You Are the Quarry by Kelis/Morrissey

Pros: Intelligent lyrics, challenging subject matter, great music.
Cons: I dare you to try and find one.

"The winner takes it allllll......" Oops, sorry, I was having an ABBA moment as I slipped Morrissey's You Are the Quarry into the player. Why am I thinking of ABBA at this time? Why am I thinking of ABBA at all???? Well, it's quite simple, ...

Pros: Jerry Finn's Production, The Musicians, Lyrics, Morrissey, and Everything Else.
Cons: Nothing I Can Think Of.

Ever since fronting the British jangle-pop band the Smiths in the early 80s, Morrissey has been regarded as one of Britain’s finest vocalists. When the Smiths broke up in 1988, Morrissey went for a solo career with some success and acclaimed that ...

Pros: Morrissey's got a winning platform that could galvanize the voting public
Cons: The gawd-damned Cawnstitution says that Morrissey can't be President.

Are you tired of Republican manipulation, and Democratic self-victimization? Want a presidential candidate who will be brutally honest with you, who will promise to open his heart and body and mind and soul to you, even though he knows you couldn’t ...

Pros: Morrissey as relevant as he's been since the 1980's.
Cons: Jerry Finn's power-pop production is... unexpected, to say the least.

Let it be known here and now that Morrissey - former lead singer of the Smiths and current solo artist who just happens to be turning heads lately - is nothing if not suave. Even at his darkest moments with the Smiths - filled with doubt, ...

Pros: Awesome songwriting
Cons: A tad whiny at times

What is their to say? Morrissey, lead frontman of the once Smiths, is back working on his solo carreer. Let me just say it now I love this man and I love this album. He totally reinvented himself and reestablished himself as an awesome song writer. Yet, ...

Pros: Morrissey's wordplay is so pointed here, it's almost like a Smiths album...
Cons: ...but then the not-so-innovative music reminds us that it's not.

Count me among the group of people who consider much of Morrissey’s greatness lost when he left The Smiths. Oh sure, his wit still pops up like porcupine quills on a fairly reliable basis, but the music is nowhere near as amazing now that Johnny ...

Pros: Everything you love about the old school Morrissey with newfangled electronica to boot!
Cons: Um...NONE!

Delicious, smart, funny, witty, wonderful. These are the best adjectives I can come up with to desribe the triumphant return CD of El Morrissey, oh how we missed him. All but completely silent since 1997's post-Smiths "Maladjusted," he's back -- New, ...

Pros: The vocals. Great improvement in the band. Beautiful songs.
Cons: Little or nothing.

It's no secret that almost everyone had written Morrissey off, before hearing this album. "Past his best" they said. I mumbled and grumbled along with most of them, but bought this album regardless of premeditated judgements - and thank God I did. His ...

Pros: A solid, respectable LP with far more hit than miss.
Cons: Not the Mozzfather's best album. Annoying hype.

Some frustration is vented from my quarters at You Are The Quarry. It dominated the British charts for an age and spawned four top ten singles, yet it is FAR from Morrissey's best works which usually go unsung to their graves. Still, this IS a good album, despite all my huffings, and certainly not among his worst efforts either. The LP moves away from the alt-rock of the directly preceding 'Maladjusted' and 'Southpaw Grammar' back to the simpler pop of 'Viva Hate'. Songs like 'I Like You', 'First Of The Gang To Die' and 'All The Lazy Dykes' feel very much like old-school Morrissey. There are a few sublime moments on this album that rank up there with the best of them; 'The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores' can induce a few lyric inspired giggles: "I am not one / No, You don't understand..." While the sepia tinged 'I'm Not Sorry' is the Mozzfather at his most open. Apart from the closing track there isn't much that jarrs the record, but there aren't too many spine tingling moments either. Respect for releasing 'I Have Forgiven Jesus' as a Christmas single though.