You Are The Quarry

Rejected alternate titles: (1) "Morrissey's Pseudo-Intellectual Musings About the State of the World, Delivered with the Subtlety and Nuance of a Monkey Operating a Chainsaw," (2) "In Which Morrissey Paradoxically Accuses Other People of Being Boring," (3) "Morrisey Finds a Way to Whine About His Press Clippings on What Feels Like Every Song," (4) "We give up, Morrissey - just put something that sounds like you're simultaneously threatening and seducing the consumer, and we'll Photoshop a Tommy Gun into your hand later. Signed, The Producers." Best track: First of the Gang to Die

I Cannot Fucking Wait Til Morrissey Dies

Oh, I am the quarry, am I? I'm not sure what villainous plans you have for me Morrissey, but I'm only half interested in what you have to say. Are you planning on drilling into me? It that your twisted fantasy, is it? To have me, ME! covered in vegetables, laid out in front of you, legs spread with my coin piece pointed towards you, trembling, whilst you warble miserably about foreigners and meat, licking your lips and greasing up your penis. You sick, vegan, racist, self satisfied, bequiffed prick. I'm in.

My god, his stuck his head so far up his own ass this time that he’s starting to wiggle the shoulders in too.

Love this record. Hate this human.

When I first saw this pop up, I audibly sighed because Morrissey is such a miserable & whiny twat. I decided to push my feelings aside & listen...after all, I do love some of his & The Smiths music. Well I ended up enjoying this so much, I listened twice. First of the Gang to Die is fantastic, and the rest sounds like classic Moz. Moz wins this challenge. 4.5

I'll just focus on the music and not the complications that the actual person Morrissey brings up. It's a decent enough album filled with Morrissey doing what his usual, very english, often dark but oddly comedic alt rock. It's decent enough with a few tracks that shine and nothing truly offensive but it definitely doesn't feel as essential as some of his early work (most notably his The Smiths output of course).

I confirmed what I have always suspected, I hate Morrissey.

Morrissey has low self esteem but he's a complete tosser so he's going to take it out on everyone else. Anyway, enjoy this hatefuck of an album.

Morrissey is a pretentious bastard & his music sucks.

There is no need for this self centered, egotistical fuck to have at least 3 albums on this list ffs. This depressed, bleeding heart douche is so busy telling everyone how great he is and how he's better than everyone else... It's sickening. To quote Come Back to Camden: "and I remember that I am alone Alone For evermore" ... I wonder why, you insufferable douche canoe. Favourite songs: The First of the Gang to Die, The World is Full of Crashing Bores Least favourite songs: America Is Not the World (go eat a hamburger and calm the fuck down you pretentious ass hat.... Morrissey is not the world either I'm sad to tell ya), "Irish Blood, English Heart" (oooh, tough guy Morrissey can't be bought.... Fuck off), I Have Forgiven Jesus (he's also apparently better than religion), I'm Not Sorry, How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel? (no one cares), All the Lazy Dykes Thank fuck that's over... 1/5

Fuck Morrisey

Absolute banger, his lyrics are unmatched in music! Really really enjoyed the album. Just a shame that he ended up becoming really UKIP/Brexit-y. Everyone gets over their Morrissey period apart from Morrissey!

No. 95/1001 America is not the World 4/5 Irish Blood, English Heart 4/5 I Have Forgiven Jesus 3/5 Come Back To Camden 4/5 I'm Not Sorry 4/5 The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores 3/5 How Can Amybody Possibly Know 3/5 First Of The Gang To Die 4/5 Let Me Kiss You 3/5 All The Lazy Dykes 4/5 I Like You 3/5 You Know I Couldn't Last 3/5 Average: 3,5 You can definitly see that he was already on track for his later extreme views. But nothing offensive yet, just regular anit-establishment views. So this didn't defer me from this record. Thought it was an alright alt-rock album. Maybe a little pretentious in some cases.

This was boring to listen to. Like the same mindless droning on every song. And lyrically he just complained about a bunch of other countries, and world politics, while also complaining about how terrible he's personally been treated. Overall, I won't be recommending it to anyone

Man, I was so happy when this album ended and I could stop listening to some dude whine about how miserable everything is. This may be the whitest album I've ever heard.

Pretentious and boring. Ick.

Dreadful.

I love it when these are easy: Three Morrissey solo records down, one to go.

I am not a fan of Morrissey at all. Two of his albums now that I didn’t enjoy.

This album has very pleasantly surprised me. Some of the songs are absolute bangers. The lyrics are very well written, eloquent, and at times very beautifully poetic. The sound is a nice blend of old and new, lively, quite catchy and the guy's voice I just love. It just makes me feel things. Big thumbs up. Favorites: "First Of The Gang To Die" and "I Have Forgiven Jesus." But all of them are good. 8/10 After reading some of the other reviews I noticed that Morrissey seems to have obtained a negative reputation. Still, I'm choosing to separate the artist from the art here as you usually should. The music's good.

It came as such a pleasant surprise. After a couple of obscure minor albums, Mozz reinvented himself and relased his masterpiece. Brave, catchy, infectious, glorious, 'First of the Gang to Die', 'Irish Blood, English Heart'... just a bit of filler towards the end, but much stronger as a whole than all his previous -and later (Oct '23)- efforts

Reminded me of Oasis but less annoying. Accessible easy-to-listen pop-rock. I liked it a lot but the lyrics were so noticeably bad that I'm removing a point. Stand-out: First of the Gang to Die

Je ressens bien sûr un pincement au cœur de n'accorder que trois étoiles à Morrissey. Je sais bien que les ventes de cet album ont permis la construction de vingt-deux orphelinats et d'une centaine de puits en Érythrée. Je suis également au courant de ses nombreuses actions humanitaires au Laos et de son combat pour la reconnaissance du génocide arménien. Je n'oublie pas non plus qu'il participe de manière active à la recherche contre le cancer avec des dons quotidiens. Cet album n'est juste pas aussi formidable que son auteur.

This is the second Morrissey album I've been given, and my opinion hasn't changed. From reading others' reviews, it seems like there's a lot of 'I rated this 1 star because he's a twat', and 'this guy is a twat but the music's great, so 5 stars from me'.... I feel like I'm just listening to completely different albums than the people that enjoy this on its own. There's nothing ground breaking about the music itself, it's just okay. So, you take okay backing tracks and Morrissey kind of just drones his poems over them while they play in the background. I swear to god they just record him crooning and they pick a backing track afterwards. It almost sounds like he's making up some lyrics free style, but he's trying to fit too many syllables into the bar so he just kind of stretches random words out or fires off 8 syllables in .2 seconds to kind of catch up with the music. No reason or rhyme (literally, in a lot of cases). It's hard to imagine anyone head banging or even dancing to this stuff. It's hard to imagine anyone feeling the urge to sing along when this stuff comes up on the playlist. It's hard to imagine hearing these lyrics and actually thinking "wow, profound". So I guess even though I'm of the opinion that music serves a bunch of different purposes, and there are many different ways music can be called "good", Morrissey misses the mark on all of them, for me at least. 2 stars since I didn't want to die while I listened to it, but I'm never firing this one up again.

Album 623 of 1001 Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (2004) Rating : 5 / 5 Many seem to not like Morrissey very much. I'm not in that group. I happen to love this blend of introspective ballads and biting social commentary. Several of his singles have become repeat listens over the years and I didn't realize that most are from this one album. A new one for the list of favorites.

I don’t care what the haters say. Morissey is melodramatic but still has lines to speak to my doleful soul.

Absolute first class pop. Great song writing & performance. Been a long time since I last heard Morrissey. Loved it!

Okay okay okay. Literally banger after banger. This one got me through work

Sometimes, you want intricate layered metaphor, and other times you want Morrissey. He hits you over the head with unveiled distaste. As always the voice and the instrumentation are immaculate.

There's some damn good Moz songs on here. It's probably a 4 but as usual, this gets an automatic 5 to counter all the 1 star whiners.

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Irish blood English heart, The world is full of crashing bores, The first of the gang to die, I like you

Morrissey is the goat!

I didn't think I'd like this one very much because the title says that I'm an empty shell where all the rocks were removed. Or does it also mean that I'm the one being hunted. And why do British people say "Herb" as "erb", but you can't say "Hunt" and "unt"? Anyway, it's much more solid than your typical rock, I'm sure.

Yeah, I know Morrissey is kind of a twat. At some level, I'm probably some apologist, but for the most part I try to ignore the current Morrissey and instead embrace the Morrissey I knew at this time where he was focused on the spit and venom of Irish Blood, English Heart as well as some of the most beautiful songs ever in Come Back to Camden and Crashing Bores. The album is passionate and real. One of my favorites.

4.2 - Starts with "America is Not the World" that finds Morrissey dishing out the kind of on-the-nose anti-US critiques that you might hear in a European youth hostel. Much of the rest of the record contains similar conversational political observations ("Irish Blood, English Heart", "Come Back to Camden). Characteristically, he's managed to seemingly set pages of his personal journal to beautiful melody, delivering them with his signature brooding vocals. I'd written off Morrissey as a solo performer, finding his politics unpalatable and his wordy song titles unapproachable. I'm pleasantly surprised.

I really like his music. I wish he didn't suck so much

It pains me to say that some of this is quite good. It's still a pub rock (meat) pie compared to The Smiths' sublime foie gras, but songs like First of the Gang to Die and The World is Full of Crashing Bores are actually fun. He's still a horrid little NF div though.

I love The Smiths and Morrissey’s singing and lyricism on those records. I cannot say the same for this solo project. It’s a far cry from what I loved from before. His sound is distinct from The Smiths, and is not one that I enjoy nearly as much. Morrissey is Morrissey, so if you disagree with what he says, you’ll simply dislike the song. He’s kinda like Kanye in that sense, unabashedly himself, which I do like. I disliked the opening song about America. Seems lowbrow, especially now after a black president. Sometimes the production on this album gets electronic and kinda strange. It can sometimes take you out of the experience. Standouts: Come Back to Camden, The World is Full of Crashing Bores, First of the Gang to Die, and Let Me Kiss You.

The blandest of bland

Shut up Morrissey

Gah enough of him!! Too much on here. 78 whiny minutes.

In a 2018 interview,vMorrissey said: "I don't think the word ‘racist’ has any meaning any more, other than to say ‘you don’t agree with me, so you’re a racist.’ People can be utterly, utterly stupid.” Well, you're wrong mate. Racism is a thing, and you seem to do it a lot. I am sick of your long-term embrace of ugly nationalist politics and your contempt for everyone around you. It comes through in your public statements and actions (of which there have been so may, I have to believe they are sincerely felt) and it shows in your music. You Are The Quarry is lyrically clever, as to be expected, but full of contempt for all humanity including the listener. Musically, it's dull. The ongoing debate about "the artist or the art" asks when and how we can separate the words and actions of the artist from our enjoyment of the art itself. Morrissey makes that easy: he is his art. It is right there in plain sight. Morrissey keeps threatening to retire. I wish he would.

Didn't think I would give any album on this list a 1 star, but this is by far the worst album I heard so far, maybe even ever. This album get's it wrong on so many levels for me. For starters, musically it's really boring. Most of the songs sound exactly the same, with a drum beat and simple melodies in the background. Like something you would make in 2 minutes in your bedroom. Second, and this is a big one, the lyrics and themes are so bad it's unbelievable that other people who worked on this album didn't try and put a stop on this being released. I am not familiar with the work of the Smiths or Morrissey in general, so I am not sure if all of the albums are like this, or did he slowly descend into some sort of madness. The album is pretty much a pretentious rant all the way through. Whatever and whoever he doesn't like, he makes fun of, but in a really immature way, like a teenager entering puberty who starts hating the whole world. He tells America to fuck of with the hamburger, sure dude, that'll tell them. The only "good" song for me was First of the Gang to Die, with a catchy chorus.

God I hate Morrissey. Setting aside his more than odious rightwing views, this was unbearable. His lyrics read like a teenager in the first flush of puberty discovering word and emotions for the first time, his vocals are dreary and grating and the music lacks the fun and energy of the smiths.

Fuck Morrissey

Barely got through 2 songs before having to turn this shite off. Where's the zero stars option?

Next 5 songs played by my Spotify Algorithm: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Sometimes Always The Smiths - Ask XTC - Ten Feet Tall Gene - Still Can't Find the Phone Pixies - Velouria

never cared for morrisy. and while i agree with some of the messaging in this album, it just feels preachy coming from him

Hate him

After years of adriftness and shadowy lurking, our Moz returned with all guns blazing. You Are the Quarry is, from front to back, all killer and no filler with even the lesser song on here still being worthy of its inclusion. What more can I say other than it is the comeback that was needed for Morrissey to remain ahead of the game? Tremendous album that's aged quite well.

Morrisey por su cuenta, sin filtrar; un poco demasiado para mí. Aborrezco su forma de presentar los mensajes políticos más simples y vacíos de una forma tan evidente como si fuera la persona más inteligente y sutil del mundo. En los Smiths todavía se corta un poco y a veces llega a decir algo coherente y todo, pero le dan alas y se viene arriba. Aun así, adoro la música de este señor en todas sus formas, por muy desagradable que sea.

9/10

ufff… morrissey, de ex frontman vo minere spontane antwort uf d‘frag nach minere lieblingsband - the smiths <3 ich han no nie probiert in wort z‘fasse werum ich so grosse fan vo de musig vo the smiths respektive vom morrissey bin… us ziitgründ wirdis au ah dere stell nöd chönne mache aber es hitted eifach ganz en spezifische sweet spot ih mir inne wo mi meistens happy, mengisch aber au chli sad macht :‘) und ja ich wott eigentli wüki nöd so inflationär mit dene höchtsbewertige umgah aber das album verdient ih mine auge scho es 4.75, was nach mine kalkulatione 5 puntos ergid also ich gib mathematik d’schuld, ade mitenand

Goddamn so good

This album was amazing, the cover, the tracks, their contents, absolutely awesome. This dude had some real stuff to talk about that first track on America holds true today as well. Favorite Tracks: America Is Not The World, Come Back to Camden, First Of The Gang To Die, and I Like You.

This is an album I already have in heavy rotation and man is it a good one. Favorites include First of the Gang to Die, Irish Blood / English Heart, and Let Me Kiss You; but they're all legit.

Love this album. Morrisey is ever the melodramatic crooner. This album walked so MCR could run. Songs like “I like you” speak to my inner teenager

Absurd to me how consistantly good Morrissey is. I go into every album of his expecting to hate it but always come out blown away. This album is hilarious at times with these ridiculous lyrics that only a guy like Morrissey could write or even record. Awesome record with lots of bangers

В сердечко

Classy

I was listening to morrissey when the power came back...10/10

15/9/24 Surprisingly thoroughly enjoyed this album.

Är ju så bra :(

Irish Blood, English Heart First of the Gang to Die 4-5

Super mellow, I liked every song - great vibes.

Okay whatever this was a 5 I don't even care about my terrible rating abilities anymore. Something about this album just did it for me, all the songs had those lyrical, dramatic, yearning melodies and I am a sucker for those. Plus I love The Smiths. Favourite songs were all of them. Just read that he is a racist oops sorry

English is not my first language and I cannot always understand the lyrics of the songs. I just hope that they are not saying the same BS that he says in many of his interviews and that they are not racist, far-right stuff. My score is based solely on artistic merit (minus the lyrics) and the fact that I like him so much as an artist.

Simply Morrissey.

Stand by my belief that Morrissey gets way too much hate. This is a great album which is kind of comedic in both its candour and hyperbole.

The typical Morrissey album, but somehow different, somehow better

very interesting album, very good sound. Enjoyed it a lot.

I’m into this kind of music and will definitely do a deeper dive.

Simply Morrissey.

Melody & great lyrics. Ignoring is questionable politics (hard I know) this is an album to go back to repeatedly.

So. Stupid. Good.

cool

Excellent as ever

Never really listened to Morrisey, but I like this album a lot. His lyrics are poetic in a refreshing way. Lots of interesting guitar sounds on this album as well. It’s cool how every song sounds different, but they somehow all fit together. Great stuff all the way through.

Excelent. Beautiful songs

Algo que me gusta mucho de Morrissey es que las canciones a veces parecen más como diálogos (?), como si te estuviera contando algo mientras canta, casi como en un musical (?) jajaja y además tiene un estilo muy contundente, sus letras son imperdibles. Sí me gustó, pues

Could it be I like you?

Q. What does Shack like to eat for supper? A. Quorn Chops*! *Neil Morrisey special

Gran disco que sí quiero seguir escuchando y escuchando, no tenía presente que de acá es una canción que me gusta mucho de Morrissey "Let Me Kiss You", que tiene una vuelta de tuerca casi devastadora. Lo siento como un álbum romántico para gente fatalista, derrotista, pero con un buen conocimiento de lo que pasa en el mundo (?). Amé también "America Is Not The World" (excepto por lo de I love you), "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores", "How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?", "I Like You" y pues claro, otra ya conocida también: "First of the Gang to Die". 10/10

God, he's so pathetic

A lot of snippets from "First of the Gang to Die" were staples of my time on LiveJournal. I still really like a lot of the ballad-y songs on here. It's not my favorite Morrissey album. Shame he's so annoying.

Massive prick, great album

Muy bueno

Oh Yoko!!

Gotta say, due to Morrissey's stigma of not being great, I wasn't expecting You Are The Quarry to be as good as it is but i was certainly wrong. When i saw that Morrissey had a solo career, i thought that these albums were going to more or less just be more Smiths albums but this one definitely feels very different from those by dropping the a majority of the new wave elements and going full indie rock. The music here is really well done with some great The Killers style melodies and even when the lyrics were dumb, they still managed to make me wonder what Morrissey would think of next and that always kept me interested. This is a really solid album that in my eyes, gets more hate than it deserves. Best Song: First of the Gang to Die Worst Song: The World Is Full of Crashing Bores Side note: I don't know why but the album and artist names being positioned the way they are kinda makes me laugh, it feels more like a statement than just the name and artist of this album

Actually enjoyed this one. Wasn’t sure what to think at the start, but it won me over toward the end.

9/10 Favorite Tracks: America Is Not the World, Let Me Kiss You, All the Lazy Dykes, I Like You

Ugh I love sad British men

I can like the music without loving the musician. Right?

It was raining hard when I listened to this album and it was appropriate. I enjoyed this album. Nothing really stood out to me.

This sounded better to me than some of the other Morrissey albums I’ve previously had. May be that this is from later in his career and his voice has matured a bit. I think the global reviews are a bit too low so I’m rating up to a 4, but think it should land around 3.4

This was quite nice.

I hate this man, but damn

It is genuinely startling to hear such overtly political lyrics delivered so clearly. Musically, this could only have happened in 2004. Morrisey's British New Wave croon overtop these guitars and drums... this would never have sounded like this at any other point in time. And it's better for it. His voice is not obscured by layers of densely packed reverb; it's clear, and sounds more in-key because of it. But his performance still recalls the big Smiths songs, which brings a familiarity to anyone who may otherwise have been turned off by the shift in sound. After writing all of that, I looked at the album's Wikipedia page and saw that it was produced by Jerry Finn. Was there anybody better in the early 2000s??? It feels like everybody who ever worked with him made their best albums of their careers during their time with him. And indeed this was seen as a huge comeback album for Morrissey. And apparently another Morrissey album was the last album Jerry Finn worked on before he died? Guess I'm listening to that too.

I remembrer listening to this when it was released, but I don’t remember it being this good! The first mine tracks are well crafted and performed pop songs. However, the last three tracks let the quality dip a bit, so it’s not a stone cold classic