Customer Reviews

Southpaw Grammar (2009 Expanded Edition)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This album has been unfairly slagged and I'm not sure why, but I'm glad to see some fans on this forum are sticking up for it. SOUTHPAW GRAMMAR is one of Morrissey's most rockin' albums and it's musically ambitious with two songs breaking the 10-minute mark. "The Operation," my favorite one here, is nearly 7 minutes long. I noticed that everyone has different favorites and least favs, so that right there should tell you that the objections people have to this album are really just a matter of taste. The music itself is great and Morrissey retains his title as the master of mope, encompassing both bleak despair and biting humor.

VAUXHALL & I probably deserves its reputation as Morrisey's best solo record, but overall, SOUTHPAW GRAMMAR is probably my favorite; I like it even more than that other rockin fan fav YOUR ARSENAL. Of course, anyone just getting into Moz needs to start with the band that launched his career, the legendary Smiths (any album of theirs will do nicely).

Here are some personal impressions of SOUTHPAW GRAMMAR from an actual southpaw:

"The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils" - orchestrated with sweeping strings and brooding atmospherics including a squalling guitar in the background, the opener clocks in at 11:15. All-out rocking ensues midway through. This song is about the misery a typical school teacher must endure these days. "Say the wrong words to our children/ We'll have you arrested." *****

"Reader Meet Author" - a rather average Morrissey pop song, made all the more average for following "Teachers," but it's agreeable enough and it does rock along nicely. Also has some nice orchestral flourishes. ****

"The Boy Racer" - fun rocker - Moz is jealous of the Boy Racer and wants to "kill this pretty thing" who "has too many girlfriends" and "always speeds but never gets pulled over." ****

"The Operation" - this track launches off straight into a "gutsy" drum solo (I recall that's how Rolling Stone put it - "gutsy" has become an overused term in music journalism, but that's the first time I read it. Incidentally, the magazine rated this album 4 out of 5 stars). The drum solo is really long and it's super-cool too, with strange background mob noises and passing horses with sleigh bells added on. The song itself is a Morrissey classic about a friend that undergoes a personality change after an operation and ends up getting on peoples' nerves even though the change is apparently an improvement. Towards the end, the song takes off into orbit, reaching a head-spinning climax. Totally rocks! *****

"Dagenham Dave" - another decent rocker that suffers a bit coming after a killer song. Moz sings the words "Dagenham Dave" a bit too much though, and sometimes I find the song rather annoying unless I'm really in the mood for it. ***

"Do Your Best and Don't Worry" - I love this one - it's very upbeat and finds Morrissey handing out genuine advice and encouragement, no tongue in cheek. A great song! *****

"Best Friend on the Payroll" - for some reason, I find this one hilarious. I guess it's similar to that certain tendency to laugh at uncomfortable situations because I can relate to this song (unfortunately). "I turn the music down and I don't know why - This is MY house!" Another great, rockin' tune. *****

"Southpaw" - the 10-minute closer is a brutal, cutting indictment against the life of a loser and another song I can sadly relate to. The guitars are spine-tingling and other-worldly. Stunning. *****

Some of these songs are indeed good if average Morrissey fare, but the great songs are great enough to elevate my rating to 5 stars. Blender magazine stupidly called this album difficult and ugly. If you only looked at the cover and didn't bother giving the music a chance, then I could understand that comment.

The first track does not live up to the rest of the album - but this is, all in all, one of Morrissey's best albums! 'Reader meet Author' is a personal favorite of mine. There is an angry tone to this album - as Morrissey always seems to embrace what he is feeling at the time. This is cathartic music at its finest. Turn it up!

This album might be a few years old, but snap it up. Only three left
at Amazon!
Before Morrissey was ever the Ringleader of the Tormentors, he was alot
of other things. Such as the tormented man who wore a Union Jack Flag
around him to protest against something or another. And then what about
the rock and roll quiffs?
Anyway, Southpaw Grammer stands out for its 11 minute intro song, and
it's 8 minute outro. Your ears are treated to intelligent lyrics and
tons of arrangements by the guitarist Alain Whyte. Who really does
know his F# from his Gb.
As always there is plenty of sarcasm, tongue in cheek lyrics, humour and
so forth. Once again something to think about on the way to work. Or take
the week off, buy all of this man's albums and see if going to work
again really has any significance.

^That's what basically all negative reviewers are bitter about. This album is excellent. Seriously. The instrument work is the finest I've heard on any Morrissey album ever. I'd advise you to actually sit down and pay attention to the instrumentation and it's simply amazing. Great songs by a genuine artist. DO NOT pay attention to any of these negative reviews.

The songs on this album were a necessary departure for the time when it came out in 1995,it was after Vauxhall and I people!!-the softest of his albums- this is Morrissey at his hardest. I only wish that they would have included the two b-sides that came out with the Dagenham Dave single: you must please remember & nobody loves us. I have enjoyed it over the years and like it equally to You are the Quarry even though it isnt as melodious as the latter.

I'm surprised that this album gets panned so often as it does. In my opinion, this album ranks third among Morrissey's solo efforts - right behind Viva Hate and Vauxhall.

I think what might be turning some people off is that Morrissey seems to take a back seat to his band on this album. When Morrissey sang with the Smiths, he was in a partnership with Johnny Marr, and during his solo career, Morrissey has carefully teamed up with slightly inferior musicians who make it easy for his voice and lyrics to take center stage. So this album is different from his other albums in that, for once, he lets his band show off their skills. There are long stretches in some of these songs where we don't hear Morrissey at all, just the band. "The Operation" is a good example of this: it begins with a long drum solo and ends with a long guitar solo.

Granted, some of the tracks take some getting used to. I, for example, didn't immediately like the first single, "The Boy Racer" the first few times I heard it, but all of the song are ultimately catchy and they grow on you. I now love every song on this album.

Don't be afraid of the negative reviews. This is still very much a Morrissey album. And if you haven't listened to it in a while, thinking it isn't very good, give it another shot.

Listening to Morrissey's latest good, but over-produced release, "You are the Quarry", reminds me that Southpaw Grammar remains his greatest album as a solo artist. Am I the only one so completely taken with this artful, indulgent, rockabilly classic? From track 3 through 8, the Moz brings to the studio the best of why we love to see him perform live.

Now, a lot of people griped about this album when it came out because it wasn't beautiful like "Vauxhall and I," but that's precisely WHY I love this album. The Mozzer took some risk with this album (unlike with "Malajusted") and the results are spectacular.

Aloha, I've been fixed on Moz's "Southpaw Grammer" as of late!!! His band is intricate yet hypnotic, crisp and loud-check out track #8, entitled "Southpaw"-play it loud and glide into a hypnotic trance-it's intense...I've been a big fan of Moz and The Smiths for awhile...just got the import, "The Very Best Of The Smiths"- a must have CD release-sounds great...
aloha from Hawaii

Another unfairly maligned Morrissey solo album, Southpaw Grammar is actually quite excellent, with many memorable tracks, most pretty hard rocking. The new sequence and added tracks do the album well, presenting it as the classic it truly is.

Morrissey has been judged harshly since the moment he released his first solo single, the music press seem determined to name him a has-been no matter what great records he put out. As such, it's become pretty common for the uniformed to merely quote the sentiment that solo Moz is not as good. Well, as excellent as The Smiths were, they released uneven albums as well, comps like Hatful Of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs doing them better service. Morrissey too can be more of a singles act, but the bottom line is his solo catalogue deserves more scrutiny