Yeah, I would have bet (and lost) money that post-Smiths guitar/music genius Johnny Marr would have been the one with the really successful solo career. That Moz was successful is a bit of a shock, as I can easily see him fatally shooting himself in the foot quite early on, but just HOW successful his solo career has been is stunning.
I have found all of Marr's solo stuff to be fine but never more than that. And his voice was surprisingly okay, once he finally started singing, and it's only gotten better from there. I wonder what kind of solo career he could have had if he'd started singing decades earlier.
Truth to tell, I only wrote because I wanted to see if anyone was checking this site anymore. I mean, some of you get so excited about the monthly live release, and this time nothing. Obviously, the Queen's demise inspired the subject .
The Smiths. Like Scott, I found them uninspiring at first. The first album did nothing for me at all. But someone who's taste I trusted urged me to listen to the Queen Is Dead, and that did it. Like Scott, I love pretty much everything they released. Great melodies, great words, and Marr and the rhythm section were a wonder.
I listened to a couple of Morrisey's solo albums, and stopped bothering. I wish I enjoyed Marr's albums more than I do. For a few years there, they rode the muse together. Somehow Morrisey's failures as a human being escaped my notice. I just know that friends of mine practically spit on the floor when his name comes up. Shame.
I actively disliked the Smiths in the mid-80s. A pal turned me onto "Cemetery Gates," which I loved despite myself.
But for some reason, nothing else of theirs ever really quite struck me.
Then, many many years later, I started working with a guy and the two of us just clicked the way -- in my experience -- very, very rarely happens after your early 20s. It was like we were lifelong besties after only a week of working together. We had very, very similar tastes in music and film and TV and comics and politics. He was (and is) British and am not, but I've always been something of an Anglophile and he, amusingly, is an Americanophile.
But he was also absolutely mad for the Smiths. So I decided to give them one more try. And this time they just worked for me staggeringly well. I went through their catalog in order and they connected from the first note of the first song and with very few exceptions, held me rapt until the last note of the last song. Absolutely brilliant band -- killer rhythm section, genius guitarist and despite being a raging asshole, one of the truly great lyricists ever -- and I don't know why it took me so long to come around on them.
Boy howdy I wish Moz weren't such a total douchecanoe.
Yeah, I would have bet (and lost) money that post-Smiths guitar/music genius Johnny Marr would have been the one with the really successful solo career. That Moz was successful is a bit of a shock, as I can easily see him fatally shooting himself in the foot quite early on, but just HOW successful his solo career has been is stunning.
I have found all of Marr's solo stuff to be fine but never more than that. And his voice was surprisingly okay, once he finally started singing, and it's only gotten better from there. I wonder what kind of solo career he could have had if he'd started singing decades earlier.
Truth to tell, I only wrote because I wanted to see if anyone was checking this site anymore. I mean, some of you get so excited about the monthly live release, and this time nothing. Obviously, the Queen's demise inspired the subject .
The Smiths. Like Scott, I found them uninspiring at first. The first album did nothing for me at all. But someone who's taste I trusted urged me to listen to the Queen Is Dead, and that did it. Like Scott, I love pretty much everything they released. Great melodies, great words, and Marr and the rhythm section were a wonder.
I listened to a couple of Morrisey's solo albums, and stopped bothering. I wish I enjoyed Marr's albums more than I do. For a few years there, they rode the muse together. Somehow Morrisey's failures as a human being escaped my notice. I just know that friends of mine practically spit on the floor when his name comes up. Shame.
I actively disliked the Smiths in the mid-80s. A pal turned me onto "Cemetery Gates," which I loved despite myself.
But for some reason, nothing else of theirs ever really quite struck me.
Then, many many years later, I started working with a guy and the two of us just clicked the way -- in my experience -- very, very rarely happens after your early 20s. It was like we were lifelong besties after only a week of working together. We had very, very similar tastes in music and film and TV and comics and politics. He was (and is) British and am not, but I've always been something of an Anglophile and he, amusingly, is an Americanophile.
But he was also absolutely mad for the Smiths. So I decided to give them one more try. And this time they just worked for me staggeringly well. I went through their catalog in order and they connected from the first note of the first song and with very few exceptions, held me rapt until the last note of the last song. Absolutely brilliant band -- killer rhythm section, genius guitarist and despite being a raging asshole, one of the truly great lyricists ever -- and I don't know why it took me so long to come around on them.
Boy howdy I wish Moz weren't such a total douchecanoe.
Aye, yer man Marr knows his way about a guitar, nae doubt there.
Just their overall......thing, never really chimed with me.
Liked the guitar sound.
A band I never really got into, even before Morrisey went funny.