South Paw Grammar

I have a bad habit of unintentionally giving up on an artist I really like since I'm a fickle music fan. I guess it's really more because I'm always looking for new & different music and sounds. I loved The Smiths and Morrissey's solo work up till "Kill Uncle" which I enjoyed, but then got diverted by other artists putting out more interesting music since "Kill Uncle" was just more of the same to me. I finally picked up "Your Arsenal" 4 or 5 years ago.Well, I was listening to Pandora(the internet radio site)earlier this week and they played "The Boy Racer" and I thought 'my god this is good'. I listened to samples of the entire cd and decided I needed to have it in my collection. I'm listening to it now as I write this review and am loving it. I also had read some of these reviews on Amazon as well. When I realized "Southpaw Grammar" was a major diversion from usual Morrissey fare, I had to check it out myself. I sure am glad I gave it a chance!This is Morrissey at his most inventive and creative. Some have called this prog rock, which it might be to some extent but I think there's definitely some glam rock influences and even some psychedelia like on "The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils" and "Southpaw" with the amazing guitar and bass work and the atmospheric noises in the background. Some reviewers have stated that they dislike both of these songs because they are overlong and overwrought but I find them fascinating because they're so different from anything Moz has done before. I enjoy more offbeat unusual songs and artists anyway so this is right down my alley."Reader Meet Author", "Dagenham Dave" & "Best Friend On The Payroll" are more succinct pop songs and catchy but with a bit more rock in their sound. "The Operation" is another unusually long song for the Moz that starts out w/a long drum solo that is hypnotizing at the beginning but it rocks as well once the melody starts. Of course "The Boy Racer" is what drew me to this cd in the first place and is a great song as is "Do Your Best & Don't Worry".If you like more experimental/progressive music then you will enjoy this cd. I think perhaps if this cd were released now it might be better recieved initially due to the rise of prog rock groups like Coheed & Cambria, et al. But then again, as long as some of us secretly long for The Smiths to reunite(me included), there will be that expectation that Morrissey has to make up for the gap in the universe where The Smiths once were. Now that "Southpaw Grammar" has won me back over I think I've finally accepted Moz on his own terms. It's about f'n time eh?

For a number of reasons, 1995's Southpaw Grammar isn't Morrissey's most wildly popular or highly regarded. When a rep at his label later confessed they buried the album because they knew he wouldn't extend his contract, Morrissey dead pans in the liner notes, "How very,very lovely".True, the original was hit and miss but this 2009 edition is a knock out. Expanded and re-sequenced by Morrissey, his wittily self-deprecating liner notes also shed light on why this album never landed the way it should. I suppose it all could be summed up in Reader Meet Author when it begs the question, "have you ever escaped from a shipwrecked life" ?Southpaw was never intended to be accessible anymore than it was a self-indulgent vanity project. It's aim was to take risks and give the band a chance to stretch their muscles. But if Teachers overwhelmed as opening track, here Boy Racer greets you, kicking things off on more concise, if deceptively chipper note. Placed near the end, Teachers acts as climax where it served as oppressor before. Same can be said for placing the brooding 10 minute epic, Southpaw in the middle. Elsewhere Reader Meet Author and Dangenham Dave are highlights as they were then. And if the rousing but schizophrenic Operation seemed disjointed before, now it lands with a punch.Beyond the re-sequencing what sends this into 5 star Morrissey territory are the inclusion of some very choice but essential unreleased tracks. Lord knows why they never made the original. Among them Fantastic Bird lives up its name. You Should Have Been Nice To Me comes in after Teachers and lends both much more poignancy. As for the sweeping ballad Nobody Loves Us, its up there with the likes of I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday. One of his finest love songs. A soaring end to daring album that never quite was but whose ambitions have finally paid off.While we're all sick of the reissue game by now, this Morrissey approved reworking is no scam but a real gift to fans from the heart. So call this Southpaw Grammar Revisted. And consider it one of the finest Morrissey albums that never happened till now.

First off: I'm a fan for about 25 years.I've listed to countless bootleg concerts/demos/outtakes of his CDs and demos of some of the songs from this CD. I'm such a hard-core fan that I had an advance release tape of this CD in 1995 before the public had ever heard it. And played the tape maybe 150 times.This CD is SO SO SO Underrated. It actually ROCKS. It was a travesty this CD was basically "shelved"If you read the liner notes on the expanded and remastered edition, a record exec was quoted that the recored company buried this CD (meaning ZERO promotion), because Morrissey was not going to extend his contract with the label.The only CD I like more is the Bona Drag compilation, so this is my 2nd fave.I've seen 15 Morrissey shows between 1991 and 1997 and the 1997 tour which featured these songs in the setlists was his 2nd best tour besides his 1st 1991 American tour.Listen to the samples here at Amazon. This CD is better than any CD he has put out since this release.I've bought this CD 3 times. It's my "happy" Morrissey go-to CD. Desert-Island disk league.The extra tracks on this edition are just gravy to me.Stand-out tracks: Best Friend on the Payroll, Do Your Best and Don't Worry and Southpaw.

This is an eccentric album. Not for the faint of heart for sure. To me it’s what makes it so incredibly good. I adore both the expanded version and my original vinyl and now cd pressing. Viva Morrissey!

O Morrissey de sempre, vale a pena

L'ennesimo grande album di Morrissey. Non so perchè ma all'epoca della sua uscita l'avevo sottovalutato, invece contiene 8 tracce eccellenti. L'unico appunto l'amore per me inspiegabile di Morrissey per le intro lunghissime, come gli oltre due minuti di batteria di The Operation

You won’t find this on Spotify or iTunes (at least at the time of writing).Possibly one of his most underrated albums, Southpaw Grammar actually has some of his best and most consistent work.Whether you’re talking about the original or the re-release, the songs, the sound and the production are great.The album has plenty of bite and is before he became a self confessed crooner (I’m not complaining his current style, I like all of his works to varying degrees).Powerful songs, delivered with pace and energy.It’s definitely worth getting the re-release for his liner notes alone, but I do like the extra songs and new order of tracks too.Definitely one of his best!

bei dieser platte handelt es sich um die "restaurierte fassung"seines 95er albums.zugegeben, ich hatte etwas gezögert, mir diese neuauflage zuzulegen.warum sollte man eine platte plötzlich in veränderter form neu herausbringen?nun bin ich aber froh, das teil in meinen händen halten zu können.als erstes fällt auf, dass die gesamte aufmachung der cd sehr liebevoll ist. angefangen vom neuen artwork, über die in tagebuchform erstellen monologe von mozzer, über die vielen schönen schwarz-weiß-fotos bis hin zur cd selbst, die wieder in vinylform daherkommt (aber diesmal leichter entnehmbar ist).die tendenz, seine neuen veröffentlichungen etwas ansprechender zu gestalten, kann ich nur begrüßen und tut speziell diesem werk unheimlich gut. ich halte gerne mal das cover oder sonstiges der cd beim hören in den händen und beschäftige mich eingehender damit. das war bei der alt-version nicht so einfach. das etwas abschreckende foto sowie die schreiend orange farbe der damaligen version, haben meiner meinung nach, von dem an sich sehr gutem werk nur negativ abgelenkt.warum man nun die reihenfolge verändert hat, ist mir auch nicht ganz klar, aber das geht schon in ordnung. man hat so irgendwie das gefühlt, doch einen komplett neue platte von morrissey zu hören.die schnellen eingängigen nummern sind nun überwiegend an den anfang gepackt.von den angekündigten 4 unveröffentlichten songs, ist einer "nobody love us" bereits auf "my earl burglary years" enthalten (aber alleine dieser titel rechtfertig schon den kauf :) )"fantastic bird" klingt beim ersten hören etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig und will nicht so recht in die stimmung der sonstigen songs des albums passen.im großen und ganzen kann ich es nur begrüßen, das diese alte rock-perle (denn das album ist überwiegend sehr rockig, teilweise mehr als "your arsenal") wieder einer breiteren masse zugeführt wird.zugreifen, es lohnt sich auf jeden fall