Day 0902 - Heartbreaker

Ryan Adams "Heartbreaker" (2000)

I've never had a huge urge to check out Ryan Adams.  Not sure why, I think I heard a song or two back in the day that I didn't care for, then heard stories about him being a bit of a dick (not that that necessarily makes for bad music) so didn't really feel the motivation.

After the breakup of his alt-country group Whiskeytown, Adams teamed up with country/Americana artists Gillian Welch and David Rawlings to work on his solo album.

The album was actually pretty good.  It's mostly alt-country with a bit of a Bob Dylan vibe in places (drawling vocal, harmonica and acoustic guitars).   The opening track is wasted on a discussion about which album a particular Morrissey song is on... not exactly going to stand up to re-listens that one.  

After that it bursts into an ambitious rockabilly track "To be young (is to be sad, is to be high) which breaks into more melodic passages.  "Amy" is a gorgeous 60s flavoured ballad that wouldn't be out of place on a later era Beatles album.   "Oh my sweet Carolina" is a smouldering country ballad with guest vocals by Emmylou Harris, whose album "Red Dirt Girl" shows up shortly in this list.  "Bartering Lines" almost has that atmospheric T-Bone Burnett production to it and some lovely vocal harmonies.

Perfectly listenable, and I'd be more than happy to check out further Adams albums based on this.

Day 0766 - Vauxhall and I

Morrissey "Vauxhall and I" (1994)

Morrissey's fourth album... this is another of those points where I have scratch my head at the selections on the list.   I don't really hear anything musically in this album that hasn't already been covered in Morrissey's other entries in the list so far.  There are far more musically interesting albums out there from other artists that could have been selected in place of this.

The album is pretty much Morrissey doing his thing.   It's a bit mellower than "Your Arsenal" and the lyrics seem to very much be driven by the deaths of people around Morrissey at the time, including legendary guitarist Mick Ronson (who'd produced Morrissey's previous album), his manager, and a director of some of his music videos.   With a song called "Hold onto your friends", and the line 'tell all of my friends/I don't have too many' in the song "Now my heart is full" it seemed that Mos was ruminating on mortality in general and the shrinking of one's social circle with age.   Worthy subjects, but still not really enough that the album needed to be in this list.

Day 0712 - Your Arsenal

Morrissey "Your Arsenal" (1992)

Morrissey has become a bit of an embarrassment in recent years, cancelling gigs and tours left right and centre, and seeming to espouse isolationist, extreme rightwing ideas.    Back in the 90s though, he was still better known for his music.

With "Your Arsenal" he had a band together and enlisted the help of David Bowie collaborator Mick Ronson to produce this album.   Ronson worked with Bowie on his 70s glammy albums, and he is clearly the right person to helm this album, as Morrissey turns down his indie side and cranks up the glam rock a bit.  His lyrics had already started to hint at the kind of controversy he now gladly courts, with a song titled "The National Front Disco" which included the chant "England for the English".  People were a bit uncomfortable with this, not finding it clear if he was being tongue-in-cheek or not.

Musically though, it's an enjoyable album.  Despite the rockier, 'ballsier' sound, my favourite track is the gentle, atmospheric "Seasick, yet still docked".

Day 0630 - Viva Hate

Morrissey "Viva Hate" (1988)

Released a mere 6 months after the Smiths' swansong "Strangeways Here We Come", Morrissey hit the ground running assisted by Smiths (and eventually Cranberries, Blur and Kaiser Chiefs) producer Stephen Street.

Street, and guitarist/keyboardist Vini Reilly would later argue over which of them wrote the bulk of the songs on the album, but whatever the case, one of them helped Morrissey get over the potentially awkward hurdle of the first solo album.

To my mind, the tracks are a bit of a mixed bunch and stand or fall based on the backing track.  Morrissey himself mostly seems to do a similar vocal thing over each track.   There's are some sonic experiments (particularly in the first couple of tracks) mixed with more traditional arrangements, one or two even sounding a bit like the Smiths.

A couple of favourites are "Ordinary Boys" (from which the band of the same name got their moniker) and "Margaret on the Guillotine" in which Morrissey wistfully imagines Margaret Thatcher being killed... and as a result, in real life, got him questioned by the Special Branch (according to Morrissey's autobiography).

Day 0599 - Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths "Strangeways, Here We Come" (1987)

Despite my previous statement that all Smiths albums sound the same to me; this one is something else.  There are certainly some familiar 'Smithy' sounds going on, but there's a touch of glam rock, and the moody slow groove of 'Death of a Disco Dancer'.   I don't know, I think that I just prefer the songs on this album to the other two that I listened to via this list.

It could be that old chestnut of 'personal turmoil and creative tension serving the artistry' because between this album being finished and it being released, the band broke up.  As I mentioned earlier, they have managed to this day to resist the urge to reform.

Day 0584 - The Queen is Dead

The Smiths "The Queen is Dead" (1986)

Seems I kind of have this thing with the Smiths, whereby I like their music, but I can't really tell their albums apart.  It all just sounds kind of... Smithy.

This is an enjoyable album though.  Johnny Marr paints the songs with a range of guitar tones from swirling and dreamy to vigorous folk, to country twang and everything in between.  Morrissey's lyrics continue to be intelligent and with a touch of humour.

This was the band's 3rd album in 4 years, and after one more album the band broke up.  Unlike most bands that go through the whole break up thing, they seem to have resisted the urge to reunite, even to revisit their back-catalog for a quick buck.

Day 0558 - Meat is Murder

The Smiths "Meat is Murder"

I'll admit to not being hugely familiar with the Smiths' music.  They were solely active in the 80s which was not a time that I was actively seeking out music.  Once I was more into music I was more interested in 60s pop or loud distorted guitars; the Smiths don't fit the bill in either case.  A teacher of mine who also helped out one of the high school bands I was in recommended the Smiths to me and I listened to one or two tracks, but it didn't really peak my interest.

So essentially I came to this fairly 'blank slate', the only song I was familiar with on this album was "How soon is now?" (only featured on certain versions of the album) as the theme tune to the tv show 'Charmed'.

I'd say there are more than a few connections that could be made between the Smiths and U2; both bands with solid rhythm sections, sonically explorative guitarists, and cause-heavy lyricists.

Guitarist Johnny Marr is the real star on this album, his guitar sounds ranging from jangly rockabilly, wicky funk, extreme tremolo guitar overlaid with slide lead parts, delicate acoustic guitar, clean new-wave-style guitar.

Morrisey's vocals seem to largely follow the pattern of being emotive and drenched in reverb.  While he is all about his causes here (pacifism, anti-monarchy, and the obvious vegetarian message of the title track) he does occasionally show a bit of a sense of humour, which I'm not sure is still present in his more recent work.