Which Morrissey album contained his weakest b-sides?

[MozIsGod]

We all know Morrissey's b-sides are typically held in high regard, but which album contained the weakest b-side material?

I rank the Maladjusted and Quarry eras as containing the best b-sides top to bottom. However, I'd say that Kill Uncle/Your Arsenal were the most disappointing. As great of an album Arsenal was, I found the lot of those 92 b-sides (Pashernate Love, There Speaks a True Friend, Let the Right One...) as merely being average and probably contained the weakest songs from the Arsenal recordings.

And since Morrissey released some singles in between albums, you can also include those batches of songs with the particular album's era if you'd like.

 

[Orson Swells]

Your Arsenal also had Jack The Ripper...

 

[MozIsGod]

Your Arsenal also had Jack The Ripper...

You're right, up there with his best. But as a collective group, I think Arsenal period b-sides were pretty underwhelming compared to some of his others.

 

[Anonymous]

I think its matter of quality vs quantity. For instance, Southpaw only contained two bsides. But that one-two punch of Nobody Loves Us and You Must Please Remember? Out of this world...

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

'(Pashernate Love, There Speaks a True Friend, Let the Right One...) as merely being average and probably contained the weakest songs from the Arsenal recordings.'

those are some my favorites !... and 'you've had her',... incredible songs that other artists would have killed to write. And anyways... that's why they found their way as b-sides.

Oh, and.. 'Tony the pony' (though M dislikes it) is brilliant ! and... 'I've changed my plea to guilty' !


also, I'd take 'Pashernate Love' over 'We hate it' or 'Fatty' any day.

 

[Orson Swells]

You're right, up there with his best. But as a collective group, I think Arsenal period b-sides were pretty underwhelming compared to some of his others.

To a large extent I agree, but I think Jack The Ripper tips it beyond the quality of the Kill Uncle b-sides. Also the sound of the Your Arsenal tracks is more organic and interesting. In my mind every album has a classic-ish b-side aside from Kill Uncle.

 

[Orson Swells]

'(Pashernate Love, There Speaks a True Friend, Let the Right One...) as merely being average and probably contained the weakest songs from the Arsenal recordings.'

those are some my favorites !... and 'you've had her',... incredible songs that other artists would have killed to write. And anyways... that's why they found their way as b-sides.

Oh, and.. 'Tony the pony' (though M dislikes it) is brilliant ! and... 'I've changed my plea to guilty' !

Do you count My Love Life as from Kill Uncle? I know it's the same sessions but being pedantic it's not on the album! I've Change My Plea is an incredible song though, I agree, and an absolutely classic Morrissey b-side.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Do you count My Love Life as from Kill Uncle? I know it's the same sessions but being pedantic it's not on the album! I've Change My Plea is an incredible song though, I agree, and an absolutely classic Morrissey b-side.

yes and no. Though it wasn't on 'Uncle' both 'my love life' and 'guilty' both have that vibe that was on 'kill Uncle', but I don't know if they would have made 'uncle' sound better or more complete if they were added . Did M receive those songs from Nevin after the 'Uncle' sessions ? Was M just feeling out his new band and what can be done with them? released some of those as singles and held onto others because he had a vision for a heavier sounding next album which became 'Arsenal' ?

I mean, I wonder when did Nevin give him the instrumental tracks of 'You're gonna need' and 'I know it's gonna ' ? Did M have those songs from him back during the the writing of 'Uncle' and decide to hold onto them for future use?

 

[Quando quando quando]

Isn't Kill Uncle his shortest album?
I think if it was possible and "I Changed My Plea to Guilty" and " My Love Life"were on the album it would have been a so much greater album.
Could be as Ket says, he had them not at his disposal for the album in time.
He did "Guilty" life a lot I believe at the Kill Uncle Tour and saw and hear him do it live in Utrecht.
He also did Cosmic Dancer and although a cover it would have been great on that album too.
It feels like he didn't have enough confidence in his material at that time.
As he said, he himself considered Kill Uncle the weakest of his albums.
But it's strange, in hindsight that b-side material is very strong IMHO.

 

[Eldritch]

I mean, I wonder when did Nevin give him the instrumental tracks of 'You're gonna need' and 'I know it's gonna ' ? Did M have those songs from him back during the the writing of 'Uncle' and decide to hold onto them for future use?

According to Mozipedia, after Kill Uncle Nevin sent Morrissey an album's worth of instrumentals and was shocked when upon receiving the advance copy of Your Arsenal he found out only two of his songs were on it.

 

[gordyboy9]

I voted southpaw then realised nobody loves us was one of the two,fantastic song but only two b sides so it then comes down to quality over quantity or vice versa.

 

[vegan.cro]

'(Pashernate Love, There Speaks a True Friend, Let the Right One...) as merely being average and probably contained the weakest songs from the Arsenal recordings.'

those are some my favorites !... and 'you've had her',... incredible songs that other artists would have killed to write. And anyways... that's why they found their way as b-sides.

Oh, and.. 'Tony the pony' (though M dislikes it) is brilliant ! and... 'I've changed my plea to guilty' !


also, I'd take 'Pashernate Love' over 'We hate it' or 'Fatty' any day.

CD single

1. "In the Future When All's Well" (Morrissey/Tobias)
2. "Christian Dior" (Morrissey/Boorer)

Christian Dior - B side !!!
True, Ketamine Sun, incredible songs that other artists would have killed to write.

 

[Anonymous]

To a large extent I agree, but I think Jack The Ripper tips it beyond the quality of the Kill Uncle b-sides. Also the sound of the Your Arsenal tracks is more organic and interesting. In my mind every album has a classic-ish b-side aside from Kill Uncle.

The reason why the Arsenal b-sides aren't as favorable compared to his other periods is because Your Arsenal is stellar from top to bottom. Every single song is perfect or damn well near perfect. I think the b-sides to albums like Maladjusted and Quarry, which are a bit more "hit or miss" type affairs, are held in higher esteem just because those albums contain good amounts of decent-to-poor material which makes stuff like I Can Have Both and Never Played Symphonies look all that much more impressive.

 

[mcrickson]

Changing my vote to "Low In High School."

 

[g23]

yes and no. Though it wasn't on 'Uncle' both 'my love life' and 'guilty' both have that vibe that was on 'kill Uncle', but I don't know if they would have made 'uncle' sound better or more complete if they were added . Did M receive those songs from Nevin after the 'Uncle' sessions ? Was M just feeling out his new band and what can be done with them? released some of those as singles and held onto others because he had a vision for a heavier sounding next album which became 'Arsenal' ?

I mean, I wonder when did Nevin give him the instrumental tracks of 'You're gonna need' and 'I know it's gonna ' ? Did M have those songs from him back during the the writing of 'Uncle' and decide to hold onto them for future use?

I think if you dropped Asian Rut, Found x3, and Harsh Truth and replaced them with Love Life and Guilty, there would be a different opinion of Kill Uncle.
I know King Leer bothers some people, but I always found it hilarious and interesting. Found x3 is just unforgivable though. Musically the worst thing in the entire discography if you ask me.

 

[Maurice E Maher]

Didn't the Vauxhall singles have only one original song between them i.e. I'd Love To?
From memory the others were a cover (Moon River) and just a song off the album (Sweet Boy).
That must surely rank as the most disappointing album in terms of extra songs on b-sides.

 

[Jamie]

Didn't the Vauxhall singles have only one original song between them i.e. I'd Love To?
From memory the others were a cover (Moon River) and just a song off the album (Sweet Boy).
That must surely rank as the most disappointing album in terms of extra songs on b-sides.

I would agree. He had "Black-Eyed Susan" and "A Swallow On My Neck" in the can at the time, but didn't see fit to foist them on the world until later. That said, I regard "Sunny" as one of his strongest, certainly one of his most underrated, singles of the Nineties. In all likelihood, if the aforementioned songs had been placed on the Vauxhall singles, "Boxers" would have absorbed "Sunny" and become an EP as was originally envisioned.

I expect he pressed pause on "A Swallow On My Neck" in part because the line-up difference made a palpable difference in the sound (i.e., Spencer vs. Woodie). It really does feel like an Arsenal track with Vauxhall production.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Found x3 is just unforgivable though. Musically the worst thing in the entire discography if you ask me.

really? wow.

I've always liked it and it is my favorite from 'Uncle', would love if he did it live. Actually, when I was so much younger than today, I was thinking of getting 'found found found' tattooed around the third finger of my left hand... only the initiated would understand.

 

[g23]

really? wow.

I've always liked it and it is my favorite from 'Uncle', would love if he did it live. Actually, when I was so much younger than today, I was thinking of getting 'found found found' tattooed around the third finger of my left hand... only the initiated would understand.

I'll stand by it. Musically, it sounds like it was written in 10 minutes by stoned high schoolers in a basement. Sludgy and amateur. Vocally it's great.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I'll stand by it. Musically, it sounds like it was written in 10 minutes by stoned high schoolers in a basement. Sludgy and amateur. Vocally it's great.

guess, that may be just some of the reasons why I like it. Though I would love to have had 'Guilty' or 'my love life' on there in exchange for 'harsh truth'.