Morrissey
You Are The Quarry

THE REVIEW

Well done, Moz. It had been so many, too many years ("Viva Hate"? "Your Arsenal"?) since you last impressed like this.

Obviously, the credit for this welcome and anticipated return should not go solely to our ex-Smiths hero, but also to his team of "composers" (it's well-known that Morrissey doesn't know how to play anything nor compose) who have set his enlightening lyrics to music with a style never before so close to the glorious Manchester band of the '80s.

It's an album, "You Are The Quarry" (a very fitting title, though the cover is somewhat less so), that feels very personal, where the unforgettable English bard speaks directly to his devoted or newfound fans: perhaps his lyrics are no longer as cutting as in the time of "Shoplifters Of The World," but there is certainly fun to be had in discovering how much in common there is between one's own way of thinking and Moz's conception of life.
The English will surely agree with him, given that the album shot up to No. 2 in the U.K., and the single "Irish Blood, English Heart" did very well too. If we consider that in Italy, high chart positions are reached by shady figures like Zucchero or Vasco Rossi, one has to wonder why: I've already stopped questioning it and, besides wanting to seek political/musical asylum in England, I'm enjoying the gems of this album, like "The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores" (and I have never felt so in empathy with Morrissey), or "The First Of The Gang To Die" (which will be a great hit this summer, or at least MY summer) and the infamous "America Is Not The World" which quite a few people should listen to, to open their eyes a bit.

And never mind if Moz lives in L.A. and carries with him some indulgence or compromise (nothing compared to the many "little whores" that populate showbiz): after all, he's no longer 25 and in any case, he can afford it, being a living and unassailable legend.
Stand up, please.