Southpaw Grammar [Original recording remastered]

If you've looked up this album then you most likely know that it'sa mid 90's solo album by Morrissey, that he used to be in the Smiths and that he has written some fantastic lyrics in his time. If you know all this then you are most likely a Morrissey fan, and if so you really should own this CD. Not because you are a Moz crazed completist but because it really is a good album. If you are new to Morrissey, get Vauxhall & I, then come back for this.
Saddly Southpaw Grammer often gets a bashing from critics, Boz Borer (Moz guitarist) described it as "an album to far" and even Morrissey slated the artwork in an Uncut interview. It should be noted that some strange choices were made during Southpaws recording: instead of a 'full album' there are only 8 tracks, the excellent Nobody Loves Us and You Must Please Remeber were thrown away as Bsides on the Dagenham Dave single, potential stand out track The Operation is bogged down with a two and half minute drum solo and lastly, the great Morrissey 2 minute slice of indie pop is thrown out and replaced with two 10 minute rock epics that bookend the album. It's hard to see why these things were done.

But.... it comes from the same production team as 'Vauxhall' (still hailed as his best solo album), it's his heavest album to date with some real rock n roll moments, and most importantly it features some excellent songs. The two singles Boy Racer & Dagenham Dave are good enough, but the other six tracks are all among the best of Morrisseys solo work (just use itunes to edit out 'that' drum solo).

It's strange how music critics and fan communities change their minds. Kill Uncle, by far Morrissey's weakest collection of songs (and home to some truly dismal lyrics and arrangements) is now hailed by many as "a forgotten master piece", a title that Southpaw Grammer might just live up to. It isn't the Morrissey album anyone expects on first listen and it's certainly hard to imagine RCA records anticipating what we have here (which might explain why only 10 tracks were recorded for the label, later single Boy Racer being padded out with live songs). But Southpaw Grammer is a great rock album that you will come back to again and again.

Re issue edit - May 19th 2009:
Amazon have copied this review to the remastered, reorder, repackaged re issue of Southpaw so I thought I ought to address that briefly.
Personally, I don't like the reordering of the tracks but I do like the new tracks (especially 'Honey you know where to find me'). It's a shame that 'You must please remember' has been left out. The packaging is so so, although it's always good to get some liner notes from the man himself (even if they don't always make much sense). The changes do make it more accessible and at it's heart the reissue is still good old Southpaw. It's still an essential album for a Morrissey fan and it's at least the equal of his recent albums.
Shame they didn't do as good a job with Maladjusted, but there you go.

Firstly, let me state that this is a review of the EXPANDED version of 'Southpaw Grammar' and NOT of the original album as so many of the reviews for this product are here.

That said, here we go...

Like a lot of people in this world, I am a devotee of Stephen Patrick Morrissey. Also like a lot of people, I have, over the years, become to feel that I know and understand him pretty well. In reality of course, this is ( and always has been) the man's greatest talent - the ability to make people feel that way about him - he, a person that in real life they DO NOT know and (in all probability) NEVER will.

Morrissey on the contrary I believe, is acutely aware of himself and his feelings towards life (perhaps even painfully so). His need to be 'properly' understood and yearning within to 'shout what he cannot even bear to mutter', therefore ultimately leads him to 'revealing acts' such as compiling his own 'Greatest Hits' album (a mistake in my view) and this expanded and re-worked version of his most over-looked work 'Southpaw Grammar'.

It was with this perception in mind (right or wrong!) that I approached this album...

Happily, this time, the great man's personal intervention in re-compiling the album proves not only very wise but necessary. This expanded edition even comes complete with a hard backed cover and a very interesting and insightful essay by Morrissey himself.

The remastered sound of the album has much more 'top end' and thus the previously rather 'muddy' 'The Boy Racer' proves a powerful and confident start to the album. In fact, all in all Morrissey's new running order works very well indeed and his intervention has given the album a much more cohesive sound and feel. Long tracks like the title track and 'The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils' now seem part of the 'natural progression' of the album rather than 'bookends' like they were on the original proving how much the man himself is in tune with his creation. The fact that it also provides us with further 'clues' as to the man himself all adds to the enjoyment of this release.

Here, tracks like 'Do Your Best And Don't Worry', 'Reader Meet Author' (Morrissey's favourite track apparently)
and even the mystifying 'The Operation' suddenly leap out at you and scream 'Classic Morrissey' whereas before they made little impact.

As for the unreleased tracks: Well, the production is not as good as on some of the other tracks so they do stand a 'little proud' during the listen. They are all well worth acquiring though especially 'You Should Have Been Nice To Me' and 'Honey you Know Where To Find Me'. I do believe however, that there are only THREE unreleased songs on this album not FOUR as the sticker promises. 'Nobody Loves Us' I suspect has been confused as an unreleased track but in fact it was a b side. It is a classic Morrissey tune though and a great way to finish a great record. If you have not been in the habit of buying singles for the b sides ( though with Morrissey fans I doubt this very much!) then you should get this for this track alone!

So then, a triumphant 're-issue, re-model, re-package' (as the man himself might put it!) and one that has successfully persuaded me that I also need to buy the re-vamped 'Maladjusted' (even though I have all of the tracks!).

I agree with the sentiment shared amongst most of these reviews; Southpaw Grammar is a fantastic Morrissey record, demonstrating a darker, more menacing side to his song writing. This is conveyed in the heavy guitar driven soundscape, with some of the longer tracks sounding almost prog-rock.

Perhaps the critical backlash this record received had something to do with the track 'Reader Meet Author', which is basically an attack on middle class journalists trying to emphasise with the working class, with their patronising writing style ('You don't know a thing about their lives, books don't save them 'cos books aren't Stanley Knives').

Many of the lyrics in Southpaw Grammar are embedded in the ideology of the English working class; perhaps more so than any other Morrissey or Smiths album.
Dagenham Dave refers to everyone knowing a bit of a 'Jack the lad' who has a way with women, but little intelligence. The chorus reflects this mundane character, with the words 'Dagenham' and 'Dave' repeated constantly in a catchy yet purposely irritating way.

'The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils'; one of the two over 10-minute tracks that bookend the album, is perhaps the most chilling piece of music in Morrissey's back catalogue. Here, the psychological suffering of an inner city teacher is dissected, with some genuinely disturbing lyrics ('mucus on your collar. A nail up through the staff chair. A blade in your soap, as you cry into your pillow. To be finished would be a relief.'). 'You're The One For Me Fatty' this is not. This is daring territory for Morrissey, but thought provoking a provocative throughout.

There are some lighter moments throughout the album, along with Morrissey's traditional moments of humour (such as in the track Boy Racer: 'He thinks he's got the whole world in his hand, stood at the urinal'). The track 'Do Your Best And Don't Worry' appears to be Morrissey's reassuring hug to the listener, but don't be fooled be the title, this is no 'Everybody Hurts'.

Another highlight is 'Best Friend On The Payroll' which appears to be a bit of rhyming slang on the word 'Dole'. In the song Morrissey creates a picture of his own 'Odd Couple', where an unemployed guest has outstayed their welcome ('I turn the music down, and I don't know why, this is my house!').

The final track 'Southpaw' is another epic tale reflecting on innocence of youth giving way to bitter disappointment with life. In some ways this song encapsulates Morrissey's own tale of losing faith in the humanity, as young life in northern England slowly fills him with resentment. ('You were a boy before you became a man: I just don't see the joy. And you ran with your pals in the sun: You turned around...and they were gone'). A slightly disheartening close to the album then, but perfectly in keeping with the other tracks.

Southpaw Grammar for me is the most cohesive album of Morrissey's career. Re-released with some of the b-sides added to bulk up the running time it may gain some of the attention it deserved first time around, hopefully not at the expense of the original themes explored. If you are dipping your toes into Morrissey music for the first time, start elsewhere. This is an album greatly enhanced with a knowledge of what came before it, and the contrast with his earlier work makes it all the more interesting.

'I could say more, but you get the general idea...'