Viva Hate [Original recording remastered, Special Edition]

24 years after it came out, Morrissey's spectacular but flawed debut gets a sad and unhappy reworking.

Originally, EMI wanted to release a deluxe, unsurpassable 3 disc set of this : the album as is, remastered. The six b-sides, 10 circulating demos, and extra, unreleased material on the other. And, on a DVD, finally, Morrissey's first ever solo live performance, and his last with Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce, and Craig Gannon. (Also perhaps, notable for being the first time a band performed a show where the singer was being sued by every other member of the band, individually, at the same time).

Morrissey had a better idea. Re-release the album. Change the covers. Delete one song, and replace it with a poor, unfinished demo. And slice off the beginning and end of "Late Night. Maudlin Street", just for effect.

And frankly, it stinks.

Why does an artist feel the need to revise and butcher his existing work? Why would he? What possible motive is there? You can't airbrush out history. You cannot pretend these songs do not exist. And when you replace the beautiful, and immaculately constructed "The Ordinary Boys", with the forgotten for 20 years, and forgettable, "Treat Me Like A Human Being", I wonder, does this make this record better? Of course not.

From the off, "Viva Hate" is a flawed record. The song selection omits some of the better songs and relegates them to b-sides : "Hairdresser on Fire", "Sister I'm A Poet", "Will Never Marry", "Disappointed", easily the equal of anything on the album itself, all absent. In their place, the moribund, and dirgelike "Bengali In Platforms", the tired and delicate "Dial-A-Cliche", or the frankly histronic "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together". In it's original form, "Viva Hate" was a strong record, albeit with an uneven running order and a sense of inert depression : it could've been a much stronger, better record, more muscular and lively, with a different running order. But not exactly by taking "The Ordinary Boys" off and replacing with not-even-good-enough-to-be-a-b-side of "Treat me Like A Human Being" is baffling.

In no way is this anything other than a mutilated re-presentation of the album, with material missing and songs removed, and substandard, unfinished material in its place. A wasted opportunity. A squandered moment where Morrissey could have given the world what it wanted, which was a full and bountiful selection from Morrissey's astoundingly impressive debut indian summer. Instead, he gave us a castrated and unsatisfactory record that actually devalues the original record and makes "Viva Hate" less than it was originally was.

What a disappointment to have such a classic debut album to be butchered by the artist himself! Whether it was done to prevent former associates from getting paid, that's not event the question. If only Moz had allowed EMI's original idea of a 3 Disc release to be so. One can't keep bitching about not charting high on such releases when one is the main reason such things don't happen by putting one's fans off with such mediocre release! It's quite sad, to say the least. I do hope EMI gets to release its original concept down the road. And for heaven's sake Morrissey, stop butchering your own albums!

I idolise him and adore this sublime debut album, but... why, oh why, Morrissey?

Why hack at the original? Why have cotton when you can have silk? Why have Value Brown Sauce when you can have HP?

I was on the verge of ordering this but then I discovered the act of senseless butchery in removing The Ordinary Boys and replacing it with, well, crap. Stephen Street is perfectly entitled to complain - it's simply an act of senseless spite.

Wrong and unforgiveable. Morrissey, have you lost your mind?