First up: Mozza 2023 is a knob. Mozza 1994 was a different man. His masterful lyrics flow through each track. The More You Ignore Me remains infectious. This is a great, great break up album. It's still a little raw for me, almost 30 years later. There's a ray of hope from the old bigot with The Lazy Sunbathers. Lyrics on ecological issues didn't get you NME covers back in the day. It still stacks up. A reluctant five stars.
I don't 'get' Morrissey. He sounds so unhappy. Who would have thought that such a misery would turn out to be a massive misanthrope? I find the music here formulaic, and a little ploddy (apart from the chainsaw bit, which woke me up). As much as I feel I should try to follow Morrissey's wordplay, I am so put off by him as a person that I just don't have the energy. The Smiths were interesting and different at the time, but 10 years later, surely the shy, awkward young man had moved on? As I never fully bought into him at the time, it seems easy to walk away and devote time to people who have a bit more interest in the world outside themselves. We cannot cling to the old dreams anymore. Apparently.