Customer Reviews

Kill Uncle

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Spring of 1991: I am a 20-year-old student a Manhattan College in the Bronx. I remember traveling the 1/9 train subway with my friend and college radio partner to Tower Records downtown. Remember: There was no web, no leaks, and no previews. I remember it was chilly, and I was still getting over being dumped by my first college girlfriend. All I wanted was to hear this cd. I bought it and read the lyrics on the subway heading back to my dorm room.

"So how did I end up so deeply involved with the very existence I planned on avoiding?" is staring at me. Almost a paraphrase of what this girl had just told me before kicking me out of her dorm room a month ago! The chilling lyrics come from Kill Uncle's "Driving Your Girlfriend Home" which remains one of his best songs to date- a beautiful poem featuring honest lyrics repeated by a chilling base line.

For weeks I was glued to "Uncle" and 14 years later it remains on my all time favorites. A collection of rock, jazz and opera type songs, a collage of feelings and ideas.

"Our Frank" is a clever pop song mocking someone who takes him or herself too seriously. "Our frank and open deep conversations, they get me nowhere, they just bring me down" kicks off this brilliant album. "Asian Rut" is a brilliant opera duet including a violin crying about prejudice in the English school system. "Sing Your Life" is a fun, rockabilly style piece offering people 15 seconds of fame, years before the reality craze took over. "King Leer" is a jazzy selection mocking him and a love affair gone bound. Other favorites include "Found Found Found" "(I'm) The End Of The Family Line" and "There's A Place In hell For Me And My Friends."

Maybe the critics in 1991 were confused by the deepness of the context both lyrically and musically of "Kill Uncle." It's a must for any cd collection.

Bob Stei
WZZO
Allentown, PA

I started reading these reviews expecting to find other Moz fans raving about what a great record this is. Imagine my surprise to find most people thoroughly trashing it!

"Your Arsenal" is excellent as is "Vauxhall and I". "Bona Drag" is also awesome, but.. I have to say.. "Kill Uncle" is the disc of his that I find myself returning to.

Yeah it's got some clunkers, but the good tracks here are outstanding. They have a laid-back style with songwriting and musicianship that perfectly complements Moz's one of a kind voice and wry wit.

Our Frank, Sing Your Life, King Leer, Driving Your Girlfriend Home, The Harsh Truth of the Camera Eye

This album is not bad at all! 'Sing Your Life' is a classic, 'Driving Your Girlfriend Home' is pretty good, and the controversial(?!) 'Asian Boy' is one of my favorites. All in all this is a pretty good album - with one of Morrissey's best album covers (Maladjusted and Southpaw suffer from bad covers). I like this one - while it surely is not his best or his most career defining album.

I certainly can understand why some people wouldn't think this is Morrissey's greatest cd. But I can NOT understand why "fans" have trashed it. No other Morrissey cd blends silly, happy songs better with more serious ones. It will probably not go down in history as Morrissey's most "important" work (but who could ever narrow that down to one cd anyway?) but it is one of his most fun.

I don't know why most fans dislike this album? It's the first Morrissey record I bought and is definetly one of my favourite! I love that "laid back" music style that suits Morrissey's voice and nostalgic lyrics so well. Wonderful lyrics might I add maybe the best of his solo career: "I'm just passing through here on my way to somewhere civilized and maybe I'll even arrive maybe I'll even arrive?"(Asian Rut) Or: "You have a lovely singing voice a lovely singing voice and all of those who sing on key they stole the notion from you and me."(Sing Your Life)

Those who don't like this album are either the Moz fanatics who haven't heard anything outside of Moz, Cure or new-wave mop rock or just fail to discover the seeds of innovation. Perhaps "Kill Uncle" was too experimental, stripped down, or uncharacteristic for most of his fans, but that's what makes this album so intriguing and ground breaking in a subtle way... Too many Moz and Smiths album so the same. Having outgrown nearly all the songs of the Smiths and Moz, "Kill Uncle" still stands the test of time very much the same way The Smith's "Rubber Ring" - because they sound so original. The unpolished and simple production gives Kill Uncle that unique sense of romantic intimacy suspended in a light cloud of existential levity which would eventually flow in a more polished "Vauxhall and I." This album may be more of interest to voracious record collectors or musicians rather than so-called "hardcore" Morrissey fans (you know who you are) who haven't evolved past "Your Arsenal" or "Bona Drag."

I actually rate this cd at 4 1/2 stars, just a smidgen under 5. Although not Morrissey's best offering, there are some exceptional cuts here (OUR FRANK, SING YOUR LIFE, KING LEER, FOUND FOUND FOUND, TONY THE PONY). There are only 2 that I skip past when I play it and that I find to be the weakest tracks; Asian Rut and Mute Witness. I thought that this cd showcased his incredible vocal talents in a way no other album has. Morrissey isn't capable of turning out a bad record and although his lastest effort (Maladjusted) didn't fair well with the critics, there are some great tunes to be found on that cd as well.

Interesting how an artist such as Morrisey trips the sublime in this, at times, sonically astonishing album. From crafty songwriting to first rate recording technique, this so-called crybaby of morbidity neither betrays nor subtracts from his own calling. The puns and tongue and cheek approach, which Morrisey has always successfully employed, careen and richochet throughout this album like ball bearings across a cement platform. From the off beat and unusually musical "The Harsh Truth of the Camera's Eye", featuring creative off tempo and strange piano lines to the hit oriented "Our Frank", this record challenges the listener much more than the acclaimed first solo album 'Viva Hate'. Without necessarily pushing into new territory, Morissey still captures the imagination with the usual grace and taste, spinning prose and verse with inimitable singing style. Having Clive Langer in the producer chair (Elvis Costello's "Imperial Bedroom") the recording does justice to Morissey's choice of outstanding players. Unquestionably, one of Morissey's great strengths is the ability to choose tasteful and unusual musicians that compliment both his singing and writing instincts. Kill Uncle isn't for everyone, which is one of the reasons it is so good. "I don't want to be judged anymore. I don't want to be judged. I would sooner be loved." Who could put it better? Or, for that matter, even think to?

This is one of Moz' best albums IMHO. I see that people complain about the sound, but I have no problem with it. I am also not a soundboard tech so take it for what it is worth. This album has some of the sharpest lyrics of his career, skewering stupid boyfriends, boorish conversationalists, media-types, and, of course, himself and his own pretentious. His voice is wonderful as usual, his delivery is on target. The music is such that one could often tap one's toe if one desired. I particularly like the slinky bass on "Found Found Found". If you are a sensitive soul, battered by life, and are looking for some music to get you through the tough times, you need to buy all of Moz' early albums, including "Viva Hate", "Your Arsenal", "Vauxhall and I", "Bona Drag", and of course "Kill Uncle". As a dreary young lad, I would often find myself thinking of one person or another who had done me wrong while singing along with Moz, spitting venom and feeling quite the better for it afterwards. I can't imagine how many others had Morrissey for their own personal psychoanalyst in just the same way. A very good album so buy it.

Do not allow some other reviews fool you. There is a certain degree of consistency here such that you get an album feel. Indeed, I've come to expect certain songs to follow each other. Also, lets not forget that without this album, Morrissey would not have created Arsenal or Vauxhall. This album truly captures a period when Morrissey was in the process of reinventing himself, a time when he was arguably at the top of the music world.
I would like to note that music aficionados are going to love "Mute Witness" and "Found Found Found." The CD also ends with "Tony the Pony," a song not originially on the album. Goodbye.