276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Vauxhall And I

£6.42£12.84Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Of course, the presence of the Midas-blessed Steve Lillywhite on production doesn’t hurt – nor does the uncredited presence of the then Mrs Lillywhite, Kirsty MacColl, on B-sides, Used To Be A Sweet Boy and I’d Love To, which is every bit the equal of The More You Ignore Me… The resulting collection is certainly slighter than its predecessor Viva Hate, though not without its moments – namely, the hilarious caustic Our Frank, Mute Witness and There Is A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends. Peaking at No.5 in the UK charts, it’s difficult to argue with NME‘s contention that Suedehead was: “The best No.1 1988 ever gave us.” Despite this, Morrissey still can’t resist ‘tweaks’ to the front cover, changing the typefaces, removing the quotation marks around ‘Vauxhall And I’ and adding a horrible red square Parlophone logo, bottom right. The latter is like a splat of blood drawing unwanted attention to itself and rather spoiling the beauty of the matinee-idol front cover image with its soft pink hues. Vauxhall And I (LPAlbumGatefold, Misprint) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/1585938-Morrissey-Vauxhall-And-I

Vauxhall And I was Morrissey’s fourth solo album and is widely regarded as one of his very best, although this writer still thinks Viva Hate has the edge. The record was produced by Steve Lillywhite and features the hit single The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get. It also saw significant commercial success for the singer with the album reaching the top 20 in the US and number one in the UK. Romero, Michele (25 March 1994). " Vauxhall and I". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 18 November 2015. According to Pitchfork, it was: “His most vital, entertaining and savage record since Vauxhall And I.” Read more: Johnny Marr interview Read more: Low In High School review The Essential Singles You will not find much of the notable sardonic wit which makes most of Morrisseys lyrics have an edge of humour too them - the subject matter is too dark. However even in the depths of despair the man cannot fail to take tongue in cheek swipes at the London existence he finds himself in. It has been stated that Vauxhall feels and sounds like it was intended to be a swansong. A final, epic recording, after which Morrissey could go out on top. Evidently we know now that this was not the case, but the album’s honest, confessional lyrics hint towards it.

Credits

Behind the board this time was producer Steve Lilywhite, and you can tell he did his best to make the songs – and, more particularly, Morrissey’s voice – achieve the epic and pristine quality of a once-in-a-lifetime classic. Hence, from the moment you hit play and the first notes of “Now My Heart is Full” start to reverb in your head, you know you’re in for something special – not just lyrically and vocally, but also sonically.

Therefore, when I was asked to review this album, a 20th anniversary remaster and reissue of what many regard as his finest solo work, I knew that I had to overcome this somewhat irrational dislike of the man and really try to focus on this as objectively as I could. Gatefold card sleeve, but no liner notes, or any booklet at all The callused fingerprints of guitarist Jesse Tobias are all over this strident lead single from the majestic Ringleader Of The Tormentors. The highbrow references in the lyric mentions Pier Paolo Pasolini’s classic 1961 film Accattone (a tale about prostitution in the slums of Rome), the Italian actress Anna Magnani and Italian director Luchino Visconti, as Morrissey’s love affair with the Mediterranean outpost is fully consummated. For whatever reason Morrissey has stated that, during the whole process of writing and recording, he felt Vauxhall And I would be his last album release. And there is a degree of regret and a sense of farewell about the whole enterprise – liberally interspersed with dangerous amounts of self-obsession which does sometimes stray into whiny territory. Whether you listen to the aforementioned “Now My Heart is Full” as a call to arms against the mundane rules of grown-up life, or as an admittance of defeat against hopelessness and incurable loneliness, it would be difficult to name a more powerful song in Morrissey’s solo career – in terms of emotional impact, sonic beauty, and lyrical pathos – than this one. Yes, it is that good. So great that nothing else can help but falter in comparison.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

It was a loved-up Morrissey who decamped to Rome for the recording of Ringleader Of The Tormentors. With producer Tony Visconti drafted in to work his magic on a dozen compositions, the album also features a cameo from Italian maestro Ennio Morricone, whose string arrangements adorn Dear God Please Help Me. Ali, Lorraine (27 March 1994). "Morrissey, 'Vauxhall and I'; Sire/Reprise". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 5 December 2014. Vauxhall And I: 20th anniversary remastered edition and bonus live recording release information, sleeve artwork. - release information (March 27, 2014)

Exhausted from accusations of racism, reportedly, a few years after its release Morrissey revealed that Vauxhill And I was a preface to "leaving the public domain" with Morrissey declaing "I was aware of this end-of-reign atmosphere while recording the album".Still, it would be churlish to begrudge a man who’s had his heart stolen and, if You Have Killed Me is to be believed, his cherry popped. The album's title may be a reference to the 1987 film Withnail and I. Vauxhall is an area of London noted for its gay clubs, and there is also a British car manufacturer of the same name. In 2014, even listeners who dislike Moz certainly have enough to say about him. Morrissey has been made mythos — his prodigious Autobiography was met with enormous sales and critical praise earlier this year, and he will be the subject of a forthcoming unofficial biopic directed by the Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Mark Gill. Morrissey is also still making music that is staunchly his own, as evidenced by the spoken-word (!) promos for World Peace is None of Your Business, out July 15th on Harvest.

The late Tim Broad directed The Smiths’ videos Girlfriend In A Coma and Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. For Morrissey’s debut promo as a solo artist, the video starts in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea where Moz’s nephew, Sam Esty Rayner, delivers a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, to the singer. Volk, Steven (7 April 1994). "Morrissey: Vauxhall and I". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 June 2001 . Retrieved 15 June 2020. Elsewhere, the television and Carry On culture that was a formative part of his upbringing, are referenced as is his opposition to carnivores manifest in young fan Lucette Henderson. The scene in which she intimidates a couple of fur coat-wearing old dears enjoying afternoon tea at a pier-side café, is pure comedy gold. For someone almost as quintessentially English as the Carry On movies, Morrissey possesses a particular Irish sensibility, perhaps most pronounced in his proclivity for sadness.

Vauxhall And I (LPAlbumLimited EditionReissueRemasteredRepressBlue) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/15768050-Morrissey-Vauxhall-And-I From 1990’s Bona Drag to 2011’s Very Best Of Morrissey, there are plenty of compilation albums dedicated to Mozzer. Here’s Classic Pop‘s own mixtape:

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment