsenal and go out and buy this!!
dang, I blew it!!
…of course one major screwup. “The drums are as heavy as they were back on the Vauxhall CD.”
I meant of course “the drums are as heavy as on the” SOUTHPAW GRAMMER CD!!