Customer Reviews

Your Arsenal

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Although it fades a bit in the final stretch, "Your Arsenal" rocks pretty hard, with Moz in complete rock star mode. He's moody, coy, pouty, sexual, asexual and ethereal(especially on the haunting "We'll Let You Know")and I found this to be one of his very best efforts. Encompassing all of his strengths and few of his musical weaknesses, the CD is tight, compact and extremely well-produced.
Also check out the live album "Beethoven Was Deaf", which includes much of the material found here in a live, rocking format.

This has to be my favorite Morrissey-solo album. It's just more consistent than anything else; the mood, especially, and the quality (even Vauxhall had a few weak songs). Some albums just seem to be collections of the songs that the artist happened to record at that time, arranged in a way that makes some sense, but Arsenal feels as though it was really concieved of as a complete work of art. From track one to track ten, the swagger and edge is consistent, from happier tracks (You're The One...) to the expected melancholy ones (We'll Let You Know). Seasick, Yet Still Docked might be a bit over the top ("Wish I knew the way / to reach the one I love / there is no way"), but its blunt, tired frankness sets it apart from similar songs in the Morrissey catalogue, and the stereotypical Smiths fan should lap it up. Aside from that, though - this is certainly Morrissey's other side, here, hinted at even in his Smiths days with songs like 'London;' a fiercer, more robust presonality, fascinated with the more gritty aspects of his nation. The humor, of course, remains intact, with songs like 'We Hate It...,' and his political side is displayed in 'Glamorous Glue' (not, as some have bizzarely suggested, in 'National Front...'). The closing track, Tomorrow, seems to me to be the epitome of the album, mixing the traditional sentiments ("Would you tell me that you love me / Oh, I know you don't mean it") with this reinventive loud, unwilting style.

i had heard Morrissey songs before in the past and i didn't really have much of an opinion on them. they seemed fine for what they were...but i had a hard time grasping just what all the fanatacism was about. until i heard Your Arsenal. then i understood and the curtain was lifted to reveal the allure of the Morrissey mystique. this album holds alot of personal special feeling and memories with it, but as a stand alone album, it is a masterpiece and a modern classic. the music thunders with a swagger and a confidence that draws heavy influence from Bowie, T-Rex, and a host of old rockabilly bands. draped with the charming vocals of Morrissey, the songs shine with a charm and a vigor that is life-affirming. it's really quite impossible to hand pick the best songs on here, because they are all truly great. a shining example of how wonderful a solid a Morrissey album can be...and one that revealed a whole new world of appreciation. consider me converted!

This is MOrrissey at hist best, hands down. It may be one of the most important albums that I own. If you do not own this..then you must. There isnt a bad song on this album. Five stars!

This is a fantastic album. Despite the fact that Morrissey recorded this almost 13 years ago, the music still sound fresh and the lyrics still brilliant. It just makes the bilge they pass off today as good music seem like complete PC crap! When you have it like ol' Moz does, you don't need to try so hard. Go and show that to your stylists BLINK 182 and the rest of you fake nihilist wanker bands.

This was Morrissey's final album for the classically orientated HMV label in the UK, and what a brilliant album it is.
His 1991 album "Kill Uncle" was rather lightweight pop, and the following year he ditched the mediocre and turned to late producer Mick Ronson to beef up the guitars and deliver an album which relied heavily on 70's glam rock and classic rock'n'roll.

You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side: Nicking the bass line from the "Batman" theme, this is a fine opening for the album. It's about having someone whom you can't stand befriending you. 9/10

Glamourous Glue: Half the fun of this track lies in guessing the riffs that they're nicked from. You can hear influences of the Sweet's "Blockbuster" and a string quartet playing Gary Glitter's "Rock'n'Roll Part 1" in the middle 8 (strangely enough he is not credited on this track). It's about the Americanisation of British culture 'we look to Los Angeles for the language we use. London is dead, London is dead.' 10/10

We'll Let You Know: A gentle ballad about soccer hooligans with some discordant recorder playing, and some delicately scrubbed acoustic guitar. Morrissey sums them up well in the final line "We are last British people you will ever want to know." 9/10

The National Front Disco: Almost a sequel to Asian Rut, this is Morrissey's take on the power struggles between the white and black people in England. 9/10

Certain People I Know: Taking the guitar riff from T-Rex's "Ride A White Swan", this is a pleasant track about Morrissey's much publicised idols. I wish this had been a bigger hit in the UK than it was, but then again everyone else was too busy listening to bad techno. 10/10

We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful: A lively rock'n'roll track about what we in Australia call the "Tall Poppy" syndrome, this is a slap in the face to people who pull people who have worked for fame and fortune off their pedestals. It's also good to hear Morrissey laughing on one of his songs for once. 10/10

You're The One For Me, Fatty: A song to make the overweight want to drop their Jenny Craig diets and fall in love with the Moz, whose own girth started to grow during this period. The guitar riff is rather daggy, but still pleasing to listen to. 9/10

Seasick, Yet Still Docked: This track is one of Morrissey's saddest ever. It's a waltz-time track with a repetitive guitar solo that will either send you into a trance or to sleep. 8/10

I Know It's Going To Happen Someday: Opening with some ham radio effects, the song was later covered by David Bowie on his "Black Tie, White Noise" album. 8/10

Tomorrow: Not the cover of the Sandie Shaw song, but rather a fine piece of power rock that closes the album and showing Morrissey still feeling sexually frustrated and unfulfilled. 10/10

Your arsenal is perhaps the most well-rounded of Morrissey's solo releases..everything sounds like it belongs there - quite a departure from 'kill uncle'... Hard rocking numbers like "you're gonna need someone on your side", "National front disco", and the commical "you're the one for me, fatty" are balanced by the slow and more intimate "We'll let you know" and the truly beautiful "seasick, yet still docked". Mick Ronson clearly did a fantastic job with the production on this - maybe Morrissey's best..

Ignoring the fact that most Americans wouldn't get the reference to 'Arsenal', the english soccer team, or that someone like Morrissey would like sports, This album really defines Morrissey as a solo artist. 'Kill Uncle' and 'Bona Drag' are both excellent albums that should be in the collection of any Smiths fan, but they're still Morrissey doing the Smiths. This album is the first 'Morrissey' album and the addition of Boz Boorer on guitar really solidifies the sound. Morrissey was, is and always shall be the king of disillusioned hip: you could keep time to his sense of style, and his encapsulation of ennui and angst would make Kafka seem upbeat. Now his music reflects how he looks and feels: older, wiser, madder. Buy this album and you'll buy more.

Also try 'Vauxhall and I'

By far the most accessible and hook-laden of Morrissey's career. But enough pretentiousness, this album is fantastic. It's rockabilly, pop, power ballad all concocted by the recalcitrant one himself. It's all been downhill after this one, sadly.

This is probably my fave moz LP. I probably like it as much as any Smiths LP, but I think that's because I'm so attached to this one emotionally (puking sound).

- You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side is a metallic masterpiece. It's really cheesy and serious, but somehow it works. - Glamorous Glue is slightly less successful, echoing the riff from the smiths' 'shoplifters of the world', but played in an overly Glam-rock style - We'll Let You Know is a really quite moving number, slow and evocative. - National Front Disco is an infuriatingly catchy guitar rock number - England for the English, eh? Not one I enjoyed singing along to at gigs - Certain People I Know is a nice little song based around the riff from T.Rex's Ride a White Swan - We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful is a pretty average flawed Moz single - as is You're The One For Me, Fatty - I'm not too crazy about Seasick, Yet Still Docked; it is a bit over-the-top in its mournfulness - I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday is my favorite Moz song of all time. Very moving and dramatic, a real tearjerker if you are a one-time Moz devotee like me - Tomorrow is ok, it is a pretty straight rock song, not something which sets my world on fire.

In general, Moz's lyrics continue to get simpler on this album (eg 'Tomorrow, does it have to come...), but it is the slick Mick Ronson production which appeals (as opposed to the aimless sound of Kill Uncle), and makes it one of his best.