Your Arsenal

Honestly was not excited for this one when I saw it come up. As far as the other The Smiths and Morissey albums I've listened to go, while not being bad, I've just never really cared for them. For post-punk, they've generally been too thin sounding and jangly for my tastes.

This one however has some teeth and power to it, with Morissey having a more full sounding voice thats very forward in the mix. And his singing is pretty on point compared to the other stuff. The opener and You're the One For Me, Fatty are my standouts with their reggae/surf rock vibes.

That said, I don't think its hitting me hard enough to quite give it the four. One of the highest 3s I'll ever give.

Really enjoyed this. Not quite at the level of The Smiths but still really good and something I’ll be coming back to

I can't tell if "You're the One for Me, Fatty" is body positivity or not. Considering what Morrissey is like it's probably not.

This guy can eat shit.

A whole lotta aimlessly rambling soft pop tracks, like most other Morrissey/Smith releases. Some ok songs here and there but otherwise underwhelming. 2/5

Not interesting - generic.

1.7

Morrissey is a twat....

Now thats out the way, he was in a fine vein of form here with this and Vauxhall & I, begrudgingly respectful.... but Morrissey is still a twat...

Decent, aside from the vocals.

Oops, it's a Morrissey solo album, the vocals are supposed to be the point, aren't they?

It's such an incredible album. Love the lyrics! 4.5 ⭐

Fine, but I find Morrissey's vocal delivery is often sleepy and lacking in variation.

Did NOT expect this to open with some bastardization of surf rock! First two tracks were almost good enough that I worried I might like something this POS created. Good thing he lived up to my initial expectations by filling the rest of the album with the usual whiney, self indulgent, melancholic crap.

3.75

Solid and enjoyable for brooding.

'Well, you don't need to look so pleased.' Morrissey has always had guts, but on Your Arsenal, backed by a heavy guitar and drum sound, he doesn't only speak truth to power, he has fun w/ oomph and potency. 'London is dead,' and five more times of that obituary, compounded w/ 'We are the last truly British people you will ever know' and 'England for the English,' yields an unsettling ideology, but the irony isn't lost on me, irrespective of the artist's more recent political takes. My favorite track is 'Certain People I Know,' which borders on a country hit, 'You're the One for Me, Fatty' is authentically sweet, and 'Seasick, yet Still Docked' is absolutely gorgeous, equal to if not better than 'I Know It's Over.' An excellent record, raw 'n' all.

Not bad, but pretty common, and I am not a fan of his voice. I don't really understand what people find appealing about Morrissey, but anyway. Not really my jam.

All the songs sound so melancholic. Not really my thing

Diminishing returns with this guy. Less is Morrissey. This one is a little different though. More rock n’ roll.

Better than expected

Some good songs on here, but it's not up to the level of the Smiths' best albums. You can tell from the lyrics that he was already starting to become insufferable, but they were probably considered funny or tongue in cheek at the time. It's hard to judge a song like the National Front Disco now, for example. At the time, it was probably intended as a critique, but Morrissey's views seem to be lining up with the conservatives and UKIP a lot these days, so it's hard to know what he meant at the time. I was all set to point out how derivative some of the guitar riff are of Bowie's glam days, but then I saw who the guitarist was!

Pretty good. I think it starts out great and then flags a little towards the middle. There are some questionable songs on here, like You're the one for me, Fatty, but overall a solid 3.5