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Nobody really cares about covers albums. Period. It baffles me as to why Morrissey thought this was a good idea.
B-Sides? Sure, within reason. Live in concert? Sure, maybe one interesting cover per show, as has been his way all along. A whole album? Of mostly questionable choices? Nope. Nope. Nope.
Yet there are people on here ratings these songs an 8, 9, 10 out of 10! Completely incomprehensible.
Surely I can’t be alone in this overall assessment.
You are definitely not. I have reserved my comments about this album since the first songs leaked out, and what I keep thinking is what a missed opportunity.
Songs like Wedding Bell Blues is one of a number of songs that just don't capture the Morrissey aesthetic. He obviously chose these songs for a reason, but I wish he would have given more consideration to how the lyrical impact of his wonderful voice and phrasing is equally if not more important than the music itself.
The great band of his earlier solo years has been disbanded so all that is left is his voice and his ability to connect the lyrics of a song to the listener. This en-devour just missed the mark for me.
Too many memories of his earlier masterwork perhaps, but that is both the blessing and the curse of being exposed to his greatness at such a tender age.
Nobody really cares about covers albums. Period. It baffles me as to why Morrissey thought this was a good idea.
Surely I can’t be alone in this overall assessment.
I beg to differ. California Son is his best album since Vauxhall and I.
In light of bad press and what I predicted it would be this week, it's not bad.“Not too bad” it’s dropped 29 places lol. Plummeted more than any other album, by a mileeee.
I beg to differ. California Son is his best album since Vauxhall and I. There are some stunningly beautiful songs on the album, and his voice is fantastic. I accept that there are one or two tracks that isn’t quite up to it, but that shouldn’t detract from the rest.
Years of Refusal is the true stinker in his catalogue. Apart from «Paris», it is an appalling tuneless mess from start to finish.
I can understand the idea that some people simply believe that covers albums are a bad idea. However, a huge, huge number of legacy artists have made them (Bowie, Brian Wilson, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Paul McCartney etc.) so it's not exactly a surprise that Morrissey has made one as well.
If people can look at it with an open mind, I'm not sure how much more they could realistically expect from a covers album. Morrissey sings well, the songs themselves are strong, the versions are often significantly different from the originals and Morrissey has seemingly structured it to kind of resemble an album of his originals. That's not to say that it's perfect, but it succeeds on its own merits.
I would also say that I can't agree with those who romanticize the ability of Morrissey's past band members during his solo career. Because the collaborators that Morrissey has worked with since The Smiths split have been criticized from the very beginning.
Not true, but what would you expect.“Not too bad” it’s dropped 29 places lol. Plummeted more than any other album, by a mileeee.