I like this one: the cat’s paw tread of the drums (looped?), the string arrangement, Morrissey camply savoring the word “head”, the early 60s Eurovision vibe. The KROQ rearrangement makes sense for a live version, but is comparatively ordinary. It’s nice to hear him delivering a kind of mission statement and pep talk, a rare outburst of positivity (although he still finds space for “your pointless life”, of course). The shots of Nevin in the video are so brief as to be subliminal, was he persona non grata already?
This actually made me laugh out loud. Suggs connects the two albums (backing vocals and production, respectively), perhaps he’s the harbinger of doom.... I think the disappointment of KU was heightened by the fact that Bona Drag was comprised partly of scrapped album sessions; that was excellent, so I was expecting the stuff that was considered worthy of release as a “proper” album to be better.... Such a boring album cover, too. I remember the press advert had another shot from the same photo session, Morrissey having a kickabout (I presume the strange “jazz hands” cover is an “over ’ere, on me ’ead” moment with the ball cropped out), complete with Morrissey’s serial killer handwriting. That would have made for a livelier cover image.
Here’s a good chunk of the tonight show with Carson and Cosby Cosby’s standup at 4 minutes in starts with a few minutes of jokes to the Morrissey crowd, plus more joking around with Johnny about Moz at 10 min. Sing your Life is at about 14:30. The commercials are a time warp It’s a good insight into the time - not the band at their best, kill uncle may have been a dud, but his popularity in the US was starting to explode as more and more caught onto the Smiths and him solo
I remember these ads; they also had Moz’s scrawling handwritten bastardised Wilde quote: “Nothing to declare but my jeans” which I thought was very witty.
I’ve always liked ‘Sing Your Life’ - I own it on CD single, so it obviously made a better impression on me than ‘Our Frank’. It’s clearly a slight song, but it’s enjoyable enough. I think it and ‘Pregnant For The Last Time’ are the strongest examples of the sound Morrissey was trying to create at this time. 3.5/5
Sing Your Life was the only song on Kill Uncle that registered with me, which I bought when it was released. 4/5 from me
See, that as a cover (with repositioned handwriting, obv) would have said “This is a quirky little album wherein Morrissey tries some new things!*”, which is pretty much the best defense that can be mustered for KU... * “Mostly unsuccessfully; no refunds.”
I find Morrissey’s album covers bafflingly awful, with the only exception being Viva Hate. It’s a shame, because the artwork for some of his singles has been great (and the ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’ cover, as we’ve discussed, is outstanding). His inability to choose a good image of himself is very odd, as his aesthetic during The Smiths was so confident and distinctive. But perhaps it’s a lot easier working with photos of your idols than choosing an image of yourself?
"Sing Your Life": I like the rhythm, and the bnad sounds pretty good and I like the strings, but it just does nothing for me overall. 2/5
Sing your life .. So where in here there is a great song trying to get out, but it’s just too...muted. Never really gets going , a soft shoe shuffle of a song. 3/5 I think Mick Ronson deserves a huge round of applause for getting Morrissey out of this hole. “Anyone can make up words that rhyme....”
Yes, I had that on my bedroom wall. I assumed it was going to be the cover art for the album... and then was highly disappointed!
I'd never heard that before. It's very impressive and shows what a good song and a great band they were.
You don't like the artwork for Your Arsenal, You Are the Quarry or Vauxhall and I? While being arguably his three best albums, they've always struck me as having the best album covers too.
Well, it just shows you how subjective music can be. I can only hear Your Arsenal as a huge return to form after Kill Uncle. I do now and I did at the time. Track by track, the gulf in the songwriting seems immense to me and Ronson's bigger, bolder production is much more suited to Morrissey's voice and the material. Yes, I can hear something of Jean Genie in Glamorous Glue - though it's a generic 70s riff - and the I Know it's Gonna Happen coda deliberately echoes Rock 'n' Roll Suicide. But otherwise I can't hear a Bowie "wannabe" at all. I doubt many people wanted to be Bowie in 1992 and certainly a 70s influenced album by Morrissey came out of left field at the time - though it was an influence Suede would later run with in the decade, of course. I'm not one to wholly dismiss the lightweight eccentricities of Kill Uncle - but where Kill Uncle seemed underwritten and unsure of itself, Your Arsenal was confident and brash and heralded Morrissey's return to critical respectability. Indeed it's Kill Uncle that sounds bland to my ear, not Your Arsenal.
Kill Uncle is a great album for chillin. Your Arsenal is great for rockin out. I don't see either as being bland.
