Agree. Listening to it now. Love
Best Friend on the Payroll.
I mean I get why some people were disappointed by it. Don't get me wrong. For one thing I think it's the only Morrissey solo album where Morrissey's band
at times outshines Morrissey's input.
I also think it was a somewhat unexpected move for Morrissey. I don't think it's as experimental or edgy or artsy or prog rock like some people say it is. To me it sounds the way I would expect an alternative rock album from the mid 1990s to sound like. After Vauxhall, Your Arsenal, Kill Uncle, Viva Hate/Hate Bona Drag, and the Smiths I think that comes as quite a shock to many listeners.
That being said I do think Reader Meet Author, Boy Racer, Southpaw (though it could have used some editing), and the Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils are excellent track. The only real mediocre tracks are Dagenham Dave and Do Your Best and Don't Worry and they aren't awful they just aren't great. And I think if Dagenham Dave had had some better input from Moz that song could have been salvaged.
It does seem to get a bad rep, even from fans, so I do suspect it has something to do with derailing Morrissey's track to increased commercial/mainstream viability as an artist (not that I really care about. I don't as I've stressed on other threads). That and I suspect maybe he should have toured in support of Vauxhall and I and not walked off the David Bowie tour.
In fact I think walking away from Bowie and the ensuing feud was one of the biggest blunders of Morrissey's career. I know he had his reasons, but he didn't handle it well. I remember in an interview with Brian Molko Bowie seemed quite perplexed by Morrissey's walking off the tour, but was also very reconciliatory stating he'd like to work with Morrissey still. Morrissey, of course, held his tongue and than came back years later saying a whole bunch of nasty things about Bowie.
Of course, I'm biased because I'd still like to see a Bowie/Morrissey tour. Not that that's ever going to happen.
On an interesting (or an uninteresting depending on your perspective) last week I had a friend over who was a big Smiths fans, but didn't really care for Morrissey's solo career. She was looking through my vinyl and we ended up putting Southpaw Grammar on and she was really blown away by The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils. She also stated though that it sounded it nothing like Morrissey and reminded her of...Nine Inch Nails and Ministry. She added it to her iPod and it's now one of her favorite songs.
It's anecdotal evidence, but I think it confirms a little what I've always said about Southpaw. She didn't care much for reader meet author though.