Morrissey – Years of Refusal

As my regular readers and friends will attest, I will proclaim my love for the music of Steven Patrick Morrissey to anyone if they stand still long enough to listen. Thus, when it comes to critiquing Years Of Refusal, I have to consciously balance my fan status with how I approach the record as a critic, though I am aware part of my writing style is that I wear said fan status on my sleeve. That being said, this record excels on many levels, as it finds Morrissey ramping up the old-school glam to levels that match, if not trump, those on Your Arsenal, while showcasing the wry lyricism that made You Are The Quarry one of my favorite records of this decade.
On “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris,” Moz declares his affection for the French capital, because “only stone and steel accept my love,” yet does so by suggesting that, somehow, even the city’s “Paris=Romance” stereotype cannot return his love. “All You Need Is Me” is a growling song that proclaims its brooding, selfish-is-as-selfish-does ethos in the opening line, “You hiss and groan and you constantly moan, but you don’t ever go away, and that’s because all you need is me.” With the track “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore,” Morrissey ably states what many people only wish they could declare to an annoying acquaintance, coworker, or family member – “It’s not your birthday anymore. There’s no need to be kind to you and the will to see you smile and be loved has now gone.” And finally, on “I’m OK By Myself,” the chorus asserts a classic Morrissey theme: “This might surprise you but, I’m OK by myself, and I don’t need you or your morality to save me.”
There is a dangerous and willful aggression that seeps out of nearly every track here, creating an almost uncomfortable, sinking feeling in the pit of the listener’s stomach. Yet, it is exactly the discomfort – delivered via snarling instrumentation and compelling vocal delivery – that makes the album so superior, as Morrissey’s words are smarter and more smugly sardonic than anything he’s penned in years. And like the finest of wines and whiskeys, Morrissey’s voice has only deepened and become richer with age. He hits nearly every note (especially the high ones) with a measure of strength and power that eluded him in the ’80s, allowing his voice to slightly crack only when emotionally appropriate.
Years Of Refusal only sags a bit around the songs “One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell” and “You Were Good In Your Time” when the lyrics and tone plunge too acutely into an elegiac, funereal realm. Overall, this is an excellent record replete with the biting, high-quality mopery the music world has come to expect from The Mozzer, songs full of earnest melodrama, but with a limited amount of unnecessary wallowing. Count me as a fan and critic truly pleased with Years Of Refusal.