9: May 27th — Your Arsenal (1992) and Vauxhall and I (1994)




Listen to both LPs. 

Morrissey scraps the idea of working with studio musicians and forms a new "gang" with Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer, with whom he writes a number of songs. He also stops working with Stephen Street and opts for Steve Lillywhite, an 80s stalwart with bands like The Cure and U2 among countless others. Do you hear (or see) a change in emphasis in the music? What does working with a band again seem to mean for Morrissey? Do the songs stand up to the music on Viva Hate and other solo tracks?

Morrissey Solo 2 Tracklist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6g0gDrCUi8&list=PLo4mK6jJPnbVBEzN5Jm-A6GpH0nd6w502

Some videos:





Comments

  1. The King In YellowMay 26, 2021 at 9:10 PM

    After listening to both "Your Arsenal" and "Vauxhall and I," I noticed the difference in instrumental sounds overall between the two albums. "Your Arsenal" seemed more rock/punk-like in sound, with harder guitars and—arguably—more controversial songs. Of course I'm referring to the songs "You're the One for Me, Fatty" and "National Front Disco." The former he's accused of fat shaming, and in the latter he's accused of being pro-National Front, which is a far-right fascist political party in the UK. I personally don't think Mozz is endorsing either of those things, and one need only read the lyrics to those songs to interpret and understand the real meanings behind them. Unfortunately the titles alone, when read cursorily, provide enough fodder to trigger people.

    I would have to say, after listening to both albums, that I prefer "Vauxhall and I" over "Your Arsenal." To my ears it's more similar sounding to Smiths material of the past. It's as if Morrissey was realigning back to a more familiar sound. Regarding the question as to whether the songs in both albums stand up to songs on "Viva Hate," I'd go so far as to say that I would prefer both albums over "Viva Hate." There seems to be more joi de vivre from Morrissey in these two albums that his previous solo material.
    --Daniel Rivera

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  2. Ani AvoyanMay 26, 2021 at 9:31 PM

    The first thing that I notice that has changed is that the music is much more like the mainstream music of the time, it is less unique to the Smiths as is expected considering he is more of a solo artist now; however, his manner of singing has not changed much, he still sounds kind of monotone. One thing that I have noticed is that the music is so much more instrumental, as in with the Smiths there was more lyrical work than him alone. There are a lot more drum and guitar solos. The quality of production is much better than what it used to be. I did notice a very strong use of guitar, he was obviously using a guitar for the songs at the time of the Smiths, but somehow the songs sound a lot more filled with guitar more so than other instruments. I have to say that I enjoyed the songs in Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I better than the ones on Viva hate; however, I liked the Your Arsenal more than Vauxhall and I. I noticed that Have-A-GO Merchant has this distinct melody/beat to it that I have seen in so many other 90s songs which certainly is far from what the Smiths were about.

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  3. UnknownMay 27, 2021 at 12:20 PM

    When listening to both Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I, one of the first things I noticed is that less and less of that Smiths magic is present on these LPs compared previous LPs we have listened to. Morrissey's talent and voice is still intact, but the tracks on Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I are very guitar and drum heavy. It almost sounds as if the production and instrumental portions of the tracks are drowning out Morrissey's unique sound and are all but washing away any of the previous Smiths sound we have come to know. The best way to describe the music present on these albums is much more mainstream than the Smiths LPs we have previously listened to. I just can't pinpoint anything outwardly unique on these LPs, unlike the LPs of the Smiths, where unique sound and musical choices were always present. Personally, while these two LPs are not nearly as good as the Smiths LPs we have listened to, I much prefer both of them to Viva Hate and some of the other solo tracks that Morrissey released. I just didn't connect with Morrissey's solo tracks, and while again these LPs are very mainstream and somewhat dull compared to previous LPs, I would prefer either of them over the solo tracks.
    - Andrew Myers

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  4. Andrew NaranjoMay 27, 2021 at 1:42 PM

    It's interesting how the more popular songs from Your Arsenal are songs that sound very similar to The Smiths. I think a change from studio musicians to a group now led to them finding a sound collectively. It just so happens that some of it bears resemblance to the style of The Smiths. This album does however take a strong change in direction to a more heavy rock sound that is DEFINITELY present in "Vauxhall and I" along with most of the best received songs from that album being ones that specifically have that new rock sound they were going for in the previous album. Morrissey's lyrics become slightly more simplistic the more time that goes but overall it still maintains the spirit of a song with Morrissey. While I do like these two, I think they stand above Viva Hate on a technical level and I can respect the attempt in a change of direction, I personally prefer Viva Hate as it captures the spirit of The Smiths much more and for me that's where I think the music thrives the most

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  5. Bea RossMay 27, 2021 at 2:26 PM

    I really enjoyed the developments I’ve seen in Morrissey’s work from Viva Hate until now. I think that Bona Drag might still be the best LP I’ve listened to so far, partially because the music was a bit more upbeat and I usually gravitate towards more upbeat music, but I think Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I shows that Morrissey has finally found his groove without his former bandmates. I agree with Ani that his music is starting to sound a bit more mainstream, and I notice that he does a lot less of his signature crooning and whining. This confirmed something I was thinking about last week, that songs were starting to sound more like other artists; particularly, East West sounded very Tom Petty to me. It didn’t really surprise me that --, because I think Morrissey is very comfortable taking inspiration from other artists--musicians, poets, etc. There were a couple songs that stood out to me sounding not overtly racist, but nationalistic at least. We’ll Let You Know, for example, includes the phrase, “We are the last truly British people you will ever know.” I wasn't too sure if this was a comment on Britain's changing demographics due to immigration or attitudes--perhaps something he was uncomfortable with--or not, but I did find it a little questionable. I also found the uber British lyrics a little ironic at times because of his previous anti-royalty stances and general distaste for the establishment.

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  6. UnknownMay 27, 2021 at 2:41 PM

    To my surprise, I enjoyed both Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I. After Viva Hate (which was pretty good), I thought that Morrissey's solo career would take a dive off of the deep end. However, the opposite is true in my opinion. The unique indie/jangle-pop sound that Morrissey was known for when he was with The Smiths is mostly absent from these records but I do enjoy the 90s alternative rock vibe that comes through instead. Maybe this change in style emerged from his new producers, Mick Ronson (of David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars fame!) and Steve Lillywhite. "Glamorous Glue" and "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" off of Your Arsenal stood out to me as a blend between Morrissey's new alternative rock sound and his witty lyricism from The Smiths. As for Vauxhall and I, I thought it was a bit more laid back than Vauxhall and I and like Daniel said, a bit more reminiscent of The Smiths.

    I think I preferred both of these albums to Viva Hate. I would need to re-listen to that album to say for certain but as a fan of 90s alternative rock, I liked the direction Morrissey was heading with Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I. I'm not quite sure which of the two I liked better, both were pretty good all around.

    - Addison Harms

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  7. Jenny ChoMay 27, 2021 at 2:51 PM

    I notice Morrissey’s songs are beginning to sound more mainstream. I do not think they stand up to his past works with the Smiths because they sound very different. It seems as if Morrisey is straying away from the qualities that made his works with the Smiths unique with his new band; for example, he produces more music videos and his lyrics are less distinctive. However, I still prefer his newer songs because the instrumental and singing sounds less monotone and more refined than his past LPs with the Smiths. His past works, in my opinion, felt a little bland in that the instrumentals to all their songs sounded pretty similar but with different (and better) lyrics. In contrast, Your Arsenal and Vauxhall and I have a wider range of instrumentals. Your Arsenal, for instance, sounds more rock and Vauxhall and I sounds like a more exciting version of any Smiths song.

    -Jenny Cho

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  8. Alicia GoveaMay 27, 2021 at 2:58 PM

    These two albums definately show a move away the sound of The Smiths; Morrissey has headed into more of a rock sound, as opposed the typical indie pop sound he was known for. I enjoyed both these albums, but Your Arsenal is the better of these two. "Tomorrow" is an instant classic, and even though it's easy to associate Morrissey's voice with The Smiths, this song's sound heads in a completely different direction. It marks Morrissey's association with the rockabilly sound.

    I think it's important to note that even though Morrissey is not embracing a super solo star image, his album art is no longer as artisitc as it was with The Smiths. Vauxhall and I marks the fifth album where he opts to use his image. I'm not sure if he is more willing to put himself out there, because that was never an issue, or if he's afraid he began losing popularity and relevance.

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  9. UnknownMay 27, 2021 at 3:00 PM

    I'm gonna be completely real, I really don't like either of these albums at all. Like they're fine, they're ok I guess. Moz music I wouldn't purposely listen to but, I wouldn't make a fuss if it came on the radio. I will say the one song I really like off the albums was "Glamourous Glue". Both of these albums I think are more definitively, sonically characteristic of his solo career. For some reason to me, at least Your Arsenal has a sort of 50s sound to it but not in the traditional way. I guess I may just be saying this because of Moz's influence on the chicane/latine community but these albums and his solo career as a whole reminds me a lot of latine/chicane rockabilly. Like chicane reclamation of 50s greaser type beat (as the term greaser was in reference to Mexican young men which is ironic since its popularization in Grease was very white-centric)-- basically classic rock. I think these albums aren't as good as Viva Hate or Bona Drag, at least I don't care for them much. I would much rather be listening to the albums before or after this, such as You Are the Quarry.

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  10. UnknownMay 27, 2021 at 4:13 PM

    Being unfamiliar with Morrissey before this class, it took me awhile to get used to his sound and style, but it has definitely grown on me. I truly enjoy both of these albums, and actually enjoy the past two more now than I did last week. I do think he had some problematic songs and ideals that came through in his lyrics, though I'm not exactly sure what that says about him. I think that his lyrics were controversial for good reason and even if he had good intentions, the fact that his racism is reoccurring (as we discussed in class) doesn't sit right with me.
    Regardless, I agree with everyone saying this music sounds much more rock-esque and "mainstream" in some ways, although I still think it sounds very particular to Morrissey. It definitely strays much farther from The Smiths' sound, away from the softer indie music that I associate with Morrissey's voice. From the music videos I've seen, it seems like Morrissey is relatively happy, or at least it feels like he is comfortable with himself (but honestly what would I know).
    Working with a band again, he is much more able to play with instrumentals in his music, and it is obvious that he enjoys having a full band in the background to his singing. I'm not great at pinpointing instruments, but it seems like in a lot of his songs he has a prominent guitar line which adds a lot of dimension.
    Usually, I am more partial to indie-sounding music, which would make me prefer Viva Hate more than these two albums, but I don't have a particularly strong opinion either way. I think all the albums have their virtues and faults, but if I had to choose, Vauxhall and I would be my favorite.

    - Serafina Valisa

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